Gene editing is no longer science fiction

While everyone was focused on the border, some shocking news emerged from China. A scientist there laid claim to the first in utero genetically edited babies. If true, this is a huge breakthrough with gargantuan ramifications.

Over twenty years ago I envisioned a novel in which the doctor not only found the elusive gay gene (if there really is such a thing, but this is science fiction), he developed a technique to change it in utero. It was eventually published as a novel some twenty years later as The God Players. In the novel gay rights activists join forces with Christian fundamentalists to stop the procedure. The gay rights folks have an obvious aversion to it, and the fundamentalists are opposed to anyone playing God (thus the title).

From the Associated Press

There was nothing like this when I first conceived of the book. Now it appears to be reality. The upside is we may be able to cure horrible diseases like spina bifida before the child is ever born. The downside is the misuse of this technology to create super-humans. Hitler’s master race, if you will. The question is what should be done about it?

That’s something the characters in the book wrestle with. There’s no clear-cut answer. Imagine the genetic disorders that could be cured while the child is still developing in the womb. “Special needs” would essentially be a thing of the past. What a blessing to those afflicted with these diseases as well as their families. But how do you balance that with the temptation to create the perfect child?

One would think it would be a simple matter of limiting gene therapy to diseases. But what constitutes a disease? That’s the dilemma faced in The God Players. Is homosexuality a disease? Lawyers for the scientist argue that it is. They argue that anything that veers too far from nature can be considered a disease. They argue that sex, at its basic level, is for procreation, thus arguing that anything that runs counter to that can be considered a disease.

The lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that homosexuality is intertwined with a person’s personality. They argue that some of our greatest art and literature may not have happened had the scientist been there to change the genetic makeup of people like Michelangelo or Oscar Wilde or Tchaikovsky.

It’s an interesting argument and makes for an intriguing courtroom battle, but the day of reckoning is here. This is no longer a thrilling plot line for a novel. It’s real, and we have to deal with it. What are we going to do?

We can begin by limiting gene therapy to diseases, but inevitably altering the genes of a homosexual baby will be just the first argument. How about a baby prone to be short. How about one who’s redheaded? Or left-handed? Nothing against you short left-handed redheads, but you’ve heard the arguments that tall, blond, and right-handed is more desirable. I’m not making that argument here. I’m just pointing out all sorts of normal traits that could be changed by people who find them less than desirable. Then where does that leave us?

How about this one? Suppose someone claims it’s a disadvantage to be born black and science can fix that? Scary, isn’t it? 

This problem isn’t going away. With the reported advancement in China it’s only going to accelerate. Even if we as a society decide its not a road we want to go down, what about another Hitler taking control of this technology? Hmmm. I may have just stumbled upon my next novel.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

Mitch McConnell is the problem

If you are a fiscal conservative like me I’m sure you share my frustration with the latest budget that was passed by a Republican Congress and signed by a Republican president. Not to give President Trump too much of a pass, but he was obviously frustrated when he signed it. He did so, he says, because the six-month budget gets much-needed funding to the military.

What’s disturbing is the glee which Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi took in voting for the bill. Any time those two are happy it’s a sure bet it’s a bad deal for America. But just who is to blame?

Many point to Speaker Paul Ryan who reached across the aisle to pass a bipartisan piece of legislation. Bipartisan sounds nice and fuzzy but it’s code for capitulation. The Republicans were sent to Washington to drain the swamp and stop the reckless spending. They failed miserably. And there’s one reason why. Mitch McConnell.

The senate majority leader has refused to kill the ridiculous filibuster rule. This is the arcane senate rule that allows the majority to threaten a filibuster and it takes sixty votes to override it. The minority never really has to actually filibuster. They just have to threaten to. Proponents of this insane rule claim that if the Democrats take control of the Senate they’ll dispense of it to pass their agenda if the Republicans do it to them. Fox News Alert: They’re going to ditch that rule the first time it gets in their way no matter what the Republicans do now.

Despite the spin from both parties, the filibuster super majority is not constitutional. The Constitution only requires a senate super majority when voting on impeachment, expelling a member of Congress, overriding a presidential veto, ratifying treaties, and proposing constitutional amendments. Requiring a three-fifths vote to stop a filibuster was a rule change in 1806, and even then was infrequently used until 1970. That’s when the Senate adopted the so-called “two-track” procedure intended to keep the filibuster from derailing all Senate business. It didn’t take too long before the actual filibuster itself became a mere formality and the Senate became a 60-vote institution.

McConnell and the Republicans changed the rule to exclude Supreme Court nominations. That’s after Harry Reid and the Democrats changed the rule to eliminate the filibuster on executive branch and judicial nominees. So it can be eliminated. McConnell just doesn’t want to.

Why?

My suspicion is McConnell actually wants a lot of the spending the Democrats want. Remember, McConnell is part of the swamp. This guy has become filthy rich thanks to the communist Chinese. As Peter Schweizer chronicles in his new book, Secret Empires, McConnell’s in-laws have deep financial ties to the Chinese government. China’s largest defense contractor set Elaine Chao’s family up in the shipping business. Elaine Chao is McConnell’s wife. She’s also the transportation secretary. Schweizer says McConnell’s father-in-law became filthy rich and gifted the senator between five and twenty-five million dollars.

Sounds rather swampish, doesn’t it?

What do you want to bet that an ordinary citizen like you or me wouldn’t get that sort of sweetheart deal from the Chinese government?

Trump’s tariffs on China are bound to be driving McConnell’s Chinese handlers crazy. Neither McConnell nor his wife seem to have any sway over the president on that issue. The Democrats focus on Russia but there is no doubt that China is the most dangerous country on Earth. And they have made our Senate Majority leader a multimillionaire. Can you say conflict of interest?

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

Edward Snowden: Traitor or Hero?

Is Edward Snowden a hero or a traitor?  Snowden, the NSA contractor who leaked information about the NSA, has been the subject of an international manhunt and a diplomatic nightmare since he first surfaced in early June.  The United States government has issued espionage warrants against Snowden but some things still don’t add up about the government’s case and about Snowden himself.

Let’s review what Snowden revealed.  He said the U.S. government was reading the e-mails of American citizens in the United States.  He claimed that if he had the president’s e-mail address it would be a simple matter of reading all of his e-mails.  The United States government said that was preposterous.  They claim they never look at anyone’s e-mail inside the United States unless they have a warrant.  But they claim Snowden has revealed top secret information.  If what Snowden is saying is a lie how could he have revealed top secret information?  Unless, of course, what Snowden is saying is true.

Snowden himself has some explaining to do.  Why would you leave a girlfriend in Hawaii and a family in the D.C. area, exposing them to who knows what because of your exploits, in exchange for a life on the run?  If your primary concern was Internet freedom why did you first seek refuge in China, a country with the world’s worst record when it comes to Internet freedom?

If Snowden has revealed top secret information he gleaned as an NSA contractor to Russia or China or some other American adversary then he’s a traitor.  If what he did was expose a snooping program that went far beyond what is legally and constitutionally allowed then he’s a hero.  Time will tell which one he is but in the meantime he may have changed the trajectory of technology forever.

Prior to the Snowden leaks most Americans were unconcerned about the loss of their privacy.  Staying connected, we had rationalized, came with a price.  Most never realized how high that price was.  Some called me paranoid when I affixed a strip of black tape over the camera hole on my laptop.  Through something known as clickjacking, a hacker can trick you into inadvertently giving him permission to access your webcam by fooling you into thinking you’re just clicking to play a video.  Once you’ve been duped that hacker can watch you on your webcam.  Very scary.  Thousands of you are heading for the electrical tape right now.

The net effect of the Snowden leaks may be a massive pullback from technology.  Futurists have been predicting things like tiny chips that turn everything in your house into an Internet-ready device.  Knowing just how pervasive spying is, not just by governments but by the big Internet companies, gives pause to all of this innovation.  If you’ve ever been snow skiing you know the feeling of the skis getting out from under you.  It’s a helpless feeling.  Right now many of us feel like technology has gotten out from under us.  We’ve lost control and it’s downright frightening.

Technology is a wonderful thing when it’s harnessed correctly.  It can make life so much easier, so much more fun, so much more fulfilling.  When it’s out of control it can be our worst enemy.  It can be used to control our every move, to report to the government when we’re not doing what it thinks we ought to be doing.  It can literally be used against us in a court of law.

We may be pulling back just before disaster strikes.  If we are, we probably have Edward Snowden to thank for it.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.