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09/14/2003: "The Leadership Gap"

This is the belated closeout of the series on the intersection of science, religion, and politics. It was supposed to happen two Sundays ago but I was distracted by yet another Ann Coulter sighting, this time insinuating ownership of God by the right fringe. (Repeat readers have probably figured out that Ann does for me what Hillary seems to do for Big-C Conservatives). Anyway, the issue today is presidential leadership in an area critical to America’s prospects in the 21st Century – science. A number of past presidents showed exceptional leadership in encouraging US science, none more than Thomas Jefferson. What kind of leadership have Big-C Conservatives shown in this area? There’s only one answer: they have consistently worked to undermine the work of scientists. This is most true in biology, when they use the presidential bully pulpit to cast dispersions on evolution. For example, Reagan said, “It’s only a theory,” and G. W. Bush went so far as to say that he doesn’t believe in it. Unfortunately, evolution represents the very organizing principle of the modern life-sciences, and these in turn will be for the 21st Century what computer technology was for the latter half of the 20th Century. Anyone thinking that presidential opinions are harmless need only look to the example of the Soviet Union, where genetics was set back for an entire generation by politicians backing bogus pseudo-science. In the US, the president’s leadership has tremendous influence, particularly when backed by Administration policies on education and funding of research. I can think of no other example where presidential influence was expended not to advance the work of science, but to hinder this work by casting doubt not only on the basic principles of an entire major branch of science but also on those who have devoted their lives to the cause of research and teaching in this critical field. What kind of leadership is that? The answer is that, once again, Big-C's have put pandering to their base above the interests of the Nation.