Dr. Anthony Fauci testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee on Tuesday, though he did so remotely from his home as he is self-quarantining after possible exposure to the China Virus. In a prepared statement, Fauci warned that states opening too soon from lockdown restrictions risked initiating more outbreaks that would “result in needless suffering and death.” Mark Alexander has advised that President Donald Trump and Republican governors must appropriately warn Americans about the risks of reopening. So, while much of what Fauci had to say was appropriately measured — “When you pull back on mitigation, you will see some cases appear” — the words “needless suffering and death” play right into the Democrats’ political goal, which is to keep as much of the country from reopening for as long as possible no matter the damage to the economy.

Frustratingly but predictably, neither Fauci nor any senators questioning him voiced any serious concern for protecting Americans’ civil rights. The closest anyone came was Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a doctor and recovering COVID-19 patient himself, who voiced his opposition to Fauci’s hesitancy for reopening schools in the fall. “As much as I respect you, Dr. Fauci, I don’t think you’re the end all,” Paul pointedly noted. “We’ll be making a big mistake if we don’t open schools in the fall.”

“The history of this when we look back will be of wrong prediction after wrong prediction after wrong prediction,” Paul added. “I think we ought to have a little bit of humility in our belief that we know what’s best for the economy.”

Fauci noted that there are at least eight candidates for a COVID-19 vaccine that are currently in clinical development and he was optimistic that there was a chance a vaccine could be ready by the late fall or winter, should testing trials prove successful. That’s great news, but millions of jobless Americans can’t wait for a vaccine.

Again, Fauci’s prognostication of “needless suffering and death” should states reopen too soon will be what the mainstream media and Democrats trumpet in justifying their continued demand that Americans be prevented from living life. What of the millions of Americans suffering under lockdown measures that have cost them their livelihoods or taxed their mental health? Moreover, these lockdowns have often infringed on constitutionally protected rights — rights that all too many politicians believe they can unilaterally trample in the name of safety. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats are angling to push socialism on the country by making everyone a ward of the state. What about protecting our Liberty?

As for Fauci, the main thing to remember is that he has been a Beltway bureaucrat since 1984. That means for the last 36 years, he hasn’t lived in the real world with the rest of us. He’s voicing his medical opinion, and that’s all well and good. But he’s not the “end all,” as Paul noted, when it comes to what’s best in the big picture. “I don’t give advice about economic things,” Fauci said. “I don’t give advice about anything other than public health.” So noted. Now let’s move toward reopening in the wisest way possible.