There has been a long and sordid history of reactionaries believing scientific research, even basic research to be elitist, bookish, academic, even frivolous, notice how Palin pronounces “Paris, France” with such gleeful disdain. The right-wing reactionaries believe scientific research to be some kind of leftist conspiracy; they fear that it will expose a truth that doesn’t conform to their worldview. Over a century ago William Jennings Bryan realized this dilemma, he understood that the Theory of Evolution is a refutation of the Creation Story, “The contest between evolution and Christianity is a duel to the death. If evolution wins, Christianity goes.”