Matt Bai writes that the story of Deborah Birx is a tale for the ages:
Birx isn’t one of the political hacks who did Trump’s bidding until it was time to save her reputation by making an empty show of principle. (Ahem, Elaine Chao.)
No, Birx is a retired Army colonel and respected doctor who made a tangible difference in the global fight against AIDS. As Trump’s White House coordinator for the pandemic response, she worked tirelessly to get the coronavirus under control — no one disputes that.
She was put in an impossible predicament, something Birx has been vocal about since she left the White House, most recently in a much-hyped CNN interview with Sanjay Gupta that aired this past weekend.
Birx says now that she was constantly marginalized by the loopy sycophants in Trump’s orbit and berated by the president himself. “It was very uncomfortable, very direct, and very difficult to hear,” she said of one memorable conversation with the now-former president.
There are a number of former military people who chose to work for Trump. Most of them -- the exception seems to be Mike Pompeo -- now regret their decision:
Birx operated on the same premise that many others in senior roles, including career soldiers such as former White House chief of staff John F. Kelly and onetime national security adviser H.R. McMaster, accepted as well.
She apparently woke up every morning believing it was nobler to try to manage an ignorant, mercurial president than it was to speak out publicly and risk losing all influence.
She no doubt told herself she had an obligation, as a policy expert, to do whatever she could to protect Americans from the administration’s abject incompetence. And if that meant she had to echo untruths and offer up a bunch of silly praise, so be it.
You would think, two generations after Robert McNamara’s misguided attempts to conceal the truth about Vietnam, that more of them might have internalized the cost of perpetuating political myths.)
It's been almost fifty years since the Vietnam War came to its horrific end. Lessons learned?
You have to wonder.
Image: theguardian.com
10 comments:
Matt Bai emphasizes Dr Birx's military career and frames her actions to conceal the truth within the context of other former soldiers in the Trump administration. This, however, tells only part of the story.
Unlike Kelly and McMaster, who Trump called "my generals," Birx didn't get on Trump's radar because of her military background. Instead, she was part of the "Christian mafia" that surrounded Mike Pence and believed Trump was "anointed by God."
During the early 1990s, Dr. Birx served as research assistant to Dr. Robert Redfield at the Army's Walter Reed Medical Center. An Army investigation at the time found both had an improper relationship with a conservative AIDS policy organization run by evangelical activist Shepherd Smith. This, and the fallout from Redfield and Birx misrepresenting their research into an HIV vaccine, led to them leaving the military. Two decades later, it was Smith who suggested that Redfield be appointed CDC director, and Birx was part of the package.
With the Redfield-Birx package, Trump knew he was getting people raised in the evangelical tradition of obeying authority and trained to do the same by the military. As one senior CDC official put it to CNN, "In an administration that does not value science and does not want strong leadership at the CDC, leaders who might offer opinions and move in directions that are different than the administration, you're not allowed to do that."
Birx knew the deal when she agreed to take the job. It's too late to rehabilitate her reputation now. The lesson here is to avoid putting authoritarians with a history of bending the truth in charge of public policy.
Cap
At least James Mattis knew the situation demanded his resignation. Trump falsely claimed that he had fired his defense secretary but Mattis didn't let him get away with it.
With Birx you have to measure what great good she did by serving as Trump's mute and weigh that against the good she could have achieved by resigning in protest. I would like to give here the benefit of the doubt but she was too obsequious, too loyal to a president she apparently knew was going to cost hundreds of thousands of Americans their lives.
Isn't this a "Good German" situation? Instead of burning her bridges in an honourable fashion when it might have done some good she chose to put the match to her reputation. So be it.
Thanks for the background, Cap. Higher education does not innoculate someone from being a fool.
This is, indeed, a tale for the ages, Mound. It's the story of Faustus told yet again.
Donald Trump is competent in little with the exception of self promotion and reputation ruination. Inexplicably, for the most part his remains intact (he would've thought he could capture 75 million votes and come within a hair of the electoral college again). Brix is but one of many who thought they could control an out of control decades long addict and fraud, all that remains is a tattered reputation, but many of these folks, including her, should know better. She will not rehabilitate herself so is better to step away from the cameras and retire. BC Waterboy.
Brix's reputation -- like so many others who worked for Trump -- is beyond redemption, waterboy.
.. All Dr Birx needed to do was stand up abruptly and depart the room
That would have done it, sal. All she had to do was walk away.
The best one for me on that file was Trump’s response to her revelations; calling her “a proven liar”. Thanks, Donnie, we’ll just take that as ‘gospel’ as usual. Oh, the irony! Mac
The irony and the horror, Mac.
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