The governor of Alaska is unfit to be the vice president of the United States for many reasons, but she is starting to make statements that are totally inexcusable. John McCain and she have started attacking the use of tax money for scientific research.
It is obvious that our economy is faltering and government spending needs to be reduced, but no one should be convinced that we are spending too much money on scientific research.
Decades ago, the American government made a conscious decision to boost education in science and math. This included large increases in research funding. The results of these actions are clear: we developed technologies to win wars, save lives, improve economies (not just our own), and learn more about ourselves and our environment than anyone ever dreamed. Because of this interest in science, such inventions as communications satellites, computers and the internet were possible. If you appreciate any of these things, you appreciate government funded scientific research.
I have not yet addressed biological areas of interest, which have been specifically targeted by the Republican agenda. McCain and Sarah Palin have made public statements against researching bears and fruit flies, respectively. According to the Anchorage Daily News, Palin advocated paying hunters in helicopters money to kill wolves so that hunters could kill more moose, so I never really expected support for programs that study bears without hurting them. However, in my naivety, I did expect everyone to have respect for the study of DNA, in which fruit flies are invaluable.
I was offended at the ignorance of her statement before I even knew what research she was referring to. The fruit fly has for decades proven its worth as a laboratory subject for the study of heredity, DNA and mutation.
Physicist Lawrence Krauss pointed out in an article in the Los Angeles Times that the research being done in France is worthwhile because they are investigating an outbreak of a fruit fly that is economically harmful to the olive industry.
While many in the media so far have been critical from the aspect of DNA research, it is the disregard for our economic future that should have Americans afraid of McCain and Palin in the White House. The Republicans have finally pushed their scare tactics to the breaking point. Many of us are uncertain as to what the economy will do next, especially as that pertains to who should lead the country. I support a lot of the budget cutting talk being thrown around by all candidates, but I refuse to believe that Americans are as detached from reality as Palin must think.
Americans realize that they live in a truly great country, and they know how we got to this point. It wasn’t because other countries were too lazy to keep up or that God held them back; America became a leader on the world stage from deciding at appropriate times (especially when threatened by Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia) that they would not stand idly by and be surpassed technologically by other countries.
Our willingness to develop new ideas and technologies has served us well in the past and it is exactly what we need right now to preserve our economy and way of life. When we take part in scientific research, our esteem among other countries and ourselves increases. The quality of life throughout the world benefits as well.

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