Smithsonian Bent Over For Republicans

Historians and other people that have PhDs know that there is a problem with the planet. The only morons out there that believe there is no such thing as climate change are either seriously delusional or profiting from feigned ignorance. So it was sad to see today that the Smithsonian revealed that they toned down an exhibit on the changing landscape of the Arctic.

From The Houston Chronicle:

WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian Institution toned down an exhibit on climate change in the Arctic for fear of angering Congress and the Bush administration, says a former administrator at the museum.

Among other things, the script, or official text, of last year's exhibit was rewritten to minimize and inject more uncertainty into the relationship between global warming and humans, said Robert Sullivan, who was associate director in charge of exhibitions at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

Also, officials omitted scientists' interpretation of some research and let visitors draw their own conclusions from the data, he said. In addition, graphs were altered "to show that global warming could go either way," Sullivan said.

Sullivan left the museum in disgust after his bosses tried to reassign him. As scientists are continually attacked for using science instead of GOP talking points, our country will continue to lose credibility in the world's scientific community.

Sullivan pointed out that it wasn't a Bush official that did the pushing. Instead the top administrators were trying to present themselves as good little bureaucrats for the then Republican Congress. Since the Smithsonian is largely funded by taxpayers, getting their budgets filled by Capitol Hill was considered essential, no matter what the price. The top guns at the Museum say there was no politics considered in the matter, but their track record says otherwise. Looks like we have yet another national treasure to clean up after Republicans fouled up the place.