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Welcome to our VIP feature for Hot Air as well as a members-only show in the Hughniverse! Duane Patterson and I now are doing a Week in Review show for Friday evenings, exclusive to members in both platforms. Duane has been the Generalissimo behind the Hugh Hewitt Show for more than two decades, and we have partnered on weekly commentary since 2007.
What stories topped your priority lists this week? Duane and I will both be out tomorrow, so we kicked off the review today by ... pleading the Fifth. Anthony Fauci did his best Dave Brubeck impression yesterday – 112 times – and we unpack what happened and what it means. We go back and forth on the legal risks of Fauci's Fifth Amendment claim; Duane eventually is more skeptical than I am that he will face any legal consequences. However, Duane argues that Fauci will end up as the O.J. Simpson of the COVID pandemic.
The real damage, I argue, will be to the idea of expert governance and technocracy. Duane and I take that all the way back to Woodrow Wilson and the progressives' attempts to undermine democracy and self-governance. Fauci is the poster child for the mediocrities that rise to the top of unaccountable bureaucracies. Fauci's Fifth will get attention, I argue, but his arrogant "diaries" will be what does the real damage to the rule-by-experts model that has been in place for the last century-plus.
We then move on to the restarted war with Iran. Trump has long promised a 'major escalation,' but thus far, the kinetic operations appear more to be an incremental and tactical increase. Duane argues that the IRGC is on the ropes, while I remain skeptical that we're targeting the infrastructure that allows the regime to maintain control. Will the economic warfare provide the tipping point?
Be sure to watch it all, and extend the conversation in the comments!
