Political Science 101 (“Hail to the intellectual president”)

CEH ^ | May 18, 2009

[GodGunsGuts]

Political Science 101

May 18, 2009 — Ideally, science should be non-partisan and stay out of politics. 

That ideal is not always met, as the following recent stories illustrate.

1. The intellectual president:  New Scientist published a commentary, “Hail to the intellectual president,” by Chris Mooney, author of The Republican War on Science.  Opening line: “If you liked George W. Bush, it wasn’t because of his brain.”  Ronald Reagan, John McCain and Sarah Palin were other targets labeled anti-intellectual in the article, along with McCarthy and Eisenhower.  Obama, by contrast, is “the intellectual president,” in his opinion.  “With the coming of Barack Obama to the presidency, the phrase ‘sea change’ is not too strong,” Mooney wrote.  “If Obama’s message about the importance of science makes its way through even this medium, he will have changed America more than we can possibly calculate,” he said in conclusion.  “The goal must be nothing less than to break the cycle – to make intellectualism a permanent value of American culture.  A two-term presidency would help.”  New Scientist did not offer any Republican a chance for rebuttal.

2. Pay the policy piper:  The May 15 issue of Science included a news item on the 2010 budget by Dan Charles, Jocelyn Kaiser, Eli Kintisch, and Erik Stokstad.¹ 

   Science lobbyists have cheered President Barack Obama’s arrival at the helm of the U.S. ship of state for a host of reasons.  One is the impressive scientific credentials of the new Administration’s initial appointments.  The list generally begins with Steven Chu, a physics Nobelist, and includes science adviser John Holdren, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration head Jane Lubchenco, and the co-chairs of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, medicine Nobelist Harold Varmus and genomics wizard Eric Lander.  Another is Obama’s repeated promise to “restore science to its rightful place.”  That’s code for reversing the regulatory policies of the Bush years that seemed to ignore or distort the scientific analyses on which they were supposed to be based.  And just last month, Obama received an ovation from the members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) by calling for 3% of the country’s economy to be devoted to research, an unprecedented level of public and private spending on science.

   The authors offered their advice on how the President can navigate treacherous waters and remain on the good side of the scientific community.  Since the policies they promoted are federally funded, nobody asked whether this represents a conflict of interest.

3. Rebuttal:  Louis E. Thompson, an MIT alumnus, wrote a rebuttal to a Science’s March 20 essay by Kurt Gottfried and Harold Varmus that “The Enlightment Returns” with the election of President Obama.  In his letter to the editor in the May 15 issue of Science,² Thompson wrote “Politics Still in Play.”  He disagreed with their assessment that the Obama policy on science ensures “that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda.”  He pointed to two recent examples of political expedience and earmarks that benefit politicians.  Thompson allowed that some parts of the Enlightenment may have returned, but “Political convenience remains,” he said.

The flip side of “political” science is that ignoring the political element in a research story can sometimes distort the conclusions.  In Science May 15,³ 26 researchers analyzed the cholera crisis in Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The article focused on remediation techniques of cholera epidemics, especially vaccination.  They disputed the strategy that vaccination is ineffective when an outbreak has already occurred: “this dogma is based on a single analysis that assumed that outbreaks are self-limited and short-lived, in contrast to cholera in Zimbabwe, which has been raging since mid-2008.”  The article said nothing, though, about the dictatorial regime of Robert Mugabe, whose policies that have wrecked the economy and destroyed access to health services and clean water are arguably the biggest factors in why the outbreak of this largely controllable disease occurred in the first place.

---

1.  Dan Charles, Jocelyn Kaiser, Eli Kintisch, Erik Stokstad, “The 2010 Budget: Navigating Treacherous Waters,” Science, 15 May 2009: Vol. 324. no. 5929, pp. 864-866, DOI: 10.1126/science.324_864b.
2.  Louis E. Thompson, letters to the Editor, “Politics Still in Play,” Science, 15 May 2009: Vol. 324. no. 5929, p. 880, DOI: 10.1126/science.324_880a.

3.  Bhattacharya et al, “Public Health: The Cholera Crisis in Africa,” Science, 15 May 2009: Vol. 324. no. 5929, p. 885, DOI: 10.1126/science.1173890.

Though there are blessed exceptions among many individual hard-working scientists who try to remain unbiased, we need to recognize that the scientific institutions are partisan political activists, just like labor unions.  Money, the mother’s milk of politics, has corrupted their objectivity.  Want to stop cholera and hunger?  Spread democracy and Judeo-Christian moral values.  Support Christian organizations like World Vision and Samaritan’s Purse that dig wells and teach indigenous peoples about clean water and productive farming techniques.  Influence leaders of democratic countries to oust the evil dictators like Robert Mugabe and Kim Jong Il, who live in ridiculous opulence while reducing their people to starvation and disease, and their otherwise-productive land and people to ruin and despair.

[GodGunsGuts]

ping!

[massgopguy]

I can tell how intellectual Barack Obama is by the way he looks down his nose at us.

[Frankss]

pseudo intelectual

[Julia H.]

If self-dubbed “intellectual” liberals shoved their heads any farther up their own asses, they’d be able to bite their kidneys.

[GodGunsGuts]

This is a classic case of a president stealing the credit from his teleprompter!

[<1/1,000,000th%]

So if a President is an idiot who requires a teleprompter even for his off-hand comments, he’s an intellectual?

President Reagan was the smartest President we’ve had in a long time.

[AUH2O Repub]

So what would happen if a Republican President promised to bring Christ back where He belonged in this country instead of the religion of science? No need to answer, I already know. “Science”and commie scientists have caused many, many more problems than it has solved.

[wac3rd]

I guess intellectual Leftists write his speeches to be regurgitated via the teleprompter. Makes him ‘wicked smaaaaaht’ as they say in Beantown.

[Sudetenland]

I'm sorry, did I miss something? The only "evidence" I have seen that would imply that Obama is an "intellectual" is his arrogance.

My assessment of his intellectual prowess is somewhat below that of "intelligent;" perhaps on the level of moderately intelligent.

I suppose an argument could be made that in using the term "intellectual", one is implying that being a self-congratulating, empty headed, arrogant prig is sufficient.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

What’s ironic is that BHO really isn’t that smart. Hint to folks - when he’s off teleprompter and has to uh-um-uh, that’s because he’s not smart enough to think quickly enough to formulate his thoughts at a conversational speed. As far as IQ goes, I’d give him right around average, 95-105.

[CottShop]

[[I can tell how intellectual Barack Obama is by the way he looks down his nose at us.]]

Yep- He’s one arrogant dude- can’t beleive people glom onto him when he turns right around and disdains them- I call it hte abused spouse syndrome

[oyez]

Intellectual
1. appealing to or engaging the intellect: intellectual pursuits.
2. of or pertaining to the intellect or its use: intellectual powers.
3. possessing or showing intellect or mental capacity, esp. to a high degree: an intellectual person.
4. guided or developed by or relying on the intellect rather than upon emotions or feelings; rational.
5. characterized by or suggesting a predominance of intellect: an intellectual way of speaking.

–noun
6. a person of superior intellect.
7. a person who places a high value on or pursues things of interest to the intellect or the more complex forms and fields of knowledge, as aesthetic or philosophical matters, esp. on an abstract and general level.
8. an extremely rational person; a person who relies on intellect rather than on emotions or feelings.
9. a person professionally engaged in mental labor, as a writer or teacher.

I see none of this in our present leader. I see a clever con con artist selling out the nation. Even a slave trader selling a nation into bondage.

[editor-surveyor]

Smells like a diaper change is in order.

[GodGunsGuts]

So what you’re saying is that Obama is an average guy with an above average teleprompter?

[Argus]

The following leaders were, by the standards used to describe Obama as one, “intellectuals”:

V.I. LENIN (Lawyer and book writer)

JOSEPH STALIN (Seminary educated, wrote poetry and volumes of Marxist theory)

ADOLF HITLER (He wrote a book about himself)

DR. JOSEF GOEBBELS (A PhD!)

BENITO MUSSOLINI (Journalist, Socialist theorist)

POL POT (Graduate of the Sorbonne)

ROBERT MUGABE (Holder of six advanced university degrees)

This list could be extended indefinitely. It should be obvious that “intellectual” political leaders have caused more misery in the world than any other kind.

[pallis]

Pedantic liberals are boring snobs, and their slavish devotion to pop science is ignorance on display. The global warming scam is not just bad science, it isn’t science at all. By the time the sleeping masses realize what pop science is going to cost them, they will be throughly screwed. The pop scientists will be off on another scam.

[wny]

Intellectual: someone educated beyond their intelligence

[iacovatx]

The fawning press is now elevating BO’s intellect to new heights. Here is a little cold water to help bring these people back to earth.

The only evidence we have of BO’s intellect is from his writings and accomplishments. His academic transcripts and admissions test scores are not public knowledge and his ethnicity obscures his abilities in being chosen for admission to Columbia and Harvard. His writings, not those ghosted for him, should illuminate his written communication ability. His oral communication ability is evident from his speaches and indicates he is good at delivering prepared statements but not exceptional at impromptu speaking.

His years of study and work as an instructor would train him to speak about sophisticated topics in a sophisticated manner and is not a good indicator of intellect — it indicates experience and education.

BO’s background is not in the sciences, business, engineering fields, or other quantitative fields. He does not have either a background or accomplishments in these areas which are important to understanding economic issues, taxation and revenue (critical at this time). By the way, G Bush had a more quantitative background and had solid business experience.

BO’s political background is shallow and stories of his teaching suggest he drifted away from legal scholarship toward personal experience in the classroom. This needs further exploration.

BO was an instructor and not a full faculty member. His publications and research are non-existent (correct me if I am wrong). This puts him outside the realm of scholars—not a hallmark of high intellect.

BO promises to spend more on research but this is vague and he does not have a background in research. This does not make him scientifically sophisticated. JFK advanced a goal regarding reaching the moon and encouraged work toward that goal. That effort was very positive for science in the US but JFK’s role was political. However, JFK never claimed or was described as a great scientific intellect despite his policies having a strong positive influence on science. JFK has more claim to scientific intellect than BO at this point in BO’s presidential tenure.

Is there any other evidence that BO is especially intellectually advanced? So far, BO has a ways to go to reach even GW Bush’s level of intellectual ability given the only clear win for BO compared with other Presidents is regarding his ability to deliver a prepared speech. So far, his policy advancements have been largely party platform or ideology offerings and not original policy ideas from BO.

Correct or add to this information as you will, thank you.

[sheik yerbouty]

I guess the writer, upon gazing on the countenance of The Anointed One, had a “Mein Fuhrer! I can valk!” moment..

[Right Wing Assault]

Is he intellectual? Educated? Prove it. Show me all of his college classes and corresponding grades. Show me his class rank. Show me his diplomas.

While we are at it, show me how he paid for his college education.

[Dionysius]

TOTUS is the intellectual one (arguably); POTUS is a Kenyan talking head with a scary wife.

[haroldeveryman]

Since the early part of the 20th century, the word “intellectual” has come to mean the adoption of certain life syle affectations rather than a mastery of a heavyweight field of study. The archetypical intellectual in recent years has been Al Gore (beard, sweater, slide projector, adoring college age fans, goes prancing around the stage with a microphone.). Most of all, an inellectual is a guy who goes around being indignant in public.

By current standards, the only thing “intellectual” about Einstein , if he were alive today, would be his long hair.

[tpanther]

The zero isn’t intellectual or intelligent but merely educated and indoctrinated into liberalism.

By definition this rtenders him UNintelligent.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Freee-dame]

What’s ironic is that BHO really isn’t that smart. Hint to folks - when he’s off teleprompter and has to uh-um-uh, that’s because he’s not smart enough to think quickly enough to formulate his thoughts at a conversational speed.

After the Reagan's Commemoration bill signing today, the best O could say without his written script was "Congratulations for doing this." I don't think he even remembered the name of the bill he had just signed.

For the speech, he had no teleprompter and read from papers on a podium. Mrs. Reagan had her arm in his the whole speech, which was awkward, and caused him to have only one hand to turn the pages. He could not remember more than about 7 words at a time before he had to read from the papers. His phrasing is terrible. Other than giving his stump speech to his worshipers, I just don't get it that he is such a great orator.