My brother Johnny’s birthday is August 9 th. He would be 72 years old but he died in the beginning of the Pandemic. He loved gardening so much and was very gifted with a green thumb. He grew the most beautiful dahlias, zinnias and marigolds that often bloomed near his birthday. There were many other flowers in his garden but these were his favorites. He said these flowers enhanced his garden and attracted the beneficial insects and loved the hot weather. Johnny always took good care of his garden as he did with our grandparents, parents, friends , neighbors and pets. He was an outstanding caregiver.

My brother knew how to make the gardening season last forever until winter came. In early August he would plant flower bulbs for the following spring. Everyone loved to visit Johnny’s gardens. I am very grateful that I have the many memories of all the joy gardening brought to Johnny and all others. Every time I visit a beautiful flower garden it is bittersweet. It reminds me of how lucky I was to have such a wonderful brother for 66 years and yet how sad I still am that Covid stole him like a thief in the night.

As a daughter of two parents and a stepfather lost to Covid, survivors of a Covid loss and am long Covid myself. I am appalled by the salacious grilling of Dr Anthony Fauci in a carefully crafted witch-hunt of serving up scientists on a platter, orchestrated by Senator Paul to inept personas that grace the halls of congress, and those in the Country’s CEO position during the height of the pandemic.

In a fascist society, scientific endeavors are often attacked first and thus in January 2017, global pandemic offices were shuttered, despite the existence of a pandemic playbook for such a disaster. Global scientists, such as virologists and microbiologists, knew that it was not a matter of “ if” however “when.” Funny thing, viruses, bacteria, fungi do not stopped evolving, mutating, changing to appease the arrogant human psyche of superiority. Many occasions in the history of human civilizations, that a novel, wild pathogen comes to be that damn near wipes out Homo sapiens, such as the black plague. Indeed, the family of coranaviridae have done substantial damage in the last two decades, SARS, MERS, hemorrhaging Ebola and a wild virus that had zoonotic spillover in 2019.

Collective amnesia prevails in 2026, despite a mere blink over a paltry half decade. In very early 2020, when China and Italy were under virological siege, the US public was falsely reassured that in a mere fortnight, it would all go away, had the trajectory of a mild cold. An illustrious leader that refused to set an example for his countrymen and do things as masking.

So, not according to the “two-week plan of vanquishing pathogens seen by electron microscopy,” Easter 2020 arrived. The day my father passed away from COVID 19, my mother, also in her healthcare facility, tested positive for the virus.

A stable genius, who muzzled two leading scientists forced to stand beside him as wooden as Pinocchio, endorsed bleach ingestion and home protocology of ultraviolet lights as a cure all.
When that individual contracted the virus himself, he had access to pharmacological interventions the public did not have, and then woefully infected secret service agents, when needing a car ride. Then on discharge, proudly climbing the steps of the WH, to deliver an Evita epic performance, puffing like a steam engine with full hubris.

Meanwhile, my Dad was gone, others in epicenters were in body bags in refrigerated trucks. Facing critics such as myself for locking down our houses for safety for immunocompromised loved ones.

MRNA vaccines arrived and many were saved. Many were not as they were exposed prior to the vaccines being on the market, many out of arrogance refused. Many due to severe immunological issues could not and were at the mercy of others.

Over 1.3 million Americans lost, and estimated 30 million with some form of long Covid. A country that should have known and done better. A country, in which long Covid now surpasses asthma as the number one chronic pediatric condition. A country with a disproportionate amount of the 8 million worldwide deceased.

What is evident is the ongoing need of a political party to have a scapegoat for their collective failures of snake oil tactics and idiotic delusions of successful management of a microscopic entity. Instead of adhering to guidance of stellar public servants and scientist such as Dr Anthony Fauci. A collective of individuals that still six years later put their faith and guidance of an individual, who by self-admission snorts drugs off of toilet seats.

I am furious. The depravity of those that grill Fauci for their errors and careless.

The unleashing of cruelty toward those that were innocent victims that did or did not survive.

A Dad that I never got to say good bye to.

A Mother that was in ICU on a ventilator that I helped prone for her lungs destroyed by ground glass opacities. A Mother I helped hold down while they increased the sedation as she was bucking the vent. A mother that looking at the vent settings knew it was not to be. Giving the word to cease life support. A mother that I had to apply for FEMA funeral assistance–alone. Memories and trauma ingrained in my soul, despite being a nurse trained for stable chronic vent patients.

A Stepfather that I never got to say goodbye to, as emergency services took both of us out in the same ambulance. My last words to him, we will be home in a few hours.

My life gone, our home, my pets, long Covid with multiple complications in a wheelchair and nursing home.

Am I angry over what was done to Anthony Fauci ? More than written or spoken words could ever convey.

An anger that extends to what is being done to every other scientist.

An anger for every one of us that has been marked by Covid for the rest of our lives.

To conclude with Senator Paul in mind “When a clown moves into a palace, the palace becomes a circus.”

And the grilling of Dr. Anthony Fauci, was the epitome of a circus, run by clowns.

I was disgusted watching Dr. Fauci face Rand Paul last week. Dr. Fauci has performed impeccable service to our nation over many decades serving many presidents. He is an outstanding world renowned scientist, immunologist, physician and public health official. He guided our Covid-19 response under a president and Congress who tried to block all his efforts. Covid was hell and Dr. Fauci was a guiding light with a novel virus that continuously evolved and had protocols changing daily. Dr. Fauci and everyone else in public health worked so hard trying to keep people alive as best as they could in such an horrific situation. He did not deserve such abusive treatment. He was not infallible and made a big mistake saying masks were not necessary before changing his recommendation. Overall however, he did an exemplary job and I, for one, am very grateful.

I have been a longtime fan of Dr. Fauci for decades. He has been on the forefront of U.S. efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, Zika, Ebola, MERS, SARS, and other viral diseases resulting in a lasting impact on public health. He has saved many lives for people who had such painful and heartbreaking diseases. Rand Paul and his Kangaroo Court should be thanking him for making such a difference in people’s lives in our country and around the world.

As one of the loved ones of the nearly 1.3 million Americans who died from COVID-19 and the millions more who continue to struggle with the lasting affects of Long COVID, I have to state how disgusted I was by the abhorrent behavior of Rand Paul, salivating like a hungry dog, and his pack of Repugnant-can lackeys and their kangaroo court as they attacked a true American hero, Dr. Anthony Fauci.

I know it’s only been about six and a half years since the world faced the scourge of COVID-19. But have we forgotten all that recent history?

Well, I remember. We had a malignant narcissist, worried about the impact on his re-election chances, telling us it would all “magically” be over in two weeks. Only a few people were impacted. Everything would be reopened by Easter, coincidentally, the day my partner first exhibited symptoms of the virus and a week before he died.

This individual, who holds a medical degree in BS, told us that hydroxychloroquine and, later, ivermectin, were “miracle” cures. He even proposed shining lights and injecting bleach into the body.

He refused to recommend that people wear a face mask to help prevent the spread of the virus. Isn’t it strange that six years later he is adamant that his goon squads wear facial coverings while they terrorize, and even murder, immigrants and American citizens — men, women, and children alike?

And, when he himself became sick with COVID-19, he had access to medications unavailable to average Americans. The hypocrisy is boundless.

Dr. Fauci, a well-respected scientist worldwide, had to balance public babysitting duties for this clown while marshalling scientists and researchers to help uncover a vaccine to help prevent further spread of COVID-19. In one of the most rapid responses in public health history, mRNA vaccines were developed which saved so many lives. Research shows that 80 percent of the people who died after the availability of these new vaccines were unvaccinated, many resistant to the jab because they adhered to the ruminations of their fearless leader. Not all scientific research and discovery is perfect, but it definitely offers a better outcome than sticking your head in the sand.

As a gay man who lost dozens of friends and acquaintances, I also know of the work of Dr. Fauci during the HIV/AIDS epidemic. His relationship with the gay community had a rocky start. People were dying and desperate for anything that would save them. Initially, Dr. Fauci and his colleagues in the medical community insisted on following long, drawn out protocols for testing newly developed medications. After a take over of the National Instute of Health by AIDS activists, Dr. Fauci began to reach out to them and to understand their desperation. Testing procedures were modified and many of the medications that came about have allowed people living with HIV/AIDS to live long and healthy lives.

I could go on. but I’ll stop here. If the Repugnant-cans want to point a finger of blame for COVID-19, they need to start with their feckless Führer currently occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Otherwise, they should put on a facial covering and hide their shame.

I have tried to forgive insensitive people who said such hurtful things to me during the Covid Pandemic. Regrettably there were so many. A couple stand out to me. I got a call from the Funeral Home personnel who went to the hospital where Johnny died to pick him up from the morgue. He told me that Johnny was not there. Johnny died near Queens early in the Pandemic. I felt like I was in a horror movie trying to find my brother’s remains. At the same time some friends and neighbors were complaining that that they couldn’t travel or go shopping. One person said to me that the Pandemic was culling the herd. Unfortunately I could go on and on. Have we lost all proportion? I am still working on forgiving them.