The most thankless job in the world?

There's more on the President's "intelligent design" idiocy. Monday, Bush told a group of Texas reporters "both sides ought to be properly taught." Yesterday, creationist nutjobs celebrated, while Bush's science adviser, John H. Marburger III tried to backpedal.

Mr. Marburger said in a telephone interview that "evolution is the cornerstone of modern biology" and "intelligent design is not a scientific concept." Mr. Marburger also said that Mr. Bush's remarks should be interpreted to mean that the president believes that intelligent design should be discussed as part of the "social context" in science classes.

I didn't even know Bush has a science advisor. I've seen more news stories quoting Bush's tailor. Hell, I think I've seen more stories quoting Bush's dog.

George W. Bush's science advisor might have the most thankless job in the world.

At best, Bush's science advisor is simply ignored, like Rush Limbaugh's fact-checker or the safety chief at Chernobyl. After all, research is an inefficient way to dole out pork, since most of the dollars would end up going to blue states, or blue areas in red states.

But that's a best case. Lefty bloggers didn't come up with the phrase "reality-based community"; it was coined by Bush staffers who mocked the idea. Science advice for the Bush White House is like ethics advice for Enron, or ecumenical outreach advice for Torquemada: the whole organization is fundamentally opposed to the job's purpose.