It’s been a bad end-of-the-month for science, reason and democracy.
Let’s start with the fact that the United States boycotted an international climate change conference in Brazil a couple of weeks ago. It was the first time since 1995 that the United States did not send an official delegation to the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. A total of 195 nations, plus the European Union — even North Korea — sent delegates. The only other countries besides the United States that did not officially attend were Afghanistan, Myanmar and San Marino.
For shame.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright justified this dereliction of duty by calling COP30 “essentially a hoax.” Of course, President Trump has repeatedly called climate change a “hoax.” Speaking to the United Nations assembly earlier this fall, this grifter, without a trace of irony, said: “This ‘climate change,’ it’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.” A number of federal, state and local representatives, plus environmental groups, to their credit, did attend to show that many Americans care.
Such a disgraceful rejection of science by our nation, including the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, endangers not just our nation’s reputation but the planet and future generations.
This reckless denial of science was followed by more science denial: the outrageous instruction by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to place a disclaimer at the CDC website regarding the finding that vaccines do not cause autism. The CDC website now laughably states that this guidance is “not evidence-based.” The Lancet estimates that vaccines have averted 154 million deaths worldwide since 1974, but the zealot in charge of U.S. health is seeking to destroy U.S. vaccination policy.
Next in Kennedy’s sights is the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which Congress created in 1986 to offer vaccine manufacturers liability protection from lawsuits, many of which make unprovable if not bogus claims. If pharmaceutical companies are not provided such protection, they will have no incentive to continue manufacturing vaccines, which are not highly profitable. They will be targeted by the anti-vax movement RFK jump-started, to great personal profit.
I can only quote RFK Jr., back at himself: “I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.” As the Freedom From Religion Foundation has repeatedly warned, Kennedy is a menace to public health.
Let’s move along from the unhealthy state of science and medicine under the Trump regime to the unhealthy state of U.S. democracy. The Washington Post late last week shocked the nation by reporting that the Coast Guard announced that it will reclassify the swastika, the symbol of Nazism, from a hate symbol to merely “potentially divisive.” The symbol of the Holocaust is potentially divisive? As of Dec. 15, nooses and the Confederate flag will likewise be downgraded from hate symbols to “potentially divisive.” The actions appear to be in response to a directive from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to review and overhaul policies involving harassment and hazing. The kid gloves are certainly off the white Christian nationalist underpinnings of the Trump Administration and its supporters.
And finally came Trump’s social media outburst last Thursday, saying six lawmakers had engaged in “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” for reminding individuals in the military that they can refuse illegal orders. The six Democrats, including former astronaut Senator Mark Kelly, all have either served in the military or the intelligence community.
They had recorded a short video stating that “threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home.” Lawmakers joining Kelley of Arizona included Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin and Reps. Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Jason Crow of Colorado. Slotkin, in a separate post, explained, “This is the law. Passed down from our Founding Fathers, to ensure our military upholds its oath to the Constitution — not a king.”
Trump called for them to be “arrested and put on trial” for behavior that could be “punishable by death.” He told Fox News on Friday, “I’m not threatening death, but I think they’re in serious trouble.”
Clearly, what’s in serious trouble in America is reason-based government, science — and our very democracy. It’s not surprising that the Kettering Foundation Gallup survey released last week found that about half of adult Americans believe democracy is functioning very or moderately poorly in the United States. The results show what a tumultuous time it is for U.S. politics and the anxiety assaults on democracy are creating.
It’s incumbent on everyone who cares about our nation’s future to speak out strongly against these un-American, unscientific and reckless actions being perpetrated in the name of We the People.
