Between McCain's attacks about funding a $3 million scientific project on grizzly bears, and now attacks about funding a $3 million planetarium projector (or, as McCain would say, "overhead projector"), he's coming off as extremely anti-science and research.

I mean, for one thing, in political and academic terms, $3 million grants? Are nothing. We're giving a $700 billion bailout to banks and corporations, and he's quibbling over $3 million on research and education?

Really?

I admit. I'm biased, both in the fact that I already support Obama, and that academia and research are more important to me than to the average voter. But here's the thing: I was open to a McCain presidency. Ask my friends who knew me a few years ago, before Obama really came out as a prime candidate, around 2004 or 2005. I (though I shudder to think of it now) thought McCain was not a bad choice.

Don't get me wrong. I am thrilled that during the first presidential election in which I am allowed to vote, I am able to vote for a candidate, rather than merely against one. But it would have been nice to be only voting for a candidate, and not revile the opponent. A tall order? Perhaps. But even with with his changes to policy and beliefs to suit his campaign, it could have been in order until he chose Palin as his VP and came across, to me, as extremely anti-science and anti-education. Those things make me shudder to think of him in the White House. He sounds like he'd like to cut every piece of government grant funding that isn't directly related to something "useful" (like military or, so he claims, and I would be much happier if I believed, alternative energy*). Shudder. Shudder.


*Not that funding the latter would be bad in the slightest, in fact, emphatically to the contrary. The problem is that I don't believe him, and, further, that it is not the only thing that should be funded.