Chris Mooney wrote a book called “The Republican War On Science.”

While it was obviously (from its title) of partisan intent, it was well researched, and did make a good case for it. And it even purported to attempt to appear bi-partisan, by pointing out a few examples of political attacks on science from the left. However, it gave them extremely short shrift, in my opinion. Here’s just one example of the kind of thing with which he could have balanced the book, had he truly wanted to.

My problem with Chris’ book is that it was too polemical, when he had an opportunity to make a serious point–that science is continually under assault by people with an agenda from all points on the political compass. By attempting to make it a partisan issue, it results in a misdiagnosis of the problem. After all, if it’s only a “Republican” war on science, then the solution is simple–elect Democrats. Unfortunately, the problem is much more complex than that, and the notion that it’s not holds us back from finding a real solution.