Below is my column in the New York Post on the prestigious award given to Stanford Professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya last week and what it has to say about those who censored, blacklisted, and vilified him for the last four years. In celebrating his fight for “intellectual freedom,” the National Academy effectively condemned those who joined the mob against him as well as the many professors who stayed silent as he and others were targeted.
Here is the column:
Few in the media seemed eager to attend a ceremony last week in Washington, D.C., where the prestigious American Academy of Sciences and Letters was awarding its top intellectual freedom award.
The problem may have been the recipient: Stanford Professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.
Bhattacharya has spent years being vilified by the media over his dissenting views on the pandemic. As one of the signatories of the 2020 Great Barrington Declaration, he was canceled, censored, and even received death threats.
That open letter called on government officials and public health authorities to rethink the mandatory lockdowns and other extreme measures in light of past pandemics.
All the signatories became targets of an orthodoxy enforced by an alliance of political, corporate, media, and academic groups. Most were blocked on social media despite being accomplished scientists with expertise in this area.
It did not matter that positions once denounced as “conspiracy theories” have been recognized or embraced by many.
Some argued that there was no need to shut down schools, which has led to a crisis in mental illness among the young and the loss of critical years of education. Other nations heeded such advice with more limited shutdowns (including keeping schools open) and did not experience our losses.
Others argued that the virus’s origin was likely the Chinese research lab in Wuhan. That position was denounced by the Washington Post as a “debunked” coronavirus “conspiracy theory.” The New York Times Science and Health reporter Apoorva Mandavilli called any mention of the lab theory “racist.”
Federal agencies now support the lab theory as the most likely based on the scientific evidence.
Likewise, many questioned the efficacy of those blue surgical masks and supported natural immunity to the virus — both positions were later recognized by the government.
Others questioned the six-foot rule used to shut down many businesses as unsupported by science. In congressional testimony, Dr. Anthony Fauci recently admitted that the 6-foot rule “sort of just appeared” and “wasn’t based on data.” Yet not only did the rule result in heavily enforced rules (and meltdowns) in public areas, the media further ostracized dissenting critics.
Again, Fauci and other scientists did little to stand up for these scientists or call for free speech to be protected. As I discuss in my new book, “The Indispensable Right,” the result is that we never really had a national debate on many of these issues and the result of massive social and economic costs.
I spoke at the University of Chicago with Bhattacharya and other dissenting scientists in the front row a couple of years ago. After the event, I asked them how many had been welcomed back to their faculties or associations since the recognition of some of their positions.
They all said that they were still treated as pariahs for challenging the groupthink culture.
Now the scientific community is recognizing the courage shown by Bhattacharya and others with its annual Robert J. Zimmer Medal for Intellectual Freedom.
So what about all of those in government, academia, and the media who spent years hounding these scientists?
Biden Administration officials and Democratic members targeted Bhattacharya and demanded his censorship. For example, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) attacked Bhattacharya and others who challenged the official narrative during the pandemic. Krishnamoorthi expressed outrage that the scientists were even allowed to testify as “a purveyor of COVID-19 misinformation.”
Journalists and columnists also supported the censorship and blacklisting of these scientists. In the Los Angeles Times, columnist Michael Hiltzik decried how “we’re living in an upside-down world” because Stanford allowed these scientists to speak at a scientific forum. He was outraged that, while “Bhattacharya’s name doesn’t appear in the event announcement,” he was an event organizer. Hiltzik also wrote a column titled “The COVID lab leak claim isn’t just an attack on science, but a threat to public health.”
Then there are those lionized censors at Twitter who shadow-banned Bhattacharya. As former CEO Parag Agrawal generally explained, the “focus [was] less on thinking about free speech … [but[ who can be heard.”
None of this means that Bhattacharya or others were right in all of their views. Instead, many of the most influential voices in the media, government, and academia worked to prevent this discussion from occurring when it was most needed.
There is still a debate over Bhattacharya’s “herd immunity” theories, but there is little debate over the herd mentality used to cancel him.
The Academy was right to honor Bhattacharya. It is equally right to condemn all those who sought to silence a scientist who is now being praised for resisting their campaign to silence him and others.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
I will never stop referring to the lockdowns as one of the most egregious crimes against humanity in history, all perpetrated by the modern left and its minions. The lies, the greed, the indifference – it was an example of true totalitarianism and an object lesson of precisely how they would rule if ever they had total power.
I agree with a poster below that this is progress, but we are still a long way from home. This is not the time to get cocky, nothing is in the bag. We must never willingly relinquish our freedoms to that extent, for any reason, ever again.
The latest chicanery is the left attempting to destroy Jill Stein by claiming a vote for her is a vote for Trump and that she too is a Russian stooge. They will never relent, and still in their hubris fail to realize people want Trump, and that what we reject about the modern left *is the modern left itself*, in toto.
“…one of the most egregious crimes against humanity in history…”
You sound like the kind of person who gets pissed off when it rains the day you plan to go to the beach.
I don’t know about James, but as a tennis player, golfer, and baseball player, I do hate rainouts.
You sound like a stooge and a lemming.
You sound like you have poo for brains.
@Anonymi
You are ridiculous, you convince no one of anything, and you accuse of what you represent. Pfft. Day, after day, after day. You are either very privileged, very bored, or both. Whatever the case you are definitely boring. Double pfft. Nobody cares.
“You sound like the kind of person who gets pissed off when it rains the day you plan to go to the beach.”
You are a Democrat clone of Greta Thunburg enraged in a “How Dare You” terminal Midol Moment when anybody disagrees with your political theology.
James,
Absolutely! That is why when we hear people like Kerry, Clinton all those other pundits saying the 1stA is a threat to their rule, we should believe they are the real totalitarians.
* Barack Hussein Obama is the most egregious crime in recorded history not including the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Professor Turley writes, “Again, Fauci and other scientists did little to stand up for these scientists or call for free speech to be protected.”
And why did Fauci behave this way? Because he was guilty of violating the spirit of U.S. research protocols by engaging in gain-of-function research. What he did was offshore the research to a Chinese weapons lab, funding it through American cutouts. This is exactly what Hillary did when she got Steele to recruit Russian propogandists in her effort to smear Trump in 2016.
Bad guys often read from the same playbook. What else have they done like this we don’t yet know about??
What is even sadder is that the Democrat Party, MSNBC, and CNN allowed themselves to become political bomb shelters for Fauci while he engaged in a coverup and attacked his critics. To get them to do that, he had to abandon real science and let MSNBC dictate to him what the science was.
And what did MSNBC want? They wanted a public health program that would defy and criminalize freedom and conservativism. Most of the scientific community went along with all of this ENTHUSIASTICALLY! So much for “the science.” The Climate Change debate has many of the same problems.
The public record on Fauci needs to be corrected. He is the worst public official in American history.
If it were up to me, I would defund the CDC and use the money to contract with Swedish and Isreali public health organizations. The Swedes in particular did a much better–and more honest–job during the pandemic.
“Bad guys often read from the same playbook.”
If we know bad guys often read from the same playbook, then the good guys have to learn that no matter how pretty their faces are, if they are reading from that playbook, they are bad and need to be avoided.
All your points make an incredible amount of sense. Thanks.
🙂
“And why did Fauci behave this way?”
As promised to him, Pfizer and Moderna have teamed up to purchase a small tropical island for Fasci, where he can live out the remainder of his life in a hammock, snacking on tasty treats, and sipping daiquiris, free from any worries of being held accountable for the atrocities he inflicted on the people of his country and the world.
Amazing that our society cannot be inclusive, and welcome diverse thoughts, opinions, and arguments from a minority. Let’s combat Science Supremacists!
I am glad he won this award. What we learned during COVID was about how absolute power, corrupts absolutely. Canada, Australia and some states in the U.S. (to name a few) demonstrated how easily power can shift away from the people and into the hands of those in power.
Scientists and researchers who dare to question the narrative were slapped down, cancelled and treated to lose their license to practice medicine.
Then, there was the bizarre pushback against anyone who dared connect the dots about the origin of the virus. It just so happened to come from the same place where the U.S. and Chinese were collaborating on virus gain of function research. A second grader could make a correct assumption with the obvious coincidences.
It only takes two to conspire. Then, it is no longer a theory. There is no such thing as settled “science” when spoken of in generalities.
Gravity is a liberal conspiracy.
Sign your name to it Benson.
And get that Rivastigmine patch. It will help with these little outbursts.
E.M. said: What we learned during COVID was about how absolute power, corrupts absolutely. Canada, Australia and some states in the U.S. (to name a few) demonstrated how easily power can shift away from the people and into the hands of those in power.
We don’t improve America by channeling our errors and evil onto others rather than taking full responsibility for what we have done. We own this.
During Wuhan Flu, this entire country was in the thrall of Biden/Harris and Fauci and their fellow travellers in the federal bureaucracy. Some states were better able to resist and oppose it than others.
In the meantime, Canada (as one of your examples) pretty much happily adopted every single policy enacted by Biden and Fauci as their policy. Including their medical directors including “men can get pregnant” in Wuhan Flu policy as we did. Canada didn’t make a unique Canadian policy up – they copied us.
Trying “look at these other countries!” is just a distraction.
America is more often than not the trendsetter, whether the birth of Woke and Drag Whores reading stories to kiddies who believe in Santa Clause or the response to Wuhan Flu.
We don’t need to be the trendsetter for denying where we’ve been the leader in doing wrong while claiming to be the trendsetter when we want to own doing what is right.
https://youtu.be/fbFsxYvHA0c?si=2V440v5W0V3diSCD
Worth watching. Carl Sagan discusses Immanuel Velikovsky’s “Worlds in Collision” hypothesis and the right and wrong ways that the scientific community responds to contrary ideas. Spoiler Alert: He’s against the suppression of ideas.
This is sure to gladden the hearts of those who cherish freedom of expression and pi$$ off George, Dennis, Girly Girl, FishParts and the rest of the progressive goon platoon.
Carl Sagan… atheist hero!!!
The bottom line is that science, to be science, has to be expressed as a question mark. “?” Not as a period (.) and certainly not as an exclamation point (!). Science is not about getting to the finish line fast and then sticking your fingers in your ears yelling nah nah nah. Science is about going down every rabbit hole, looking under every bush, doubling back sometimes, questioning everything and everyone until time itself reveals the only answer still standing- whatever that answer may be. What Fauci and the Feds (good name for an 80’s band) practiced was religion, not science. The incredible thing was that so many millions of people worldwide could not see that at the time.
Imagine if the Catholic Church or the Southern Baptist Convention were in charge of medical research? What do you think would happen to the 1% of babies born with intersex traits (babies possessing both female and male traits)?
They would be loved as they are now by true Christians.
Why would a Church be in charge of medical research? Imagine if the government were in charge of taking care of the poor and infirmed. Oh wait, they are, and they SUCK at it.
Your BS numbers on “intersex” is a combination of a very loosely defined term and Trans activism.
My current girlfriend has a clitoris that is the size of my index finger. She would have been classified “intersex” by todays definition.
Get a grip. You’ll be happier when you stop hating.
Your girlfriend, as Christians are apt to think, must be a hot f.
The percentage range is 1-1500 to 1-2000 not 1%, Facts Matter. (200,000 to 150000 based on 300 million)
An Anonymous Democrat asked: Imagine if the Catholic Church or the Southern Baptist Convention were in charge of medical research? What do you think would happen to the 1% of babies born with intersex traits (babies possessing both female and male traits)?
If they survived the Democrat-Planned Parenthood Baby Butcher Shop Complex – supported by Joe Biden/Nancy Pelosi devout Catholics and all those Baptist churches run by pastors like the Obama’s racist Jeremiah Wright bussing the devout to the polls to vote for the Democrat-Planned Parenthood Baby Butcher Shop Complex?
Would “they’d be loved rather than aborted” be a satisfactory answer?
Question: “So what about all of those in government, academia, and the media who spent years hounding these scientists?”
Answer: They are now hounding Donald Trump.
I still believe that there was some ulterior motive for how the gov’t and media handled the pandemic. The most obvious is that there was a lot of money involved and a lot of folks had their hand in the pie?
“The most obvious is that there was a lot of money involved and a lot of folks had their hand in the pie?”
No. While there no doubt were overlapping motives among the participants. at the topmost level it was almost certainly a dress rehearsal for future, more permanent, oppression.
This is just…whew, a bit to unpack. First Turley doesn’t mention what award was presented. He leaves that out for some weird reason. In case anyone is curious it’s the the Zimmer Medal for Intellectual Freedom. Cool.
Second, this outift is brand new. I was founded just last year. The Academy of Sciences and letters is not a long-time distinguished ‘academy’ with a long record of luminaries and scholars as it’s members. The Zimmer medal has been awarded to one other person at it’s founding, Salman Rushdie. The ahem, “prestigiousness” of this award is mostly pomp and circumstance to promote this new ‘academy’. It’s a littel sketchy since admission to this ‘academy’ is highly selective and it already has a reputation of being politically biaised. So any “prestigiousness” attached to it seems to be mostly window dressing. That’s my opinion.
Third, the Great Barrington Declaration has been demonstrated to be flawed. The herd immunity idea was not sound and it was effectively challenged by the John Snow Memorandum. Turley admits Dr. Bhattacharya may not have been entirely right and buries that admission in the middle of his column. Neat.
Despite this announcement of this “prestigious” academy award from a newly founded academy with barely a truly prestigious pedigree the Covid-19 debate is largely pointless by now. It was almost 5 years ago. Lessons were learned and conspiracy theories were debunked.
How to tell others that your didn’t read the article: “ Now the scientific community is recognizing the courage shown by Bhattacharya and others with its annual Robert J. Zimmer Medal for Intellectual Freedom.”. And the debate is not pointless until those who deliberately ruined other’s careers, health, relationships, etc., admit they were wrong and offer apologies and restitution. Never forget!
My apologies. I did miss that part. I retract the portion of claiming Turley left that part out.
However the rest I still assert.
And we still find it to be nonsense.
“admission to this ‘academy’ is highly selective and it already has a reputation of being politically biaised [sic].”
And here, Svelaz betrays the fact that he got his opinion from someone else’s opinion, as usual. You see, it’s too much work to look into the actual background of the organization, so lets do a google search for what some left wing nut job has to say about it. Svelaz usually gets his opinion from Jimmy Fallon, but this time he went straight to Google AI.
Svelaz has a long history of reaching a conclusion and then searching for validation. At least he’s consistent.
Maybe they will let you in when you learn how to spell “biased”.
Tell you what, spaz…here’s your chance to shine. Please link to the supporting citation for your lame ass allegation that “it already has a reputation of being politically biased”.
(By the way, if it was from The Dispatch, keep looking. It doesn’t say that, and you’ll look even more like a tool).
We’ll wait.
George-Svelaz is illiterate. He is on the blog to make people know he exists despite showing his ignorance and embarrassing himself..
cogito ergo sum
And there you have it–the response from the far left. Follow the science until the science departs from your political bent. Then pick apart the scientific organization which recognizes real science. George can only hope for an award which recognizes superior whataboutism.
It’s an “academy” founded just last year. There is no real “prestigiousness” associated with it other than being labeled an “academy”.
The only claim to prestigousness is their highly selective process that has been criticized as biased and partisan. No wonder it’s the only “academy” to award a prize that is just one year old. It’s like getting a nice participation trophy at your high school sports banquet.
“It’s an “academy” founded just last year. There is no real “prestigiousness” associated with it”.
The American Nazi Party has been around since 1959. I guess that makes them prestigious in your book.
It’s the members that give it prestige, not the age of the organization, stooge. Get a grip and stop grasping.
I’m starting to think you may have Aspergers.
AASL’s President, Dr. Donald Landry, M.D., Ph.D., is the Hamilton Southworth Professor of Medicine and Chair of the Department of Medicine, Columbia University, and served as Physician-in-Chief at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center from 2008-2023. A recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal, Dr. Landry was a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics from 2008-2009.
It’s an “academy” founded just last year. There is no real “prestigiousness” associated with it other than being labeled an “academy”.
No doubt that Great Britain had the same sentiments about the American colonies. That’s what tyrants and their loyalists do as they whistle past the graveyard.
“Follow the science until the science departs from your political bent.”
And if the actual science completely fails to do so, make some up.
“It was almost 5 years ago. Lessons were learned and conspiracy theories were debunked.”
I doubt that very much. We ares still living in the same dystopian world. Some of the rats are deserting Kamala’s sinking ship. Tech moguls are calling Trump in the hopes they’ll not be punished too severely. But we are a very long way from home. If Trump loses, we are well and truly lost.
“This is just…whew, a bit..”
Could it be that Svelaz is finally tiring of his 5 minute Google searches and ignorant lies posted all day every day?
I love this little bit of logic….”It’s a littel [sic] sketchy since admission to this ‘academy’ is highly selective”.
LMAO it would be less sketchy if they let morons in who cant spell “little”, and are experts on everything after a 5 minute Google search.
It’s nice to hear from time to time reasonable people are recognized.
Congratulations Dr. Bacciagalupe and give my regards to Lou Costello.
George Carlin was right, as was Dr. Bhattacharya
Don’t try the following at home, boys & girls
🙌🏼
“Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever ’til the end of time! But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He’s all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can’t handle money! Now that’s the biggest bullsh*t story of all time.” — George Carlin
* one of those invisible people watching everything you do is you. Everything you see, taste, hear, feel and touch, and smell and filtered through your emotional you is recorded in your brain and your abstract thoughts about them are recorded and you are the measure of yourself.
There are indeed many others watching you with the same process running and their sensory perceptions of you, their emotional responses to those perceptions and their reasoned judgements of you where they too put you directly into that great poop shoot or not.
Carlin isn’t completely wrong and coming into play with those organisms invading you , germs, just to eat and reproduce . Carlin survives the evolutionary die off of lesser mortals with his strong immune system.
“Pro-life conservatives are obsessed with the fetus from conception to 9 months. After that, they don’t wanna know about you. They don’t wanna hear from you. No nothing! No neonatal care, no daycare, no Head Start, no school lunch, no food stamps, no welfare, no nothing. If you’re pre-born, you’re fine, if you’re preschool, you’re f**ked.” — George Carlin
“When fascism comes to America, it won’t be wearing jackboots. It will be wrapped in the stars and stripes and carrying a Bible.” — George Carlin
“it is a good practice to view Anonymous comments on the internet or elsewhere as authored by lonely people who have no one to hold, no one to love, or no one who gives a f*** about them”
– George Carlin
Did you think that up all by your little self?
He attributed it, illiterate moron…
Try being a Conservative!
Dr Bhattacharya has been one of the very few voices within the public health and scientific academic establishments to speak honestly about Covid and the attack on free speech. It took enormous courage to do so. If Trump wins, I hope he is invited to join the administration, along with RFK, Jr, Scott Atlas and Marty Makary, to name just a few.
This and other recent developments might almost lead one to believe that the “arc of history” is slowly and fitfully bending back towards justice. Someone less cynical than myself. We have a long way to go before the Marxists are driven from control of the public forum.
“We have a long way to go before the Marxists are driven from control of the public forum.”
If and when that happens, there will be some other cadre of wannabe authoritarians eager to rush in and fill the vacuum. That *is* the current number one task for us, but if it is accomplished, we will have only a short time to celebrate the victory before getting back to work. “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”. That thought was largely forgotten by the boomer generation, which is a large part of the reason we are in our current dilemma.
Once again, an easy rule to follow. If the old guard media along with DEMS and RINOs point to the left always move to the right.
Our nation has and is suffering greatly because of this.
America started going downhill when slavery was abolished.
Professor Jay Bhattacharya is a heroic figure in exposing the realities of COVID-19. There can be no question he put his career at risk. However, he was also lucky in that the Administration’s main proponent of all the COVID fiction was the particularly arrogant Dr. Anthony Fauci. Slowly, Fauci was exposed, even to the press, that he had no scientific basis for his pronouncements. When the small details of his alliances with the Chinese at the Wuhan lab leaked, it became worse. When he said, “I am science,” wrapping himself in god-like robes of authority, I knew Bhattacharya and other critics were correct.
Hi Michael Lewis’ book Preminition outlines how a high school science fair experiment begat the six foot rule
Hard to believe, I know. But a government scientist was inspired by a no data science fair computer experiment
Now, when he starts talking about the fact that a pure virus from a direct mucous membrane to a slide under a microscope has never been isolated, he will be on the right track. When you have to take a sample of someone’s blood, pus, snot etc, mix it with monkey kidney cells, or fetal bovine cells, mix it with other solutions, centrifuge it down and then claim there is a virus particle, you have nothing. If you can’t take a swab like one can do with bacteria, and put it directly under a microscope to see what is there, you’ve totally corrupted the crime scene evidence. And that is a crime.
I get the distinct impression that we’re nearing the end of the insanity that’s had it’s grip on our country for the last 9 years.
It would be poetic justice for Trump to be back in the office that the Regime orchestrating the insanity took him out of.
Dr Bhattacharya and Dr Vinay Prasad were beacons of light and reason during a dark time. I agree with Daniel in hoping that Dr Jay is offered a position in the Trump administration.
Insanity indeed Olly. I pray that American Voters rise up put a V-42 in the heart of censorship once and for all.
V-42, nice. My opinion is the progressive ideology buried American’s sensitivity to their inalienable rights, but they are being rediscovered and the culprits are becoming more and more recognizable. The Blob, Regime, Deep State knows their survival is on the clock and we have one election to tell them, times up.
A sign of some sanity returning to the hard sciences? Fingers crossed
🤙
Indeed. Once the physician community prescribed avoiding the miasma of the night air. Meanwhile the Framers were building the Constitution.
Mike,
Sometimes the wrong theory still leads to the right advice. While avoiding the bad air of morning and dusk people also avoided the mosquitoes that appear mornings and, especially, early evening. When I lived in the tropics we had the door and window open during the day but closed up as dusk approached. Different theory [mosquitoes instead of bad air] but same remedy.