溫和主義
用證據說話
周刊講了幾句實話難道不行嗎？
http://dailynews.sina.com 2020年09月15日 06:17 中國新聞網
參考消息網9月14日報道
美國《科學》周刊網站9月11日發表該刊主編赫伯特·霍爾登·索普的署名文章《川普在科學問題上說謊》，文章指出美國總統川普多次在科學問題上對美國人民撒謊。這些謊言打擊了科學界的士氣，使美國付出了無數生命代價。文章摘編如下：
今年2月和3月，當川普總統開始公開談論新冠肺炎時，他似乎對疫情威脅認識不足，這令科學家感到震驚。我們以為他要麽是拒絕聽取白宮疫情簡報，要麽是在故意回避信息，為聯邦政府的不作為製造合理借口。
現在，由於《華盛頓郵報》著名記者鮑勃·伍德沃德給川普錄了音，我們才能聽到他親口說他完全清楚新冠肺炎是致命的，以及新冠病毒通過空氣傳播。當川普輕描淡寫地向公眾談論病毒時，他並不糊塗，也並非未充分聽取匯報，他完全是多次在科學問題上對美國人民撒謊。這些謊言打擊了科學界的士氣，使美國付出了無數生命代價。
多年來，本刊對美國總統在科學問題上的小缺點多有評論。但現在，一位美國總統故意以一種對人類健康極其危險並直接導致美國人大量死亡的方式在科學問題上撒謊。
這或許是美國科學政策史上最可恥的時刻。
2月7日，在接受伍德沃德采訪時，川普說他知道新冠肺炎比流感更加致命，而且通過空氣傳播。但是，3月9日他在推特上卻暗示“普通流感”比新冠病毒更嚴重。與此同時，白宮經濟顧問拉裏·庫德洛和總統顧問凱莉安妮·康韋向公眾保證新冠病毒已得到控製。
3月19日，川普告訴伍德沃德，他不想誠實坦白地告訴美國人民關於病毒的危險。他說：“我希望一直淡化處理。我仍然希望淡化處理。”淡化處理意味著事實上的撒謊：他其實知道美國處於極度危險之中。
這還意味著要讓試圖說出真相的衛生官員閉嘴。2月25日，國家免疫與呼吸道疾病中心主任南希·梅索尼爾說：“現在的問題不是這是否還會發生，而是何時再次發生以及美國究竟有多少人會感染重症。”她說的是對的，而川普也知道。但是，他讓她閉嘴。川普還試圖限製美國最著名的傳染病專家福奇發聲。我們現在有電子郵件的確鑿證據證明他們受到了壓製。
川普還深知新冠病毒對年輕人來說可能是致命的。3月19日，他告訴伍德沃德：“不僅僅是老年人、更年長的人，年輕人也一樣，很多年輕人。”然而，他堅持中小學和大學必須複課，而且要恢複大學橄欖球賽事。
他最近還讓斯科特·阿特拉斯——一名沒有流行病學專長的神經放射學專家——加入新冠疫情顧問團隊。此人提倡一種危險而具有誤導性的辦法：隔離年老體弱者，讓病毒在年輕人中自由傳播。高校和中小學複課加速了病毒傳播，同時也意味著學生及其他感染者苦不堪言。
【編輯:王詩堯】
（https://dailynews.sina.com/gb/international/chinanews/2020-09-15/doc-ifzzxynp3836050.shtml）
Trump lied about science
H. Holden Thorp
See all authors and affiliations
Science 11 Sep 2020:
eabe7391
DOI: 10.1126/science.abe7391
When President Donald Trump began talking to the public about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in February and March, scientists were stunned at his seeming lack of understanding of the threat. We assumed that he either refused to listen to the White House briefings that must have been occurring or that he was being deliberately sheltered from information to create plausible deniability for federal inaction. Now, because famed Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward recorded him, we can hear Trump’s own voice saying that he understood precisely that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was deadly and spread through the air. As he was playing down the virus to the public, Trump was not confused or inadequately briefed: He flat-out lied, repeatedly, about science to the American people. These lies demoralized the scientific community and cost countless lives in the United States.
Over the years, this page has commented on the scientific foibles of U.S. presidents. Inadequate action on climate change and environmental degradation during both Republican and Democratic administrations have been criticized frequently. Editorials have bemoaned endorsements by presidents on teaching intelligent design, creationism, and other antiscience in public schools. These matters are still important. But now, a U.S. president has deliberately lied about science in a way that was imminently dangerous to human health and directly led to widespread deaths of Americans.
This may be the most shameful moment in the history of U.S. science policy.
In an interview with Woodward on 7 February 2020, Trump said he knew that COVID-19 was more lethal than the flu and that it spread through the air. “This is deadly stuff,” he said. But on 9 March, he tweeted that the “common flu” was worse than COVID-19, while economic advisor Larry Kudlow and presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway assured the public that the virus was contained. On 19 March, Trump told Woodward that he did not want to level with the American people about the danger of the virus. “I wanted to always play it down,” he said, “I still like playing it down.” Playing it down meant lying about the fact that he knew the country was in grave danger.
It also meant silencing health officials who tried to tell the truth. On 25 February, Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), said, “It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness.” She was right and Trump knew it. But he shut her down. He also tried to control messaging from Anthony Fauci, the nation’s foremost leader on infectious diseases. Trump’s supporters insisted that Fauci and Messonnier were not being muzzled, but now we have clear evidence in emails that they were.
Trump also knew that the virus could be deadly for young people. “It’s not just old, older,” he told Woodward on 19 March. “Young people, too, plenty of young people.” Yet, he has insisted that schools and universities reopen and that college football should resume. He recently added to his advisory team Scott Atlas—a neuroradiologist with no expertise in epidemiology—who has advocated for a risky and misguided course: somehow isolating the older and more vulnerable while allowing the virus free rein among young people. The opening of colleges and schools has accelerated the spread of the virus and will mean untold suffering among both students and the people to whom they are now spreading the virus.
Monuments in Washington, D.C., have chiseled into them words spoken by real leaders during crises. “Confidence,” said Franklin Roosevelt, “thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance.”
We can be thankful that science has embraced these words. Researchers are tirelessly developing vaccines and investigating the origins of the virus so that future pandemics may be prevented. Health care workers have braved exposure to treat COVID-19 patients and reduce the death rate; many of these frontline workers have become infected, and some have died in these acts of courage. These individuals embody Roosevelt’s call to faithful protection and unselfish performance.
They have seen neither quality exhibited by their president and his coconspirators. Trump was not clueless, and he was not ignoring the briefings. Listen to his own words. Trump lied, plain and simple.
（ https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/09/11/science.abe7391 ）
