We Live In Treacherous Times, But The MD Anderson Faculty Already Know That
By
Leonard Zwelling
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/welsh-out-at-a-m-21054055.php
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/technology/kimmel-carr-outrage-online.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/opinion/jimmy-kimmel-trump-media-government.html
You may think that what has happened to Jimmy Kimmel has nothing to do with you. You would be wrong. It has everything to do with you and every American. Jimmy Kimmel was fired for something he said which, even though wrong, should be protected by the First Amendment from political pressure. Apparently not.
The second and third attachments go into great detail about the events that led to Kimmel’s show being cancelled. And don’t think that Stephen Colbert’s ouster was unrelated, nor, for that matter, the resignation of the president of Texas A and M (first attachment).
This can all be summed up very simply. Free speech can be quashed by corporate exigencies—meaning money or the need for government regulatory approval to make more money. By contrast, in the case of the A and M president, it is the use of sheer academic terrorism by the conservative proclivities of the legislature and the power of the internet that undid him. And, by the way, I don’t really care what President Trump thinks. There are more than two genders. And gender is determined by both biological and social forces. Why is that such a threat? In fact, scientifically, there are more than two sexes if sex is defined by chromosomes because some people are born with something other than XX or XY chromosomes.
Think about what really triggers all of this angst over perceived slights by those with controlling power. It is basically overly sensitive (?woke?) leadership in the White House and Texas Governor’s residence combined with an intolerance for viewpoints that differ from those of the occupants of those abodes. Nurturing that difference of opinion used to be a defining characteristic of American politics. Now, it may well define the limits of free speech. Clearly, leaders like Donald Trump, Greg Abbott, and Dan Patrick want to control what other people say and, obviously, what they are allowed to think, and surely what they are allowed to teach.
This is a very steep slippery slope and like it or not, you are on it if you live in the United States and express yourself in a classroom or on-line.
Why did I title this blog with rteference to what the MD Anderson faculty already know?
Go to any meeting led by the current MD Anderson president. Every comment will laud and applaud Dr. Pisters in the precise manner as his been described when President Trump calls his Cabinet together. Why do these men have such fragile egos? Have they not made enough money or accrued enough power?
How many MD Anderson faculty have been fired because of something they have said or the manner in which they have said it? Free speech used to be the hallmark of academia as well as of American art. No longer. Either you hew to the party line or you are gone.
Let’s think about what might happen to research if it was conducted this way where the accepted gospel is not challenged.
When I trained as an internist, peptic ulcer disease was caused by stress, spicy foods, alcohol, and smoking. Everyone knew that. It was common knowledge. None of us Duke doctors would have even entertained the notion that ulcers could be linked to bacterial infection. Then H. pylori was discovered because Barry Marshall and Robin Warren made an observation and Marshall actually drank the bugs and contracted gastritis. They went on to win the Nobel Prize. It is only by thinking outside the box and talking about it, that we make progress as a species. Yes, our eyes and ears need to be wide open, but so do our mouths.
Donald Trump, Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick, and Peter Pisters are examples of the new American leadership. They cannot abide by those who think differently than they do. They cannot tolerate those who would speak about views that oppose theirs. They see only one right path—theirs.
Fortunately, the other current and former late-night hosts are rushing to Kimmel’s defense, but in this environment of corporate domination of the media and financial domination of the health care system, there is little room for views that don’t adhere to those of the leadership or those who would block corporate mergers and ever-larger salaries for executives.
Personally, I have no idea why anyone would want to work in a state educational system or a state system of health care delivery, especially if either system is in Texas.
If you believe that you are not Jimmy Kimmel? You’re wrong. We are all one email or social media comment away from being both cancelled and sacked.
Now, what Jimmy Kimmel said cannot be condoned. He had no information about the political leanings of the assassin of Charlie Kirk and should not be commenting about it at all. But, he has the right to do so without being cancelled.
As more and more media power is concentrated in the hands of a few conservatives, like Larry Ellison and his son (Skydance Media) or the Murdochs, the breadth of opinions that will be permitted on TV, in movies, and in print will become narrower and narrower. Those who do not bend a knee to those in charge, like Trump and Pisters, will soon be out of favor and out of work. This is no way to run a country. This is no way to run a network. This is no way to run a cancer center and if no one will stand up to these bullies, we will all be in serious jeopardy and making no further progress in politics, the arts, or medicine.
