John McCain: literally antiscience

[ILLigitt]

John McCain: literally antiscience
by Phil Plait, Bad Astronomy

I am not a fan of John McCain. He has degenerated in recent times into a pandering tool of the far right, willing to say and do anything — including outright hypocrisy (he’s against lobbyists? Really?) — to get votes.

I have had my doubts on his support for science, but my fears have been at least in part confirmed. He was asked recently about his VP pick, Sarah Palin. She has secured vast amounts of money in earmarks for Alaska, and McCain has made quite the noise about being against earmarks. When confronted about this, what does he do? He changes the subject (which was about his abject hypocrisy), and attacks Obama. And there was some collateral damage. About Obama, he said:

“That’s nearly a million every day, every working day he’s been in Congress,” McCain said. “And when you look at some of the planetariums and other foolishness that he asked for, he shouldn’t be saying anything about Governor Palin.”

[insert cartoon rapid head shaking and flibbertygibbit sound here]

I’m sorry, did he call a planetarium "foolishness"? Did he really say that?

Yeah, he did.

Now, to be careful, we don’t know what the context is here. Maybe Obama asked for a bazillion dollars to install a movie screen in Adler planetarium (in Chicago, Illinois, Obama’s state). But somehow I doubt it. And either way, McCain made it clear he meant planetaria. I’m willing to give him the benefit of a doubt, but his recent lies and extraordinarily negative and misleading ads make me give him a lot less slack than I might have otherwise.

A planetarium is hardly foolishness. They excite tens of thousands of children about science every year. They teach science, and the wondrous joy of astronomy. They inspire the next generation of scientists, the kind of thing McCain said he would support when he answered Science Debate’s questions for him (I’ll be writing on that more later, never fear). A lot of great scientists got their first glimpse of the stars in a planetarium. And the people who work at planetaria do so because they love it. They are constantly struggling for funding, constantly battling bureaucracy, constantly dealing with issues, constantly trying to keep up with technology and new advances in astronomy… and they love it. They do it because they want to teach kids about science.

"Foolishness."

I wonder what Neil deGrasse Tyson — head of the Hayden Planetarium in NYC — will have to say about this? Or any of the planetarians in McCain’s home state of Arizona?

I know what I want to say, but this is a family-oriented blog.

And in case you forgot, the original question, which he avoided, was about McCain’s hypocrisy — saying how eliminating earmarks is one of his highest priorities, yet asking Palin to be his VP, a woman who hired a lobbyist to secure earmarks (a double whammy) for her small town.

It seems he has a lot to answer for.

[P.Y.T1982]

What are earmarks??

[Brian]

McCain was dumb for saying that! I love planetariums. I'm going to build one in my house.

As far as earmarks, not too concerned about that. Running mates aren't going to be exactly alike, and if earmarks are currently allowed and it means funding things in your state like extra schools, SCIENCE (google Palin's earmarks and you'll find a ton of them go to scientific projects - and a lot specifically towards animal research), etc, then use them before they are gone. I hope someone does put an end to them, but you also can't blame someone for using them if it's part of the current process.

Obama has certainly received a ton more in terms of $ - but both of them I believe were transparent in their earmarks, and I don't recall seeing any that were just completely off the wall. A lot of those that earmark hide what they are doing - and that is much worse.

Bottom line though - it's OK to pick a VP that may be different or disagree with you on a few things. I think that's healthier than the other way around.

[ILLigitt]

Originally Posted by Brian

McCain was dumb for saying that! I love planetariums. I'm going to build one in my house.

As far as earmarks, not too concerned about that. Running mates aren't going to be exactly alike, and if earmarks are currently allowed and it means funding things in your state like extra schools, SCIENCE (google Palin's earmarks and you'll find a ton of them go to scientific projects - and a lot specifically towards animal research), etc, then use them before they are gone. I hope someone does put an end to them, but you also can't blame someone for using them if it's part of the current process.

Obama has certainly received a ton more in terms of $ - but both of them I believe were transparent in their earmarks, and I don't recall seeing any that were just completely off the wall. A lot of those that earmark hide what they are doing - and that is much worse.

Bottom line though - it's OK to pick a VP that may be different or disagree with you on a few things. I think that's healthier than the other way around.

Agreed. I've never liked the hypocrisy charge... or when people dwell on the whole "flip flopping" thing. It's OK for a candidate to change his mind about certain things over time (in fact, it's a good thing), and I respect the fact that McCain has done that.

As for the VP thing... to use another TV example, that's why House has a team. He doesn't have them because they agree with him about everything, he needs them because they DON'T. They disagree with him, and argue, and challenge him. Granted, the VP and the President aren't always making decisions together about the same things, but it can be helpful to have someone making decisions with you who doesn't always agree with you.

[Brian]

You really like House, don't you?

[ILLigitt]

Originally Posted by Brian

You really like House, don't you?

How could you tell?

(IT COMES BACK TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!)