Live from Music Row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael in studio to weigh in on the Biden administration’s desperate attempt to gain control at the source of the monoclonal antibody COVID-19 and its distribution.
Leahy: In the studio, the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael. Crom, during the break, you were telling me about this crazy press conference in which White House staffers, in essence, shut down and insulted the prime minister of the United Kingdom.
Carmichael: No, it wasn’t that. The aids, what they did was they shouted down when the press started asking questions of Biden about the southern border, the White House aides in the room started making so much noise that you couldn’t hear the answer.
And essentially shut down the questioning. I want to get back to what you were talking about. And I want to try to tie this into a whole lot of other things because to me, they are all related. You and I can agree that the exit from Afghanistan was a fiasco?
Leahy: Debacle.
Carmichael: We can agree that the control of the southern border is just terrible.
Leahy: A violation of American immigration law by the Biden maladministration. There’s a story here that the U.S. pledged to send vaccines to others around the world. It apparently is also just a complete disaster for logistical reasons.
So all of the major things like policy initiatives or things that the administration is supposed to be doing, they’ve all been executed terribly. Just terribly. We could say this is just an example of just gross incompetence.
Leahy: That’s one thing we could say.
Carmichael: We could. What would be the worst thing you could say?
Leahy: It’s intentional.
Carmichael: Yeah, that it’s intentional.
Leahy: That’s the most likely.
Carmichael: And I believe that all of this is intentional.
Leahy: I agree, too.
Carmichael: Let’s go back to when COVID broke and hydroxychloroquine was suggested that it could help people if they took it either as a prophylactic or if they took it immediately upon a diagnosis.
And Fauci and the entire federal government on the health care side shouted that down and called people names and really just shut down the distribution of a generic product. Just shut it down.
Leahy: Shut it down.
Carmichael: Now then later we find out that hydroxychloroquine actually did help.
Leahy: In certain circumstances.
Carmichael: And there’s no evidence that it ever hurt. On balance, it was helpful.
Leahy: But depending upon your circumstances.
Carmichael: And not how your doctors provided it. I’m saying on balance.
Leahy: On balance. I’m agreeing with you. It was helpful.
Carmichael: What I’m saying is that now you have this monoclonal. I can’t pronounce it.
Leahy: Monoclonal antibody.
Carmichael: Now it looks as if it works. The evidence is 70 percent of the time. It helps. So what is the Biden administration doing? They are trying to gain control of the source.
Leahy: Magic statement there Crom. That’s what’s happening.
Carmichael: And they are not just trying. They’re gaining control of the distribution. That’s why I was so important in the earlier one when I said this is how pharmaceuticals are distributed. This is the logistics. So you have the Biden administration.
Leahy: That is another way. It’s a way when the marketplace such as this is working and you have a pharmaceutical like this, the distributor who’s been vetted and approved.
Carmichael: And knows how to handle the drug.
Leahy: How to handle the drug and how to move it through the supply chain to get that it can be delivered over to patients.
Carmichael: Quickly. Yes.
Leahy: The people who know what they’re doing.
Carmichael: Yes. And Biden is saying we’re going to abandon the system that works, and we’re going to replace it with a bureaucratic system that manages distribution.
Leahy: Which never works.
Carmichael: Which won’t work because the people who are now in charge have never done it right. Let’s look at an article in The Wall Street Journal. Headline.
U.S. Pledged to Vaccinate Poor Countries Stumbles Amid Logistical Challenges. And this article goes on to point out that there are so many different things about the handling of pharmaceuticals to address COVID that require special handling that the Biden administration people are clueless.
Leahy: Well, they’re political hacks. And they don’t know anything about the supply chain or managing medical supplies. They’re hacks.
Carmichael: Right. But yet they are the ones who are in charge. They now want to be in charge, and they’re about to be in charge of the distribution of a very important pharmaceutical throughout the U.S. market.
So here’s my question Michael. And I’ve raised this over and over again. Let’s even look at it from the standpoint of Tennessee.
If somebody who would have lived dies because of a bureaucratic decision to specifically withhold the drugs from that person is the bureaucrat that did it as liable as a police officer who shoots somebody while they are on duty?
Leahy: Let me answer that question. I think it’s a great question. I think the answer is that the way things work right now, there’s no liability. Would you agree with that?
Carmichael: I asked the question because I literally don’t know. What I’m saying is is if the Biden administration takes control of the distribution of pharmaceuticals, and then it is found that they are specifically denying pharmaceuticals to red states, let’s say or they’re giving as much as New York wants and as much as California wants but denying the drug to Florida and Tennessee and Alabama and Texas. Let’s just say that it’s doing that.
Leahy: And it looks like it.
Carmichael: But you find absolute documentation. You can prove it.
Leahy: And you can prove it.
Carmichael: My question is, can any of those people be held criminally liable?
Leahy: Let’s just say a 66-year-old male who’s got the vaccine tests positive for COVID-19 goes in and asks his doctor to get the monoclonal antibody treatment is denied because of the Biden administration policy.
And then if that person then becomes sick and dies, what does his family do? What recourse do they have?
Carmichael: Right. That’s the question.
Listen to the full second hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs to the newsmaker line to discuss COVID-19 data, mask mandates, and county health board powers.
Leahy: On the newsmaker line right now, our good friend, the mayor of Knox County, Glenn Jacobs. Good morning, Mayor Jacobs.
Jacobs: Good morning. How are you?
Leahy: Did you get your wake-up call with your directions from Dr. Anthony Fauci today?
Jacobs: I think a lot of us have gotten a wake-up call from Dr. Fauci recently with directions. Unfortunately, with everything going on with Rand Paul and the debates that he’s had with Dr. Fauci, the wake-up call isn’t great anymore.
Leahy: No, not at all. First, let me just ask the obvious question. Have you seen any definitive studies that show the wearing of these cloth masks have any impact on limiting the spread of COVID-19?
Jacobs: It depends on what study you look at, what result you’ll see, and there are some that point one way. I think the governor of Iowa put it best months ago when she said it really depends on what study you look at.
There are studies and they’re peer-reviewed and incredible that show that the cloth masks don’t do anything. Other people have studies showing that they do. I think when we look at the overall spread of COVID-19 and compare places with strict mask mandates, no mask mandates, those sort of things, it looks like the virus just does what it’s going to do.
Leahy: Regardless.
Jacobs: Regardless of what interventions people do.
Leahy: Yes. That’s my take as well. I’ve seen some of these studies that don’t necessarily watch the science of transmission, but, in fact, do the broader comparison between this area had a mandate and that area didn’t. And the area that had the mandate did better. But it never seems to make sense that it’s necessarily causal to me. That’s sort of my take on it.
Jacobs: And I agree with that. I think it’s important to point out, too, that COVID-19 is real. It’s dangerous, especially for some people. But it’s also become incredibly politicized at this point.
Leahy: You think? (Laughs)
Jacobs: And for me, you know, we’re a country that’s based on individual liberty and the freedom to make choices for ourselves. And we need to keep that. And it doesn’t matter if it’s the President of the United States or an infectious disease expert.
I don’t have a problem with masks and people doing whatever they want to protect themselves. My problem is when the government says you must, you will or else. That becomes very problematic for me.
Leahy: Let’s talk about your role as mayor of Knox County. Pretty big county. The population was 450,000 or so.
Jacobs: We’re probably closing on a 500,000.
Leahy: Growing like crazy, aren’t you?
Jacobs: Yes, we are actually.
Leahy: Now in the state of Tennessee, there are 95 counties. In six of those counties the decision about handling health regulations is in the hands of county officials. And in 89, those decisions still remain in the hands of the governor. Is Knox County one of those six counties where each county can determine rules and regulations?
Jacobs: Yes, we are. We have our own health department. And there were a lot of controversies last year throughout the pandemic. But we have a board of health that was empowered to issue health orders.
The real issue is when you look at state law, we realized that this board of health’s power is literally unlimited. There were no constraints. When you look at the statute, we think, oh, they’re going to do this during the healthcare emergency or public health emergency.
And that wasn’t the case. There was no specified time limit. And there were no restrictions. All it said was they can issue orders to protect public health and safety. So when you think about things that have happened to other places, like banning sugary drinks, saying that guns are a public health crisis, gun violence, they were empowered under state law to issue regulations concerning those things, and regulations that they issued preempted anything coming out of the county commission.
They were the most powerful lawmaking body in Knox County. The commission eventually took that power away from them and made them an advisory board. But we’re still looking at state law and all this has changed.
And it’s rather confusing as to who actually has the authority to issue public health orders in Knox County. And that’s something I think the other counties are struggling with too.
Leahy: Mayor Jacobs, people would think that the mayor of the county is the chief executive officer of that body and basically sets the – administers the law as determined by the county commission and the state law. Is the county public health commission elected or appointed? How do you get on that?
Jacobs: Yes. They’re appointed. They’re recommended by their various trade associations. The Doctors Association and the pharmacists’ people. And then they go to the commission. They are confirmed by the commission.
Leahy: So the commissioner confirms them. How many members are on the county health board in Knox County?
Jacobs: There are nine. And I do sit on the board of health, which is ironic because the board of health is supposed to advise the mayor. So I sit on an advisory board that advises me, which makes very little sense.
Leahy: Interesting. So they’re appointed.
Jacobs: And now let me point out, though, I’m sorry to interrupt. Generally, it’s one of those things they come to County Commission – County Commission has no expertise in this area.
So unless there’s something blatantly wrong or bad or questionable about a candidate, since they’re recommended by their professional association, they are probably going to be confirmed.
Leahy: Well yes. What are the dynamics been with that board of health during this period of time you are elected? When were you elected? 2018?
Jacobs: Yes, sir.
Leahy: So during that period of time, at the beginning of it, the board of health had these unfettered powers, and now those powers have been limited. What have been the dynamics of that board with you?
Jacobs: When they had policy-making powers, there were a lot of eight to one votes – me being the one vote against mandates – we had a mask mandate. I voted against that. Shutting down businesses, learning capacity, restaurants.
A curfew of restaurants. I voted against all those things. The only time I voted with the board of health is if they had something in place and they were replacing it with something less restrictive.
Leahy: Mayor Jacobs, could you stay through the break?
Jacobs: Sure.
Leahy: I want to go into the dynamics of these board meetings that are eight to one with you being the one. That would be interesting.
Listen to the first hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy discussed the firing of vaccine chief, Dr. Michelle Fiscus, and Governor Lee’s statement, which exposed his unfamiliarity with the Tennessee Department of Health’s mature minor doctrine.
Michel Patrick Leahy:
Well, we’ve been talking about Governor Billy’s statement yesterday about the termination of Dr. Michelle Fiscus, the state’s former vaccine chief.
And there’s something wrong with the way he’s explained it, it seems to me. By the way, you can call in if you want to disagree or if you have any additional insight into this number.
So here’s the story. Actually, I’m reading the story from Newsweek about this and will elaborate a little bit on some of the headlines that you heard on the radio during the break.
Here’s how Newsweek reported it. Remember, Newsweek is part of The Daily Beast. It’s more of a far-left outfit. So take this with a grain of salt. But they have done the most comprehensive reporting that I’ve seen on this so far.
Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee defended the termination of Michelle Fiscus, the state’s former vaccine chief, who was removed from her duties last week.
Fiscus asserts her firing was due to the outrage of some GOP lawmakers over her handling of state outreach efforts regarding COVID-19 vaccines for minors, the Associated Press reported. Asterisk.
The Associated Press is far left right now. Just so you know. Lee did not provide answers when asked by reporters for the specifics of the firing of Fiscus.
“Government needs to provide information and education, provide access, and we need to do so to the parents of those children. That’s the direction the department took regarding individual personnel decisions. I trust the departments to make decisions consistent with the vision.”
I don’t think that’s exactly the truth. Look, we’ll try to reach out to the governor and get them to come out of the program and elaborate on this.
But I just read from you the mature minor doctrine that is currently on the website of the Tennessee Department of Health. And I’m just reading what it says.
Between the ages of 14 and 18, there is a rebuttable presumption of capacity, and the physical physician may treat without parental consent unless the physician believes that the minor is not sufficiently mature to make his or her own health care decisions.
That is the official current policy of the Tennessee Department of Health and seems to be not the policy that Governor Lee is claiming. Thursday is the first time that Governor Lee spoke out about Fiscus’s termination, and he said State Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey did not tell him the motivations behind her termination.
Okay, not paying attention to what’s going on at a very important issue, it seems to me. Here’s again how Newsweek represented it. Anger emerged from some Republicans after Fiscus distributed a memo earlier this year about the state’s mature minor doctrine that allows minors 14 and older to choose to become vaccinated without guardians’ consent.
From our reading of the mature minor doctrine, which is still today on the Tennessee Department of Health website, that is an accurate reading of what the Tennessee Department of Health doctrine is.
I don’t know if Governor Lee has read that or is aware of it, but he ought to be aware of his own policy in the Tennessee Department of Health.
And this is kind of from The Associated Press, now part of the story. Lee also came out in full defense of his administration’s rollback of outreach for childhood vaccines that have sparked national scrutiny alongside Fiscus’s firing over well. I don’t think it’s a rollback of outreach.
I don’t know if that’s actually true either, because we’ve got Kerry Roberts saying that’s how Newsweek describes it. But basically what they’re describing is a rollback, Kerry Roberts says they’ve agreed to stop marketing to minors.
I don’t know if they’ve stopped promoting the idea that parents should be involved in deciding whether or not to have their kids vaccinated for COVID-19.
I’ll get to my take on the science of this, by the way, in a bit. One online post featuring a photo of a smiling child with a bandaid on his arm said, “Tennesseean’s 12 plus are eligible for a vaccine. Give COVID-19 vaccines a shot.”
Earlier this year, Fiscus released a memo detailing Tennessee’s mature minor doctrine which traces back to a 1987 state Supreme Court case.
It led to a firestorm at a legislative meeting last month. Dr. Fiscus is accurate in describing Tennessee’s mature minor doctrine, right? It’s accurate.
Now whether or not she should have sent that out without reviewing it in detail with a general counsel, that probably is a matter of judgment.
Tennessee is one of five states where providers have the discretion to decide if a minor is mature enough to consent to vaccination without a parent according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, which said 41 other sites require parental consent, and five others have a self consent age under 18.
Okay. So look, Governor Lee, despite all of this brouhaha, it does appear that the current doctrine of your government and your administration is to allow children as young as 14 to receive this COVID-19 vaccination without parental consent if the administering physician thinks that they are sufficiently mature.
That, Governor Lee, is your doctrine right now. I agree with the legislators who said that ought not to be the doctrine. But Governor Lee, maybe he’s not aware of that and he’s not paying attention to what the doctrine really is of his own administration.
Again, it seems like that to me. By the way, you can jump in on this topic. I would like to hear from you. GOP lawmakers said in a meeting Wednesday they have received private reassurances from Piercey and a governor’s office officials that the state Health Department of Education and 89 of 95 County Health Departments won’t be offering COVID 19 vaccines to minors without their parents’ permission. Okay, well, that’s an assurance.
But that assurance conflicts with the current mature minor doctrine (Chuckles) that is promoted as the Tennessee Department of Health website. What’s wrong with that picture, Governor Lee?
Apparently, he seems to be unaware of any of this. Not a good situation in my view. You got to be on top of it. And I would say the mature minor doctrine needs to be changed.
I’ll do this over the break and look into that 1987 Tennessee Supreme Court decision upon which apparently this mature minor doctrine is based.
Listen to the first hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles in the studio to give his official comment on Dr. Anthony Fauci’s recent advice for local municipalities on local COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Leahy: We welcome to our microphones in studio the mayor of Maury County – that bastion of economic freedom, that turbocharged engine of economic growth – Andy Ogles. Good morning, Andy.
Ogles: Good morning.
Leahy: You like that little phrase we came up with last time? The bastion of freedom and turbocharged engine of economic growth in Maury County. It’s fun because it’s true.
Ogles: It is true. We are firing on all cylinders and it’s a great time, really, to be in Tennessee, period, but certainly Middle Tennessee and Maury County. And I’m blessed to be mayor and just got back from the beach and tan.
Leahy: Tan, rested, and ready.
Ogles: That’s right.
Leahy: Tan, rested, and ready is the phrase. I went a couple of weeks ago. I went down the beginning of July. I went down in a similar area and was tan, rested, and ready for a while. (Laughs)
We went to Dauphin Island. If you haven’t been, it’s very quiet and just outside of Mobile and not a lot to do there, which was fantastic.
My wife and I and our kids just hung out at the beach every day and built sandcastles and big trenches in the sand and just chilled.
Leahy: That would be my favorite thing to do – is basically not a lot. Just sit and hang out at the beach and maybe walk along the beach.
The problem is I can do it for, like, about an hour, maybe two hours. And then all of a sudden I started thinking. What about X?
What about Y? What about C? I better call so and so. And then it all starts again. So I got to pace myself a little bit.
Ogles: With three kiddos on the beach, one of them always wanted to get in the water. Especially our little one. So we had a blast. Totally fun.
Leahy: Well, welcome back. You do look tan, rested, and ready. And the challenges of being the mayor of Maury County: I think you thrive on that, from what I can tell.
It’s interesting. We deal with a lot of political figures here, and I think you like to talk to people. To me, this is why my best role is being a talk radio host because we talk to people in studio.
But when you go out in Maury County, everyone has a claim on your time. Everyone. And so everyone has a right to come up and say, now, Mayor, why didn’t we do X?
Over here I’ve got a problem there. What are you going to do about it? You seem to like that.
Ogles: Yeah. I mean, I think that’s the role of our elected officials is to be the advocate for our community. And that’s what I try to do, which is why I was so vocal during COVID.
I’ll have someone reach out or make a comment on social media. Maybe I’m being an advocate against or for some policy that maybe has a national or even statewide bent to it.
But what they don’t realize is that a vaccine mandate hypothetically affects us locally. And so it’s my job as mayor to be vocal and say, “hey, the constituents, my constituents here Maury County don’t want vaccine mandates.”
They don’t want mask mandates. They don’t want these shutdowns and this intrusive government that is wanting to lurch into Tennessee. And so I’ve been very vocal and try to be an advocate for everybody in Maury County.
And our businesses are booming because of it, because we are that turbocharged bastion of freedom that we’ve become known for. And our square is booming, which is fantastic.
Leahy: Now, Anthony Fauci.
Ogles: The man. (Chuckles)
Leahy: The man. This is coming in here just recently from Anthony Fauci and the Biden administration, and basically following Anthony Fauci’s comments the other day calling for more local vaccine mandates.
Local! The press secretary to the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Jen Psaki, said that the Biden administration won’t issue broader federal mandates, but the Biden administration plans to support local municipalities and their efforts to regulate COVID-19 vaccine administration and distribution.
I don’t know about you, but that sounds very Orwellian to me, Andy.
Ogles: Well, that’s what’s been frustrating for me about COVID, in general, is that how quickly we as a people really started giving up our liberties and freedoms, and we became a very Orwellian society almost overnight.
And we’ve got to get back to the fundamental beliefs and individual liberty.
Leahy: Comment on Fauci who said on Sunday, “I’ve been of this opinion, and I remain of that opinion, that I do believe at the local level there should be more mandates. There really should be.”
Do you have a message in response to Anthony Fauci?
Ogles: Hell no!
Leahy: Doctor Fauci, are you listening? For your request for local mandates, we have the official quote from Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles. This quote is for you, Dr. Fauci. Hell no! (Laughter)
Ogles: He’s not a very tall fellow. I’ll pat him on the head and send him on his way.
Leahy: Hell no, Dr. Fauci. That’s Andy Ogles. I agree with that.
Listen to the second hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
