Nobody Arouses the Etsy Marketplace Like Dr. Fauci

The lionization of Dr. Anthony Fauci, leading member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and director of the National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is unsurprising. Seemingly the only halfway competent, reasonable member of the administration tasked with dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, around him orbits a universe populated by gushy Facebook posts, Debra Messing’s tweets, daytime talk show hosts ardently defending him, and a whole host of QAnon adjacent conspiracy theories. This is a permanent facet of American politics now: a cult of celebrity, guided by the same forces that put Jennifer Aniston on the cover of every tabloid, in perpetuity.

Earlier this week, while pondering poor Fauci’s fate, a tweet from actor and occasionally online person Henry Winkler caught my eye. It was a view of his living room, with a pillow displayed prominently on his extremely expensive-looking sofa: Dr. Anthony Fauci’s glowing, smiling face.

There’s plenty to be concerned about here, among them: Why is Henry Winkler “chatting health stuff” with an inanimate object? I hope his family is aware of this condition. But perhaps more pressing is my desire to know where, exactly, he found a Dr. Fauci pillow. It had to be Etsy, right?

Below are some of the worst items I found in my quest to uncover the origins of Henry Winkler’s pillow. While they are not ranked in any particular order, I would say a common theme unites them. This is one aspect of what happens now when public officials utterly fail their constituents: Etsy crafters go looking for a hero. Despite his inability to safeguard them against Trump’s villainy, Dr. Anthony Fauci seems to be their only hope. Enjoy!