Susan Monarez Tries To Justify The CDC And Herself

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  • By some strange coincidence, no sooner did I write yesterday’s post about the thoroughly corrupt CDC and its recently-fired Director, Susan Monarez, than there turns up in today’s Wall Street Journal an op-ed by the same Ms. Monarez trying to justify herself and the agency with regard to HHS Secretary RFK, Jr.

  • The headline is “Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the CDC and Me.” The sub-headline (online edition only) is “I was fired after 29 days because I held the line and insisted on rigorous scientific review.” The article is behind the Journal’s paywall, so I will provide some substantial quotes.

  • The theme of the piece, well-summarized in the sub-headline, is that Ms. Monarez, with the help of CDC colleagues, was fired for trying to hold the line against “pressure to compromise science itself.”

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The CDC: Riddled With Metastatic Woke Cancer

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  • Last week the newly-confirmed head of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Susan Monarez, was abruptly fired by President Trump, barely a month after receiving her Senate confirmation in July. Although Monarez was new to CDC as of the second Trump term, her career in high-level government positions runs back to through the Biden, Trump I, and Obama administrations.

  • Upon announcement of Monarez’s firing, the press was immediately filled with reports of “turmoil” at the agency. At least four other high-ranking officials resigned in protest. In addition, large numbers of staffers came forward (anonymously) to complain of the supposedly “anti-science” approach being taken by Trump and his HHS Secretary, RFK, Jr.

  • Do you have the impression that CDC is a useful agency, “following the science” and protecting the public health? If so, you haven’t been paying attention to the news for the past several years (or more).

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No There Is Not A "Genocide" In Gaza

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  • The accusation that Israel is committing a “genocide” in Gaza has become pervasive on the Left, and particularly in academia.

  • I think that the accusation is absurd, so much so that until now I haven’t thought it worthy of a response. However, the accusation has recently arrived on my own website. In the comment thread on the prior post, one of the commenters (regular readers can guess who) has leveled against President Trump the charge that he “is sending weapons to Israel for the genocide in Gaza.” Really? It’s time for a response.

  • In my opinion, what’s going on in Gaza is not a genocide, but a war. Deaths in war are not a genocide.

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We Don't Need To Welcome In People Who Hate Us

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  • Yesterday in Boulder, Colorado, a perpetrator sprayed a flammable liquid on a group of mostly elderly Jews protesting the continued holding of hostages in Gaza. Then he threw Molotov cocktails to set several of the demonstrators on fire. The New York Post reports here that 8 were injured, ranging in age from 52 to 88 years old.

  • Police arrested a man named named Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who was caught on video committing the acts. Oh, and also shouting slogans, including “They are killers! How many children you killed?” and “End Zionists.”

  • It quickly emerged that Soliman was an Egyptian illegally in the country. He had originally entered legally in 2022 on a tourist visa, but then overstayed. In 2023 he was granted a permit to work in the U.S. by the Biden administration. That expired in March 2025, after which he stayed on illegally.

  • Which raises the question, why was Soliman in the country in the first place?

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Pope Francis Was No Friend Of The Poor

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  • Pope Francis passed away two days ago, on Easter Monday. He had been the leader of the Catholic Church for just over 12 years.

  • He presented himself as a well-intentioned and deeply religious man, none of which I ever doubted. But good intentions are the paving stones of the road to hell. I often tried to find some positive things about Francis so that I could admire him. But unfortunately I think that his overall impact on the world and on the church was overwhelmingly negative.

  • Thinking that he was working to uplift the poor and downtrodden of the world, Francis accepted all the most destructive prescriptions of the international Left. I’m sorry, but I don’t find that acceptable in a man claiming to be a major religious leader and asserting moral authority to tell others how to lead a good life.

  • After a century and more of the destructive horrors of socialism, people in major leadership roles in society have a responsibility to learn about that and understand it and not continue to spread it.

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Facebook, Google, et al., And DEI: Let's Not Forget Their Insufferable Sanctimony

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  • A few days ago, Google announced that it had abandoned its targets for “diversity, equity and inclusion” for its workforce. Here is the February 5 New York Times article covering the announcement. According to the Times, Google attributed the change of policy to its need “as a federal contractor . . . to comply with President Trump’s executive orders opposing diversity, equity and inclusion policies.”

  • Google’s announcement came about a month after Facebook parent Meta had (formally) made the same change of policy. (See CNBC’s January 10 piece here covering the Meta announcement.). Google and Facebook are now two leaders in what has become a full-on parade of corporate giants making the same sudden 180 degree reversal of what had previously been broadcast as fundamental corporate policy. Among others in this group are Amazon, Goldman Sachs, McDonald’s, and even Disney.

  • Was the commitment to DEI of Corporate America, and particularly of the tech giants, really this shallow, that they would all reverse course completely and suddenly and in unison and without a peep of objection?

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