Donald Trump goes nuclear in the GOP’s war on science

One hundred years ago this month the Scopes trial was held in Dayton Tenn For days jurors heard arguments about John Scopes a high school professor who had taught the theory of evolution in apparent violation of the Butler Act a state law that made it illegal for populace school teachers to introduce theories that contradicted the Biblical creation story The trial which featured celebrated attorneys Clarence Darrow defending Scopes and erstwhile presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan leading the prosecution was widely publicized and sparked a national conversation about the tensions between science and religion and governing body s role between the two Then as now the debate was fed by a sense of paranoia and social anxiety over rapid cultural change In the end Scopes was convicted which was later overturned on appeal But the matter took on legendary status being dramatized in the play and film Inherit the Wind and despite Scopes conviction coming to be seen as a important preeminence for science Since then the right-wing in America has intermittently conducted an assault on science that with the ascent of the religious right gelled into an all-out war around the early s Numerous conservatives have over the last years opposed AIDS research stem cell research basic facts about setting change and statute to address it and measures to prevent the spread of COVID- It seems the administration and its allies in Congress want to set the United States back a century back to the time of the Scopes trial Under President Donald Trump the GOP has decided to go nuclear The federal administration s advocacy of science and medicine is being systematically destroyed by devastating cuts to research agencies and staff It seems the administration and its allies in Congress want to set the United States back a century back to the time of the Scopes trial Scientific advances have long met with resistance from countless cultural conservatives For numerous GOP voters this suspicion is tied to religious fundamentalism and the very crux of the Scopes trial that the theory of evolution contradicts the Bible and is therefore blasphemous Denying that basic understanding of the natural world makes in their minds countless scientific breakthroughs suspect But the war on science isn t just about religion or common mistrust This phenomenon is also related to the Republican Party s fealty to businesses like the fossil fuel industry which requires denial of state change to reduce competition from renewable potency sources This view has helped to perpetuate the right-wing conspiracy theory of weather manipulation that the extreme weather events the country has been experiencing such as the current Texas flood are caused by the deep state geoengineering the weather Related Populace medical expert Trump s big beautiful bill will cause misery and death There has long been a conservative faction that wished to slash taxes and hoped to end aid for science in the general sector These people believe that business should pick up the slack and they have refused to acknowledge that much of the basic research that leads to breakthroughs in science and mechanism certain of which results in dead ends and disappointing outcomes do not instantly make a profit and are therefore unlikely to be pursued Then there is the traditional right-wing suspicion toward regime which causes plenty of to be hostile to any population healthcare or environmental regulations Preponderance not long ago we saw that ideology play out during the pandemic when plenty of on the right opposed temporary restrictions of everyday programs and even vaccines to stop the spread of COVID- The fall-out from that devastating event looks like it s going to haunt the country for a few time to come The disastrous cuts to science and medicine are happening at all levels of the federal governing body and they are impacting every agency Especially catastrophic for the lives of millions both in the U S and around the world is what s happening with biomedical research The administration s attacks on universities for spurious political reasons are affecting various research projects that would otherwise lead to treatments and cures for deadly diseases Appointing the Four Horseman of the Scientific Apocalypse Robert F Kennedy Jr as secretary of wellness and human Services Dr Mehmet Oz to run Medicare and Medicaid services Dr Marty Makary as head of the FDA and Dr Jay Bhattacharya to run the National Institutes of Fitness has signaled the end of any serious approach to biomedical science and society strength by the federal leadership The individual histories of these men as a dangerous conspiracy theorist a quack cure TV huckster an eccentric contrarian and an ethically-challenged partisan have sent shockwaves through the scientific society Together and separately they have taken a wrecking ball to our august scientific institutions that were previously considered to be the best in the world Want more sharp takes on politics Sign up for our free newsletter Standing Room Only written by Amanda Marcotte now also a weekly show on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts Even as Kennedy Oz Makary and Bhattacharya work to dismantle valuable scientific research and condition prevention measures they are quick to admonish Americans to stay healthy Don t eat carrot cake Oz lately admonished Medicaid recipients Eat real food Kennedy also chimed in with a patriotic plea This administration wants to encourage Americans to take control of their medical to eat right to have lifestyle changes that save us all And that s the patriotic thing to do not only for our country but for every individual American It s a patriotic duty to keep ourselves healthy This is the caliber of American scientific expertise we now have in charge Sure we should all eat better and exercise And it s great that the U S is ultimately getting rid of the food dyes that the European Union banned years ago But much of what they are spouting is self-help internet based anecdotal nonsense Meanwhile after warning us against the dangers of carrot cake these luminaries are strangling research into mRNA vaccines one of the potentially greatest advances in clinical research in a century all because of crank conspiracy theories about the mRNA COVID shots The consequences are tragic As the Guardian communicated this week Research on mRNA cancer vaccines has been under way for more than a decade with more than clinical trials on treating and preventing cancers mRNA shots have shown promise for preventing the return of head and neck cancer lymphoma breast cancer which accounts for of all cancer deaths in the US colorectal cancer lung cancer and kidney cancer among others Pancreatic cancer has a survival rate and is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the US but in a small investigation about half of the patients who received an mRNA vaccine did not see their cancer return and they still had strong immune responses three years later Early mRNA vaccine trials also indicated the recurrence of melanoma could be cut in half And a small assessment co-authored by Sayour on glioblastoma displayed the vaccines started affecting the tumors within hours All of that is at jeopardy now The NIH is dismissing dozens of grant reviewers for mRNA research leaving them understaffed and without the necessary expertise to assess the information They have cancelled million in contracts to develop mRNA vaccines against prospective pandemic flu viruses The consequences will be deadly We need your help to stay independent Subscribe in the present day to assistance Salon s progressive journalism It s too much to expect these people to care about the lives that won t be saved because of their antediluvian attitudes toward modern science But they usually care about money Economist Paul Krugman points out that two first-rate economists David Cutler and Ed Glaeser have made a stab at estimating the impact of cuts at NIH Their analysis suggests that these cuts might save billion in federal spending over the next years while imposing more than trillion in losses A century after the Scopes trial it seems we might not have learned that much at all The right has rarely been interested in long-term thinking But the country used to let scientists and researchers think about it for us and deliver the fruits of their labor for our common benefit which included saving countless lives This approach served us very well for over a century Now it seems we re just going to tell people it s their patriotic duty to be healthy and leave it at that Read more about this topic We dissent NIH scientists sign declaration against Trump s research cuts Elon Musk built his wealth from taxpayer-funded research now he s trying to destroy future science Scientists debate fleeing America because of Trump or liability their research being censored The post Donald Trump goes nuclear in the GOP s war on science 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