As many bloggers have noticed, with the latest revelations about NASA and other agencies, the Republican war on science continues apace. But what's driving it? Clearly, the acts of scientific censorship that have made so much news lately have been coming from political appointees in press or public affairs offices. This fits the thesis of my book, according to which such political appointees are conditioned and trained to act in such a way as to appease the Republican base: corporate American on the one hand, and the religious right on the other. Allow GOP political appointees to appease the Republican base on matters of science and, well, you get exactly what we've seen: Federal government scientists at a range of agencies screaming bloody murder. But there's a bigger question here, which has to do with the climate within the federal agencies themselves. What accounts for the audacity of the political appointees? Whence their lack of shame, and disregard for scientific expertise? Why isn't there any apparent counterbalance to their tendency to appease the interests of the GOP base?
Here, I think we have to look to the leadership of the agencies and, ultimately, to the behavior of the president himself. On most matters of political science, Bush doesn't take a stand. But on all of the most controversial ones, he has not only taken a stand, but he has misrepresented or undermined science in the process.
Bush has said that "intelligent design" should be taught alongside evolution in science classes. He has misled the public about the number of stem cell lines available for federally funded research under his policy (and never apologized). He has exaggerated scientific uncertainty about global warming--and not just that, we now learn (courtesy of Fred Barnes) that he is a closet "dissenter" who has been confirmed in that belief by Michael Crichton.
In short, Bush himself shows no respect for scientific knowledge. At best, he treats it in a cavalier fashion; at worst, he directly undermines it. In this climate, is it any surprise that political appointees working in his government would feel similarly empowered and emboldened?
