The daily damage being done by the Trump administration has given rise to a grim debate: how much of the wreckage can be remedied, or at least ameliorated, and how much is irremediable? How many of the attacks on purportedly “wasteful” and/or “fraudulent” expenditures are really based upon the appalling ignorance of those leveling the attacks–their profound lack of understanding of how things work?
Example: The sudden and draconian cuts to scientific and medical research don’t just threaten to cripple US global research prominence. They’ve thrown a wrench into promising research into cures for diseases like Alzheimers, Parkinson’s and Cancer.
Last week, the news media reported on two breakthroughs: the use of advances in gene editing to cure a baby born with a rare genetic disorder; and a new blood test to detect Alzheimers. The exciting aspect of the technique used to cure the 9½-month-old baby is its potential to help people suffering with thousands of other uncommon genetic diseases. The blood test makes it possible to detect Alzheimer’s disease much earlier. As one doctor pointed out, the test will allow primary care physicians to order a blood test and, if that test is positive, immediately refer a patient to a neurologist. He predicted that the test will “dramatically change clinical care.”
These advances and others like them didn’t emerge from a few weeks experiments in a laboratory. They built on years of scientific research, much of which had no immediate relevance to the reported advancements.
Most Americans don’t recognize the importance of basic research–it simply isn’t salient to citizens the way cuts in Medicaid or attacks on Social Security are. And very few Americans understand the long-term and disastrous effects of abrupt terminations of multi-year grants.
As Josh Marshall has argued at Talking Points Memo,
Basic and applied research generates huge dividends for a society. But its immediate and salient relevance to the average voter varies greatly. Theoretical physics is very worth funding and has many real world applications. But its relevance to — and just as importantly, its political traction with — a middle income couple in your average community where he’s a bus driver and she’s a nurse may not be crystal clear. Yet everyone knows a family member or loved one or friend stricken with cancer, or conditions tied to aging and dementia, heart disease, or any number of other conditions against which medical science is making steady progress. The point is so obvious it barely merits arguing: People fear death and disease. They look to science for hope of cures and some promise of long and robust lives. For two or three generations, that hope has been tied to researchers, somewhere, perhaps operating with something akin to magic but consistently producing new and wonderful things….
The challenge is that the world of biomedical research is insular. It operates with a system of internal governance and mores that are broadly understandable to people who’ve been exposed to university life, especially in the sciences. But that’s a very, very rarified discourse — peer review, study sections, fundamental vs. applied research, pipelines of new researchers, etc. Let’s start with just the foundational point that almost no one has any fucking idea what any of those terms and concepts mean. And for most things, that’s fine. Society should be well-run and knowledgeable enough to keep its scientists and researchers funded so that they don’t need to focus on the song and dance of making the case for what they do in the public square. Unfortunately, that’s not the world we’re living in right now.
Researchers have an additional and under-ordinary-circumstances very understandable desire not to overpromise or give false hope. This is rooted both in ethical imperatives and the uncertainty-driven empiricism that is the hallmark of any good scientist. But at the moment, it is a big problem because it is providing an unmerited advantage to those who are using lies to shut down medical research in the U.S.
Marshall’s essay is worth reading in its entirety, but his essential point is that people with big megaphones–those in the various “disease communities”– should inform the general public about what is happening. Loudly. As he says, “The more widely known this becomes, the more salient it becomes, the worse it will get for those people who are pushing these cuts, or at least trying to make them permanent through the 2026 budget process.”
Trump and Musk gave carte blanche to know-it-all interns who have no comprehension of how science or government works. Millions of Americans will suffer unnecessarily as a result.
Welcome to MAGA (Morons Are Governing America) world.
Welcome to MAGA (Morons Are Governing America) world.
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Yes – And they keep winning elections — so far.
There was a congressional hearing earlier this week with several of Trump’s MAGA minion appointees, and experts say we are in trouble. Kristi Noem had no idea what habeas corpus meant, and when corrected, still pressed that the president had the power to suspend it.
It went on like that from one minion to the next. Kennedy had no idea what scientific studies were cut and responded with character attacks, which is vintage Trump when asked a tough question.
If you watched their last cabinet meeting, each one took turns praising Trump and trying to outdo the other. Pam Bondi and Kristine Leavitt are just pathetic!
Meanwhile, the Chinese are expanding their influence globally. For the first time, China was ranked higher than the US as the most influential country in the world. As I’ve said before, the Chinese government only accepts the most brilliant students into the government. It’s an honor to serve the public. In Washington, it’s also based on “merit” but their definition is “the ability to pucker and kiss Trump’s ass!”
While we focus on what’s happening in the US, I am more concerned with what’s happening worldwide, resulting from 4+4+0.25 years of ignorance at the executive level in Washington. The dollar is in deep trouble as China and Russia have been building a global currency system to replace the dollar and the SWIFT payment system. China tried to help Trump out by discussing the issues facing the US in private, but Trump’s people don’t understand. China and Japan are the two top debt holders of US securities, and guess what they are both doing? Liquidating their holdings and buying gold. Other countries have also figured out how to avoid the US confiscating their dollar deposits, like Russia, and US sanctions. You cannot sanction or impose penalties on another country if they don’t hold dollars and they don’t need US products. We de-industrialized in the 80s and 90s, so what do we manufacture that other countries don’t? Same with Europe, our vassals.
We are screwed and Trump is only accelerating the problem because he’s only concerned with personal enrichment. Period.
We, the people, own some of the human universe, even though it is an insignificant part of the natural universe. We have some control over even more of it. Our laws allowed us to sell some of what we own to families, and as we used to honor free markets, much of what we sold became more valuable to humans over time. Why? Immigrants worked to create more value. They also had more humans, so the competition for what we owned naturally increased the value of it. Everyone knows all of this.
What is less apparent to the present administration is that some immigrants worked to build an even more valuable asset for the future: knowledge of the Natural Universe. We freely trade that knowledge with all humans because there is no way to prevent free people from writing or talking.
We now struggle to maintain what we all own because we are used to creating more. Without conquering more of it, we cannot expand the portion of the earth we control anymore, so we work now at the only frontier left: knowledge.
A significant challenge for us, the people, is that we have elected a government over everything we built that has never worked at expanding human knowledge, and is, therefore, unqualified to manage the present frontier. They are fully occupied with taking more of our former value under their personal control, even if it is at the expense of our future source of progress in expanding knowledge.
This, too, will pass, but perhaps not until we have been dragged off the trail to future progress and left it for others, while we focus on turning joint assets into private assets with less value.
There is more gobbling going on at a trump minion meeting than a Turkey ranch! Gobble gobble gobble!
They also claim the turkeys will drown themselves in a rainstorm by looking up with their mouth open. I don’t think that’s true, at least as far as turkeys are concerned, lol!
This just reminds me of the movie “Don’t Look Up!” It really is quite prophetic!
The only reason Trump feels he’d make a Good Pope, is all of the hand kissing and finger licking! He’d stay chubby for days!
As a former science educator, I saw the MAGA types coming in my classrooms. Science deniers are inculcated, to a large degree, by the churches who fear truth, progress and fact. The scientific method to these “people” is: Just listen to me and accept everything I’m telling you.
Now we are in a jackpot as, bit by bit, our nation’s vigor and reputation crumble. This is due, primarily by the 77 million idiots who voted for a convicted felon and the 82 million lazy fools who didn’t vote at all. Well done.
I agree with Todd today on every point. This article appeared in the Denver Post this morning and perhaps your home newspaper too:https://enewspaper.denverpost.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=47069c83-6077-4994-9304-80e12a8a041f&share=true
Much of the damage already done to the US biomedical research ecosystem is tragically irreversible. A major example is loss of funding for NIH research training grants. These grants support young MD/DO physicians and PhDs for postgraduate study in the laboratories of senior investigators for 2-5 years. Those are the critical formative years that pay off for society as well as the individuals’ career development. A physician-scientist career path includes 4 years of college, 4 years of medical school, clinical residency, and 2-5 or more years of postgraduate study, or 13-18 years+ after high school before *eligibility* for a “real job.” Few could fund such a lengthy preparation without grant support. For years, too few native-born Americans will even start the process; the manpower lack has been filled by brilliant students from other countries, many of whom stay after training and become career contributors to US science and medicine. Thus, damaging the research ecosystem means DECADES with fewer trainining sites sought by fewer American and immigrant students. Already, immigrant students and faculty settled here are returning to home countries, increasingly accompanied by native-born American scientists. Our position as global leader in biomedical science is deteriorating rapidly. Our grandchildrens and great-grandchildren will suffer consequences for their health, our economy, and America’s global standing unless repairs begin immediately. Oh, vain hope!
On this blog, I’ve been writing about the research process. The problem I have is that I need a book to properly explain the hows and whys of the process. Before we even get to the money part of research there are a hundred things that need to be done. Basic science in medical research is the work that’s done in the lab. It sometimes involves the use of animals. When you read the titles, it might make people wonder why on earth anyone needs to study the effects of sleeping upside down in bats? (I am not saying there’s a study being done on this. It just sounds Impractical ) If you read the proposal, you might understand that there’s a perfectly valid reason to pay for this. Basic research is far removed from clinical studies. It can take several years of trial and error to get to a formula that stands up to testing and replication. Along the way we frequently find other things that advance treatment for other diseases. None of that can happen if the research must be approved by those who haven’t a clue what they’re doing, like RFK. Jr.
I’m just proving my point about needing a book. I started with a really simple thought, but as I got into it I got carried away. My simple explanation turned into a discourse and I didn’t even touch on the regulatory part, before, during, and after. Sorry!
The MAGA regime hates science because science deals with objective, measurable reality, and reality fails to follow the party line and obey Trump.
That’s really the core of it. Trumpers hate science because science contradicts them, so they think if they make science go away, they’ll be “right” and be “winners” over reality.
Well, as the saying goes, Mother Nature always bats last. And she carries a mighty big stick.
Peggy, your points are well made, but science isn’t there just for the betterment of human health. By understanding how all life on earth works, we can become better stewards of our planet. Humans, after all, are now the most populous mammal on earth, the most wasteful and the most counter-productive to all other life on earth.
No other animal at any cellular level conducts massive genocides on its species. No other animal lives in an abstract world of perceived wealth at the expense of its younger generations. No other species ignores the danger signals itself creates that threatens all life on earth. No other species has invented the means to not only its own self-destruction – for reasons known only to the most psychopathic minds – in the form of thermonuclear weapons. The latter is science run amok, because reason and species survival took second/third place to greed, power and control.
We are now in the midst of “our turn” at having to deal with lunatic fascists and psychotic leadership. Donald Trump is our epitome of national deterioration on a massive scale. Take a good look at the human condition around the world to see how pathetically humans behave. How many shooting wars are going on now? Twenty? Thirty? Yeah. Love thy neighbor …
In my Chinese history course, back in the 1960s, the professor emphasized the “red VS expert” problem, which seems to me exactly what the US is now going through with Trump. Absolute loyalty to the ruling party, or off to the labor camp with you.
First circa 2014- they will never nominate DT. Calling him names made us feel good- 2016 – Dems very stupid- as Todd and others ably speak of. Ww barely organized while Black women and others tried to fight for their Survival— Genocide Joe- “ loves us Jews” and the Ukrainian People- yet the Defense Contractors continue profiting. Democrats lack brains and DT and Republicans play on our Fears as White Male Christians – even when we’re not one of them. The Super Wealthy think Immediate Profit only. We – old and not so old- if we really care will Organize Now/ tomorrow may be too late to Start- Supporting the “0thers” and their causes- urgency yes- also resilience- love – build hope- science becomes irrelevant- when They Don’t Care- organize however you can. We need to see the obvious and react using our strengths and our hearts NOW! Religious organizations, community groups, pressure on those who in theory care. Giving a little money isn’t nearly enough. Caring and showing we care with organizing and joining the Immigrant Communities and others whose fears are immediate and real now…
Dumb Blond Jokes: Karoline Leavitt and Pam Bondi
Morons Are Governing America
Stupid is as stupid does.
Trofim Lysenko thought that crops had to obey the wishes of the Stalin regime, and 10,000,000 Russians starved to death as a result.
The damage is going to be long term and maybe permeant. A Facebook group I follow had a bio-medical researcher asking questions about relocating to a University in Belgium. He explained that the funding for his research got cut and he got an offer “that he couldn’t refuse”, so he was in the process of relocating.
Following up on the many excellent comments —
It took decades to turn the Hygienic Laboratory of the Marine Hospital Service (renamed the National Institute of Health in 1930) into the premier center for biomedical research in the world. For almost a century, the US has been the envy of the scientific word — until now.
I met one of the first Chinese scientists allowed to come to the US as a visiting scientist after the end of the Cultural Revolution. Her scientific knowledge was over a decade out of date. Now the MAGA brainiacs want to impose our own Cultural “anti-woke” Revolution. With the increased pace of scientific discovery, it may take many decades to recover, and we were already underfunding science (and all education) before now.
If one looks back, even the late “liberal” Senator William Proxmire had his “Golden Fleece Awards” to highlight “waste”, but he too, many times never looked past the title to understand the importance of some of the work being done. Scientists (and progressives) don’t seem to excel at communication.
Every week, I read the journal Science. I begin with the depressing news section about more cuts, stupid MAGA statements, and scientists leaving their positions. Then I read the research section. I see new studies that could lead to saving lives, mitigating the risk to our environment, better protection of endangered species, and — actually save money. MAGA doesn’t care. Science, like reality, has a liberal bias. They don’t like to be proven wrong — or moronic.
Sorry – even more rambling than usual.
Vern, you’re right. There’s a lot more lost than medical research. It’s all important, but I write about what I know. I spent many years in medical research administration so that’s where my focus is.