Miffed

Not at Blogger, although I'm fed up with their random outages. No, I'm miffed at an article from the NYT (link in title). This adminstration has gone way beyond the mere censoring of information and has now engaged in the Orwellian practice of literally rewriting science. We find examples of administrative pressure to spin press releases to favor administration talking points, illegitimate insertion of comments after press releases were submitted (where the researcher in question subsequently disavowed said comments which were attributed to him without his approval or knowledge), and barely veiled threats to government scientists. Most disgusting of all, however...

The Big Bang memo came from Mr. Deutsch, a 24-year-old presidential appointee in the press office at NASA headquarters whose résumé says he was an intern in the "war room" of the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. A 2003 journalism graduate of Texas A&M, he was also the public-affairs officer who sought more control over Dr. Hansen's public statements.

In October 2005, Mr. Deutsch sent an e-mail message to Flint Wild, a NASA contractor working on a set of Web presentations about Einstein for middle-school students. The message said the word "theory" needed to be added after every mention of the Big Bang.

The Big Bang is "not proven fact; it is opinion," Mr. Deutsch wrote, adding, "It is not NASA's place, nor should it be to make a declaration such as this about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent design by a creator."

Here we have a wet-behind-the-ears former journalism student, appointed by the administration, overriding NASA???? Since when does an arrogant little pipsqueak know better than the seasoned scientists hired to solve these problems? The fact that "War Boy" went to the contractor--the last stage before information is made public--and not the scientists who were consulted on the content speaks volumes (but isn't that always how Intelligent Design supporters do things?)

What is this, Atlas Shrugged?

I've never been so disgusted in my life. I think this might be one of those turning points for me, something that really gets me incensed. This administration is out of control and needs to be stopped. We're maybe two steps away from outright Lysenkoism.

Get on the phone to your congressional representatives and tell them you will not stand for science being batted around like a political shuttlecock.