A Young Bush Appointee Resigns His Post at NASA

New York Times ^ | February 8, 2006 | Andrew C. Revkin

[MurryMom]

George C. Deutsch, the young presidential appointee at NASA who told public affairs workers to limit reporters' access to a top climate scientist and told a Web designer to add the word "theory" at every mention of the Big Bang, resigned yesterday, agency officials said.

Mr. Deutsch's resignation came on the same day that officials at Texas A&M University confirmed that he did not graduate from there, as his résumé on file at the agency asserted.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

Since it cannot be unequivocally proven, according to your standard, the government should not endorse it.

As I said above, I don't believe the law of gravity has the same theological component as the Big Bang.

For the record, I believe the Big Bang is a good working theory, one that will undergo modifications and changes with every passing generation and every scientific advancement for as long as humanity continues to persue it. I also believe the theory is perfectly compatible with creationism. But I'm not comfortable with having my government putting its seal of approval on any particular theory where the origin of our world is concerned. It's too close to the line between the scientific and the extra-scientific for my liking.

[muir_redwoods]

"The Big Bang theory, a constantly evolving, working hypothesis on the origins of our world, comes closer to that line than theories on gravity, relativity, physics and the like."

It's either a theory or a hypothesis, it can't be both. It's a theory. It's a well examined, tested and reviewed body of evidence with which it is possible to make verifyable predictions. The 3 degree K background radiation is but one of the most compelling but there are many more.

In the same light, all of religion is hypothesis. That's why you need faith and not evidence to believe it.

[mnehring]

It seems we have an update to this article:
NASA Aide Who Resigned Over Warming Offers Defense
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/science/10nasa.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/science/10nasa.ready.html

George C. Deutsch, the young NASA press aide who resigned on Tuesday in the center of a storm over claims that he had tried to keep keep the agency's top climate scientist from speaking publicly about global warming, defended himself today in his first public interviews....

In the interview, Mr. Deutsch said that Dr. Hansen had partisan ties "all the way up to the top of the Democratic Party," and that he was "using those ties and using his media connections to push an agenda, a worst-case-scenario agenda of global warming." He said that anyone who disagrees with Dr. Hansen "is labeled a censor and is demonized and vilified in the media — and the media of course is a willing accomplice here."

Mr. Deutsch contended that although Dr. Hansen was a scientist, he wanted to talk about policy as well as science. "He wants to demean the president, he wants to demean the administration and create a false perception that the administration is watering down science and lying to the public," Mr. Deutsch said. "And that is patently false."

//// (from first article..)

"When I left college," he said, "I did not properly update my résumé. As a result, it may appear misleading to some. However, I was up front with NASA about my undergraduate status when they hired me."...


It seems that this update changes a lot of things.. first, all the new articles seem to stop calling him a 'presidential appointee' and he actually says he was hired directly by NASA.

Someone here theorized that he also submitted his resume prior to graduating, on the anticipation of graduating- something the article supports.

It seems the shift of focus has gone away from the 'Big Bang Theory' debate and much of the new articles are about global warming.

Finally, the updates seem to shift the attempted spin and propaganda off of the administration and on to left wing propaganda & attempts to manipulate the story.. hmmm.. more questions....

[clawrence3]

Thanks for the update.

[Freedom is eternally right]

Thanks for the update.

[Right Wing Professor]

Looks like a lame attempt at spin control by Deutsch to me. And there is no reasonable doubt he was a Schedule C federal employee - i.e. one in a policy type, patronage appointment. I'll post a link to my blog analysis of the affair when I've tied up a few loose ends.

[Right Wing Professor]

It seems that this update changes a lot of things.. first, all the new articles seem to stop calling him a 'presidential appointee' and he actually says he was hired directly by NASA.

In the interview on WTAW, George Deutsch said, and I quote, he was a 'Bush Appointee'.

Apology accepted.

[clawrence3]

Please let usv know if you CONFIRM Deutsch was a Schedule C federal employee - have a good week.

[Right Wing Professor]

He said explicitly he was a Bush appointee in a low-level policy position.. This is what you and others denied, most recently in post number 354. I see you don't have the cojones to admit you were wrong. Pathetic.

[clawrence3]

As you QUOTED, he said "Bush appointee" - the original charge was that he was a "Presidential appointee" so either confirmed by Senate (obviously not) or exempted (we don't know for sure) as discussed above - I could think I am a "Bush appointee" too, but that doesn't necessarily make it so. As I said, let us know if you ever know for sure he was a "Schedule C federal employee".