Ever Hearing, Never Understanding

The Fauci hearing had legitimate questions — and a structure that made sure no answer, from either side, could be heard as one.

“You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
— Matthew 13:14

Matthew was not writing about a Senate hearing.

But it is difficult to find a better description of what happened when Anthony Fauci returned to Congress on Wednesday.

For three hours, senators asked questions they had largely answered in their own minds. Fauci gave an answer designed to disclose nothing. His opponents heard guilt. His defenders saw persecution. The cameras recorded everything, and the country learned almost nothing.

Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than one hundred times. Senator Josh Hawley asked him what day of the week it was. Fauci invoked the Fifth. Hawley asked what colour tie he was wearing. Fauci invoked the Fifth again.

The exchange was absurd, but clarifying.

The hearing was no longer attempting to discover what Fauci knew, what he advised, or whether his previous statements had been…