On President’s Day, let’s think about our country’s leader, Donald Trump. Do we have to? Yeah, sometimes we do.
For the first time in my lifetime, I see the President of the United States as a serious threat to overall science & to our country’s democracy. Trump is not well-acquainted with fact-based reality and that’s a big problem for American scientists and our country as a whole. It isn’t great for our world in general either.
Other presidents have made mistakes of many kinds, goofed up on specific policies that relate to science in various ways, and held philosophies on specific topics relevant to science with which I disagreed (which is natural, nobody can agree on everything, right?) For instance, I disagreed with Bush on embryonic stem cells (and the idea of his supporters that he deserves credit for IPS cells somehow). However, in every case with past presidents since I became a kid aware of the world around me, they didn’t broadly espouse their own self-serving fantasies more than fact-based reality.
With Trump, after just a year I’m convinced he’s a threat to our country and I see his disdain for facts (what we scientists call “data”) as a direct challenge to science. For our democracy as a whole, he and his words are like a growing crack in our liberty. Often when he tweets or opens his mouth, the crack grows.
Rather than go on and on about the various harmful things he’s done and said, I made the symbol included in this post, which speaks for itself and perhaps more strongly than any words. If you agree, please share this symbol.
I come here to read about stem cell science, not political propaganda. Please keep to that topic.
Agree Steve, l only scan this site because sometimes he actually post relevant articles on stem cells. Paul needs to go sit in a corner and ponder if he should continue to use his blog’s popularly to inform and educate his viewers (noble) or as his own little soapbox to spout his misinformed drivel and hurt “feelings”. (pretentious)
Paul is fine. Let us be honest, the current President is 1) not well versed in the basics of science, and 2) not funding much needed scientific work, 3) not inspiring people around scientific achievements. You might not agree with Paul’s politics, but it is hard to dispute the current President is no friend of reputable science. Paul has shown himself to be a leader and champion of science on more than one occasion, and you know that.
“Trump is a science and technology talent repellent.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/donald-trumps-science-office-is-a-ghost-town/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-rsquo-s-science-advisor-age-31-has-a-political-science-degree/
I’m calling BS on this today. Anymore political biased posts and I’m done
I agree with Steve Moore!
Not sure what you base your hypothesis on, but I disagree completely. I’ve seen no evidence that Trump is a “threat to overall science & to our country’s democracy.” As a matter of fact, I see it completely the other way. The fraud, waste, secrets, dirty tricks of all we’ve seen is a disgrace to our country – and that has nothing whatsoever with Trump. What I have witnessed in my adult lifetime is the twisting of the law by the Supreme Court to appoint Bush as President. I have seen John Roberts change some wording on Obamacare so that it could be implemented. I witnessed a President who raped and assaulted woman and this was covered up by his wife – then she ran for President years later. I have witnessed a Clinton Foundation committing all sorts of pay for play. I learned that a seasoned politician and former first lady somehow kept classified documents and emails on her personal computer to avoid notice by the citizens who she reports to. The list really does go on, but again someone with your leanings will not see any truth to this. The real threat is still in place where there does appear to be a subtle coup d’état of the current president by the FBI, DNC, and a whole host of other unsavory politicians and characters. Certainly Trump has his human traits and not everyone agrees with him… but the real threat is growing all around us and it is because the status quo has been shaken and the curtain pulled back. Those are my thoughts… Sounds like an open discussion.
Your thoughts are so last century. And transparent. Trump is a joke. His actions and tweets make most Americans uncomfortable. Pretty obvious #trumpcolluded and bots are on a mission to divide our country. The White House is in chaos and Russia is the puppet master.