Agreed, I don’t think SETI was a scam or junk science. And it wasn’t a very expensive program.
Global Warming clearly is a hoax.
I’m not sure what makes SETI a “liberal idea”. Unless you consider all goernment funding of science liberal.
When I was young, liberals spoke of SETI as one more way to put the "anti-science Christians" in their place. I had doubts about it even back then - figureing that most believers would assume a God that could create us could also create others. I thought when SETI was up and running they would find signs of civilizations everywhere they pointed - and I'm still mildly spooked it didn't happen.