48 Nobel-Winning Scientists Endorse Kerry - Reuters

DENVER - "Democrat John Kerry picked up the endorsement yesterday of 48 Nobel Prize-winning scientists who attacked President Bush for "compromising our future" by shortchanging scientific research.

"The Bush administration has ignored unbiased scientific advice in the policy-making that is so important to our collective welfare," the 48 scientists, who have won Nobels in chemistry, physics and medicine dating back to 1967, said in an open letter released by the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign.

The scientists, who included 2003 chemistry winners Peter Agre and Roderick MacKinnon, accused the Bush administration of undermining America's future by reducing funding for science and turning away scientific talent with restrictive immigration policies.

EDIT

Kerry, on his first public campaign visit to Colorado, told supporters at a rainy rally in a downtown Denver park that the United States was losing its scientific lead over other nations. He promised to put the country once again "at the forefront of scientific discovery." The Massachusetts senator argued that greater technological innovation could transform the economy, creating jobs, cleaner energy and medical advances."

EDIT

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/25619/story.htm

"Mr. Schmidt answered the attack by pointing out that 22 of the 48 Nobelists who signed the pro-Kerry statement also signed a statement in January 2003 opposing war in Iraq, and 16 had given money to Democratic candidates.
In addition, 13 of the 48 were part of the group that released the February report criticizing the administration's approach to science.

"Only John Kerry would declare the country to be in scientific decline on a day when the country's first privately funded space trip is successfully completed," Mr. Schmidt said in a statement, referring to the rocket plane SpaceShipOne's journey 62 miles from earth and back."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/22/politics/campaign/22kerry.html

As Chris Mooney summarizes:

"In other words, the response seems to be, attack the Nobel Laureates, and shill for private sector science. It does not--at least not yet--seem to involve whipping out a list of Nobel Laureates sympathetic to the administration.

The point about private spaceflight is pretty funny. While what happened yesterday was certainly cool and impressive, NASA made it to the moon decades ago."

http://www.chriscmooney.com/blog.asp

The basic method that SSO used was prefigured by the X-15, which was about 40 years ago, as I recall. As you noted, we first orbited the Moon in 1968 and landed there in 1969.

What Allen's team did was interesting, and the aircraft is a fairly impressive piece of engineering.

What it wasn't was innovative.

endorsed our candidate, Rush Holt, and we've been Democratic since.