Nice to see science and politics lining up so well!!

So even if you have something against planetaria for some reason and cherry-pick this one earmark he got, you can’t say that all the earmark spending he received for his constituents was wasteful. Unless you have something against sick children.

McCain’s right you know, it’s the planetariums that have crippled the American, nay, the world economy.

Once the tickets enough to rebuild the planetarium are sold , we can settle in for an evening of indoor skeet and taking pot shots at the constellation Lupus without the risk attending Alaskan heli stalking.

Should be great fun, especially if we can borrow that inflatable Bullwinkle form the Thanksgiving parade and invite Gov. Palin and that redoubtable Wyoming quail hot- shot the Vice President

When I hear of John McCain describe it as foolishness, the phrase that springs to mind is “pearls before swine” (no lipstick necessary).

I heard McCain is going to have it removed and Palin will then hunt it down and destroy it.

I have a question if anyone is still reading this. Does anyone know if the planetarium at the Discovery Museum in Sacramento is any good? Also, how old would a kid have to be to benefit from a planetarium visit? I have a four-year old niece that I would like to take there. Would she be old enough to benefit from a planetarium experience?

In regards to the earmark process however, while I will agree that there is tons of abuse, it isn’t as big a problem as you might suspect. Removing all earmarks, even when going by the words’ most encompassing definition would only reduce the federal budget by about $20 billion. (Others say that earmarks only constitute $2 billion, apparently it depends on what exactly you consider to be an earmark.) With a deficit of over $400 billion, earmarks are not so terrible.

Moreover, I would argue that earmarks are not necessarily evil. An entirely intelligent and benevolent congressperson (or senator) would know his or her own district better than other members of congress and would be able to judge the needs of that district better than the other members of congress. As an elected representative of that district he or she should be able to directly request funds for projects of local interest (e.g., a planetarium). Some might argue that the federal government shouldn’t be paying for local projects at all. You might have a point, but it is often the case that large projects require large amounts of capital which a local government might not have or might not be capable of raising. The federal government can provide this money.

Replacing the 40 years old Zeiss IV projector at Hoepli Planetarium (Milan, Italy), with similar maintenance problems, would cost 10-15 million EUR.

Dr M’s rationalizations are an attempt to present McCain as someone who actually parses these finer distinctions. McCain ain’t on that wavelength. He doesn’t give a toss about planetariums unless they serve his political designs, and anything that seems intellectual and nerdy-sounding (in Mac’s mind) that Obama cares about he will be certain to trash.

Unfortunately, that statement is invariant under exchange of names (though in truth neither candidate is as dumb as a rock).

As for Palin’s earmarks, well, I’m certainly no fan of Palin’s positions on a great many things, and I don’t know anything about what earmarks she did or did not ask for. I was trying to point out that McCain’s point is that Obama doesn’t have a case against Palin where earmarks are concerned (and it is in that context that we should understand his remarks here). I am not saying that McCain’s point holds up to scrutiny. That is a different discussion alltogether.

JoAnne: I don’t like McCain’s choice of words any more than you do, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions from a remark that was about something completely different. Your reasoning is a case of false dichotomy, as Belizean pointed out.

McCain is instinctively anti-intellectual – a philistine at heart. This was a man who took great personal pride in graduating 894th out of a class of 899 at the naval academy.

Dr M also stated:

“So, what he was talking about wasn’t science, but earmarks in general, and that Obama really doesn’t have a case against Palin on that particular point.”

Obama most certainly does have a case against Palin. She received special interest funding from congress to the tune of $453 million to fund a variety of projects in Alaska over the past two years. What about the $500 million in federal funds for the infamous bridge-to-oblivion … a cash cow if ever there was one … which Palin of course didn’t support … *ahem*. “Spin artist” is a polite term for Palin who by any other measure would be called a bare faced liar. Her story telling even extends to her travels – her “visit” to Ireland consisted of a refuelling stop.

Part of the cashola she received went toward dubious projects. Around $5 million was earmarked for an airport on a Bering Sea island that serves 100 people … if.