Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 12/02/2009 9:05:36 PM PST by ikeonic
Most of us know that President Eisenhower, in his farewell speech, warned of the danger of the "military-industrial complex". Regardless of your particular stand on military spending, there is no doubt that he was substantially right about the enormous abuse of power and fraud in the defense industry.
Less known is the Eisenhower's second warning in the speech.
Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers. The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present -- and is gravely to be regarded.
Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite. [emphasis mine]
A remarkably succinct and accurate prediction of the situation we face today.
ClimateGate is the tip of the iceberg of the corrupt influence of our scientific elite on public policy, ranging from censorship of honest discussion of evolution in our schools to the 'Cap and Trade' boondoggle based on fabricated global warming science to the fraud and political power-play shaping up in Copenhagen to self-enriching pressure by scientists and industry to exempt human embryonic stem cell research from traditional ethical constraints on destroying human life.
We ignore Eisenhower's warning, and the overwhelming evidence before us now, at our own peril.
Guess maybe some folks on the right are discovering that Ike may be a useful candy-assed liberal RINO after all.... soon maybe they'll rediscover Goldwater... :)
Timely post. Everyone should be aware of this part of Eisenhower’s speech.
I like Ike!
Saving, spreading. Thank you.
There is nothing “scientific-technological elite” about the AGW crowd. Both science and technology are being turned on its ear by these people. It is a political ideology being reinforced by pseudo science to achieve their goals.
Most of us know that President Eisenhower, in his farewell speech, warned of the danger of the “military-industrial complex”. Regardless of your particular stand on military spending, there is no doubt that he was substantially right about the enormous abuse of power and fraud in the defense industry.
______________
What Ike said has been twisted and used by anti-Military leftists and conspiracy mongers.
It was originally the military industrial CONGRESSIONAL complex and he wasn’t talking about secret military cabals and greedy corporations pushing for war to make new planes and ships with the evil military men willing to go to war at the drop of a hat.
The congressional part was taken out of the speech as not to offend members of both parties in Congress. It was about the role of congress in military spending too, now everyone uses this Ike quote to show the evil conspiracy between the military and industry.
There is audio and a transcript of Ike’s farewell speech athttp://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/dwightdeisenhowerfarewell.html
The speech is #18 on the top 100 speeches there at American Rhetoric= http://www.americanrhetoric.com/top100speechesall.html
"the fraud and political power-play shaping up in Copenhagen"
Reminds of that neo-Marxist Bill Klinton. The Senate told him they would never renew the ABM treaty.
He told the Rooskies that didn't mater; through executive order and as CIC he would prevent advanced testing of ABM systems in the US. We had the hardware, but he prevented testing of new, sophisticated software for guidance systems.
Hussein bin Obama al-Kenyata is very capable of making the same executive committments at Copenhagen. He doesn't need the Senate.
Carol Browner, former director of Socialists International, his Energy and Climate Change Commissar is champing at the bit to enforce this international environmental socialist agenda in the USA.
yitbos
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.