Bad Astronomy

Wanna be a Presidential advisor?

As we all know, the Bush Administration has been extremely aggressive about stamping out any real science whenever it can. This has been documented so many times and over so many far-reaching fields that it can be accepted as simple fact.

Well, Bush is on his way out, and hopefully we won’t have four more years of his failed policies and blind attacks on reality. But either way, the nonpartisan Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars has issued a statement that the new President will desperately need a good science advising team:

The science and technology policymaking capacity of the White House must be enhanced so that the next president can better address key issues facing the nation—from energy and the environment, to national security, and the ability of the United States to compete and collaborate internationally.

Well, yeah. The President needs a science advisor who will tell him the truth and be clear about it, and we need a president who will actually listen to the advisor and act on that advice, and not ignore it if it happens to go against policy or dogma.

That would be awesome. And refreshing.

Read the report. It’s very interesting, and I have very high hopes that maybe, just maybe, the next President will have at least one foot in reality.

Tip o’ the lab coat to Science Fare