Political science

Mother Jones has put online a 2002 article by Ken Silverstein, about the politification of science that has happened under the Bush adminstration. Or rather, they have mentioned it their newsletter - I am fairly sure I've read it before.

Bush's New Political Science

[T]he Bush administration has been screening candidates about their political views -- an unprecedented move intended to make sure that conservatives get seats on NIH advisory councils. In some cases, Mother Jones has learned, a White House liaison with the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH, has called candidates and asked detailed questions about their political leanings.

One candidate screened by the White House was William Miller, a widely respected researcher and professor at the University of New Mexico who was nominated to serve on the advisory council on drug abuse. Miller says he's never been secretive about his politics. "If somebody started digging, they wouldn't have to dig too far to find out I'm a lifelong liberal," he says. "I've never been arrested or joined the Communist Party -- I'm just what Garrison Keillor calls a 'museum quality' liberal Democrat."

There is nothing new in the article for those of us that has followed the Bush administration's war against science, but it's still good to be reminded. Especially as we get closer to the next election, where several of the Republican candidates have take anti-science stances.