An email from a friend directed me to some vital science news. It appears that two scientists have named slime mold beetles for Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld!

The following comes from the text forwarded to me without a link:

Slime-Mold Beetles Named for Politicians

Grumps and cynics often compare politicians to worms, bugs and other creepy-crawly creatures. Now, some bugs have been named after three of the world's most powerful politicians. Two American entomologists have named three newly discovered species of slime-mold beetles after President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Lest anyone think that Agathidium bushi, Agathidium cheneyi and Agathidium rumsfeldi were named out of spite for Messrs. Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, their nomenclators insist it's a sign of respect. "We admire these leaders as fellow citizens who have the courage of their convictions and are willing to do the very difficult and unpopular work of living up to principles of freedom and democracy rather than accepting the expedient or popular," said former Cornell entomologist Quentin Wheeler, now the head of entomology at the Natural History Museum in London. Think of that next time you see the Agathidium bushi feasting on mold in its stomping grounds in southern Ohio, North Carolina and Virginia (all red states, in the last election).

A dirty left wing trick, you say?

Not so fast. Here's the BBC:

Two US scientists have paid tribute to their favourite politicians by naming three species of beetle after them.

President George Bush, Vice-President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were all honoured.

One of the entomologists said he admired all three men for "having the courage of their convictions" and standing up for freedom and democracy.

The three beetles who now bear their names are among 65 newly discovered species which feed on mould.

The scientists, Quentin Wheeler and Kelly Miller, discovered the insects after collecting thousands of specimens for study and classification, according to a press release from Cornell University where Mr Wheeler used to work.

'Prominent teeth'

They named them Agathidium bushi, Agathidium cheneyi and Agathidium rumsfeldi.

Others were named after the scientists' wives, the Star Wars villain Darth Vader and the Greek words for "ugly" and "having prominent teeth".

But Mr Wheeler, who is now head of entomology at London's Natural History Museum, said the decision to name three beetles after politicians had nothing to do with physical features.

"One has to be creative with names," he told the BBC news website.

"We are two of the only politically conservative scientists around, and we decided to stick our necks out." (Emphasis added.)

According to science-oriented blogger John Daly, Quentin Wheeler has (along with the controversial E.O. Wilson) in fact co-authored an important argument for "traditional taxonomy":

... traditional taxonomy has been downsized in favor of molecular techniques, and as a result we are running out of knowledge with which to properly interpret the DNA data. They call for a new synthesis of traditional, molecular and ICT based approaches.

Certainly, insect naming is one way to direct the Bush administration's attention to long-neglected traditional taxonomic values.

Sure sounds conservative to me!

(But then, I've been fooled before....)

As to Dr. Wheeler's beetles, I have to admit, they all look the same. Didn't Spiro Agnew say something like, "When you've seen one, you've seen 'em all?"