Trump, Putin, and Netanyahu Forgot About Bioethics

Photo by Karsten Winegeart

Bioethics tends to involve the really hard decisions such as in the dilemma of what do about abortions. Trump, Putin, and Netanyahu need to know that bioethics started to deal with difficult decisions regarding genocide and, man’s inhumanity to man. The start was the Nuremberg Trials, genocide, and the Tuskegee Experiments on inmates with syphilis.

What Trump’s underlings have been doing is basically letting him get away with everything that he wants to do so that he and others believe there are no guardrails as he pushes our legal system to the limit. When Putin and Netanyahu have been labeled war criminals, they just ignored it.

At the Nuremberg Trials, it wasn’t only Hitler who was charged, it was also not only other leaders who were brought to justice and also the rank-and-file followers. The International Military Tribunal set a precedent for establishing accountability. They were tried in allied courts, denazification programs and social ostracization. Their argument was we were just following orders from Hitler. Sorry, but pleading ignorance won’t save you.

We have something similar called Rico, Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Act. Remember the trial against Trump in Georgia. It included a host of people charged. If Fanni Willis didn’t demonstrate a lack of ethics, that could have had quite an impact. Have you noticed that many of those who were charged during the trial have breathed a sigh of relief and are no longer in the news doing Trump’s bidding. I call it the great escape.

The Supreme Court, in my opinion, empowered Trump by giving him a wide berth for his actions. The same one who has Barrett and Kavanaugh. When they were interviewed, they said they believe in the power of precedent and would not change long established law. They proceeded to vote against Roe V. Wade as the law of the land. So much for truth telling.

Trump has taken over Washington, D.C. from the mayor. He is doing that legally because D.C. is technically not a state but under the aegis of Congress. I am sure that you have seen protests from residents. It is what an authoritarian government looks like. One judge has stood up against Trump in that case.

John Yoo who is the legal reference for Fox News made the statement that Trump has the right to do this. John is a former ethics student of mine. He sent me a copy of his book The Imperial Presidency to me. The title says all you need to know about his perspective which is that the President should have a broad range of power which he indicates is stated in the Constitution. He is a fine fellow, but I and others disagree with him.

What would I say to him if he was still in my ethics class is that the President can act decisively in times of trouble, but Congress must check the power of the Presidency when the President is calling everything an emergency, like the little boy who cried wolf. In essence the President’s primary duty is to protect the nation. His office requires that he act with transparency. Congress must regulate a balance.

Members of his administration forgot the message of the Nuremberg Trials. If you support a dictator, you are just as guilty as they are. That is what RICO trial was all about in the Georgia Trial.

The Tuskegee Experiment by practicing what happens at various stages of syphilis on black men by our government was whitewashed and not handled well. It is contrasted with proper punishment during the Nuremberg trial. The Tuskegee experiment yielded a multi-million- dollar settlement for a civil offense. No one was charged with a crime even though people were killed or sustained injuries. Bioethics traces its requirement for mandatory consent before a medical procedure back to this trial. Consent is critical.

Finally, Trump has eliminated DEI and the terrible way black people have been treated over the course of our history. Contrast that with how Germany has responded to the terrible time of the Holocaust. They have a Culture of Remembrance. Holocaust literature is taught  in every German school. There are Holocaust Memorials and Museums in Germany. There is a museum at the Dachau Concentration Camp, one of the worse examples of concentrations camps.

I have a former exchange student who is in the German Government who supports this kind of transparency because it moves a nation forward.

There are two words that may be stumbling blocks for Trump that relate to the Constitution and Transparency. Trump is drunk with power. He inches forward testing the Constitution. He is impulsive. One day he may do so much damage to the Constitution that neither he nor his followers will be able to save him. The Constitution requires transparency from the Office of the President. The Epstein File is a blockade for him and Bondi and company. The American people are no longer enamored by him including Maga.

Let’s not forget that Putin and Netanyahu are convicted war criminals. Crimes are not always something that you do. Crimes are also something that you ignore.

Perhaps we will see if Trump’s actions as Teflon Don can navigate those waters. What do you think?