I have always hated goodbyes, whether something so simple as seeing someone off at the airport after an enjoyable visit or a more difficult final goodbye to parents after long, rich lives, and a sibling gone well before his time.  I have never found even the smallest bit of joy in a goodbye.  Granted, in a long life, there have been a number of good riddances, but I'm not counting those.

So this goodbye was a bit different for me.  Today, I heard a goodbye that was music to my ears, even symphonic.  Dr. Anthony "Phony Tony" Fauci said goodbye to the nation as White House chief medical adviser.

While "good riddance" might seem to apply, this departure is so much more than just some pest or repulsive individual leaving.  No, this is the departure of a man who, more than any other, did irreparable harm to the citizens of this nation.  His child victims will spend the rest of their lives trying to make up for his mendacious machinations.  Many adults have been ruined financially and have no hope of recovering.

I have made no secret of my distaste for Dr. Fauci.  I hold him personally responsible for his contribution to the death of my brother, a death that he had the power to prevent or certainly delay.

His cavalier attitude, clearly demonstrated over three and a half decades ago, has only grown in pious certainty of his infallibility and self-proclaimed "I am science."  Having spent more than half a century in a health profession, I can say that had I encountered a man of this gigantic, bombastic arrogance in a position of authority in my chosen profession, I would have found another line of work.  Fortunately, while thinking quite highly of themselves, my dental school professors never crossed the line of self-proclaimed divinity, which Fauci has repeatedly done.  The man has no shame.

So, a happy goodbye, you meretricious little man.  If I were never to see your face again, I would live out my allotted time not missing you one iota.  But Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has pledged to subpoena every last Fauci document in a quest to find the truth about the COVID-19 pandemic.  As much as I despise the man, the prospect of seeing him twist slowly in the wind as the truth about his financial, professional, and commercial connections to the Chinese and his subsequent enrichment during the pandemic come to light is  eagerly anticipated.  If the truth does come out, a man already small in stature will be righteously diminished even further.  I know it is a far-fetched dream, but savoring one more goodbye to this tyrant, wearing a richly deserved orange jumpsuit, would be delightful.

Bill Hansmann is a dentist and dental educator with over fifty years in the profession.  He continues to teach and write political blogs and semi-mediocre novels while living with his wife and cats in Florida.

Image: Anthony Fauci.  NIAID via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 (cropped).