There has been mounting evidence that President Bush has been manipulating science in order to advance his political agenda. Now, there is new evidence of this from his Council on Bioethics: two people who disagreed with Bush's religious views on cloning and stem cell research have been removed while three who agree with his religious views have been added.

The Seattle Times reports:

In their places he appointed three new members, including a doctor who has called for more religion in public life, a political scientist who has spoken out precisely against the research that the dismissed members supported, and another who has written about the immorality of abortion and the "threats of biotechnology." ... Pressed as to why the pair had been singled out for dismissal, she said, "We've decided to go ahead and appoint other individuals with different expertise and experience." She would not elaborate.

It's not much of an advisory council when the members have been stacked to ensure that they will only "advise" what the President already believes and wants. If Bush is simply looking to have "scientific cover" for his decisions, I don't think that it will work - just about everyone will know that the "advice" of this council is rigged to go in one direction only.

Read More:

• What is Science?
• Bioethics