Note: This will be my last column for a week or two when most of you read this I will be under a surgeon’s knife or in a recovery room. I am literally paying to have my throat cut-- and put back together…
It occurs to me that my surgeon will be using evidenced based and scientific based methodologies to make my life better. Those two phrases [ evidenced and scientific based] reportedly are being banned from blanketed use by the CDC. The latest addition to the Trump show is his impression of George Carlin and the seven dirty words. In Carlin’s case the seven banned words killed you with laughter, as for Trump, his seven banned words may just kill you. Although the banning of words like ‘transgender, diversity and fetus’ are being disputed by CDC director Brenda Fitzgerald, she made specific reference on the Centers for Disease Control’s Facebook page. Director Fitzgerald was careful to mention that these words were not banned from budget documents and program evaluations but made no mention of field reports, comprehensive supervisory reports, and public warnings.
The multiplying erosion of the public trust have gone beyond the worries of just the paranoid. Attacking, arguably, the world’s greatest domestic law enforcement agency[FBI], impugning the press and judges and enriching his family dynasty Trump is becoming a villain in a Mission Impossible movie plot. Unfortunately, it is reality and not the kind that ends in a funny tagline. Let us take a closer look at what is allegedly being banned and why. The seven words are; "fetus,""entitlement,""diversity,""transgender,""vulnerable,""evidence-based" and "science-based."I agree absurdity was the first word that came to my mind as well, but the absurd is quickly becoming the norm in the Trump Administration. I can only imagine how these words were discussed and agreed upon politically and to satisfy the religiosity of Trump aficionados. A fetusis an obvious nod to Mike Pence who has advocated person-hood for the unborn. Entitlement is a signal to white nationalist looking for a scapegoat for their “economic anxiety.”Diversity and Transgender are married, contrary to the wishes the religious right has for same-sex couples. Vulnerable, the poor, disabled and as Paul Ryan once described, “the takers.”Evidence and Science based another one of those marriages of conservative inconvenience. Acknowledging science and evidence requires an admission of climate change, the rising sea levels, and that Black Lives really do Matter.
I will miss you guys over the next few weeks, wish me luck and remember; I was once a fetus, my hard work entitled me to good healthcare, I have diverse friends, some vulnerable and thanks to the scientific evidence I plan on living a longer life.
See you soon
