Right... I don't know if he's even the worst though (personally I think Craig Ventor is way worse the Chruch).

I don't think he's all that bad overall. I think he helps direct effort to interesting problems. Much academic work is something of a moonshot these days, and your job is to also carve out some useful incremental advances.

People who put too much stock in what he says are likely to be more to blame. For example, if you see him on the board of a company or as a scientific advisor I wouldn't think much of it. That's because he's on the board of practically everything.

But personally, and from people I've spoken to, I've found him to be friendly and helpful and basically a good guy. That's about as much as you can ask.