Bill Gates — geek, computer idea thief and now — ID lover?

Over at Salon, Farhad Manjoo raises a great question: Just why in the hell has the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation given $10 million to the stealth-creationist outfit, the Discovery Institute?

The Gates Foundation responds that it hasn't abandoned science to back intelligent design. Greg Shaw, Pacific Northwest director, explains that the grant to Discovery underwrites the institute's "Cascadia Project," which strictly focuses on transportation in the Northwest. The Discovery webstie lists several program goals, including financing of high-speed passenger rail systems and reduction of automobile congestion in the Cascadia region, which encompasses Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.

But surely, there is some other group besides Discovery that sponsors similar projects.

But that’s not Microsoft’s only connection, even if in a personal vein.

Mark Ryland, who heads the institute's Washington office, is a former Microsoft executive, and a Microsoft employee named Michael Martin is a current member of Discovery's board. A spokeswoman for Microsoft says that Martin served on the board in his personal capacity, not as a representative of the company.

Discovery spokesman Kenneth Pollock uses the old right-wing tactic that people who question such donations are really against free speech.

He tells Salon:

”Finally, I have been asked to advise you that it is unseemly for people who dislike one program at a think tank (or a university — or an on-line magazine, for that matter) to try to pressure funders of other programs there,” he writes. “It is illiberal and contrary to the spirit of free speech.”

Just as Discovery, of course, claims all criticism of intelligent design is anti-free speech.

Come to think of it, maybe that’s why the Gates Foundation is supporting Discovery after all. I’m sure old Billy Bob Geek Gates sees an argument he can’t pass up in future PR and legal battles for Microslob.