by Arthur Caplan, Ph.D.
10/2/15 The President issued an executive order extending the term of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues (PCSBI) through September, 2017 https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/09/30/executive-order-continuance-or-reestablishment-certain-federal-advisory
This is a very interesting announcement since the last day Barack Obama will be the President of the United States is January 20, 2017. Astute observers will note that the Commission will be advising a new President for nine months, perhaps longer. While there has been a good deal of speculation about who that next President will be, there has, sadly, been far from adequate attention paid to who the next leaders of the commission would be under a new President. This is important since it is highly likely that a new President would by January 21, 2017 latest have demitted the current incumbents and replaced them with a group congenial to the leader of the free world’s taste. So without further ado, let us speculate wildly as to who might take command of the bioethical ship of state in a new regime. Some are admittedly dead but surely an argument can be made that for persons of distinction that ought not be an obstacle to public service.
Donald Trump’s commission
Chair: Tom Brady, metrosexual, Married to Gisele Bundchen, health expert, ‘not a loser’.
Deputy: Regis Philbin
Ben Carson’s Commission
Chair: Ken Ham CEO, Founder and President of Answers in Genesis and Founder of the Creation Museum Petersburg, KYdent, CEO, and Founder
Deputy: Noah
Carly Fiorina’s Commission
Chair: Harry Houdini Master of illusion
Deputy: M Night Shayamalan expert on films based on events which could not have happened.
The views, opinions and positions expressed by these authors and blogs are theirs and do not necessarily represent that of the Bioethics Research Library and Kennedy Institute of Ethics or Georgetown University.