A brilliant scientist who discovered the gene that afflicts cystic fibrosis victims was recently named by the president to the post of Director of the National Institute of Health, the nation's primary research lab.Dr. Frances Collins's accomplishment in finding the CF gene is compared to "the discovery of one disabled bulb in the entire American electric web. Brilliant, able, and he would seem to be a perfect fit, right?Marty Peretz at The New Republic: So what's wrong with Collins? He is a practicing and believing Christian. It's odd--isn't it?--that this fact should make a scientific designee unfit or unsuited for a job. Soon we will hear the same about judicial nominees. The establishment mounted a sustained campaign in the Senate (and outside) against President Wilson's nomination of Louis D. Brandies to the Supreme Court on the grounds that the candidate was Jewish, although some of his critics tended to be euphemistic rather than direct about their objections. Not so those...(Read Full Post)