“The thought police would get him just the same. He had committed — would have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper — the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you.” – George Orwell, 1984

The announcement that the CDC has banned certain words in budget documents elicited outrage throughout the scientific community. Science and innovation is dependent on the ability of researchers to ask novel questions and push the limits of current thinking. Creativity, free expression, and stoking controversy are an important part of the research process.