Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

No Left Turns

Political science at the Smithsonian

Many months ago, I took note of the case of Richard Sternberg, a Smithsonian research associate who was under fire for publishing an article on "intelligent design" in a journal he edited. Today’s WaPo has this update.

Here are the concluding paragraphs:

Sternberg has seen stress piled upon stress in the past year. His marriage has dissolved, and he no longer comes into the Smithsonian. When the biological society issued a statement disavowing Meyer’s article, Sternberg was advised not to attend. "I was told that feelings were running so high, they could not guarantee me that they could keep order," Sternberg said.

A former professor of Sternberg’s says the researcher has an intellectual penchant for going against the system. Sternberg does not deny it.

"I loathe careerism and the herd mentality," he said. "I really think that objective truth can be discovered and that popular opinion and consensus thinking does more to obscure than to reveal."

Nothing has shaken my sense that what we’re seeing here is the defense of an orthodoxy rather than encouragement of free inquiry.

Discussions - 2 Comments


Conservatives don’t lend enough support -- rhetorical and other -- in situations like this. The tendency is to note the latest example of liberal thuggery, moan, and move on. Until that changes, we’ll continue to live in what amounts to a semi-free society.

Judging from the previous distortion of war records by the Smithsonian, it is time for the adults to take back control.

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