Supposedly Silenced Scientists and Dr. Rick Bright

A common trope by contrarians doctors is to complain about the supposed silencing of scientists. The format of this genre is predictable. Many CDs are also SSSs, but first one or more supposedly silenced scientists are identified. The SSS was praised for bucking the orthodoxy. The SSS is said to be nuanced and able to recognize trade-offs that don't make sense to the fools who don't want the virus to run rampant amongst unvaccinated children and young adults.

Critics of the SSS are said to have an inappropriate tone, thus putting them on the defensive. The critics are not felt to be deferential to the SSS, or they have ignored the SSS entirely, which deprives them of a massive platform to which they feel entitled. The critics are ridiculed. Critics do nothing but debunk cupping and homeopathy according to CDs. debunking rank pseudoscience can be useful. The critic's appearances in scientific publications have been mocked by CDs.

There is no substantive criticism of the SSS. That doesn't matter here.

The SSSs have two important qualities. They have been wrong about everything.

• They repeatedly underestimated COVID, saying it would only kill a fraction of the number of people who’ve died.
• They’ve repeatedly declared the pandemic over. They tell everyone else to move on, while they discuss COVID constantly.
• They repeatedly misstated basic facts, always understating the toll of the virus. In so doing, they have created many enduring myths with significant real-world consequences.
• They’ve argued against any and all measures to prevent children from getting the virus, including vaccines, masks, and testing. Several SSSs have even encouraged children to get the virus instead of the vaccine, though they bristle at any suggestion they are anything but “pro-vaccine”.

No SSS was silenced. Many have left an enormous media footprint after becoming famous. Several have advised powerful politicians, including the President of the United States and the Governor of Florida. Some have faced absolutely unacceptable threats, which we have all decried here at SBM, but they mostly had to endure being called "fringe" and the removal of a social media account. Everyone knows who they are. They have been quite loud.

It doesn't matter that an influential scientist with a large platform repeatedly declared the Pandemic over or convinced powerful politicians that unvaccinated children should contract it. The most important thing is that people were not nice towards the SSS or they didn't pay enough attention to it. Science and facts about the greatest mass death event in American history don't matter to those who helped spread the virus.

Dr. Rick Bright, an actually silenced scientist

It's notable that those who fancy themselves advocates for discussion and debate haven't bothered to defend Dr. Rick Bright. Dr. Bright was the head of theBARDA from 2016 to 2020. He filed a whistle blower complaint, claiming that the Trump administration retaliated against him by demoting him to a position at the National Institutes of Health and ignoring his warnings about the COVID-19 pandemic. Other scientists decided to keep quiet after he died. We don't know about them because they were silenced.

In contrast to the SSSs who told Fox News viewers the threat was overstated, Dr. Bright was clear-eyed about the danger, warning in May 2020.

Our window of opportunity is closing. If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities. Without clear planning and implementation of the steps that I and other experts have outlined, 2020 will be darkest winter in modern history.

Dr. Bright lost his mother to the virus, but he still supports the use of science and evidence in our response. His priority is to be honest and fair, not to be aggressive or to get paid subscribers to his Substack.

CDs haven't mounted a strong defense of Dr. Bright. I think they neglect him because he has three fatal flaws.

• His dire predictions were perfectly accurate.
• He has staunchly advocated for vaccines, including for children, and for other common sense measures to control the virus.
• He suffered significant consequences for his candor.

Dr. Bright does not fit into the oppression fantasies of CDs. He would have achieved SSS status if he had been correct about everything.

The gimmick becomes clear. CDs don't care about scientists who have been silenced. Instead, by focusing on their critics' manners, they seek to divert the spotlight from their successful campaign to ensure tens of millions of children and young adults contracted it before they were vaccine-free. Every second is spent talking about manners and not about predictions that children don't need the vaccine since their risk of covid will decline. CDs want to maintain an echo chamber where they can lie and get away with it.

They don't want to talk. They don't want a debate.

They can invite Dr. Bright to one of their shows to prove me wrong.