2008-05-14 Yes, Virginia, There is a War on Science

2008-05-14 \war on science\Chris Mooney http://www.scienceprogress.org/2008/05/there-is-a-war-on-science/ Yes, Virginia, There is a War on Science &ldquo;Setting out to debunk the idea that there really is a â€œwar on scienceâ€ coming from the right, these writers donâ€™t bother engaging on the facts of the case at all. They donâ€™t attempt to show that, say, conservative anti-evolutionists are right, or that conservative global warming deniers know what theyâ€™re talking about. Instead, Levin and Gerson ignore, trivialize, and even mock the very serious argument that scientific information has been systematically mistreated under this administration and by the American political right. Hereâ€™s Gerson: â€œThere are few things in American politics more irrationally ideological, more fanatically faith-based, than the accusation that Republicans are conducting a â€˜war on science.â€™â€ As for Levin: â€œBeneath these grave accusations, it turns out, are some remarkably flimsy grievances, most of which seem to amount to political disputes about policy questions in which science plays a role.â€ .. And thatâ€™s it for these authorsâ€”rather than taking apart the â€œwar on scienceâ€ argument, they simply assert with a wave of the hand that weâ€™re all confused, that the facts of science arenâ€™t under attack from the right, itâ€™s just that disagreements have occurred over ethics and policies.&rdquo;   