fortes2
he should have more questions; it’s hard for him to believe that the most basic premise for the AIDS Industry, this statement that the Western Blot can confirm an ELISA, could be destroyed so easily and quickly. Did the jury get it? Did they really get how absurd and illogical this whole thing is?The judge is getting impatient. “Mr. Campbell?”
“No more questions, Your Honor.” Campbell sits down, hoping he has done the job he needed to do.
The judge wants to move on. “Mr. Armand, you may cross-examine.”
Armand gets up quickly, slamming his chair back against the guard rail, startling the entire courtroom. Sarah can almost see the smoke coming out of his ears.
“Dr. Burgess, what do you know about science?” It was a rhetorical question, asked with anger and disdain.
Burgess, on the other hand, was keeping her cool. “I admit that I am not an expert in science, Mr. Armand. But I do know that science is supposed to be based on logic, which is my expertise. And it seems to me this issue of HIV and AIDS has become more of a religion than a science, requiring people to take things on faith rather than on scientific inquiry and logic, and making those who ask questions sound like heretics.”
That does it for Armand. He explodes and starts pointing at Burgess, moving closer to the witness box. “Just who the hell do you think you are?”
Campbell is on his feet immediately. “Objection, Your Honor.”
But Armand isn’t finished, and his anger is growing. “Who are you to argue with the best scientific minds this world has ever seen at the CDC and the National Institutes of Health – the people who protect us from dangerous diseases like AIDS?” He is almost yelling at this point, two feet from the witness.
“Your Honor!” Campbell tries to intervene again, and the judge starts banging his gavel. Burgess just sits back in the chair, not even trying to answer.
But