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Let us now praise Dr. Anthony Fauci

Whatever you say about Joe Biden, he got one thing right. Actually, a whole lot more than one thing. But one thing we can be grateful for today is that, before leaving office, he gave Dr. Anthony Fauci a preemptive presidential pardon.

In announcing Fauci's pardon, Biden said it was not because Fauci had done anything wrong. It was to protect Fauci from threats of "unjustified and politically-motivated prosecutions" in the future.

Bingo! How prescient was that? "Unjustified and politically-motivated prosecutions" was exactly what we saw this week in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where Fauci was subpoenaed to testify by Chairman Rand Paul (R-KY), who for years, without any evidence, has accused Fauci of both causing the Covid crisis and profiting from it.

To understand how outrageous this is, let's remember the early days of Covid in the White House. There were two main players. First, Donald Trump, who initially refused to take the virus seriously. He compared it to the common flu, telling people "Just stay calm. It will go away." He suggested Covid could be prevented by ingesting bleach. He opposed making vaccines mandatory, wearing masks, and canceling public gatherings - and lashed out at governors who did so.

On the other hand, in the same White House news conferences, there was the calm, steady voice of his chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who warned Americans to take the Covid threat seriously, to wear masks, to get vaccinated as soon as it was available, to avoid close physical contact, and to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with the hottest water possible.

What's wrong with this picture? Who knows how many lives were lost because so many people listened to Trump rather than Fauci? And now Republicans are going after Fauci and not Trump? This is insane. They refuse to hold Trump responsible for January 6. And they won't hold him responsible for mishandling the Covid crisis, either.

Paul's hearing may have been long on drama - he ordered Fauci's attorney escorted out of the room - but it was short on substance. He leveled four charges against Fauci, based on excerpts from a private diary Fauci kept during the Covid Crisis, from December 2019 to December 2022, or what Paul calls "Tony's Diary."

OK, stop right there. What right does the federal government have to seize anyone's personal diary and make it public? None! But the law never stops the Trump administration. In this case, over eight months, Fauci's diary was dug up and handed over to Rand Paul by - wait for it - HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Paul's first charge. That Fauci believed the virus spread from animals to humans, what's called the "natural spillover" theory. While Paul, again without evidence, insisted the virus was deliberately spread by a laboratory in China. Most scientists, and the World Health Organization, agree with Fauci. Paul accuses him of a coverup. The truth is, we still don't know, and may never know, how Covid was started.

Second charge. Fauci misled the public, based on a diary entry where Fauci admits that Covid was already out there before being detected at a Wuhan market. However, in his diary, Fauci acknowledges that the market was an "amplifier" of the market (his words), not the original source. Again, nobody knows where and when. All we know is, as Fauci writes, "Somehow the virus jumped from animals to humans."

Third charge. Fauci lost the president's trust. No kidding! Guilty as charged. Who wouldn't lose trust in a president who belittled the disease and talked such nonsense. In his diary, Fauci describes Trump's press conferences as "painfully rambling" and "stream of consciousness" and accused him of "spewing nonsense" on the campaign trail in 2020. Note: Fauci wrote that in his diary. He never said it publicly.

Fourth and final charge. According to Paul, Dr. Fauci let his celebrityhood go to his head. And, while it's true that Fauci acknowledges how exciting it was to get such national media attention, he also says it made him very uncomfortable. "Geez!! I do not like this one bit," he told his diary.

Good for Anthony Fauci. He refused to play Rand Paul's game. He took the Fifth Amendment rather than respond to Paul's ridiculous questioning, designed only to trip him up.

Rand Paul's wrong. Anthony Fauci doesn't deserve to be put "behind bars." For 50 years of public health leadership, he deserves a statue on the National Mall.

(Bill Press is host of The BillPressPod, and author of 10 books, including: "From the Left: My Life in the Crossfire." His email address is: bill@billpress.com. Readers may also follow him on Twitter @billpresspod and on BlueSky @BillPress.bsky.social.)

Line up for your free testosterone shot

Hollywood was in trouble, after a steady stream of mindless movies, many of them violent and animated, nobody wanted to see. Things got so bad analysts were predicting the entire studio industry might collapse.

But now Hollywood's back! With a blockbuster! "The Odyssey" - Christopher Nolan's epic portrayal of Homer's 3,000-year-old poem about the long, adventurous return home of Ulysses, following the Trojan War. Believe me, it's awesome. Superb acting by Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway, among others. Magnificent cinematography. Never a dull moment. Three hours flash by in no time. Go see it tonight. On IMAX if possible.

The challenges confronting Ulysses in his 10-year odyssey home are mind-boggling: the Cyclops; Circe, the woman who turns his soldiers into pigs; an army of giant cannibals; the Sirens; the whirlpool Charybdis and the man-eating rock monster Scylla. Ulysses faces and overcomes them all. Only to return home and single-handedly slay the 30 suitors who've been badgering his wife Penelope. We've never seen a man of such incredible energy, strength and courage.

But here's the most amazing part: Ulysses did it all - without being tested for testosterone! Which would probably make the mighty Ulysses unqualified to serve in Pete Hegseth's Pentagon.

In so many ways, the Trump administration resembles nothing so much as a real-life version of "Saturday Night Live." Seriously! Turning the beautiful Reflecting Pool into a scum-filled puddle. Starting a war without knowing how to get out of it. Covering the walls of every room in the White House with gold. Refusing to get off the stage after the World Cup finals. Trump may be the funniest SNL character since John Belushi.

But no writer for SNL could come up with a funnier skit than what we saw from Pete Hegseth, the self-appointed "Secretary of War," last week. Having long complained that today's military are not "manly enough," Hegseth announced a new policy requiring every member of the military over 30, both men and women, to be tested once a year for testosterone. If their level was considered low, they'd be offered a voluntary hormone replacement therapy.

His goal, Hegseth declared - yes, he actually used this phrase - was to create "the High-T Department of War." Why? Because, he said, troops had to be on the "leading edge of lethality."

If mandatory testosterone testing were nothing but a SNL skit, we could laugh it off. But when that becomes the official policy of the secretary of Defense, with the backing of the president, this must be condemned as the frightening, unscientific and medically dangerous proposal it is. There's so much wrong with it.

First, Hegseth totally misrepresents what the military's all about. It's not meant to be just a giant, killing machine. The Department of Defense itself summarizes its mission as providing the military forces needed to "deter war" - repeat, to "deter" war - and "ensure the nation's security."

Second, it totally ignores the changing nature of war. The days when a war will be waged on the ground, going door-to-door in hostile cities, charging up mountains, or fighting mano-a-mano are over. Most military operations today are in the form of missiles or drones, controlled on ships, aircraft, or military bases far from any battlefield.

Third, it's an insult to the 1.33 million men and women currently on active duty in the military - all of whom, in effect, Hegseth, is accusing of not being "macho" enough. They're doing a great job, protecting us. Hegseth should support, not belittle, them.

Fourth, it is medically unsound. The body's quite capable, without Hegseth's intervention, of managing testosterone levels on its own. Medical experts agree. For men over 40, levels annually drop from 1 percent to 2 percent. Higher testosterone levels don't necessarily mean more energy, or "killer" instincts. Lower levels don't necessarily mean weakness.

And, besides, there are serious downsides to consider. Boosting testosterone levels can increase the risk of heart disease or stroke. Plus, after a few months on topical or injectable testosterone, the body stops making its own. Which means men and women would need regular replacement shots. And nobody's estimated the cost to taxpayers of Hegseth's folly.

Finally, not to get personal, but isn't Pete Hegseth the last one to be talking? He dresses and struts like a peacock. He wears more makeup than Dolly Parton. He had a new makeup room created in the Pentagon. He's by far the least manly-looking member of the Cabinet. Maybe the first person who needs a testosterone shot is him.

Black and white portrait of an elderly man smiling in a suit and glasses.