Ah, nothing like politics (which is just another form of religion) to make enemies of friends! Let's all take a deep breath and relax. I think it's OK to debate the merits or demerits of the role of government and/or political figures regarding science and science funding, but probably a good idea to omit the name calling and labels (e.g., right-wingnuts, leftist-loonies, etc.). I've been guilty of waxing political, and there's surely a lot of emotion and strong feelings on both sides. For those that want to keep the discussion (and it should be a CIVIL discussion, sticking to facts and on-topic with SCIENCE) going, keep the "OT:" in the subject line so those that want to bow out can just delete them if they are only interested in utah-astronomy related posts. Carry on...