- cross-posted to:
- news@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- news@lemmy.world
What he’s saying: Paul has an “unhinged obsession with me,” and his motive for the hearing is to “get me to say something — anything — that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, quote, behind bars unquote,” Fauci said.
“Although it pains me to do so … under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions,” Fauci said.


Lawyers will almost always advise staying silent. It’s genuinely a right that US citizens have, and one that’s not exercised often enough. Back in February, Les Wexner was testifying to Congress. His lawyer very bluntly told him not to answer any question with more than 5 words.
The real question becomes what does Fauci have to gain or lose by answering these questions. And that’s likely to be “nothing” and “everything”, respectively. He simply has nothing to gain by answering questions. He (and everyone else) does not believe the goal of these questions is to get to the truth. It’s to create a circus, and railroad him into a jail cell.
I wouldn’t take the bait, either.
It’s not just for citizens, it’s supposed to be a right that applies to everyone interacting with our government systems. You don’t have to say anything! But if you want to do anything requiring those services, like driver’s license, etc. then you have to give them some information.
I remember when our right wing wanted that information we give to be only available on a need to know basis! Why should the police need to know who I voted for or where I was born? But no more. Now these fuckwits want to suck on boot.
There is no way to know who you voted for unless you tell them.
It seems possible to have voter roles associated with driver’s licenses. I don’t know for sure but I feel like there has been lots of talk about having your voter registration tied to your driver’s license. If it hasn’t happened yet it’s definitely been floated as an idea.
What I do know is that there is a glaringly obvious trend towards authority figures wanting to control our lives to make sure we conform with their values and interests. It’s not happening exactly the same way everywhere but it is happening. I think it’d be foolish to believe that there isn’t interest in having a profile on every human in this country that is easily accessible by “law enforcement” or any other government agency.
And I can imagine the shit that would be put in such a profile, just listen to our political discourse for a day. Especially right wing discourse. They’ve decided who the enemies are, fortunately we don’t have to wear some kind of badge to announce it…yet.