Throughout the twentieth century the political sensibilities of the world’s major scientists has been abysmal. Most major scientists involved in the Manhattan project had a love affair with Marist-Leninist thought. Ditto, British scientists (e.g., the Cambridge cells). Scientists have willingly moved in lockstep with totalitarianism (e.g., Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union). And then there are scary types like A.Q.Khan. In the United States we produce so few expert scientists (preferring to cherry-pick from aboad) that the crazies have proliferated in the so-called social sciences. Simply put, the political instincts of the scientist are much too Strangelovian (or Alous Huxlian) to be trusted entirely.
Gotta disagree with the statement that we produce so few expert scientists. I've worked with genius, studied under genius. It was homegrown Americans. But most of these guys just want to be left alone politically. Talk to them one on one, you'll hear their views. Free markets, capitalism, liberty. It's there. Check out the DOE labs.