Not an
"overhead projector"

The statement that's bothered me the most during the presidential debates is the assertion by John McCain that Barack Obama wasted $3M on "an overhead projector."

I don't know if McCain is repeating an ignorant staffer's line, or if he's just never been inside a planetarium before. Sure, McCain wasn't doing astronomy shows for the neighborhood kids when he was 8 years old like my husband was. But anyone with a passing knowledge of astronomy knows the difference between "an overhead projector" and the sophisticated heart of Chicago's renowned Adler Planetarium just as they know the difference between Uranus and a black hole. Referring to the centerpiece of Adler as an "overhead projector" is like "calling the space shuttle a bottle rocket."

Sadly, McCain's remark plays to the anti-science crowd, and Kansas certainly doesn't need any more of that anti-intellectual pollution. I'll grant that $3M is a lot of money, and I'd like to see more oversight of federal and state expenditures. But for McCain to purposely distort the nature of the un-granted request is not the honorable behavior I expect from someone who used to serve our country so well.

Phil Plait over at The Bad Astronomer cuts loose with both barrels. And hey, if you can spare some cash for a new Zeiss for Adler, donate here.