Ok, here's my point by point retort. I was going to post it as a comment on the actual newsweek article, but character count limitations got me. But, I took the time to write it and I don't want it to be completely wasted time.. I take issue with so much in this letter, I'm not entirely sure I can cover it all... but I'll try. Let's start with, in your own words, your motivation for writing this letter: "My motivation for writing this is simple: It's clear to me that for public trust to be restored in science, scientists should publicly discuss what went right and what went wrong during the pandemic, and where we could have done better." First of all, it's not that there is "lack of public trust" in science itself. Science is but a procedure for testing hypotheses, gathering obervable facts from those tests, and then using that data to come to what are provable, repeatable, empirical truths. So long as the proper procedures are carried out without bias, no one has a problem with "science". So, science is not the issue. The issue is the far too many people who claimed to practice science, but in reality stood to be counted with everything contrary to science as it's defined above. The issue is the condescending arrogance spewed out of their filthy sewers whilst doing it. That the moment they were given the slightest amount of power, they abused it in the worst way. The cowardice that kept them from standing for what's right. Now, I have no evidence that you personally were in any sort of position to exercise any real power over the masses in this regard. So much of what I will say next doesn't apply to you. But, you did stand for and support the tyrants of our day. And only now when you see your own livlihood threatened, when you see that your field is so damaged by what you supported for TWO YEARS STRAIGHT, do you apologize? You said it yourself: your motivation is that "public trust be restored to science". It's not that justice is carried out. It's not that there is restitution to victims. It's simply that your precious industry is preserved. I am grateful that you are honest about your motivations, as wrong as they are. But they are still wrong. Moving on... "I was with them when they called for lockdowns, vaccines, and boosters." You left out vaccine mandates..Did you write a letter against the mandates? You know, the MOST EGREGIOUS OF ALL ACTIONS that were forced on the entire nation? The tyrannical edict that 100% violated the Nuremburg code prohibiting forced participation in medical experiments? Remember that? We do. And yet you conveniently left it out for some reason... Moving on.. "I can see now that the scientific community from the CDC to the WHO to the FDA and their representatives, repeatedly overstated the evidence and misled the public..." You "can see now", you say? Why couldn't you see then? Oh wait, you COULD: "All of these were scientific mistakes at the time, not in hindsight." Surely you can see the problem here? So which is it? You "can see it now", in hindsight? Or you saw it "at the time", but made the gutless choice to say nothing until you thought it was safe and/or you felt that your profession may be threatened? Both can't be true at the same time, and yet you claim - in writing - that they are. Moving on.... "...the scientific community from the CDC to the WHO to the FDA and their representatives, repeatedly overstated the evidence and misled the public.." "Overstated evidence" and "misled the public".. you sound like a politician with these understated, flowery descriptions.. let's just call it what is is: THEY BLATANTLY LIED. And you supported those lies. For. Two. Straight. Years. Moving on... "What we did not properly appreciate is that preferences determine how scientific expertise is used, and that our preferences might be—indeed, our preferences were—very different from many of the people that we serve. We created policy based on our preferences, then justified it using data." So in other words, you wore your fancy lab coats, told everyone you were conducting science, but then knowingly practiced the opposite of science while you claimed to practice actual science and systematically ruined ANYONE who even asked so much as a critical question. "And then we portrayed those opposing our efforts as misguided, ignorant, selfish, and evil." Yes, that's all true, but it's actually far worse than that. People lost their livlihoods, jobs, families, and even lives simply because they took a stand to oppose you. Your support of anti-science is what emboldened those in government and big tech to do what they did. They used your "scientific opinions" to justify their actions. You may not have shot anyone, but you kept handing bullets to the shooters, figuratively speaking, of course. "We made science a team sport, and in so doing, we made it no longer science." Oh good. You finally admitted it. So it wasn't actual science. So when we kept saying that for TWO YEARS and you people told us we were wrong and evil, you knew the whole time that we were right. I mean, you are educated in science, right? So, it's not like you had this revelation just recently. Either that, or you should get a refund from whoever educated you because you did just discover this. It's got to be one of the two. Which is it? Because it can't be both. Moving on... "We excluded important parts of the population from policy development.." Oh, you mean like, what, EVERYONE BUT YOURSELVES AND YOUR HANDLERS IN MEDIA AND GOVERNMENT? So like, 99% of the population? Moving on... "Our emotional response and ingrained partisanship prevented us from seeing the full impact of our actions on the people we are supposed to serve." You see, good sir, that's why civil societies and decent people have what we call "guiding principles". If you have a strong set of guiding principles, you never have to worry about negatively impacting vulnerable people, regardless of your emotions and biases. So, for example, our constitution.. which is full of guiding principles designed precisely to protect us from tyrants, their enablers (you), and their henchmen. And again, the Nuremburg codes, which were enacted to deal with THIS EXACT AND SPECIFIC SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES. And yet, you all ignored all of it. Are you starting to understand the true gravity of what you, and your contemporaries, did here? This isn't just that you guys abandoned scientific best practices. That in of itself is bad and unprofessional, but forgivable. No, what you people enabled goes WAY BEYOND that by hundreds of miles. "And we paid the price. The rage of the those marginalized by the expert class exploded onto and dominated social media." I'm sorry, but I literally laughed out loud at this line. YOU paid the price? What price have you paid exactly? Did you lose your job? Your income? A child? A parent? A sibling? A spouse? Did you lose anything of REAL VALUE as a direct result of what you supported? Oh, no, it doesn't look like it. Apparently, people "raged" at you on Facebook. Well, that must have been very difficult for you. I'm so sorry. Now, queue the world's tiniest violin and let's all have a moment of silence because people "raged" at you and were really, really, really mean because you assisted in taking irreplaceable things of actual value from them. "Lacking the scientific lexicon to express their disagreement..." Was a "scientific lexicon" really necessary? I mean, the lies were SO BLATANT that even uneducated people I know in my life could see it. Do I really need to know how to explain molecular physics when all I have to is point out obvious inconsitencies and lies, most of which are documented on video for anyone with an internet connection to see? This is your narcissism shining through again, bro. You see yourself so high and mighty that even when you're wrong and everyone knows it (including you), those "other people" are too stupid to properly point it out in a fashion that meets your strict academic standards.. As if. Get over yourself already, bro. "Many dissidents turned to conspiracy theories and a cottage industry of scientific contortionists.." Aha! And there it is! And thus, you've undermined everything else you've written in your letter by again marginalizing the very people you are apoligizing for marginalizing. Unbelievable. Shocking, but not surprising. And by the way, it's not a "conspiracy theory" if it's true. And how many "conspiracy theories" have been proven true over the last two years? Do I really need to list them all? Should I? Because you, I, and everyone reading this knows what they are. WE ALL KNOW. So let's cut the BS, bro. As the meme says, "This isn't a game or anything..but in case some of you are wondering, the conspiracy theorists are up 17-0." Moving on... "..we have witnessed a massive and ongoing loss of life in America due to distrust of vaccines and the healthcare system; a massive concentration in wealth by already wealthy elites; a rise in suicides and gun violence especially among the poor; a near-doubling of the rate of depression and anxiety disorders especially among the young; a catastrophic loss of educational attainment among already disadvantaged children; and among those most vulnerable, a massive loss of trust in healthcare, science, scientific authorities, and political leaders more broadly." Wow, that sounds really bad. Almost like it's not something that you can really just "apologize for" and then hope that solves it.. I could go on and on, picking apart this trash you call an apology letter, line by line. But I think I've done that sufficiently enough to make my point. I will close by saying: Those of us who fought you are not through. Not by damn sight. Apologies aren't going to magically fix this. While you, sir, may not have been in a position of power to directly violate the human rights of every American citizen, there are those who were and are still walking free. That is unacceptable to us. We will not stop until there is justice. While God, and even I, may forgive those who actively participated in this unconsitutional, genocidal, tyrannical behavior - justice must still be served to restore balance. Lady Justice is not, and never has been, on the same program as God. Nor should she be. Her job is not forgiveness, rather the opposite. Her job is to gouge an eye for an eye and to facilitate restitution. To be clear, I'm talking about the heads of government, pharma, CDC, FDA..it's a long list. People who wielded actual power and committed these crimes against humanity must be held to account by our justice system - perhaps even the military justice system. If you think that is rash or overreaching, then it just means that you truly don't grasp what was done to innocent people the world over. And that says more about you than it does about us. So, unless and until justice is served, this isn't over. There are no "deals", there are no other options. This is not negotiable. Justice must prevail. The consitution and the Nuremburg codes were violated consistently and with impunity, and that is not something that you can just "apologize away". You want to redeem yourself? Spend less time writing unconvincing apology letters and more time standing for justice.