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Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PartyTime who wrote (68790)	6/14/2006 12:06:09 PM
From: one_less	Respond to of 173976

Sorry, I was unable to ungarble most of your malicious response but near the end you posed a question that I may be able to help you with. " Why would there be caution to wise counsel?" There is caution in wise counsel on several levels, I thought the value of that statement would be self evident but I overlooked the fact that some of you childishly filter everything through partisan political advantage. "Well, I'll ignore this portion of the Phillips-Gemstone debate." The following quote was contributed by myself, you attributed it to Phillips. "when the search for truth is confused with political advocacy, the pursuit of knowledge is reduced to the quest for power." (Alston Chase)" What you chose to ignore are examples of how science has been politicized into a popular politic, immune to caution or criticism, resulting in devastation. What are some common factors? 1) Critics are dismissed or harshly dealt with. 2) The basis in fact or science is unsettled. 3) Groups with other agendas are bandwagoning the movement because it appears high-minded and provides a springboard for other issues. 4) Claims of superiority are used to justify extreme actions. 5) The abstract cause is said to be greater than any human consequences. 6) Vague terms that have no agreed upon definition are employed in the service of the new crisis. The primary hope for dealing with material crisis in our future is scientific innovation and resolution to current and future challenges. However, politicalization of scientific resolve threatens scientific endeavor. Under such conditions we should proceed with great caution lest the boisterous politicians, bolstered by graft and a lust for power, corrupt the course. The current granting and funding of research and development has already been politicized, making all commentary with the possible exception of the elder retired scientists, suspect. If we are to accomplish anything of value under these circumstances, cautious wisdom is essential. (Note: I recognise the only thing of value to you is the outcome of elections, exactly the point here, which I am sure is wasted on you). It has happened before and I offered clear examples of how that played out (which you of course chose to ignore). Remember 'Eugenics'? Very popular a few years ago especially in Nazi Germany but it had the attention and support of prominent politicians world wide. Supporters like Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Winston Churchill, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louis Brandeis, Alexander Graham Bell, Margaret Sanger; Luther Burbank; Leland Stanford, H. G. Wells; George Bernard Shaw; and many others. The outcome was devastating. Remember 'Vernalization'? The result was famines that killed millions, and purges that sent hundreds of dissenting Soviet scientists to the gulags or the firing squads. "Well, I'll ignore this portion of the Phillips-Gemstone debate." Big surprise Regards, gem