In a recent National Football League game, Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback
Chris Simms suffered a ruptured spleen. Simms was rushed to the hospital,
his spleen was removed, and he is now on the road to recovery. This much
talked about injury inspired Robert N. Jenkins of the St. Petersburg Times
to declare that Simms, in reality, "didn't need his spleen." In an article
called "Humans have body parts to spare," Jenkins went on to pronounce that
we also do not need our appendix, gall bladder, tonsils, esophagus, stomach,
and adrenal glands because those organs, according to conventional wisdom,
are "vestigial."
I'm not here to debate what - if any - human organs are superfluous. What interests me more is the fact that most folks would read Jenkins' article
and accept the premises therein without question... and this includes the most cynical lefties you'll ever meet. I know people skeptical enough to
think the Foley sex scandal was leaked by Republicans to distract the public
from the fiasco in Iraq. But tell those same people that some scientist has declared their spleen obsolete and they're not likely to rush off to post a
rebuttal on their blog.
Tell them that Israel attacked Lebanon because two of its soldiers were
kidnapped and they'll debunk that story in a flash. But how many of them
question, say, the need for humans with a functioning immune system to get
vaccinations (laden with formaldehyde, mercury, aluminum, cells from
sickened animals, and genetically-altered materials, no less)? Vote counts
are routinely disbelieved but nary a peep is heard about the efficacy of
animal experimentation (in fact, to focus on such a topic is to invite being
labeled "anti-human" by progressives). Folks who don't even think there were
humans on the planes that hit the World Trade Center have no problem eating
a tomato spliced with flounder genes. Of course, genetically modified
foodstuffs are safe. The experts tell us so.
The most jaded, suspicious, disbelieving radicals turn timid upon entering
the realm of science and medicine. They readily accept the fluoride in our
water, the mercury in our teeth, the animal flesh on our plates, and the
electro-magnetic radiation in our cell phones as safe. They trust that
Western medicine knows best: Our infallible doctors and scientists know how
to fight cancer and diabetes and heart disease, they know what causes
diseases like AIDS, and when a man in a white coat writes them a
prescription, they swallow both the pill and the rationale. Even the New
York Times-the propaganda organ of Corporate America-admits "harmful
reactions to medicines, usually attributed to accidental overdoses and
allergic reactions, send more than 700,000 Americans to emergency rooms each
year." But where are the revolutionary types coming out in support of
prevention, healthier lifestyles, and alternative therapies?
Now save yourself the trouble of sending me scathing e-mails to explain why
I'm "wrong" about pharmaceuticals or cell phones or any of the above. That's
not the point. My very simple question is this: If the heart of being a
dissident in America is to reject conventional wisdom and cast doubt on the
corporate propaganda being foisted upon us at every turn, why do so many on
the Left accept-without protest-the scientific and medical company line?
Makes me wonder if it's the brain that's vestigial.
Opinion 
spleen was removed, and he is now on the road to recovery. This much
talked about injury inspired Robert N. Jenkins of the St. Petersburg Times
to declare that Simms, in reality, "didn't need his spleen." In an article
called "Humans have body parts to spare," Jenkins went on to pronounce that
we also do not need our appendix, gall bladder, tonsils, esophagus, stomach,
and adrenal glands because those organs, according to conventional wisdom,
are "vestigial."
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