Maybe you’ve seen the bumper sticker: “Even on Gilligan’s Island they listened to the professor, not the millionaire.” Someone has invoked characters from the iconic TV series to comment on the administration’s seeming paucity of scientific knowledge. If you’re going to play around with a classic, you’d better remember there might be other lessons to be learned from the “uncharted desert isle.”
The millionaire (and his wife), the professor, the movie star, and the farm girl were all kept safe by veterans.
While the actress always looked good, she didn’t contribute much—on the other hand, she didn’t threaten to leave the island if she didn’t get her way.
The professor, who improved the quality of life on the island in so many ways, still couldn’t fix the boat.
The millionaire was always generous, and the beneficiaries of his largess were too smart to call him evil or demand he stop making money.
Even with a movie star, an Ivy-leaguer, and an academic in their number, most of the work was done by an old guy, a Midwesterner, and a former boy scout.
