CDC’s seven dirty words

Diversity. Entitlement. Evidence-based. Fetus. Science-based. Transgender. Vulnerable.

What do these words have in common, other than the fact they’re all on the same list of terms the Trump administration allegedly wants to avoid in budgetary documents at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention? When you look at them from that perspective, they’re all words that represent progress in the world of science. So, why should they be banned?

Of course, we at the CN&R understand the power of words. Take, for instance, the different imagery conjured when describing a person as a transient versus homeless. Is it any wonder that people who hope to demonize that segment of society prefer the former? We think not.

So, what about the word “fetus”? Would its use potentially threaten the pro-life agenda by suggesting that an unborn child is anything other than a human being? How about “transgender”? Does its utterance imply acceptance of people whose self-identity challenges the conservative norm?

The CDC has denied that there are any formally banned words within its walls. But here’s the thing: The concept of censorship, whether it be self-imposed or dictated from above, is exactly what we’ve come to expect from the Trump administration. It’s business as usual, à la scraping the Environmental Protection Agency website of all references to climate change (yes, this really happened).

What other words or terms that challenge the Trump agenda will be erased from the government lexicon? “Mass shootings”? “Black Lives Matter”? With net neutrality out the window, it’s anybody’s guess.