Fauci’s West Nile Fairy Tale and Operation Mockingbird

Unindicted COVID warlord Anthony Fauci allegedly contracted the vanishingly rare West Nile virus, according to his spokespeople (citation needed).

Which is a weird story, but what’s weirder is the formulaic and nearly identical reporting in the corporate state media.

It might be strange, but it’s entirely explicable in light of how The Swamp influences and directs corporate state media.

Via Helsinki Times (emphasis added):

“During the Cold War, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) launched its Operation Mockingbird, which aimed to collect intelligence by bribing journalists and institutions around the world and affecting public opinion by manipulating news media.

Carl Bernstein, a famous American investigative journalist who unveiled the scandal in 1977, said that according to the plan, the CIA recruited journalists that were put on a payroll by the CIA and instructed to write "fake stories". The CIA admitted that at least 400 journalists and 25 large organizations around the world had secretly carried out assignments for the agency.”

The universal coverage of Fauci’s alleged West Nile infection goes like this: he was hospitalized and diagnosed with the virus based on statements from his publicist with no corroboration; he is a Public Health™ pandemic hero; goddamn Republicans don’t appreciate his service and persecute him for it; evidence-based claims that he personally helped create the pandemic in the first place are conspiracy theories because he said he didn’t do it and he wouldn’t lie.  

… Every one of them looks like the “writer” (possibly AI; who knows?) got the script from their handler, rearranged a few words, and pushed it out as a legitimate news story.

Via BBC (emphasis added):

“Anthony Fauci, the face of the US government's response to the Covid pandemic, is recovering at home after being hospitalised with West Nile virus.

The immunologist and former chief medical adviser to the president was hospitalised with the mosquito-borne disease around 11 days ago and had fever, chills and fatigue.

He left hospital earlier in the week and is expected to make a full recovery, the BBC's US media partner CBS reports…

Dr Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, retired from public service in 2022.

He has previously said that he and his family receive death threats and now require round-the-clock security.

He has faced criticism from some over his handling of the Covid pandemic.

The leading immunologist was hauled in front of Congress earlier in the year by Republican politicians over accusations he attempted to obscure indirect US funding of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the lab in China some believe could be linked to the emergence of Covid-19.

Dr Fauci described the allegations as false, and said they were politically motivated due to his public disagreements with former President Donald Trump at the height of the pandemic.”

Via The Guardian (emphasis added):

“Anthony Fauci is recovering at home from a West Nile virus infection, a spokesperson told news outlets on Saturday…

Fauci retired from his role at the NIH in 2022 after achieving widespread recognition for his role in public health communication during the Covid-19 pandemic. He now serves as a distinguished professor at Georgetown University’s School of Medicine.

Despite his retirement from the NIH, House Republicans in June called Fauci for a heated hearing about his response to Covid-19. Republican lawmakers accused Fauci of covering up the origins of the virus. Fauci said the claims were “simply preposterous”.

Fauci told Congress at the time that he and his family still receive death threats.”

Via Associated Press (emphasis added):

“Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former top U.S. infectious disease expert, spent time in the hospital after being infected with West Nile virus and is now recovering at home, a spokesperson confirmed Saturday…

As chief White House medical adviser, Fauci was the public face of the U.S. government during the COVID-19 pandemic, a role that made him both a trusted voice to millions and also the target of partisan anger. He left the government in 2022 but was back before Congress in June to testify as part of Republicans’ yearslong investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and the U.S. response to the disease.”

Ben Bartee is an independent Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs.

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