Wondering on Wednesday 4/6/22

Ready... Set... Wonder!

What's going on out there in Wonderland tonight? Well...

ABC News is reporting that Hunter Biden, the son of the president, is living in a four-bedroom mansion in Malibu, costing someone around $20K per month, and the Secret Service is renting, at around $30K/month, a nearby mansion as their command center.  

Now, I complained about the costs of protecting the adult Trump children, at their homes and on their vacations, and I complained loudly about the former president making money by renting properties to the Secret Service. I mean, the Trump are at least millionaires; Jared and Ivanka are hundred-millionaires, and of course their father is allegedly a billionaire - but that might include the money in his campaign accounts, I'm not sure. 

So, what's the wondering about Hunter and his arrangement? One, he's living in Malibu - can't he find someplace a little cheaper, or is the light really that much better for his painting there? Two, why doesn't he open his mansion to the Secret Service? And three, are they really protecting him, or are they just keeping an eye on him and sending info to the prosecutors in Delaware? 

Speaking of the alleged billionaire, he recently did a video interview, which was published in The Atlantic. In the interview, he talked about January 6th in a way that, um, puts things in a different light than what most of us have been hearing over the past 15 months. Here's some of how the former president chooses to remember things, as recapped by AlterNet.

When Congress met to certify the Electoral College results, Trump told us, there had been a 'peaceful rally,' more than a 'million people' who were full of 'tremendous love' and believed the election was 'rigged' and 'robbed' and 'stolen.' He made a 'very modest' and 'very peaceful' speech, a 'presidential speech.' The throng at the Capitol was a 'massive' and 'tremendous' group of people. The day was marred by a small group of left-wing Antifa and Black Lives Matter activists who 'infiltrated' them and who were not stopped, because of poor decisions by the U.S. Capitol Police when some 'bad things happened.'

So, what am I wondering? Only this: If I want to have what he's having - whatever it is that gives him such confidence in this altered reality - where do I get it, how much does it cost, and is it legal? 

Speaking of 'bad things happening' - and yes, that's at least partly unfair - there's news about the CDC. Here's how the NY Post reported the story. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday it plans to undergo a month-long “revamp” as it faces a credibility crisis more than two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report.

Pretty much everyone I know, at one point or another during the pandemic, wondered what was going on at the CDC, or what was going through their heads with the many varied twists and turns, and the number of people who were speaking on behalf of, or instead of, or over the top of, the CDC experts. I'm not wondering why they're doing the review and the revamp - I'm just wondering if shutting up all the extra voices is going to be part of the change.

And speaking of public health and whatnot, there's an optical illusion of a running man; it's said that if you see the man running towards you, you have a 'male' brain. If you see him running away, you have a female brain. I don't know if I believe the science of the study, but I do know Republicans believe there are women and men and that's all there is. 

I wonder, if a Republican man looking at the image perceives the man running away, can he really be a Republican - or a man?

Circling back around to alleged billionaires, and Republicans, and men, and women, there was a time when the alleged billionaire went out on a limb and said that a woman who has an abortion should be punished. 

Trump stated that if abortion was banned and made illegal, there "would have to be some kind of punishment" if a woman got one anyway. Matthews, to his credit, did not have a heart attack, or even jump up and down doing a happy dance that he had finally asked the question that might take Trump down.

Instead, he pressed, and pressed, and pressed, trying to get Trump to commit. to a specific punishment. Ten cents? Ten years? Trump answered probably a dozen times that the punishment would have to be determined. And so it went, until the actual exchange was pushed off the air by the comments from everyone else.

And here we are: in Oklahoma, a new bill that makes performing an abortion a felony absent a need to save the life of the woman in a medical emergency.

Any person convicted of performing or attempting to perform an abortion is guilty of a felony punishable by a fine not to exceed $100,000.00 or a maximum sentence of imprisonment of 10 years, or both. 

Gov. Kevin Stitt will sign the bill, gleefully I imagine, when it lands on his desk, as he'll sign all the other abortion bills that are heading his way, including one that mirrors the 'blow in your neighbors' language from Texas. 

Six years and a month ago, in the post about Trump's punish-the-woman comments, I opined that

If the Right wants to be tough on crime, and tough on legal abortion, then they should be standing up in support of Trump's comment, instead of running from it. They should be shouting it from the rooftops, rather than shouting at Trump for saying what he did. They should be castigating him for walking it back, as he did, instead of castigating him for saying it in the first place.

If not, their convictions are without courage, and conversely.

And I wonder, tonight, if anyone thinks I'm wrong on that. 

Sunday School 1/2/22

Yesterday's classroom discussions focused mostly on the pandemic and the insurrection; I'll focus on the former here, and save the latter for your Extra Credit.

Dr. Anthony Fauci and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona made multiple appearances, while former FDA head Scott Gottlieb and Republican governors Larry Hogan (MD) and Asa Hutchinson (AR) were also roaming the halls. Here are some highlights.

Fauci, speaking with George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week, gave this as his "key message on where things stand right now." 

Well, we are definitely in the middle of a very severe surge and uptick in cases...it is actually almost a vertical increase. We're now at an average of about 400,000 cases per day. Hospitalizations are up. One of the things that we hope for, George, is that this thing will peak after a period of a few weeks and turn around. 

And, in the State of the Union classroom, here's Fauci's response to a question from Dana Bash about the driver of the CDC's new relaxed guidelines on quarantining - science or social and business pressures.

There is no doubt that you do want to get people out into the workplace if they are without symptoms. And in the second half of a 10-day period, which would normally be a 10-day isolation period, the likelihood of transmissibility is considerably lower... the CDC made the judgment that it would be relatively low-risk to get people out. You're right. People are getting concerned about, why not test people at that time? I myself feel that that's a reasonable thing to do. I believe that the CDC soon will be coming out with more clarification of that, since it obviously has generated a number of questions...

Gottlieb appears regularly on Face the Nation, and touched on a few key issues in his discussion with Margaret Brennan. For example, he said that over 600 children have died from COVID since the beginning of the pandemic, compared to three pediatric deaths from the flu in the same time period. That said, 

In terms of going back to school, I think the prerogative clearly is to try to get schools reopened. We shouldn't be doing preemptive school closures, in my opinion, but there will be situations where we have reactive school closures, when there are large outbreaks.

Antigen tests work fairly well at detecting the omicron variant, but that "serial testing over a period of time" is the best way to protect a high-risk setting like a school. 

While any individual test could miss the infection, if you're doing serial testing, you're likely to pick it up. And we need to get tests into schools. We still don't have tests widely available to the schools, so that they can use these tests for tests-to- stay policies to prevent large quarantines when are cases diagnosed in the classroom.

He said we should be focused on getting schools open, and keeping them open, pointing out "with the tools we have, with prudence, with the knowledge we have," we can do "a pretty good job" of controlling large outbreaks in schools. However, he's not a fan of mandating boosters for school-age kids. He pointed to studies showing that there was "100% protection" in the 12-16 age group, and said in that group, the vaccinated "are getting a more robust response" from vaccines than others.

For his part, Secretary Cardona did his best to explain that the Biden administration wants kids in schools, they want everyone learning the best possible way they can, they want tests to be available, they want ventilation to be effective, and so on - but that's not enough, according to both Brennan and Gallagher. 

The hosts were skeptical of the efforts that have been undertaken, and how they are being perceived, particularly by teachers. Brennan wondered about teachers in Chicago, Massachusetts and Connecticut saying "they don't feel safe" in schools. Cardona said that the administration's messaging hasn't changed since he's been in position.

We need to make sure we're following mitigation strategies, that we're supporting our educators by providing a safe learning environment, we're providing vaccination for our students as young as 5, so that the whole school community is safe, and we're providing surveillance testing to make sure that, if someone is sick, that they stay home. 

Similarly, Gallagher referenced comments from Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, expressing concern that school districts "don't have the infrastructure for testing and tests to stay. It's going to be really, really bumpy and there's going to need a lot of grace," something she said was "in short supply." 

Cardona noted "there's a level of urgency that we shouldn't lose around making sure that our children learn in person", saying "the impact of hybrid learning, the impact of remote learning, is very real" for parents as well as for the kids. He said the American Rescue Plan funding, coupled with efforts from other groups, is all geared towards keeping kids in school.

And when Gallagher asked if the road wasn't going to be as bumpy as Weingarten predicted, Cardona said

...it's really important that we continue to work together. I do think there will be bumps on the road, especially tomorrow. I mean, superintendents today are receiving calls of staff members that they were expecting to be in the classroom tomorrow who have come down with COVID. So, we're going to roll up our sleeves, all hands on deck. Let's keep our children in the classroom. That should be our default thinking, and as problems come up, we need to work together to solve them.

In both classrooms, I think his arguments fell short.

I'll close with an interesting discussion down the hall in the Fox News Sunday classroom, where Trace Gallagher talked with Gov. Hutchinson. To me, it felt like Gallagher was trying to get Hutchinson to downplay the efforts of the Biden administration on the pandemic, but the gov was surprisingly complimentary. 

For example, Hutchinson thought it "was an important step" that the CDC revised the guidelines, saying it was "a recognition that we have to be able to manage our way through" the pandemic. He applauded that "they used science, they overlaid it with practicality" but admitted there could be more consistency and simplicity for people.

While he agreed that 'pandemic politics' has played a role, and caused frustration and division, he also said "it really is refreshing that, I believe, there's a uniformity of opinion by our leaders that vaccinations are critical to get us through this. And so that unified message is absolutely essential, and we've got to -- so I complemented the president on that." 

Vaccinations have been a sore point in Arkansas; the state ranks 45th in percentage of people vaccinated, but he's not moving towards a mandate any time soon. If they ever did get to that point,

there always has to be the right exceptions for religious convictions if -- you know, if vaccines are not acceptable, and that is the current law in Arkansas, and that should continue to be the case.

Feeling better after all of that? 

See you around campus. 

Sunday School 1/24/21: Extra Credit

I'm sure many of you have heard about Dr. Deborah Birx's interview with Margaret Brennan in the Face the Nation classroom. A few excerpts have been making the rounds, including this one.

I saw the President presenting graphs that I never made. So, I know that someone-- or someone out there or someone inside was creating a parallel set of data and graphics that were shown to the President. I know what I sent up and I know that what was in his hands was different from that. You can't do that.

What else did she have to say? Well, she knew, at the end of last February, that we were going to be facing a pandemic based on what she had seen from China. 

...when you overwhelm your hospitals, you have to know that you have broad-based community spread before that happens. Yet they weren't seeing it. And that really worried me because what we were looking for is people with symptoms. And so, when people were coming into the country, we were looking for people with symptoms...  This is exactly how we missed the HIV pandemic. If you're only looking for sick people, you miss a lot of the-- what is really happening under the surface...So, when we were questioning people who came into this country about symptoms rather than testing everybody who came into the country, that's when I started to get really worried. 

President Obama appointed her for the AIDS effort, but thinking about how she's going to be forever linked to president Trump doesn't sit well with her.

Well, you know, this is what worries me. If we start looking at technical civil servants as belonging to a political party, we will lose the ability for highly qualified civil servants to come and help. If we start saying if you come in and do this, you are then going to be part of the political apparatus, that is going to be very dangerous for this country.

She did say that "pandemics are always political," because to tackle them, you almost always have to change policies. But even with her experience working on AIDS, nothing prepared her for the politics of the coronavirus in the White House.

White Houses function in a pretty-- a pretty bureaucratic way, and most of the agencies function in a very predictable and bureaucratic way. But when you remove the infrastructure of the civil servants, then you end up with a lot more very quick right turns, left turns, right turns, left turns, and that-- that becomes less predictable and less able to manage that kind of response and change. 

When asked whether there were COVID deniers in the White House, she said in the White House and elsewhere, "there were people who definitely believed that this was a hoax." Partly because information was confusing, and because people saw others who got COVID and were fine, and 

When you have a pandemic where you're relying on every American to change their behavior communication is absolutely key. And so, every time a-- a statement was made by a political leader that wasn't consistent with public health needs, that derailed our response. It is also why I went out on the road because I wasn't censored on the road.

Birx noted she wasn't doing national press, and also that she wasn't "going to go outside the chain of command," and ask to go out and talk to the press if she wasn't asked to 

because there was so much leaking and so many parallel stories being leaked to the press that did not have grounding in truth that I didn't want to ever be part of that slippery slope. I know people started it with good intentions of trying to inform the American people, but then it became a way that they could silence those who didn't agree with them. And so I knew that every time I had a significant disagreement in the White House that within days a story would be planted... I think a lot of people were doing that.

She realized that speaking directly to the governors was the best way to get her information out, and that she, former FDA Commissioner Steve Hahn, former FDA chief Robert Redfield, and Dr. Fauci "would make sure we got the information out to the public one way or another." She considered quitting, "Always. I mean, why would you want to put yourself through that, every day?" That didn't get any better after the 'bleach' incident.

When you're a scientist who's grounded themselves in data and combating epidemics and working with communities and working with governments to change the future of people's lives for the better and then you get-- this is what-- when you talked about, was I prepared for that? No, I wasn't prepared for that. I didn't even know what to do in that moment.

That moment included becoming a character in an SNL skit. 

Birx agreed when Brennan asked if the "fundamental question" is whether we should leave it up to the states to handle a pandemic. They talked about some of the governors who not only had to deal with the president not wearing a mask, pushing them to keep everything open, and whatnot, but also with their own state legislators and state parties.

You needed every single level of government then to work together to ensure that, again, we're talking about behavioral change of American citizens.

About that behavior change? Birx said there were only two people at the White House who regularly wore a mask - she and the support person she had from HHS.  No one else. In trying to explain that, Birx said she thought "people believed wrongly that testing would be adequate ...that they believe that testing is a surrogate for a public health intervention." And, she said

There are multiple communications about masking. Remember when I was talking about the stream of data coming in? They were mixing data that didn't have anything to do with the relevance of masking as a public health measure to changing into masking as a personal protective measure.

Birx also said that she knew going to work at the White House to try and coordinate a pandemic response would be a "terminal event" for her career. 

I know that I wouldn't be allowed to really continue successfully within the federal government. You can't go into something that's that polarized and not believe that you won't be tainted by that experience or how people interpret you in that experience. So I knew that part of it. I didn't want that to happen.

Here's Birx's response when Brennan asked if "this will be the end of your federal career."

Yeah. I will need to retire probably within the next four to six weeks from CDC."

Her experience may keep good people from going into public service, which would be a shame.

See you around campus.

My Middle-aged White Lady Perspective: Oh, What a Difference!

I didn't watch the last inauguration. I couldn't. 

I watched this one. I had to.

I wanted to hear words of comfort and truth and reality and understanding. I wanted to hear about equality and I wanted diversity and I wanted to hear words that were meant for everyone, instead of for only some people. I wanted to hear words that hopefully will calm our allies, but not embolden our enemies. I wanted to hear from someone who doesn't think he's the center of the universe, nor God's gift to the rest of us. 

It needed to be different from the one four years ago; it had to be different from the one four years ago. The man is different from that other one, the moment is different from that other one, the world is different now than it was four years ago.  I needed it to be different, as did many other people. 

And it was different. I heard what I needed to hear, to take some of the weight off my shoulders, to ease some of the stress I have felt for more than five years. 

 ...my fellow Americans, this is America's day. This is democracy's day. A day of history and hope of renewal and resolve through a crucible for the ages. America has been tested anew and America has risen to the challenge...

For now, on this hallowed ground, where just a few days ago, violence sought to shake the Capitol's very foundation, we come together as one nation, under God, indivisible to carry out the peaceful transfer of power, as we have for more than two centuries. 

And he reminded us that "the American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us, on we the people who seek a more perfect union." And that 

This is a great nation. We are good people. And over the centuries, through storm and strife, in peace and in war, we've come so far. But we still have far to go. We'll press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and significant possibilities, much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build, and much to gain. 

Climate change, and the pandemic, and the economy, and racial injustice - much to do - and this, too, perhaps our biggest challenge: "... a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat." 

To overcome our challenges, we need "the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity. Biden referenced Abraham Lincoln, who famously said, "if my name ever goes down into history, it'll be for this act. And my whole soul is in it.” And then, told us, with conviction,

My whole soul was in it today. On this January day, my whole soul is in this: Bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation. And I ask every American to join me in this cause.

We need to be united to "fight the foes we face: anger, resentment, hatred, extremism, lawlessness, violence, disease, joblessness and hopelessness. With unity, we can do great things, important things." And yet, he's a realist.

I know speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy these days. I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real, but I also know they are not new. Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we're all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart.

But, he said, "In each of these moments, enough of us, enough of us have come together to carry all of us forward. And we can do that now."

We can see each other not as adversaries, but as neighbors. We can treat each other with dignity and respect. We can join forces, stop the shouting and lower the temperature. For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury. No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of chaos.  

Let's begin to listen to one another again. Hear one another, see one another, show respect to one another. Politics doesn't have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn't have to be a cause for total war. And we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated and even manufactured.

It's not a cage match. It doesn't have to be a slugfest. It doesn't have to be calling for bipartisanship, and never inviting anyone from the other side to participate. It doesn't have to be proudly not speaking to leaders from the other party - for months on end. 

Those calls for unity were completely fake, and everyone knew it, including the person doing the talking. He's gone now, thankfully.  And our new president, before his swearing-in? He invited the leaders of both houses of Congress, leaders from both parties, to join him this morning. Not to stand with an upside-down Bible in front of a church, but to pray together, for our country, in a church.

My fellow Americans. We have to be different than this. America has to be better than this. And I believe America is so much better than this. Just look around. Here we stand in the shadow of the Capitol dome, as was mentioned earlier, completed amid the Civil War, when the union itself was literally hanging in the balance. Yet we endured, we prevailed... And here we stand just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, to drive us from this sacred ground. 

It did not happen. It will never happen. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. Not ever.

It did not have to come to this. It never should have come to this. And a night-and-day different president is what we need, and what we got, and who we heard from today. 

What are the common objects we as Americans love, that define us as Americans? I think we know. Opportunity, security, liberty, dignity, respect, honor and yes, the truth. 

Opportunity, security, liberty - not "we will make America wealthy again."  

Dignity, and respect, and honor. After four years where disrespect was encouraged, and celebrated, and retweeted ad nauseum, we now have a president who will not stand for it.  Tonight, when President Biden swore in his appointees, he told them that he would fire them on the spot if he heard they had treated others - anyone - with disrespect. 

And yes, the truth.  Not over 30,000 lies or false statements - the truth.

Recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson. There is truth and there are lies, lies told for power and for profit. And each of us has a duty and responsibility, as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders, leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation, to defend the truth and defeat the lies.

 Not by turning inward, but turning towards each other. 

We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts. If we show a little tolerance and humility, and if we're willing to stand in the other person's shoes, as my mom would say, just for a moment, stand in their shoes. Because here's the thing about life. There's no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days, when you need a hand. There are other days when we're called to lend a hand. That's how it has to be. That's what we do for one another. And if we are this way, our country will be stronger, more prosperous, more ready for the future. And we can still disagree. 

Not by stepping away from our allies, not by barging in front of them, not through abusive "America first" policies, but by honoring and embracing our alliances. 

So, here's my message to those beyond our borders. America has been tested and we've come out stronger for it. We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again. Not to meet yesterday's challenges, but today's and tomorrow's challenges. And we’ll lead, not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. We'll be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress and security.

Strong and trusted. Contrary to some opinions, we can be both. We need to be both. And I hope we will be both, again.

My fellow Americans, I close the day where I began, with a sacred oath before God and all of you. I give you my word, I will always level with you. I will defend the Constitution. I'll defend our democracy. I'll defend America and I will give all, all of you. Keep everything I do in your service, thinking not of power, but of possibilities, not of personal interest, but the public good. And together we shall write an American story of hope, not fear. Of unity, not division. Of light, not darkness. A story of decency and dignity, love and healing, greatness and goodness. May this be the story that guides us. The story that inspires us and the story that tells ages yet to come that we answered the call of history. We met the moment. Democracy and hope, truth and justice did not die on our watch, but thrived. That America secured liberty at home and stood once again as a beacon to the world. That is what we owe our forbearers, one another and generations to follow. 

I really needed to hear these words today. 

I was proud of us again, today. I was hopeful again, today. 

My eyes are wide open, but today, my heart was wide open, too. 

TGIF 12/18/20

'Twas a week before Christmas and all through the house, cats are sleeping, lights are blinking, we can finally see snow on the ground when we look out the window.

Presents are being wrapped (with no target date for being opened), things that were ordered weeks ago might get here by the end of the year (or not).

The annual gift-snack-making has happened (and hopefully we won't everything before we see people), cards have been sent and are being received - and none of this rhymes with house, does it? 

And you know what? Who cares if it rhymes or not? 

We are among the fortunate, and grateful to be. We're healthy, our friends and families are healthy, and we're working to keep it that way.

We're thankful for the frontline workers who are giving so much, seeing so much, dealing with so much, and sacrificing so much. 

We're thankful for essential workers, the people who are keeping the grocery stores and gas stations and drug stores and doctor's offices and veterinarian's offices and post offices and tire stores and bird food stores open. 

We're thankful for the DPW and sanitation crews, the police and firefighters who are keeping us safe. We're thankful for the people who are providing meals to families, and seniors. And for the teachers, administrators, other school personnel, bus drivers and cafeteria workers who care about, and tend to our community's children.

We're thankful that we've had the opportunity and that we have the wherewithal to provide some support to local businesses, local charities, and local social service organizations during the pandemic. We wish we could do more - we always wish we could do more.

We are thankful for the scientists who developed the vaccines, the companies that manufacture them, the people who are moving them from point A to point B to point us, when it is our turn. And we are thankful for the people, including friends, who participated in the trials of the vaccines, who took a chance on everyone else's behalf.

We're thankful for our local leaders, who have done everything they can to maintain public health and promote local businesses, who have let data dictate their decisions, who have asked us to do what's right, who have been open with us, who have cried alongside us when community members, our neighbors, were lost.

Today is the last day of Hanukkah; it's a week before Christmas; 8 days until Kwanzaa; five days before Festivus. 

However you celebrate, whatever you celebrate, whenever you celebrate, and even if you don't, warm wishes to you and yours. 

TGIF, everyone.

Sunday School 12/13/20

I decided that, in the interest of good behavior during a pandemic, I'd only visit one classroom today, and I decided, after seeing who was making the rounds, that CNN's State of the Union classroom was the place to be.  

Visiting with Tapper today?  Bill Gates, for one, who suggested that the next few months - four to six, he said - "could be the worst of the epidemic," with a forecast of another 200K+ deaths. We don't have to have that many, and we wouldn't if people would wear masks and not mingle with others.  He also said that he never thought we'd be seeing what we're seeing here; he thought we'd "do a better job handling it."

Tapper asked Gates how much credit the president and his Operation Warp Speed deserve for getting us vaccines in less than a year.

Well, the mRNA vaccines, which the first two are, our foundation and others have been backing for quite some time. Now, Pfizer teamed up with BioNtech, a partner of ours, and did not take government money. So, they went out on their own. Moderna got money before there was an Operation Warp Speed, back when it was the -- just called BARDA. And that money did help them take risks, because they're not a large company, and they got help on some of their trials work.  So, the U.S. R&D funding, which is -- had been there for pandemics well before this administration, that was a contribution greater than any other country.

And, Tapper wondered, what does Gates think about Trump's Executive Order on prioritizing Americans getting the vaccine over folks in other countries?

Well, I think we need to help all of humanity here. You know, we want the world economy be going. We want to minimize the deaths. And, you know, the basic technology is a German company. And so blocking international sharing and cooperation has been disruptive and a mistake during this entire pandemic. So, we need to ramp up the capacity of all the vaccines. There will be some additional ones approved in the months ahead that are easier to scale up the manufacturing. But the U.S. has benefited from other countries' work care, and we shouldn't be entirely selfish in how we go forward.

And, when Tapper asked, "So, in your view, America first, as the president might call it, not the right approach?"

Well, the extreme idea that everybody should die until we have the very last American vaccinated, that's hardly the appropriate response.

Gates also said the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines "look very similar" (in terms of efficacy) and he expects the others "are likely to be about the same." And, he thinks "we have a real communications challenge," given poll results showing only 60% of Americans say they intend to get vaccinated. 

...you have got to find out, who do people trust, make sure they have got the data. I hope, as people see it being rolling -- this vaccine rolled out, in reducing the death rate, reducing transmission to people you care about, that that 60 percent number will go up. For some jobs, like working in a nursing home, the government could decide that it's important for those people to be vaccinated, because that will save a lot of lives. And so the track record will be developed, and I think we will get over the 70 percent that should reduce the transmission dramatically.

He also said when it was his turn to get the vaccine, he'd take it publicly. He has no intention of moving to the head of the line, because 

It should be based on medical need, not wealth at all. After all, this epidemic has been awful in the way that it's exacerbated inequities. It's been worse for Hispanics, worse for blacks, worse for low-income service workers, multigenerational households, a number of things that mean that, in terms of picking who gets the vaccine, we better be using equity to drive all those decisions.

He thinks "Certainly, by the summer" we'll be much closer to normal, but that it could take longer. And how about trying to do all of this stuff during a transition?

 Yes, transition is complicating. But the new administration is willing to rely on actual experts, and not attack those experts. They're laying out clear plans. So, I think we will get through this in a positive way.

He said he's pleased with how Biden and his team are looking at things, working to retain key people like Dr. Fauci, how they're prioritizing things, and so on. Because of all of that, he thinks "the U.S. will not be one of the worst performers as the team comes into office."

Tapper asked him what he thinks about current administration's handling of things, the inaccurate statements, mistakes that were made, the undermining of the experts, and so on. He said it actually could have been worse, say if Trump had fired Fauci, or if Scott Atlas had been around longer. The postmortem, when it's all over, will go back further than Trump, back to 2015 when Gates and others sounded the alarm about a pandemic, what they could have done differently, and what they can learn from this one before the next one hits.

 And whatever that administration is, being smart about getting the testing up fast, allowing the CDC, who are the experts, to give the message to the public, not being afraid of bad news, so that we get people ready, it's pretty clear we're going to be smarter next time.

Tapper did ask Gates for his response to talk about the "Fauci-Gates vaccine" and how he wants to inject microchips into people.

Well, I'm surprised, and I'm not even quite sure how to react. Dr. Fauci and I believe in vaccines. Vaccines have saved millions of lives. That's what our foundation is all about. And so our expertise was valuable here in getting the scale-up of those things. You have got to be willing to speak out publicly, even if it's not always well understood. So, I do worry, will this make people not want to take the vaccine, or not believe in polio eradication and our other causes that I think are valuable.

And, thinking about how history will just our performance - 20% of the world's cases, 20% of the world's deaths, but we're only 4% of the world's population.

Well, the U.S. would have been expected to be the best. You know, we have the CDC. We have the most PCR machines. We have got the NIH, all this capacity. And, sadly, before the epidemic, in the first two or three months of the epidemic, we didn't get on top of it like many countries did. So, figuring out where we need to change things, these postmortems over the next year will guide us. But it's a tragedy that we weren't able to respond like we could have.

Ain't that the truth. 

Masks on; as Gates said, there's little downside to wearing one  - and we have to get through the next four to six months. 

See you around the virtual campus.