Book Review: 'A Plague Upon Our House' by Dr Scott W. Atlas, MD
A rare and historic glimpse behind the scenes of the COVID Task Force that exposes the dishonesty of the mainstream news...
Looking back on those dark days in the first lockdown of 2020, its strange how my days so quickly fell into a new routine. I’d check the news headlines throughout the morning and cringe at some of the nonsense that was being reported very matter-of-factly. At around 2:30pm, the daily data was announced. At 5pm, I’d tune into the UK press briefing and then at around 11pm I’d tune into the White House press briefing. That routine used to end each day with a little optimism, because unlike the useless UK politicians, you could tell that Trump was not on-board with the lockdown agenda.
The new book ‘A Plague Upon Our House; My fight at the Trump White House to stop COVID from Destroying America’ by Dr Scott W. Atlas, MD. is a unique insight into what went on behind the scenes in the White House COVID taskforce. It exposes the reality that was very different from the narrative that was portrayed by CNN, BBC and others.
Described as a “pseudo-expert” by Bill Gates - odd from a man who has no scientific credentials or expertise himself - Scott Atlas is actually one of the most qualified people in the USA to advise the President on COVID-19. Not only is Atlas a medical doctor with twenty five years expertise in radiology - which overlaps with diagnosis and treatment in a much wider range of conditions than the lay-person would realise - but he also has fifteen years experience in Health Policy around the world. In other words, he is able to assess data and evidence, making recommendations which mitigate the costs and maximise the benefits.
One of the key take-home points from the book is just how dishonest and corrupt the mainstream news is. We learn how whenever Atlas would appear on a TV news programme, the host would inevitably remind the audience that he is “not an epidemiologist.” They do not report that Atlas was in communication with leading epidemiologists at Stanford, Harvard and Oxford, amongst whom the consensus was against lockdowns. Interestingly they do not, when interviewing Anthony Fauci, remind the audience that he also is “not an epidemiologist.”
The level of ineptitude characterised in Fauci and Birx is almost comical, if it weren’t for the fact that these individuals were driving public health policy. In one incident, Trump asks Atlas what his opinion on Fauci is, and Atlas responds that he’s just seen Fauci on TV recommending people wear goggles!
In another incident, Birx visits a college town and then dials into a conference call, hysterical over the fact that nobody is ill. “They don’t even know they are sick! We really need to start testing toilet water from the dorms” she exclaims.
We see that the Fauci-Birx approach is not only unscientific but anti-scientific. They use discredited modelling to make grandiose death predictions, then when those predictions do not materialise, they claim disaster was averted only because of interventions such as masks and business closures. They push for more testing of healthy populations using the PCR test which is known to drive significant false positives, and then when testing provides more “cases”, this in turn leads to more testing and more mitigation measures.
Atlas’s portrayal of Trump is largely positive, showing him to have an impressive grasp of science for a lay-person and being willing to listen to experts and inform his decisions. Unfortunately he is let down by those under him.
The political strategists on Team Trump seem intent on not “rocking the boat” by upsetting Fauci and Birx before the election. Regardless of the 100,000s that signed a petition to fire Fauci in April 2020. Regardless of the numerous “Fire Fauci” chants at Trump rallies. The political strategists were clearly not in tune with the sentiment of voters, and felt that being seen to be on good terms with Fauci and Birx was key to winning the election.
It is Florida Governor Ron De Santis that Atlas seems most impressed by. De Santis emerged as one of the real heroes of 2020, after giving Floridians a guarantee that he would never impose a lockdown again. With a large ageing population, Florida saw a very low number of deaths despite media fearmongering that “in two weeks” there would be carnage. Atlas explains that De Santis had an excellent grasp of science and data, and would use their phonecalls to test his understanding rather than passively receive instruction, which led to well-thought out policy that was driven by facts, not fear.
We learn that Atlas was responsible for bringing real health and science experts Jay Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff into the White House to meet with Trump and Mike Pence, and also brought Oxford’s Sunetra Gupta to the USA - a move that no doubt formed the roots of the Great Barrington Declaration in Autumn 2020.
Most of all, Atlas has a great compassion and empathy for the victims of lockdowns, of whom there are millions around the world. Whilst Fauci and Birx seem remorseless and in denial of the harms that their actions have caused, Atlas constantly reflects upon the lives that have been unnecessarily destroyed by an anti-scientific irrational policy, orchestrated in a Communist Totalitarian state. In one particularly moving episode, Atlas recalls receiving a letter from a family whose son committed suicide because of lockdown - one of many throughout the world.
This book by Atlas serves as more than just a memoir. It will be a fundamental historical record which will help revisionist historians establish what really took place in 2020. In years to come, the news of today will be viewed in museums as propaganda. What the public perceived as “the science” will be remembered as dangerous mysticism and dogma. Brave heroes such as Dr Scott Atlas, although mocked, villified and ignored by the media of the time, will be remembered for their bravery and sacrifice.