The Nazis burned books, the Trump Administration is banning words

By Robert A. Vella

Yes, there is a correlation between the burning of books and the banning of words.  Both are intended to control speech, shape public dialog, and restrict the free exchange of ideas and information.  It is the trademark of authoritarianism, and it matters not whether the perpetrators are fascists, Nazis, communist totalitarians, military dictators, or any other autocratic figure.

And now, the megalomaniac king of America’s Alt-right is doing it too.  The Donald Trump administration has directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to exclude selected words from their public communications.  The political intent behind this move is unstated yet plainly obvious.  It is firmly rooted in the anti-abortion, anti-LGBT, and anti-science doctrines of Christian fundamentalism.  The motive also seeks to discredit the notion of objective truths, and to impose the belief that reality can only be what Trump himself says it is.

From:  CDC gets list of forbidden words: fetus, transgender, diversity

Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden words at a meeting Thursday with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget, according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing. The forbidden words are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”

Further reading:  Dem: Trump banning words in CDC documents ‘deeply disturbing and offensive’