Donald Trump’s administration has reportedly banned the CDC from using words like ‘diversity,’ ‘fetus’ and ‘science-based.’
1. There’s a new set of “Seven Dirty Words” at the CDC. If George Carlin was still alive, he’d probably die after hearing this: Policy analysts at the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told they were forbidden from using seven words or phrases in official documents being prepped for next year’s budget, an analyst who took part in the 9-minute briefing told the Washington Post. Whereas Carlin’s “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television” are the obscenities everyone knows and loves, the seven words the CDC reportedly can’t use are: “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based,” and “science based.”
2. Alternative phrases were suggested. Just like Kellyanne Conway created “alternative facts,” the Trump administration reportedly had a list of “alternative phrases” to use. Instead of “evidence-based,” the CDC was encouraged to say that the “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes.” So, instead of going with “science,” the CDC is supposed to go with what the “community” suggests?
By the way, the CDC has a budget of about $7 billion and more than 12,000 employees, working on everything from food and water safety to heart disease to infectious disease outbreak prevention. Much of the CDC’s work has strong bipartisan support.
3. It didn’t go over well. Don’t shoot the messenger. The meeting about the banned words was reportedly led by Alison Kelly, a senior leader in the agency’s Office of Financial Services. Alison didn’t say why the words were banned and reportedly told the group that she was just relating the info. The reaction to the people in the meeting, when told of this was “incredulous,” the analyst said. “It was very much, ‘Are you serious? Are you kidding?’ In my experience, we’ve never had any pushback from an ideological standpoint.”
The Department of Health and Human Services, which overseas the CDC, said it will “continue to use the best scientific evidence available to improve the health of all Americans,” according to HHS spokesman Matt Lloyd . “HHS also strongly encourages the use of outcome and evidence data in program evaluations and budget decisions.”
4. The HHS disputed the report of the ban. “The assertion that HHS has ‘banned words’ is a complete mischaracterization of discussions regarding the budget formulation process,” the HHS statement said in a statement to ABC News, a day after the Washington Post story broke. “HHS will continue to use the best scientific evidence available to improve the health of all Americans. HHS also strongly encourages the use of outcome and evidence data in program evaluations and budget decisions.”
5. This isn’t the first time Trump-speak has reared its ugly head. In August, The Guardian reported that the U. S. Department of Agriculture was told they couldn’t use “climate change,” but had to call it “weather extremes.” (“Weather” and “climate” are completely different things, by the way.) Oh, in September, The Washington Post reported that an ex-Trump campaign aide in charge of vetting Environment Protection Agency grants instructed the EPA’s grant officers to eliminate references to “climate change” when seeking solicitations.
What do you think about this reported ban, HollywoodLifers ?
