Back to reality

In a move designed to move America away from the Orwellian politicization of science that occurred under the reign of King George the II, president-elect Barack Obama has named John P. Holdren, a Harvard physicist as the White House science adviser.

As a letter signed by many of the most prominent scientists in America said to Bush II in 2004, "When scientific knowledge has been found to be in conflict with its political goals, the administration has often manipulated the process through which science enters into its decisions." Their concerns were ignored by a man who thought the torture of non-combatants was consistent with the American way.

King George the II, aligned with many a denier of evolution, saw no problem in looking at the scientific evidence and blithely declaring it wrong without even mustering a counter-argument. Conclusions were foreordained and the facts must be shaped to meet them. (Note how this principle also played out in pre-war intelligence on Iraq.)