1) Being apolitical is a myth. (Hyde seems to agree.) We all approach the world with our beliefs & biases. Pretending scientists are superhuman is silly & even dangerous. Thankfully, the scientific process is set up to mitigate such biases through transparency & open debate.
It is so very telling that, after a decade of hollering about FREE SPEECH and DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT, when Republicans got power in Texas Universities they straight up fired people, purged departments, threw away books, and wrote rules prohibiting even talking about particular topics.