“The ethical questions are enormous. Gene editing is generating a ton of optimism for treating and curing diseases, including some that our foundation works on (though we fund work on altering crops and insects, not humans). But the technology could make inequity worse, especially if it is available only for wealthy people. I am surprised that these issues haven’t generated more attention from the general public. Today, artificial intelligence is the subject of vigorous debate. Gene editing deserves at least as much of the spotlight as AI.”

Bill Gates, in his December Year-in-Review 2018 blog post on a variety of technology issues he follows on a regular basis.

"AI is currently very, very stupid. It is really good at doing certain things which our brains can't handle, but it's not something we could press to do general-purpose reasoning involving things like analogies or creative thinking or jumping outside the box."

Andrew Moore, Google vice president – in comments on whether or not AI will replace humans anytime soon

 “The ethics of the experimenter can charitably be described as substandard: the experiment was wildly premature, focused on a medical condition which already has both treatment and prevention methods; was done in secret, and without either peer review or adequate consent; and was done without any credible plan to protect the resulting children (and their children, and their children’s children) from harm.” 

George Annas, MD, Director of the Center for Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights at the Boston University School of Public Health on the announcement of secret research by a Chinese scientist using CRISPR technology to splice the genes of twins.

“Our societal silence over the last several years has been deafening.  As we enter the holiday season and a time of reflection, it seems to me that now is the time for a cacophony of compassion to rise up and overwhelm the people of our nation with the spirit of our founding mothers and fathers.”                               

Kevin Fickenscher, MD – in a moment of reflection on his own forefathers and foremothers who came by many routes “yearning to breathe free…”

"Honor to the Soldier, and Sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country's cause. Honor also to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field, and serves, as he best can, the same cause -- honor to him, only less than to him, who braves, for the common good, the storms of heaven and the storms of battle."

President Abraham Lincoln, December 2, 1863 in a letter to George Opdyke (an entrepreneur, anti-slavery advocate and 76^th Mayor of New York City) and others

"As we mark the centennial of the Armistice, we remember the countless sacrifices that our country’s heroic veterans have made throughout our history to preserve our liberty and prosperity.  Our veterans embody the values and ideals of America and the timeless virtue of serving a greater cause."             

President Donald Trump, November 9, 2018 – in a proclamation released by The White House as the President travels to Europe to honor the fallen on Armistice Day

"Veterans Day often follows a hard-fought political campaign -- an exercise in the free speech and self-government that you fought for.  It often lays bare disagreements across our nation.  But the American instinct has never been to find isolation in opposite corners.  It is to find strength in our common creed, to forge unity from our great diversity, to sustain that strength and unity even when it is hard.  And when the election is over, as we search for ways to come together -- to reconnect with one another and with the principles that are more enduring than transitory politics -- some of our best examples are the men and women we salute on Veterans Day."

President Barack Obama, on November 11, 2016 – in prescient remarks on the importance of remembering who and why we are as a nation.

"If we had the votes to completely start over, we'd do it.  We're not satisfied with the way Obamacare is working."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in comments this past week on his continuing interest in giving ACA repeal another go…

"If you're in a tight election with a record of promoting something unpopular, you can admit it and say it's the right thing to do, you can confess error and say you'll never do it again, or you can lie.  Republicans are taking the third option."

Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute – a non-partisan think tank based in Washington, DC