Mayor Bloomberg was in Baltimore yesterday to pick up an honorary doctorate from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (Dr. Bloomberg!) and give a speech. And what a speech: He criticized political efforts to belittle science and medicine. The NY Times's headline says he "diverges from GOP line" but it's just reminder that's he's only a Republican because he wanted to be elected Mayor (okay, he's donated to Republicans and made NYC host the RNC). And the speech was good - here's an excerpt:
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. Despite near unanimity in the science community there's now a movement - driven by ideology and short-term economics - to ignore the evidence and discredit the reality of climate change.
You can see "political science" at work with respect to stem cell research. Despite its potential, the federal government has restricted funding for creating new cell lines - putting the burden of any future research squarely on the shoulders of the private sector. Government's most basic responsibility, however, is the health and welfare of its people, so it has a duty to encourage appropriate scientific investigations that could possibly save the lives of millions.
"Political science" knows no limits. Was there anything more inappropriate than watching political science try to override medical science in the Terry Schiavo case?
For the love of being a second term mayor! You can read the rest of his address here. And Mayor Bloomberg has also been speaking about immigration (asking for amnesty for the undocumented) and slamming the gun industry. We wonder if the GOP will make him turn in his Republican Party card when his term ends.
