Stanford University professor of medicine who challenged COVID lockdowns: 'Academic freedom is dead'



A tenured Stanford professor who called into question the efficacy of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, lockdowns, masking for infants, and Dr. Anthony Fauci's recommendations throughout the pandemic gave a damning evaluation of the state of critical thought and academic freedom earlier this month, suggesting that they are not dying on campus but dead.

Thought crimes

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is a tenured professor of medicine at Stanford University, where he directs the Stanford Center on the Demography of Health and Aging. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economics Research and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

Earlier this month, Bhattacharya raised the matter of a censorious and dialogue-averse university community at the Academic Freedom Conference at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the conference was met with fierce opposition in the days and weeks leading up to the event.

The aim of the conference was "to identify ways to restore academic freedom, open inquiry and freedom of speech and expression on campus and in the larger culture."

A host of Stanford academics signed an open letter accusing the observers of trolling Stanford with their talk of academic freedom, claiming that the event would not leave the university "unscathed."

The letter called on Stanford to "emphatically dissociate itself" from the event, going so far as to accuse gay Pay-Pal cofounder Peter Thiel, who made remarks at the event, of homophobia and other speakers of racism.

Those opposed to the event were altogether unable to prevent Bhattacharya from joining a panel titled, "Academic Freedom Applications: Climate Science and Biomedical Sciences," and stating, "We live in an era where ... you have a scientific bureaucrat who ironically tells the world that if you question him, you're not simply questioning the man, you're questioning science itself."

Bhattacharya was referencing Fauci's suggestion that by criticizing him — the scientist who ran the agency that funded dangerous gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab — "you're really attacking not only Dr. Anthony Fauci, you're attacking science."

"We have a high clerisy that declares from on high what is true and what is not true," Bhattacharya suggested, adding that the collapse of academic freedom has accelerated significantly in the last two of the 36 years he has spent at Stanford.

"When you take a position that is at odds with the scientific clerisy, your life becomes a living hell," Bhattacharya told the conference. "You face a deeply hostile work environment."

He emphasized that while the university prides itself on having academic freedom, nothing could be further from the truth, especially when "academic freedom only matters when you take controversial positions."

Academic Freedom Applications Climate Science and Biomedical Sciences youtu.be

Bhattacharya expounded on his thinking in a recent interview with Fox News Digital, saying, "The basic premise is that if you don't have protection and academic freedom in the hard cases, when a faculty member has an idea that's unpopular among some of the other faculty – powerful faculty, or even the administration ... if they don't protect it in that case, then you don't have academic freedom at all."

"Power replaced the idea of truth as the guiding light," he added, noting how many scientific communities were cowed into uniformity and uncritical thinking during the pandemic.

Nothing against or outside the state's official narrative

Bhattacharya was one of three authors of the Oct. 4, 2020, "Great Barrington Declaration," a document expressing "grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies" and recommending instead a "focused protection" approach.

According to the declaration, public resources should be focused on those most vulnerable to succumbing to COVID-19. Everyone else who is at minimal risk should build up natural immunity and "resume life as normal."

Anticipating the fallout of lockdowns and school closures, Bhattacharya and his co-authors recommended that schools and universities remain open for in-person teaching; extracurricular activities resume; and low-risk adults work normally, rather from home.

At the Academic Freedom Conference, he noted that the purpose of the document was to "tell people that there was an alternative and that the scientific community had not coalesced around a single lockdown-focused policy ... that there was not a scientific consensus in favor of lockdown, that in fact many epidemiologists, many doctors, many other people – prominent people – disagreed with the consensus."

For publicly doubting claims advanced by the Biden administration and the media about the good of lockdowns, he was roundly castigated.

Last year, CNN called him "crazy" and accused him of spreading "dangerous COVID disinformation."

Fox News Digital reported that extra to the media, he was also denounced by so-called health leaders, including National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci, who deemed his declaration "nonsense and very dangerous."

In his talk, Bhattacharya referenced former National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Dr. Francis Collins' letter to fellow health bureaucrats imploring them to issue a "quick and devastating published take down" of the declaration's premises.

\u201cNew email dump showing Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins coordinating a propaganda campaign to attack the Great Barrington declaration last October. More coming soon so here's a teaser...\u201d
— Phil Magness (@Phil Magness) 1639776786

Bhattacharya previously told UnHerd that early in the pandemic, "there was a debate going on inside the scientific community, and Tony Fauci and the federal government of the United States could not abide that […] because they implemented an extraordinary policy that required absolute consensus."

While the government "suppressed and censored and smeared" independent thinkers and critical scientists, there was no support to be found on campus, only "a chill."

Bhattacharya said that one student who had sought to have the Stanford professor publicly discuss his declaration was reportedly met with "reprisals," given the prevailing noting that "platforming [Bhattacharya] was a dangerous thing."

Bhattacharya suggested that what is actually dangerous is refusing to platform opposing or alternate views: "If you have a legitimate scientific view, a legitimate policy view, to not speak of it ... sends a message that we do not care about the truth."

He indicted the university, particularly its leaders, suggesting that their refusal to support those on campus with differing viewpoints made it abundantly clear that "academic freedom is dead ... and if university leaders do not stand up for it, they do not deserve the positions they have."

Biden WHINES when 'they' won't let him read to children



If you made a list of the top experiences NOT on your bucket list, listening to Jill and Joe Biden reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" to children should make the top five.

In this clip, Joe Biden complains that he is not allowed to read to the kids, so Jill permits him to start them off by reading the first page. Prepare to cringe and watch the video.



"They're not going to let me read at all."-Biden pic.twitter.com/qRuXe02qHo

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) April 18, 2022

Follow @theblaze for more news.

COVID-19 lockdowns are the 'biggest public health mistake we've ever made,' Stanford medical school prof says



A Stanford University Medical School professor has called COVID-19 lockdowns the "biggest public health mistake we've ever made."

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya — a medical doctor whose recent research "focuses on the epidemiology of COVID-19 as well as an evaluation of policy responses to the epidemic" — made his comment as part of a February interview with the Daily Clout, an outlet author Naomi Wolf founded "to help anyone, from any walk of life, use and affect democracy more powerfully." Bhattacharya's comments haven't been widely reported until this week.

What did the professor say?

Bhattacharya began the interview discussing the Great Barrington Declaration, which he co-authored. The document argues that COVID-19 lockdowns "are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health. The results (to name a few) include lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and deteriorating mental health – leading to greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the heaviest burden. Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice." It adds that "keeping these measures in place until a vaccine is available will cause irreparable damage, with the underprivileged disproportionately harmed."

The declaration as of Thursday indicates that over 13,000 medical and public health scientists have signed it, along with over 41,000 medical practitioners.

With that, Bhattacharya told Wolf that the Great Barrington Declaration "comes from two basic facts."

"One is that people who are older have a much higher risk from dying from COVID than people who are younger ... So the first plank of the Great Barrington Declaration: let's protect the vulnerable," he said before adding that "the other idea is that the lockdowns themselves impose great harm on people. Lockdowns are not a natural normal way to live."

Bhattacharya also noted that "the lockdown harms are worse than COVID" and that "the harm to people is catastrophic." His reasoning is that "public health" means a whole lot more than protection from a virus, and that people need many more things in life in order to stay healthy — not only physically but also mentally and emotionally — such as interaction with friends and the ability to earn a living, which lockdowns have prevented.

The doctor's "biggest public health mistake we've ever made" comment comes at the 26:45 mark in the below video, but the entire interview is worth your time:

"Prof Jay Bhattacharya, Signatory of Gt Barrington Declaration: Why 'Lockdown' Will Kill Millions"youtu.be

Anything else?

Newsweek caught wind of Bhattacharya's comments, and the magazine said he stood by them in an email:

I stand behind my comment that the lockdowns are the single worst public health mistake in the last 100 years. We will be counting the catastrophic health and psychological harms, imposed on nearly every poor person on the face of the earth, for a generation.

At the same time, they have not served to control the epidemic in the places where they have been most vigorously imposed. In the US, they have — at best — protected the "non-essential" class from COVID, while exposing the essential working class to the disease. The lockdowns are trickle down epidemiology.

This isn't a new position for Bhattacharya, who declared last May that people are "mistaken" if they believe coronavirus lockdown policies will provide safety from COVID-19.

As for Wolf, she's also been in the news regarding the same subject, telling Fox News' Tucker Carlson late last month that America is turning into a "totalitarian state before everyone's eyes" amid our government's coronavirus lockdowns:

Ron Johnson forces Senate to actually read massive stimulus bill. CNN calls it 'pointless obstruction.'



Republican Sen. Ron Johnson (Wisc.) insisted Thursday that Democrats' 628 page, $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill be read aloud in the Senate, arguing that "the American people deserve to know what's in it."

CNN called the move, which is expected to take roughly 10 hours, "pointless obstruction."

What are the details?

Johnson warned Wednesday that he would "make the Senate clerk" read every page of the bill, saying "we need to highlight the abuse" and calling the package "a boondoggle for Democrats."

He argued, "Since more than 90% of this 'COVID relief' bill is not even related to COVID, I think we need a full reading of the bill. Yes, it could take 10 hours but the American people deserve to know what's in it."

On Thursday, the Wisconsin Republican kept his word. After a 51-50 vote to proceed on opening debate the bill — with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie — Johnson forced the bill to be read. He also noted that he does "feel bad for the clerks."

The Hill pointed out that "typically, the Senate waives the full reading of bills or amendments."

"If they're going to add nearly $2T to the national debt at least we should know what's in the bill," Johnson tweeted after he insisted the bill be read aloud.

CNN Editor-at-large Chris Cillizza wrote that Johnson's move was part of Republicans' "new strategy" of "pointless obstruction."

Cillizza said Johnson's insistence that the bill be read aloud was "a procedural maneuver design[ed] to stall the eventual vote on the measure but without any goal beyond that."

But Johnson says he does have a goal. Beyond exposing to the public what is in the massive bill, the senator says it would also buy time for senators to formulate amendments to the legislation.

Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst explained, "We're really going to continue to hammer on all the nonsense that's non-COVID related that has been packed into this Democratic wish list."

She added, "I think you're going to see a lot of amendments coming from our members, and they're going to be good, solid amendments — trying to decrease some of the line-item funding that you see in non-COVID items as well as trying to make more sensible adjustments to the rest of the package."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) said Thursday, "A few of my Republican colleagues are going to some pretty ridiculous lengths to showcase their opposition."

"Still," he continued, "we are delighted that the Senator from Wisconsin wants to give the American people another opportunity to hear what's in the American Rescue Plan. We Democrats want America to hear what's in the plan. And if the senator from Wisconsin wants to read it, let everybody listen because it has overwhelming support."