What is science's rightful place?

This is the question that Seed is asking:

Restoring science to its rightful place in government and in society will be no simple task: it will demand fresh ideas, the engagement of America's scientists and engineers, the re-engagement of the public, and the collaboration of other cultural and social communities. It will not happen overnight, but we will witness in 2009 a U-turn back to the future. History will call this the birth of our scientific renaissance.

And you are all encouraged to respond, in any format you like:

Seed and SEEDMAGAZINE.COM have invited responses to the question from friends and contributors around the country. Here on ScienceBlogs, we seek to involve the entire scientific community in the United States. We want scientists and engineers from coast to coast to respond to the question:

What is science's rightful place?

Responses can be submitted in any format (text, audio, video, or image) and will be displayed here, at www.scienceblogs.com/rightfulplace.php. Please send them to:

responses@rightfulplace.org

I am thinking about my own response, to be posted on this blog in the near future.