Science, medicine, and the
gullible Left (Is your spleen superfluous?) Oct 26, 2006, 00:43 In a recent National Football League game, Tampa Bay
Buccaneer quarterback Chris Simms suffered a ruptured spleen. Simms was rushed
to the hospital, his spleen was removed, and he is now on the road to recovery.
This much talked about injury inspired Robert N. Jenkins of the St. Petersburg
Times to declare that Simms, in reality, "didn't need his spleen." In an article
called "Humans have body parts to spare," Jenkins went on to pronounce that we
also do not need our appendix, gall bladder, tonsils, esophagus, stomach, and
adrenal glands because those organs, according to conventional wisdom, are
"vestigial." I'm not here to debate what-if any-human organs are
superfluous. What interests me more is the fact that most folks would read
Jenkins' article and accept the premises therein without question . . . and this
includes the most cynical lefties you'll ever meet. I know people skeptical
enough to think the Foley sex scandal was leaked by Republicans to distract the
public from the fiasco in Iraq. But tell those same people that some scientist
has declared their spleen obsolete and they're not likely to rush off to post a
rebuttal on their blog. Tell them that Israel attacked Lebanon because two of
its soldiers were kidnapped and they'll debunk that story in a flash. But how
many of them question, say, the need for humans with a functioning immune system
to get vaccinations (laden with formaldehyde, mercury, aluminum, cells from
sickened animals, and genetically-altered materials, no less)? Vote counts are
routinely disbelieved but nary a peep is heard about the efficacy of animal
experimentation (in fact, to focus on such a topic is to invite being labeled
"anti-human" by progressives). Folks who don't even think there were humans on
the planes that hit the World Trade Center have no problem eating a tomato
spliced with flounder genes. Of course, genetically modified foodstuffs are
safe. The experts tell us so. The most jaded, suspicious, disbelieving radicals turn
timid upon entering the realm of science and medicine. They readily accept the
fluoride in our water, the mercury in our teeth, the animal flesh on our plates,
and the electro-magnetic radiation in our cell phones as safe. They trust that
Western medicine knows best: Our infallible doctors and scientists know how to
fight cancer and diabetes and heart disease, they know what causes diseases like
AIDS, and when a man in a white coat writes them a prescription, they swallow
both the pill and the rationale. Even the New York Times -- the propaganda organ
of Corporate America -- admits "harmful reactions to medicines, usually
attributed to accidental overdoses and allergic reactions, send more than
700,000 Americans to emergency rooms each year." But where are the revolutionary
types coming out in support of prevention, healthier lifestyles, and alternative
therapies? Now save yourself the trouble of sending me scathing
e-mails to explain why I'm "wrong" about pharmaceuticals or cell phones or any
of the above. That's not the point. My very simple question is this: If the
heart of being a dissident in America is to reject conventional wisdom and cast
doubt on the corporate propaganda being foisted upon us at every turn, why do so
many on the Left accept -- without protest -- the scientific and medical company
line? Makes me wonder if it's the brain that's
vestigial. Mickey Z. can
be found on the
Web at www.mickeyz.net.
Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM
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