Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Are THESE The Most Annoying C'mas Songs?

I asked friends to tell me what were the most annoying Christmas songs.

I figured I'd get a few suggestions.
Well, I was swamped. Seems everybody has a Christmas song that gets under their skin. In fact, many people have two or three or four or . . . well . . .

Anyway, in no particular order, here's a partial list:
Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer
Santa, Baby
The Little Drummer Boy
The Christmas Shoes
Christmas In Hollis
Dominic, The Italian Christmas Donkey
I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas
The Twelve Days of Christmas
Happy Christmas (War Is Over)
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
The Chipmunks' Christmas Song
Last Christmas (I Gave You My Heart)
Barking dogs singing Jingle Bells
Bruce Springsteen's Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Wonderful Christmastime

And people are still sending me suggestions including Alice's Restaurant. Is that a Christmas song?
Anyway, to these I would add: Merry Christmas From The Family, Good King Wenceslas, All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth and Please Daddy, Don't Get Drunk This Christmas.

Whew!
Let's hope we've exhausted this list.

Pennacchio Collecting Toys For Needy Kids

New Jersey State Senator Joe Pennacchio (R-Essex, Morris, Passaic) announced that his legislative office will again collect toy donations this holiday season to be shared with families in need. Donations of new, unwrapped toys can be dropped off at the Senator’s legislative office in Montville.

Sen. Joe Pennacchio announced that his legislative office will again collect toy donations this holiday season to be shared with families in need. (SenateNJ.com)

The Senator is looking to help individual families in need of toys. Please contact his office to discuss any specific needs.

A family looking for toys must contact Senator Pennacchio’s office to make an appointment for Thursday, December 15.

Senator Pennacchio will also be distributing collected toys through the Battered Women’s Shelter, Passaic and Montville UNICO, the Marine’s Toys for Tots, Parsippany Kiwanis, The Ronald McDonald House, Saint Pius Church, and Saint Peters Church.

“The holiday season is a time for us to come together to support those in need and teach our own children the value of making a difference in the lives of the less fortunate,” Senator Pennacchio (R-Essex, Morris, Passaic) said. “It is truly a privilege to open our doors as a collection site for children in need. I urge my constituents to take the time to make a donation and embrace the spirit of generosity that this season inspires.”

Senator Pennacchio also wishes to express his heartfelt thanks to all the schools and individuals who participate in the toy drive with their generous donations. Over the years, the Senator has collected thousands of toys.

Senator Pennacchio’s legislative office will be collecting toys through December 14, 2022.

Donations may be delivered to the district office between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. from Monday through Friday.

The district office is located in Unit A1 at 170 Changebridge Road, Montville, New Jersey 07045

Appointments must be made if a family is in need of assistance this year. Please call (973) 227-4012 for directions or with any questions.

Philly High School Snags Prestigious Honor!

 Archbishop Carroll to host representatives from the PA Turnpike Commission and PA Council on the Arts along with members of the Art Sparks Committee as part of this opportunity. 


Archbishop John Carroll High School in Radnor (Delaware County) has been invited by the Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership (PAEP) to participate in the Art Sparks Program. This program is created and funded by the PA Council on the Arts and the PA Turnpike Commission. 

It invites schools to design artwork for turnpike service plazas across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Archbishop Carroll students are creating a mosaic installation for the Valley Forge Service Plaza. The PAEP’s, regional PA Council on the Arts partner for southeastern PA manages and oversees this collaboration.

Representatives from the PA Turnpike Commission, along with the PA Council on the Arts and the Art Sparks Committee will visit Archbishop Carroll High School to view the students work and participate in the artmaking process. 

Friday, December 2, 2022
9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. 
Archbishop John Carroll High School
211 Matsonford Road
Radnor, PA 19087 (Delaware County) 

In September 2022, members of Archbishop Carroll’s Fine Arts Department including Ms. Loraine Carpenter, the Fine Arts Department Chair and Mr. Timothy Magenta started to work with students on this project. Ms. Jessica Liddell, a PA Council on the Arts teaching artist has been guiding the students as they work on the mosaic. 

In addition, Sister Lauretta Linsalata, I.H.M., Archbishop Ryan High School is on the board of the Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership and serves as the school liaison for this project. 

In January 2023, following the completion of the mosaic, it will be installed at the Valley Forge Service Plaza along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. 

Background Information about Archbishop John Carroll High School 

Archbishop John Carroll High School is committed to excellence in the areas of spiritual, academic, and social development. By guiding its students in the development of their goals within the context of a meaningful relationship with God, others, and self, Archbishop Carroll challenges them to responsible stewardship in the world. With Christ as its model, the school accomplishes this challenge through the dedication of a professional staff who educate their students by implementing innovative and competitive methodologies to prepare the twenty-first century learner for the ever-changing world.

Background Information on the Art Sparks Program 

In 2017, the PA Council on the Arts (PCA) and the PA Turnpike Commission began an arts program, Art Sparks, to beautify the Turnpike Service Plazas across Pennsylvania. The intent and focus of the program is three-fold: 1) to provide an opportunity for the turnpike commission to form stronger community relations with the families living and working in the service plaza catchment areas, 2) to place the project in a school located within each service area, 3) to engage the regional PCA Partner to lead the project along with a PCA-approved teaching art who together, work with the school art teacher(s) and his/her students to design and execute a visual art installation that will then be mounted in the Turnpike service plaza. The project is fully funded through the Regional PCA Arts in Education Partner with funds from the PCA and Turnpike Commission.

Note: For additional information about Archbishop John Carroll High School, please visit jcarroll.org/. For additional information on Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, please visit aopcatholicschools.org/

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

One Of the First Of the Big Holiday Movies . . .




We just saw Glass Onion, the latest in the Knives Out franchise. 
Not as good as the first one. Takes a long time to work itself up to the main story and is very, very talky. Like most movies today it winds up being too long and ultimately unsatisfying. Again, a great cast but if Hitchcock could do a good murder mystery in 90 minutes why can't they do it today? 
We saw this on the big screen which was fun and some of the acting (particularly from Kate Hudson and Edward Norton) was a hoot. But this is a Netflix film, so we'd advise you to wait for it to be streamed.

Some Gross Christmas Trends We Hate . . .

 


They're big. There still seem to be too many of them. And they're full of hot air.

It's those garish Christmas inflatables that pop up on lawns this time of year. 

These bloated intrusions on our landscape include the ubiquitous Santa, his elves, reindeer, penguins, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, snowmen, polar bears, the Grinch and an endless array of schlock! Ranging from about 4 feet to more than 20 feet tall, they also depict cartoon characters like Snoopy and his friends. What's more, some of them now incorporate snow globes and revolving carousels.

We hate these gassy excuses for Christmas cheer. We hate them during the day when they go flat like big ugly pancakes on lawns and porches all over the place. And we hate them even more at night when they blow, glow and gloat with a trashy confidence that's positively grotesque.

And that's just one pop culture Christmas trend that we've come to hate. Here are some others:

Ugly Christmas sweaters. Enough already with these horrifying "fashion" vulgarities. People now have ugly sweater parties. Can you imagine? We got the idea, OK? Be gone!

"My Favorite Things." We don't know who decided that this Rodgers and Hammerstein ditty from the saccharine "Sound of Music" might be a Christmas song, but whoever it was has now inflicted raindrops on roses and cream-colored ponies on us for the rest of our lives. As much as we try, we can't discern the connection between wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings and Christmas. In fact, this song is dumb and tiresome any time of the year.

Christmas lights around your neck. You know -- the ones that actually light up and are powered by batteries. And it's even worse when these garish house lights adorn folks who are as big as a house!

Taking your dog to see Santa. Who concocted this numbskull notion? Probably some mall marketing director. Dogs don't want to see Santa. Dogs don't care about Christmas. And Santa doesn't particularly want to see dogs, either. What's more, he doesn't want to have his picture taken with your pet. He's got enough problems lifting bratty little kids onto his lap without worrying about an Irish setter. Throw the dogs a bone and leave them home, please!

People wearing antlers. Have you seen some of these people walking around with antlers on their heads? You know, the antlers attached to plastic headbands? Or sometimes, some other kooky Christmas type gizmo is attached to the headband -- something that sort of bobbles. They're dumb!

Wreaths on the front of your car or truck and/or antlers bursting out of side windows. Unless you reside in your car and/or think it's a reindeer, you don't need these.

Super glow, one-size-fits-all multi-colored light projectors that pretend to be laser lights. Guess what? Theses are nothing more than a sign that you're lazy. You don't want to actually put up Christmas lights. So, you project one of these onto your house and the whole place looks like it has red and green chicken pox. OK? Are you satisfied?

Season's Greetings and Happy Holidays. These two sanitized sentiments (and similar salutations of the season) mean absolutely nothing to us. It's like saying, "Have a nice day."

And, those of us who actually celebrate Christmas as the day of Jesus' birth resent having the holiday dismissed as some passing seasonal afterthought. Everybody knows what Christmas is. Even people who don't celebrate it understand the basic meaning of the holiday.

So, go ahead - smile and say "Merry Christmas." You'll feel better.

At One Time, It Dominated The Market . . .


But brands don't necessarily last forever.
And what was once dominant becomes but a distant memory.
Think about the brands that are no longer household staples. 
Imagine, as well, which ones might be gone ten years from now. 
 

An Inquiring Adult Visits Santa . . .


 

Seen Anything Like This Lately? Unlikely!

Monday, November 28, 2022

Was It A Simpler Time? It Certainly Was CHEAPER!





 

Let This Be This Failed Bureaucrat's Legacy . . .

In NJ, THIS Investigation Is Long Overdue!

As a crucial federal agency began withholding payments to the troubled Menlo Park veterans home where almost 100 residents succumbed to COVID, Senator Joe Pennacchio today renewed calls on New Jersey State Senate Democrats to support a legislative investigation of state-run veterans homes.

As a crucial federal agency began withholding payments to the troubled Menlo Park veterans home where almost 100 residents succumbed to COVID, Sen. Joe Pennacchio renewed calls on Senate Democrats to support a legislative investigation of state-run veterans homes. (©iStock)

“My Democrat colleagues have consistently turned a blind eye to efforts to get to the bottom of issues that plagued our veterans homes and resulted in hundreds of unnecessary deaths since the start of the pandemic,” said Pennacchio (R-26), who has led the charge calling for a comprehensive legislative investigation since May 2020.

“Clearly, the Legislature’s failure to do an investigation earlier was a big mistake. A timely review could have yielded answers to help make facilities safer. Instead, there have been new outbreaks, veterans are still dying, and the feds have cut funding,” Pennacchio said.

The Senator noted growing support for a legislative inquiry of the continuing failures at State-run veterans homes and urged Democrats to get on board.

“A Star-Ledger editorial blasted the Governor for stonewalling a veterans home investigation, the veterans home whistleblower said he supports our effort, and Congressman Bill Pascrell called for fellow Democrats to work to ‘get to the bottom of this rot,’” Pennacchio said. “I don’t know what more it will take to convince Senate Democrats see the light.”

Pennacchio first began efforts to form a special legislative investigative committee with subpoena power more than 2 ½ years ago through the introduction of SR-68 in the 2020-21 legislative session. On five separate occasions, the Democratic majority blocked Pennacchio’s efforts to bring his resolution up for a vote by the Senate.

When the full Senate convenes again in three weeks, Pennacchio will make a sixth attempt to advance the resolution, now SR-32 in the current legislative session.

“The postmortem on the veterans home tragedy is long overdue. This is about lives and common decency, not partisan politics,” Pennacchio said. “We’re going to give our Democrat colleagues another opportunity to step up and do the right thing.”

The Senate Republican caucus wrote to Senate President Nicholas Scutari last week urging the Democratic Majority to stop obstructing a legislative investigation.

“In addition to ignoring our many requests, we note with dismay that the Majority has actively blocked our efforts to bring resolutions for a vote to form an investigative committee. As a result of the Majority’s repeated refusal to act – either on our proposals or any other – serious problems in our veterans homes remain unresolved,” stated the letter, signed by Senate Republican Leader Steven Oroho and every member of the caucus, including Pennacchio.

For Those Who Remember It . . . Always Tops!


 

Our TV Take On Fauci, Trump, Christie, Black Friday!

Sunday, November 27, 2022

Condemning 'The Vile Poison Of Antisemitism'

Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein, a child of holocaust survivors, released the following statement:

We must never ignore the vile poison of anti-Semitism, or those who spread its venomous creed. With one voice, we must confront this hatred anywhere and everywhere it occurs.”

– Pres. Donald Trump, State of the Union Address, Feb. 5, 2019

President Trump’s stirring call to the entire nation, during his 2019 State of the Union Address, to confront the vile poison of antisemitism anywhere and everywhere it occurs, and to condemn those who spread this venom, was the clearest statement ever made by a U.S. president about what we need to do to stop the dangerous horrors of Jew-hatred.

The Zionist Organization of America calls upon President Trump to live up to his own powerful words, to condemn in the strongest possible terms Jew-hater Kanye West and avowed holocaust denying, white supremacist, Jew-hater Nick Fuentes. ZOA deplores the fact that President Trump had a friendly dinner with such vile antisemites. His dining with Jew-haters helps legitimize and mainstream antisemitism and must be condemned by everyone.

It is particularly incumbent on America’s influential ex-presidents to confront and condemn the antisemites who are spreading Jew-hatred throughout our country now. Therefore, ZOA also demands former Presidents Clinton and Obama condemn avowed antisemite Louis Farrakhan, the source of much of Kanye West’s and other Jew-haters’ bile. President Obama must finally come clean about the infamous 2005 photo of him and vicious antisemite Farrakhan standing together smiling from ear to ear and his helping organize Farrakhan’s major march on Washington. President Clinton must denounce Farrakhan, after sharing a stage with him and smilingly shaking his hand at Aretha Franklin’s funeral in 2018.

ZOA also demands that President Biden publicly condemn overt Jew-haters Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, AOC, Betty McCollum, Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman, Ayanna Pressley, and others.

Not only has Pres. Biden not condemned these antisemites, but he actually praised Rashida Tlaib in May 2021 by saying, “Rashida, I want to say to you that I admire your intellect, I admire your passion, and I admire your concern for so many people. You are a fighter, and G-d thank you for being a fighter.” Biden must retract this phrase and apologize for it.

We also criticize Biden’s Secretary of State Blinken for honoring and elevating overt, Jew-hating Israel-basher, Rep. Ilhan Omar, by bringing her with him to the World Cup soccer tournament in Qatar this week. It should not surprise us, since Blinken apologized to Jew-hating Israel-basher Linda Sarsour after Biden aides criticized her. He should also apologize for these actions.

“President Trump must not sully his extraordinary presidential record of pro-Israel actions and combating antisemitism on college campuses and elsewhere by failing to clearly condemn vile antisemites Kanye West and Nick Fuentes,” stated ZOA National President Morton A. Klein. “I, who was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany, lost almost my entire family who were murdered during Hitler’s holocaust. My parents, both Holocaust survivors, Sarah of Poland and Rabbi Herman Klein of Czechoslovakia—who lost his first family to Hitler’s evil—would have demanded this statement of me and ZOA as history demands that all people of good faith denounce Jew-hatred.”

Some highlights from the despicable antisemitic records of Kanye West, Nick Fuentes, and Louis Farrakhan are described below. To this day, none of them have recanted.

 Kanye (Ye) West’s Antisemitic Record:

  • On October 10, 2022, Kanye West tweeted to his 31 million twitter followers: “I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE. I actually can’t be Anti-Semitic because black people are actually Jew” and “You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”
  • As ZOA previously wrote, West’s despicable, antisemitic apparent call for the “death” of all “JEWISH PEOPLE” (capitalized) was a terrorist Nazi-like threat and extremely dangerous, especially given West’s massive social media following.
  • During a lengthy interview on Tucker Carlson on October 6, 2022, West accused Jared Kushner of making Middle East peace deals just to make money: “I just think that that’s what they’re about, is making money.” Also, in the edited-out portion of West’s Tucker Carlson interview, West invoked another financial trope, among other antisemitic remarks, saying: “I prefer my kids knew Hanukkah than Kwanzaa. At least it will come with some financial engineering.” During the edited-out portions of this interview, West also redefined “Jew” to mean “the 12 lost tribes of Judah, the blood of Christ, who the people known as the race Black really are.”
  • West’s black supremacist ramblings that African Americans are the real Jews (intimating that Jews of any color who have been practicing the Jewish faith for thousands of years are usurpers) reflects Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam (NOI) antisemitic playbook and the teachings of the violent Black Hebrew Israelite cult.
  • West also posted on Instagram a screenshot of his text message to Sean “Diddy” Combs, insinuating that Combs was being controlled by Jewish people, saying: “Ima use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me. I told you this was war.”
  • On October 16, 2022, on the popular Drink Champs hip hop podcast, West ranted against “Jewish Zionists,” after prefacing it with: “We Jew, so I can’t be antisemite.” West continued: “On TMZ they said, ‘Pete Davidson and Kim [Kardashian – Kanye’s ex-wife] have sex by the fireplace. It’s Jewish Zionists that [are] about that life, that’s telling this Christian woman that has four black children to put that out as a message in the media.”

West’s other antisemitic attacks during the hip hop podcast also included:

  • “Jewish people have owned the Black voice. Whether it’s through us wearing the Ralph Lauren shirt, or it’s all of us being signed to a record label, or having a Jewish manager, or being signed to a Jewish basketball team, or doing a movie on a Jewish platform like Disney.”
  • Jewish people “came into money through the lawyers after Wall Street, when all of the Catholics – they wouldn’t divorce people, so the Jewish lawyers came in and were willing to divorce people. That’s how they came into the money.”
  • Jewish people in the entertainment industry “will take one of us that could really feed a whole village, take us and milk us till we die.”
  • Jared Kushner “is an example of how the Jewish people have their hand on every single business that controls the world.” of Jews.
  • “You just get used to being screwed by the Jewish media.”
  • “I’m me too-ing the Jewish culture. I’m saying you all have to stand up and admit to what you have been doing. You just got away with it for so long that you weren’t even realizing what you were doing.”
  • “They blocked me out. The Jewish media blocked me out. This s–t lit. I’m lit, right?”

On July 24, 2005, the Nation of Islam’s Final Call magazine and hip hop media bragged that Kanye West was honored at Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam headquarters in Chicago, with a Million Man March Image Award, for the NOI Million Man March’s 10th anniversary, the Millions More Movement. West also met with Farrakhan in 2015, and praised Farrakhan as “one of our most powerful messengers.”

West recently expressed love for Farrakhan, even while West felt slighted by a portion of a Farrakhan/NOI video released in mid-November 2022 in which Farrakhan wondered whether Kanye really had and lost $2 billion. West responded: “Minister Farrakhan, I love you, but the way you read that, I took that as a slight. I don’t take no disrespect from nobody so let’s get on the phone and let’s talk that out. I don’t care who you are. I ain’t taking no slights from nobody.” (Farrakhan’s video mainly viciously attacked Jews and attempted to defend Kyrie Irving and Kanye West’s antisemitism. See below.)

Nick Fuentes’ Antisemitic & Racist Record:

  • Vile anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hate: Fuentes called Jews a “hostile tribal elite” who are “not founding stock” and run the U.S. and “are driving the wars, driving the usury, driving the desecration of the church” and are “set against the Catholic church”; called the Jewish state of Israel the “anti-Christ”; accused that “the world Jewry. . .set up a fake Israel, a fake Israel country, and a fake Israel nation, this organized Jewish influence”; and ranted “Who else would be leading the revolution, who else would be leading the insurrection against the true kingdom, . . . who else would be behind it other than the devil? You could say it’s the Left, and behind that it’s the Jews, and behind that it’s the Devil, what else would it be?” (video)
  • Fuentes also ranted: “I’m not one of those people who says, you believe whatever you want”; “Don’t tell me they’re [Jews are] entitled to their religion”; “They [Jews] can get out fuck out of America”; “You [Jews] have no business being anywhere near the levers of power”; “You [Jews] serve the devil. You serve Satan. . . . I piss on your Talmud” [raising his middle finger]. “You think I care what an anti-Christ [Jew] believes?” (video)
  • Fuentes called Matt Walsh a “faggot pussy race traitor [because] you work for Jews.” (video)
  • Holocaust denial: Fuentes laughingly compared Jews being murdered in the Holocaust to Cookie Monster baking batches of cookies in 15 ovens, and claimed that the math of baking 6 million cookies in five years “doesn’t seem to add up.” Fuentes instead claimed that “maybe 200,000 to 300,000 cookies baked.” (video)
  • Racism/White supremacism: Fuentes ranted: “Enough with the Jim Crow stuff. Who cares? It was better for us. It was better for them (African Americans) too. They had to drink out of a different water fountain, big f*cking deal. Even if it was bad. Who cares? Oh no, they had to go to different schools. Who cares? Grow up. Drink out of the f—ing water fountain.” (video) Fuentes also said it would be “degenerate” for a white person to have sex with a black person. (video)

Fuentes also attended the Charlottesville white supremacy march and then tweeted that it was “incredible” and “you will not replace us. The rootless transnational elite knows that a tidal wave of white identity is coming.”

Louis Farrakhan’s Long Record of Vile Antisemitism and Racism:

  • Farrakhan is infamous for his decades of calling Jews members of the “Synagogue of Satan”; calling the existence of Israel an “outlaw act”; accusing supporters of Israel of engaging in “a criminal conspiracy”; and calling Judaism a “gutter religion.”
  • Farrakhan called Jews “termites”: At a 2018 speech for the anniversary of the Million Man March, Farrakhan called those who called him an antisemite “stupid” and told them: “Stop it. I’m anti-termite.”
  • In the same 2018 speech, Farrakhan claimed that Jews are “responsible for all of this filth and degenerate behavior that Hollywood is putting out turning men into women and women into men.”
  • At a June 26, 2010 lecture in Atlanta entitled “Who are the Real Children of Israel?,” Farrakhan stated: “Somebody has usurped our position. . . . somebody has taken the promise of God to the children of Israel and claimed it for themselves. Blacks in America are God’s people, not those who inhabit land in Palestine…. To all of those who feel that the children of Israel are over in that place they call Israel, you are mistaken.” During the same event, Farrakhan also touted two defamatory books published by NOI which accused Jews of involvement in the slave trade and human trafficking.
  • At his 2015 “Savior’s Day” speech, Farrakhan falsely accused: “It is now becoming apparent that there were many Israelis and Zionist Jews in key roles in the 9/11 attacks. Israelis had foreknowledge of the attacks… We know that many Jews received a text message not to come to work on September 11.”
  • In a speech on April 22, 1996, Farrakhan called Hezbollah “freedom fighters” and blamed “Zionist control in England, Europe, the U.S. and around the world” for driving Hezbollah to do “such a thing” (terror attacks).
  • Farrakhan claimed that the Talmud permits sex crimes, etc., saying: “Did you know that pedophilia, homosexuality, sex trafficking, is the work of Talmudists?” and “Because Talmudic, satanic Jews are the ones that feel nobody has a right to punish them for what the Talmud has made lawful to them.”
  • Farrakhan/NOI video released in mid-November 2022 contains Farrakhan’s almost hour-long rant “defending” Kyrie Irving’s and Kanye West’s recent antisemitic statements by accusing Jews of using their “money and power” to “persecute,” “lynch” and “muzzle” Kyrie and Kanye from telling the “truth” that Jews are greedy, evil, uncaring usurpers and enemies trying to divide, weaken and keep Blacks from rising and learning who they are.

The foregoing is just a small sampling of Farrakhan’s decades of defaming Jews, Judaism, and Israel. For many more of Farrakhan’s hateful statements, see the Jewish Virtual Library’s lengthy list.

How The Swamp Perpetuates Itself . . .

 

Where Fauci Went Wrong: Five Big Missteps

Believe it or not, there was a time when Dr. Anthony Fauci was viewed as an American hero -- when he wasn't the subject of controversy and when the mere mention of his name didn't set off protracted debates.  It's hard to imagine such a time now. But, at the peak of his career (and especially during the AIDS crisis) Fauci was practically venerated.

Now, he's the target of accusations, vilification and broadening investigations. As he finally prepares to step down, he faces stormy news conferences and is still called before congressional committees and grilled for hours amidst increasing suspicions. What the hell happened to the "good doctor"? 

Here's are five big factors that contributed to the demise of Anthony Fauci and find him exiting with few accolades:

1) When to get off the stage.
There's an old rule in show business: always leave 'em clamoring for more, more, more! But Fauci simply hung around way, way too long. Maybe it was greed, maybe it was power, maybe it was the heady tonic of fame, maybe a combination of all these, but Fauci din't know when enough was ENOUGH! He simply wore out his welcome.

2) A cacophony of contradictions.
One of the first rules of public relations is this: stay on message! Fauci couldn't cut it. He contradicted himself endlessly -- sometimes more than once in the same sentence. And, in the super swift cyber era of instantaneous playbacks and info overload, Fauci couldn't escape his contradictions. They overwhelmed him.

3) The cloak of bureaucracy.
If you hang around bureaucrats long enough (even if you're a medical doctor) you become one. Fauci became comfortable enveloped in the cloak of bureaucracy. He oversaw an immense government agency himself and most certainly had a plethora of assistants (and assistants to assistants) ministering to him. He lost his mojo and probably relied too much on others to do everything for him.

4) Globalism's gooey gulch.
Fauci forgot who he worked for -- America and the American people. It's cleat that he increasingly saw himself as a "citizen of the world" -- as someone with a global responsibility extending way beyond his core mission and his authority. Sadly, he became and internationalist.

5) The aristocracy of science.
Perhaps Plato was exaggerating when he proclaimed: "science is nothing but perception." Perhaps. But he certainly seemed to be on to something. Apparently, Fauci allowed himself to be completely seduced by the god of science and, at one point, as his ego soared to new heights, he actually decreed "I am science." But science is forever imperfect and Fauci would have done well to remember the words of Einstein who said that "character" rather than "intellect" is what makes "a great scientist."

Fauci's fall did not happen overnight.
It was a long time coming. And events certainly played a bit part in it. But much of the damage was caused by Fauci himself and largely for the reasons cited above. 
Arriverdverci, Antonio! Non lasciare che la porta ti colpisca mentre esci.