Saturday, May 27, 2006
Commence the Healing
It has become fairly obvious that Mr. Bazell's son was not graduating from Johns Hopkins. Well, that, or Mr. Bazell slept through one of the best examples I've seen of an often execrable literary form: the commencement speech. Michael Bloomberg, billionaire Wall Street Mogul turned Republican Mayor of New York City delivered a pointed and poignant speech that shows how science and ethics, while not mutually dependent, are hardly unrelated. A transcript of the speech can be found here.
As has already been reported widely, Mayor Bloomberg excoriated the "War Against Science" in no uncertain terms:
Today, we are seeing hundreds of years of scientific discovery being challenged by people who simply disregard facts that don't happen to agree with their agendas. Some call it "pseudo-science," others call it "faith-based science," but when you notice where this negligence tends to take place, you might as well call it "political science."
You can see "political science" at work when it comes to global warming. ...You can see "political science" at work with respect to stem cell research. ... "Political science" knows no limits. Was there anything more inappropriate than watching political science try to override medical science in the Terry Schiavo case?
And it boggles the mind that nearly two centuries after Darwin, and 80 years after John Scopes was put on trial, this country is still debating the validity of evolution. In Kansas, Mississippi, and elsewhere, school districts are now proposing to teach "intelligent design" -- which is really just creationism by another name -- in science classes alongside evolution. Think about it! This not only devalues science, it cheapens theology. As well as condemning these students to an inferior education, it ultimately hurts their professional opportunities.
Hopkins' motto is Veritas vos liberabit - "the truth shall set you free" - not that "you shall be free to set the truth!" I've always wondered which science those legislators who create their own truths pick when their families need life-saving medical treatment.
As I've noted before, their best claims to "positive" evidence for design, such as Stephen Meyer’s article "Not by chance," are nothing but negative arguments wreathed in smoke and mirrors. All the ID advocates have to offer are misrepresentations of the science and philosophical objections cloaked in a patina of scientific-sounding rhetoric. This program of misdirection is the totality of ID. Bloomberg is not mistaken about what is intended to be taught, he merely refuses to be taken in by dissembling.
But back to the Mayor's message. He noted that "[i]t may sound obvious that the goal of every doctor and scientist is to use knowledge to improve the lives of others, but this cannot be taken for granted anymore" because some recent federal and state policies in medical and scientific areas were not about helping the patient. To drive home what he sees as the proper role of doctors and science, he told the following story:
Last November, a young New York City police officer was gunned down during a traffic stop on the streets of Brooklyn. He was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where doctors heroically tried to save him. But despite their best efforts, the officer's massive heart wounds were too severe and he died on the operating table.
Moments later, Dr. Robert Kurtz -- the hospital's Co-Director of Trauma Surgery, who also worked at Johns Hopkins Hospital during the late 1960s -- joined me and our Police Commissioner to address the press. The doctor was exhausted, still in his scrubs, which were covered in blood.
First, he talked about his patient. He calmly and professionally explained how his team had tried to save the officer... how they had reopened the young man's chest after the first surgery had failed ... how he had held the officer's heart in his hands. All to no avail.
This man's devotion to his patient was palpable, and powerful. And so was his commitment to the truth. At that moment, having seen too many gunshot victims in his ER over the years, he felt compelled to speak out forcefully and publicly, to tell the assembled politicians and press the truth about the problem of guns on our streets.
There's no question this single act did a great deal to spark a renewed commitment in our fight against illegal guns, a scourge that has created a true public health crisis in our city, and all cities. Dr. Kurtz could have left the advocacy to others. He could have said that wasn't his job. But leadership is part of his job, and part of the job of all doctors.
: 11:33 AM 
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