Chris Mooney wrote an article for the UK Guardian Unlimited where he lets the Bush White House have it both barrels in regard to their quashing of scientific progress. I wish we could have been seeing more of this all along, especially from the main stream media (y'know, the "liberal" ones) who have hardly said anything on these topics... or gotten right when they did say something. Here's my favorite bit by Chris, echoing his HuffPo piece:
The broadest way of stating the problem is that throughout his presidency, Mr Bush has let politics rule everything and left virtually nothing to dispassionate analysis. Preconceptions, rather than critical thinking, have driven policy. Indeed, the US federal government is staffed with legions of political appointees who think in raw political terms, often with a disregard for the long-standing professionalism of the agencies they find themselves lording it over. As a consequence, the US government has become a place where loyalty and the rewarding of prior supporters wins out again and again over careful analysis and expert judgment.
Sing it loud, brother!
With the world watching, in 2009 we'll be working to step back from the abyss.
