Rush D. Holt Jr. Quotes
There seems to be a concern about whether the public appreciation of science has eroded to a point where it has removed science from public debate and public decision making. Whether the public has come to regard evidence as optional.
Holt, Rush D. Interview on the March for Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science, 23 Feb. 2017.
Despite strong efforts by the health authorities, many Americans went into an irrational panic mode regarding Ebola and States and local government were passing draconian quarantine measures that were actually counter-productive and increased the risk by pandering to public fears often instigated or whipped up by some media pundits.
In science the vehmence and volume of your words are not accepted or even recognzied as aspects of ideas that should be considered, and though scientific arguments get very passionate, the kind of behavior that political adcocates and protestors demonstrate, is quite foreign to the professional culture. Yet, after the 2017 Election of Donald Trump to the Presidency a pattern of ignoring science in public policy making as accelerated and teh findign of scientific research was greatly diminished int the first Trump budget. So some scientists "took to the streets" to engage in political rallies and protests, and soon they were behaving like most other political protesters despite the fact that there were still a significant proportion of American scientists regard political protsting about science issues as unseemly and an inappropriate format or style of rational argument and discussion.
Rush Dew Holt Jr. is an American scientist and politician who served as the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 12th congressional district from 1999 to 2015. He is a member of the Democratic Party and son of former West Virginia U.S. Senator Rush D. Holt Sr. He worked as a professor of public policy and physics, and during his tenure in Congress he was one of two physicists and the only Quaker there.
