So you would argue that Galileo Galilei was a bad scientist? He was imprisoned for disagreeing with the pope. I suppose you'd have to argue that a good scientist in the middle ages had to be in good standing with the church and monarchy?
If he'd needed access to impossibly expensive equipment available only in a few palaces around Europe, politics might have stopped him before he ever got started.
Science is about being right; not about getting along with your peers.