Trust me.....it's not a GOP thing. It's an American thing. I'd say that 75% of the people in this nation are somewhere between functionally and completely illiterate when it comes to science. In this respect, the membership of JPP is not representative of the general public in that there is a significantly higher rate of science literacy on this board......though that aint exactly setting the bar very high.
Americans love technology and are absolutely infatuated with it's uses and application but if you really want to know what Americans think of science and scientist you only need to watch/listen to the popular media. The scientist are rarely represented positively but are stereotyped as socially retarded geeks.
So this isn't just a GOP thing. Most Americans hold science and scientist in low esteem primarily because they are illiterate in science and people fear that which they do not understand.
