Scarf-face still thinks about it every day - video at link

[malaise]

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/birx-trumps-disinfectant-injection-moment-day/story?id=76474960

The former coronavirus response coordinator in the Trump White House, Dr. Deborah Birx, says she still thinks about the moment last year when she sat silently while former President Donald Trump raised the possibility of injecting disinfectant into people to treat COVID-19.

"Frankly, I didn't know how to handle that episode," Birx said Monday in an interview with ABC News' Terry Moran for ABC News Live's "The Breakdown." "I still think about it every day."

While Trump was mocked and condemned for suggesting such a dangerous idea, and his comments became symbolic of his response to the pandemic, Birx also was criticized for not speaking up more forcefully in the moment.

She said Monday her nearly three decades of military service had kicked in then, and that she only spoke briefly to say "not a treatment" when Trump asked her if ultraviolet rays and heat could be used to treat the coronavirus in people.
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She should have stood up, said No No No and walked out of the room

[gab13by13]

1. And that's not the only thing she didn't do, or did do.

A doctor who craves the limelight is not a good thing.

[Me.]

2. She Didn't Speak At All, Much Less Forcefully

[Harker]

3. She ought to think about it every day.

And what it cost.

[jaxexpat]

4. She explained it pretty well when she said her.....

"nearly three decades of military service had kicked in". You don't get ahead in the military by contradicting your superiors, especially in public.

If you want "truth to power" don't count on the military. Get someone who has nothing to lose.

[Escurumbele]

8. That is a lame excuse she came up with. She is a "DOCTOR", she knows better than to allow stupid

people to drink disinfectant and die or get very sick. Military or not you have to act based on your principles, and if you stay quiet to the dangerous stupidity of the buffoon then you have no principles.

[jaxexpat]

10. Lame or not, she was honest. She doesn't allow principles to interrupt her service.

Contradicting a superior is not something a military codified "rank respecter" does voluntarily.

[uponit7771]

28. Was she in the military at the time? thx in advance. Also when I was in "shut up while we

... do what's wrong" was ... NOT ... taught even among buck privates.

[uponit7771]

13. That makes me feel safe ... not

[jaxexpat]

26. It is not the responsibility of military personnel to make you feel safe.

A feeling of safety, safe-haven, is your personal responsibility and goal as a sentient creature living in a multi-dimensional reality, armed only with your senses, your wits and your acceptance of fate.

[uponit7771]

27. We agree, I do expect competency and mindful thinking for my tax dollars though ...

... and "military ... kicked in " when it comes to doing what's right is what I would like to here but this person did what was wrong and roped in military community with it.

She's lying or its true, love for it to be the first

[bucolic_frolic]

5. Her silence acquiesced her role as a political hack prop

but to give her her due, she had no good option there. Agree or be fired.

[Escurumbele]

7. Then you do the right thing and either walk away from the position or allow yourself to get fired.

We are talking about having principles. She did more damage than good.

[Escurumbele]

6. She is a victim now? I remember when she decided to not treat her grandson because she had to

protect "our leaders", so she just talked to her daughter (or son) over the phone instead of actually going there. Now she works for pharma?

But it was very easy to know what to do, mostly when you are a doctor...you tell people that what the buffoon is saying is dangerous, and you can say it in a way where you don't hurt the buffoon's feelings too much because that is what obviously worried you...

[Marcuse]

9. Her oath required her to "do no harm".

[malaise]

18. She chose her military oath over her medical one

Poor little whiney victim.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

11. Yes, she failed... But Fauci not far behind IMHO. To me,

that trump crazy, dangerous talk was just like an everyday person throwing out wildass ideas in your living room.
In fact, think she subsequently said that...wasn't the time for brainstorming..on national TV.

Kind of invalidates his whole defense he told Woodward, that he was disciplined enough not to warn people that the virus was airborne and deadly for fear of inducing panic.

[Demsrule86]

16. She gave an interview where she ssid Trump had a good understanding of Covid. Fauci

never did that.

[malaise]

19. Agree 100%

People died because of their collective abysmal failure

[tanyev]

12. I could buy "didn't know how to handle that episode" in the moment IF

she'd made a strong public statement refuting his comments soon afterwards. I've had many a time where I've been caught off guard, only to think of the perfect thing to say after it was over. That must happen all the time with a geyser of narcissism, meanness and bullshit like Donald Trump. But she said nothing in the moment and nothing afterwards, so she got nothing in the Biden Administration.

[uponit7771]

14. +1, she errored on the side of silence vs doing no harm

[Chautauquas]

15. Too late for excuses and explanations now

She had ample opportunities to push back against Trump's murderous lies. Let the record and history show that she sat in silence while Trump lied and hundreds of thousands of people died.

[marble falls]

17. Trump is the result of too many people "respectfully" letting him escalate us into a calamity.

[Lettuce Be]

20. She should have said no. Loudly. No. That's all she needed to do.

She just sat mutely while he suggested something lethal. Some doctor. What's the oath, "Do no harm?" Wonder when she forgot that part.

[Javaman]

21. I know how she handled it...

she put her hand out and said, "more money". then cried all the way to the bank

she's less than fucking useless.

suddenly now she has a conscious.

she has effectively burned herself to the ground in professional circles. she will have a hell of a time convincing anyone at Walter Reed that she knows what she's doing, let alone respecting her.

I predict she will be sidelined eventually into a nothing job with no input or just yes'd to death just to shut her up.

[Paladin]

22. She OUGHT to think of it, over and over, day after day.

She was a trump enabler, and her silence led to the loss of lives.

[Maru Kitteh]

23. I'm sure she's trying to reconcile who she thought she was vs who she is.

Guessing she thought she was the kind of person who does the right thing and speaks truth to power when called for.

But then she didn't - and it wasn't the only time.

[peggysue2]

24. That was the moment Dr. Birx could have salvaged her reputation

But she failed to do so. Military training be damned! If she had simply stood up and said, "Sorry, I can't be a part of this," and then walked out of the room, she would have done a huge service to the country and to her own professional career.

IMHO, she broke her oath of 'Do No Harm' in that moment. If she's thinking about it everyday, she knows that as well.

Just as a side note: I don't consider Dr. Birx as the worst person in the world. However, she is a prime example of how appeasement and silence defends authoritarian order, regardless of how crazy and demented.

Dr. Birx's silence is a cautionary tale. For everyone.

[Johnny2X2X]

25. She let herself be used and she was active in legitimizing Trump's disaster of a Covid response.

“He’s(Trump) been so attentive to the scientific literature and the details and the data,” Birx said. “I think his ability to analyze and integrate data that comes out of his long history in business has really been a real benefit during these discussions about medical issues.”

That was a total lie and she knew she was lying, she caved to his staff and praised him because she was too weak to stand up for the truth. This is the moment she lost all of her scientific credibility.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

29. I suspected the worst much earlier...

... when I saw her, in the background, grinning from ear to ear over the opportunity to work with Trump on the task force.

Working under a narcissistic idiot is not some great honor.

[malaise]

30. Yes she really thought she had hit the jackpot

and destroyed every drop of integrity or honor