Then They Came For The Science Geeks...

IWonderAboutItAsMuchAsI

RegretItVille

You know that old ode to complicity, and all that it can and will wreak, that was written as a post-WWII confessional by German pastor Martin Niemoller:

First they came for the Communists 

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist 

Then they came for the Socialists 

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists 

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist 

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me.

Well.

It would appear that down south at the moment, the big players in the science geek game have decided that they will not speak out for them and theirs as reported by Joel Achenbach and Carolyn Johnson in The Washington Post:

...Some of the nation’s largest professional scientific and medical associations are still trying to decide how best to respond to the Trump administration’s aggressive intervention. Major research universities have been similarly cautious in their responses. The generally muted reaction, according to leaders in the research community, is partly due to the rapid pace of the executive orders, the vague nature of their wording and the judicial interventions...

To which I say hogwash.

Instead, I am of the opinion that it is a fear of retribution (including losses in big money funding) that is cowing these fine folks.

Look.

These are dangerous times.

And acquiescing in advance is not going to make things any less so.


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