Truth and Fiction

George C. Deutsch: the latest two-bit shady character in an administration that can't seem to find anyone who is actually qualified to hold the positions it wants to use to sabotage the federal government from within. Perhaps being qualified and having the kind of conservative axe to grind that Mr. Deutsch certainly had are mutually exclusive mental states.

From the New York Times: "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 resume on file at the agency asserted."

Mr. Deutsch is the very young and apparently spectacularly unqualified individual who kept senior scientists, like Dr. James Hansen, from speaking to the press, and also tried to ensure that the vocabulary used in scientific reports be as vague and anti-science as possible, like calling the Big Bang a "theory" even though everyone who knows anything agrees on the general idea--because perhaps God did it.

From Reuters: "The theory that the universe was created by a 'big bang' is just that -- a theory," Deutsch wrote in an e-mail on October 17, 2005, which was obtained by Reuters. "It is not proven fact; it is opinion. Yes, the scientific community by and large may share this opinion, but that doesn't make it correct ... " What training or credentials did he have to make such claims legitimate or even remotely defensible? Certainly not a degree in any science, and apparently not even a BA in journalism from Texas A&M.

He probably would have liked to issue a press release about how humans used to have dominion over domesticated dinosaurs.

How in the world does the top climate scientist at NASA effectively get locked in his office by a college dropout? It's the context, the administration as a whole, the smoggy anti-science atmosphere set up by the larger Bush Machine. It's either that, or any kid can come work on a campaign for a while, lie on his resume, and then start controlling Bush's federal science policy. I'm not sure which is more believable, or which is worse.

Great work by scientificactivist.blogspot.com, by the way. Shows what an actual scientist can achieve with the help of things like fact and inquiry and curiosity and seriousness. Hopefully he'll have a job in NASA or NIH soon enough ... God knows they can use a few qualified individuals these days.