April 29, 2020 Issue, Page 4 of 8

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Page 4 The Elk City News, Elk City, Oklahoma Wednesday, April 29, 2020 Opinion Page Even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, “ElkCituNews are we witnessing the death of science? Serving Western Oklahoma since 1901 By Mark A. Boyer, The ceived ideas about problem world, use it for our enjoy- through innovation. Hartford Courant solving. ment and, yes, also commer- It was a central player in It was hard. It was T’ve spent my life explor- But the longer we watch cial gain because scientists - the advances of the Indus- ing the world in various the COVID-19 pandemic whether Galileo or DaVinci, trial Revolution and a ma- unfair. It was a funeral ways. From my love of na- ture and the outdoors to my evolve in the United States, we are confronted with the Newton or Einstein or so jor player, if not the central many more luminaries - dis- one, in technological change during a pandemic career as a social scientist, recurrent unsettling sense that science is viewed at best covered basic scientific facts that have allowed humans to T’ve spent much of my life with skepticism by our de- manipulate the bio-physical globally for over a cen- tury. Without science (and its child, innovation), we trying to understand the nat- cision-makers in the White world. Without such discov- Editor's note: This story is a first-person account from wouldn’t have the assem- ural and social forces around House and by a small but eries and more basic ones, a Gaylord News reporter about what it was like for his me. significant group of Repub- like fire or the wheel, we bly line, vaccines, the mi- rural Oklahoma family, facing the fourth death this year crochip and so much more. Although I am “just” a so- lican governors. certainly wouldn’t be work- And frankly, without recur- ofa loved one, to conduct his grandfather’s funeral under cial scientist, as my chemist Like many people shelter- ing from home with high rent sociopolitical innova- Covid-19 social distancing guidelines. daughter often points out, I ing at home these days, we speed internet and staying tion, we wouldn’t have the By Hogan Gore, Gaylord News still approach the quest for watch as the Trump-Fauci connected via Zoom meet- longest-running democratic SEILING - When my grandmother, Lavon Gore, died in knowledge using data and ings, parties and virtual arts feud simmers, as do so many system of government in other Trump feuds. We extravaganzas right now. modern history. early March, every pew in the local Methodist church was methods of analysis drawn know who is right, but we But what is most troubling full and many other people, unable to find a seat, congre- from the science we are all But without basic science, also know who will likely about the death of science taught in school from a very how can we innovate and gated along the walls. win. is just how dangerous it is. prosper economically? How Just a few weeks later when Granddad died, there were young age. We heard a target of Easter Easter gatherings at church- That approach _ observe, for reopening of the econ- es around the country were can we fight COVID-19 nine of us in the chapel for the service, including two min- without either treatment or measure, experiment, repeat omy; then the end of Api just daring the emergence of isters. — is the foundation of how vaccine? And how will we and now governors like Greg new virus hot spots. Those It was not as if Alton Gore had not meant as much to we learn and grow as chil- Abbott of Texas are detailing tackle the next challenge flouting the stay-at-home our family, or to the community he had been deeply in- dren, but is also fundamen- plans to protect “lives while guidance do so perhaps for facing our society once the volved in his entire life. Rather, credit a pandemic that tal to how we solve societal restoring livelihoods.” Each their own personal gain and current pandemic is past? problems or, for that matter, of these efforts to equate are certainly at odds with In the end, while Trump had crossed an ocean and finally reached our doorstep in spews forth “America First,” attack the COVID-19 pan- lives with livelihood flies scientific and public health small-town Seiling, Oklahoma. science denial by him and demic. We rely on science in the face of the science of expertise, The funeral directors, dealing with an unprecedented and its structured analysis to the disease’s spread and its More importantly, they do his supporters will lead us situation without a real play book, tried to adhere to new determine the most informed potential resurgence in the so by not only risking their further toward American de- directives that limited gatherings to 10 people. This meant actions we can take to solve months ahead. None of us own lives but also those with cline and the demise of the our family was split. A few of us said goodbye in person, the problems we face. whom they might come in American dream, which was like sheltering in place, but while the rest watched a live stream in another wing of the Today, however, we are I'd much rather follow Dr. contact in the following days built on science, innovation church. watching the end of sci- Anthony Fauci’s advice than and weeks. These people and creative problem-solv- ence. Yes, I admit that I am someone who is more inter- may view COVID-19 as a ing. In this instance my stubbornness came in handy, as I a card-carrying member of ested in reelection prospects liberal hoax, but it won’t just I shudder to think where stayed put and simply said no when asked to leave my seat the academic, Northeastern and feeding his insecure ego kill the liberals, as we have we will be if we have to en- on the second row. I made it understood that I was not go- “elite” that President Donald over public health. seen over and over again of dure another four years of ing to watch the service on a TV screen. Trump and his supporters so The COVID-19 pandemic late. And even for a long- this senseless rejection of Selfish? Maybe. But regardless of my presence or lack often rail against. We like isn’t the only policy arena time church-goer like my- science and the solutions it facts; we try to make deci- where we are witnessing co- self, prayer is good, but good thereof, there was plenty of room for social distancing. We sions based on collecting the lossal science-denial. Those science is essential. provides to society each and complied at the beginning of the service, but as the funeral every day. best information we can find who don’t “believe” in cli- Most broadly of all, proceeded to a slideshow of our family’s favorite memo- and listening to the experts mate change are not only de- though, is the simple truth Mark A. Boyer is a Board ries, the distance between us disappeared, emotionally and around us; and we try to put nying the science. They are that the end of science will of Trustees Distinguished denying the basic scientific Professor at the University sometimes physically. our egos aside when we are also lead to the decline and confronted with data or ad- method that has led to break- ultimate demise of the Unit- of Connecticut and the exec- The service was similar to Grandma’s in its message, vice that contradicts our ex- throughs for millennia. ed States as a world power. utive director of the Interna- our family’s mourning and the recordings of gospel songs pected outcomes or precon- Weare able to navigate our The United States was born tional Studies Association. by Willie Nelson and Alan Jackson. But it was so heart- Pay attention: The Supreme Court breakingly unfamiliar. [felt torn that my cousins were having to watch Grandad be put to rest remotely, even though they were in the same is talking about abortion building. Somehow that thought made it even worse, being so close and feeling so far away. However, when I glanced behind me as Willie wrapped up his rendition of “I'll Fly Away,” I could not help but By Noah Feldman, demonstrated a history of British Parliament adopted Kagan, a pragmatist and smile. Several family members had filtered into the back Bloomberg Opinion racism in enacting their a similar rule in 1967, he coalition-builder, joined of the room. It was easy to miss in the laws. Louisiana did so in pointed out, asking rhetori- Alito’s dissent - alongside T guess stubbornness runs in the family. middle of our COVID-19 1898 as part of a state con- cally, “Was Parliament un- Chief Justice John Roberts. madness, but last week, the stitutional convention that der the sway of the Klan?” It’s not that Kagan thinks It was a somber feeling as we walked beside the cas- ket to the hearse waiting outside. Not only because it was Supreme Court issued its was convened “to establish Alito also condemned Alito would rely on prec- most interesting decision of the supremacy of the white Gorsuch’s reliance on the edent to uphold Roe. She a last goodbye, but because we were doing it without so race” by suppressing Afri- racist history as an instance knows he wouldn’t. Rather, its current term so far. many important people. can Americans’ rights. The of the ad hominem fallacy, it’s that Roberts, the justice At issue was whether it’s There were no friends to hug or distant relatives who 10-2 rule was designed to which discredits an argu- who cares most about prece- constitutional for a state to make sure that one or two made the trip, no old classmates to share stories about days allow for criminal convic- ment based not on its con- dent right now, might be the African Americans on a jury tent but on the identity of its swing vote who could save gone by and no one from our little town expressing how tion on a 10-2 jury verdict couldn’t block the convic- much Alton Gore had meant to their experiences growing instead of requiring unanim- tion of an African American author, For good measure, Roe - not because he thinks ity. But that wasn’t what he basically accused Gor- it’s correct, but because it’s up in a tight-knit community. defendant. Oregon’s law was such of political correctness, been settled law for nearly It was hard. It was unfair. It was a funeral during a pan- made the case interesting. adopted in 1930s, apparently Rather, the case, Ramos v. under the influence of the Ku saying that the court “should half a century. demic. Louisiana, featured heated Klux Klan’s efforts to “di- set an example of rational By sticking to Roberts’ As we lingered outside the church before the procession disputes that, for once, split and civil discourse instead side, Kagan made sure the lute ‘the influence of racial, of contributing to the worst to the cemetery began, there was still a feeling of incom- the court not along squarely current decision didn’t fea- ethnic, and religious minori- current trends.” pleteness. ideological lines - but across ties on Oregon juries.’”” Then there was the prec- ture all the liberals on the But as we drove down Main Street and passed by Gore’s them. same side while the conser- The racist origin of these edent problem. Gorsuch One argument was about laws was not the only reason vatives split. More impor- Phillip’s 66 Service Station, which has been in our family whether a law’s racist his- rejected the 1972 case on torical origins are relevant Gorsuch gave for rejecting since 1939, there was a sense of normalcy. several grounds, including tantly, she made sure that at split verdicts. But he argued least one liberal was stand- Cars and trucks stopped along the road, drivers got out to its constitutionality when claiming that it didn’t re- that their racism provided ally form a precedent at all. ing up for precedent even in of their vehicles and took their hats off to show respect. there are modern, nonracist reasons for it. The other was Yet he also took pains to ar- a case where liberals would a reason to discount a prior Some from the community were able to be there for my court decision, issued in gue that the court shouldn’t ordinarily favor the oppo- about when the principle of family and to wave goodbye. It was a small sense of clo- judicial precedent should 1972, that upheld the use of take precedent too seriously site result. That’s exactly sure. lead the court to uphold a split-jury verdicts. when the justices think it’s the stance that she and other There is no doubt it has been a hard year for my family, prior decision even if it con- Important parts of Gor- wrong as a matter of consti- liberals will want Roberts to losing our patriarch and matriarch in addition to my father, siders the decision weak or such’s opinion were joined tutional law. take when the court’s other Marty Gore, who died in August in a motorcycle accident, wrong. by a striking mix of jus- Kavanaugh went even fur- conservatives make their in- Both disputes will have tices: liberals Ruth Bader ther. He wrote a separate, 18- creasingly inevitable push to and my great-grandmother, Betty Wilson, who died in De- long-term consequences - Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer page concurrence - the most overturn Roe. cember. But through it all, and even a pandemic, we have and the latter sheds some and Sonia Sotomayor; but significant piece of writing Kavanaugh’s concur- been there for each other and carried on together. light on the perennial ques- also, conservative Brett Ka- he’s done since joining the ring opinion strongly sug- My family has not lost anyone to the coronavirus, but tion of whether and when the vanaugh. Archconservative court - setting out what he gests that he’s got Roe on the pandemic definitely altered the way we said our good- court might overturn Roe v. Justice Clarence Thomas considered his “road map” the brain. It’s still not ut- Wade, the 1973 decision that joined the result, although he for when the court should byes to Grandad. (He died after suffering from a stroke.) wrote a separate opinion for overturn precedent. terly inconceivable that he He might stand with Roberts if recognized a legal right to In the days following the funeral we had the collective obscure technical reasons boiled it down to three prin- abortion. the chief justice refuses to chore of sifting through our grandparents’ home of more Two states, Louisiana and having to do with his inter- ciples: Is the precedent not pretation of how the 14th overturn Roe. But the odds than halfa century. And believe me, it was all there. Oregon, have allowed for just wrong but egregiously of Kavanaugh doing so are This may seem like an unfortunate chore, and it was a split-verdict criminal con- Amendment applies the Bill wrong? Has it caused signif- definitely lower now than daunting task. But we were all there together, rediscover- victions. (Louisiana recently of Rights to the states. icant negative consequences Justice Samuel Alito, for the world or the law? they were before. abolished the practice, but ing memories once lost under piles of paper and stacks of Ramos v. Lousiana arose be- another staunch conserva- And would overruling the Noah Feldman is a Bloom- boxes. fore that happened.) Writing tive who often votes with precedent upset settled “reli- berg Opinion columnist and As we worked throughout the day, a few of my cousins for the majority of the court, Gorsuch, dissented sharply. ance interests” - e.g., exist- host of the podcast “Deep and I would occasionally sneak into the backyard, where Justice Neil Gorsuch held Alito harshly rejected the ing laws and settled ways of Background.” He is a pro- Grandma and Grandad had once set up our own family that those laws are uncon- idea that the racist origin of doing things that rely on that fessor of law at Harvard stitutional, because the Sixth the split verdict rules should precedent? University and was a clerk sandlot. We played baseball until dusk, like we were kids matter given that there are Amendment jury trial right It’s hard not to see Kava- to U.S. Supreme Court Jus- again, and the only tears came from laughter. includes an implicit guaran- good contemporary, nonra- naugh’s opinion as a trial tice David Souter. His books Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of tee of jury unanimity. cist reasons for it and that balloon for overturning Roe. include “The Three Lives Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Com- In his opinion, Gorsuch both states reenacted their That interpretation would of James Madison: Genius, munication. emphasized that both states rules in the modern era. The explain why Justice Elena Partisan, President.”