quote:
Article Tools Sponsored By
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Published: February 8, 2006George 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.
Officials at NASA headquarters declined to discuss the reason for the resignation.
"Under NASA policy, it is inappropriate to discuss personnel matters," said Dean Acosta, the deputy assistant administrator for public affairs and Mr. Deutsch's boss.
The resignation came as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was preparing to review its policies for communicating science to the public. The review was ordered Friday by Michael D. Griffin, the NASA administrator, after a week in which many agency scientists and midlevel public affairs officials described to The New York Times instances in which they said political pressure was applied to limit or flavor discussions of topics uncomfortable to the Bush administration, particularly global warming.
"As we have stated in the past, NASA is in the process of revising our public affairs policies across the agency to ensure our commitment to open and full communications," the statement from Mr. Acosta said.
The statement said the resignation of Mr. Deutsch was "a separate matter."
Mr. Deutsch, 24, was offered a job as a writer and editor in NASA's public affairs office in Washington last year after working on President Bush's re-election campaign and inaugural committee, according to his résumé. No one has disputed those parts of the document.
According to his résumé, Mr. Deutsch received a "Bachelor of Arts in journalism, Class of 2003."Yesterday, officials at Texas A&M said that was not the case.
"George Carlton Deutsch III did attend Texas A&M University but has not completed the requirements for a degree," said an e-mail message from Rita Presley, assistant to the registrar at the university, responding to a query from The Times.
Repeated calls and e-mail messages to Mr. Deutsch on Tuesday were not answered.
Mr. Deutsch's educational record was first challenged on Monday by Nick Anthis, who graduated from Texas A&M last year with a biochemistry degree and has been writing a Web log on science policy, scientificactivist.blogspot.com.
After Mr. Anthis read about the problems at NASA, he said in an interview: "It seemed like political figures had really overstepped the line. I was just going to write some commentary on this when somebody tipped me off that George Deutsch might not have graduated."
He posted a blog entry asserting this after he checked with the university's association of former students. He reported that the association said Mr. Deutsch received no degree.
A copy of Mr. Deutsch's résumé was provided to The Times by someone working in NASA headquarters who, along with many other NASA employees, said Mr. Deutsch played a small but significant role in an intensifying effort at the agency to exert political control over the flow of information to the public.
Such complaints came to the fore starting in late January, when James E. Hansen, the climate scientist, and several midlevel public affairs officers told The Times that political appointees, including Mr. Deutsch, were pressing to limit Dr. Hansen's speaking and interviews on the threats posed by global warming.
Yesterday, Dr. Hansen said that the questions about Mr. Deutsch's credentials were important, but were a distraction from the broader issue of political control of scientific information.
"He's only a bit player," Dr. Hansen said of Mr. Deutsch. " The problem is much broader and much deeper and it goes across agencies. That's what I'm really concerned about."
"On climate, the public has been misinformed and not informed," he said. "The foundation of a democracy is an informed public, which obviously means an honestly informed public. That's the big issue here."
Glad to see this schmuck go. Wonder if we'll see any more shitty presidental appointments/nominees go down in flames in this administration.
quote:
The logic train ran off the tracks when Delidgamond said:
Is this guys last name pronouced Doosh?
I doubt it, kinda like how Boehner is pronounced Baner.
Ex FEMA director Mike Brown seemed a little iffy but I honestly don't know of him making any major goofups.
quote:
ACES! Another post by Maradon!:
...and how awesome both of his supreme court appointees have been so far...
How awesome can they be when they've only presided over one or two cases? And frankly I found Robert's decision in the Oregon assisted suicide matter to be blatent judicial activism.
Also, Alito and Roberts disagreed on whether or not to lift a Missouri man's stay of execution. Does that make one less awesome than the other?
quote:
There was much rejoicing when Maradon! said this:
how much ass John Bolton has been kicking at the UN
Explain what you mean by this. I struggle to think of anything helpful that Bolton has done as a relatively weak recess appointment.
quote:
Peanut butter ass Shaq JooJooFlop booooze lime pole over bench lick:
How awesome can they be when they've only presided over one or two cases? And frankly I found Robert's decision in the Oregon assisted suicide matter to be blatent judicial activism.Also, Alito and Roberts disagreed on whether or not to lift a Missouri man's stay of execution. Does that make one less awesome than the other?
Haha, unlike the democrats in the senate I don't really judge a justice on their opinions on a single case. Call it activism if you want (and I'm sure you do), but as of today the law here in the united states still says it's illegal to kill yourself.
quote:
Noxhil2ing:
Explain what you mean by this. I struggle to think of anything helpful that Bolton has done as a relatively weak recess appointment.
This is because you obviously know nothing about what's going on in the UN.
He's doing a pretty damn good job of bringing to light the wanton corruption of the thugs in business suits that call themselves statesmen.
The kind of guy the American left wanted in the UN:
"Oh my! Please don't hurt us too much, haha!"
The kind of guy Bolton is:
"Holy SHIT you guys are corrupt! Why the fuck is my country paying 25% of your dues!?"
quote:
When the babel fish was in place, it was apparent Maradon! said:
Haha, unlike the democrats in the senate I don't really judge a justice on their opinions on a single case. Call it activism if you want (and I'm sure you do), but as of today the law here in the united states still says it's illegal to kill yourself.
How, exactly, do you go about punishing those that break that law? 
quote:
x--RuvyenO-('-'Q) :
How, exactly, do you go about punishing those that break that law?
It is a bit of a catch 22 isn't it!
Maybe the law should be changed or have provisions added... maybe not! either way, changing laws is not the concern of the supreme court or any other court. Maradon! fucked around with this message on 02-08-2006 at 06:39 PM.
I mean, everyone knew that Oil for Food was really corrupt, and it's good someone is making a scene about it now. But... he's functioning more as an antagnoist than making any kind of constructive change.
Maybe that's what the U.N. needs. Who knows?
By the way, remember that Bolton is an ardent hard-liner. Although you hero-worship Reagan so that may not be important. We'll see if he really accomplishes anything.
quote:
Maradon! had this to say about Matthew Broderick:
Haha, unlike the democrats in the senate I don't really judge a justice on their opinions on a single case.
Then why was Harriet Miers' nomination withdrawn only after it was exposed that she once expressed pro-choice views?
quote:
Call it activism if you want (and I'm sure you do), but as of today the law here in the united states still says it's illegal to kill yourself.
Does it really? 
quote:
Over the mountain, in between the ups and downs, I ran into Noxhil2 who doth quote:
I mean, everyone knew that Oil for Food was really corrupt, and it's good someone is making a scene about it now. But... he's functioning more as an antagnoist than making any kind of constructive change.Maybe that's what the U.N. needs. Who knows?
By the way, remember that Bolton is an ardent hard-liner. Although you hero-worship Reagan so that may not be important. We'll see if he really accomplishes anything.
Actually most of them were paid, a fact I find shameful.
Apart from the fact that we still cover a quarter of the UN's finances, serving as a stockades for political rivals to throw eggs at the US, giving awards to aggressive communist dictators, and celebrating in front of maps with no Israel are pretty much the only things the UN is able to do effectively anymore.
quote:
Over the mountain, in between the ups and downs, I ran into JooJooFlop who doth quote:
Then why was Harriet Miers' nomination withdrawn only after it was exposed that she once expressed pro-choice views?
Harriet Miers voluntarily stepped down from nomination mr. current events. Maradon! fucked around with this message on 02-08-2006 at 06:48 PM.
quote:
Maradon!'s unholy Backstreet Boys obsession manifested in:
Harriet Miers voluntarily stepped down from nomination mr. current events.
Yeah, and George Tenet quit his job as head of the CIA to spend more time with his family.
quote:
Over the mountain, in between the ups and downs, I ran into JooJooFlop who doth quote:
Yeah, and George Tenet quit his job as head of the CIA to spend more time with his family.
Yeah you're right, I'm sure it was her PRO LIFE VIEWS that caused her to resign in shame even though a lot of supreme court justices are pro life... and that personal views are irrelevant to being a justice...
quote:
Maradon! had this to say about Cuba:
Yeah you're right, I'm sure it was her PRO LIFE VIEWS that caused her to resign in shame even though a lot of supreme court justices are pro life... and that personal views are irrelevant to being a justice...
First, I'll assume you meant to say pro-choice instead of pro-life.
Second, do you honestly believe a republican-controlled senate would vote to confirm a supreme court nominee that has expressed pro-choice views? You think they'll just say "Well, so long as she says she'll follow the law no matter her personal bias she's A-OK with us!" The only reason they ever considered her was because they were getting constant assurances that she would "vote the right way." But as soon as they found out she was pro-choice (or at least told a group of women she was pro-choice), they smelled another David Souter and said "Fuck that noise, pick someone else or we'll deny her ass."
It's not (overtly) an issue of gay rights. A case could be made that some bias was present, but I think that would have been the United States' vote regardless of whatever administration was in place.
Like 90% of everything that goes before ECOSOC is shot down by the developed and undeveloped (1st and 3rd world) nations on the principle that it should be their decision. The exceptions are usually your middle European blocs like Benelux or most of the EU.
quote:
Mod had this to say about Tron:
Bolton has Iran's back on gay rights.
No, no, no. Bolton isn't denying UN access to advocates of sexual minorities' rights because he hates fags, he's protecting the advocates of sexual minorities' rights by denying UN access to them so they don't infect them with their filthy corruption. Everything the UN touches withers and dies. That article is a classic example of the LIEberal media spinning the truth to make a great man, nay, an American HERO look bad.
quote:
Lashanna's unholy Backstreet Boys obsession manifested in:
U.S. probably backed Iran on the principle of sovereignty, saying it was Iran's decision whether they allowed the groups in or not.It's not (overtly) an issue of gay rights. A case could be made that some bias was present, but I think that would have been the United States' vote regardless of whatever administration was in place.
Like 90% of everything that goes before ECOSOC is shot down by the developed and undeveloped (1st and 3rd world) nations on the principle that it should be their decision. The exceptions are usually your middle European blocs like Benelux or most of the EU.
How is it a sovereignty issue? The vote was on consultative status for the two groups, not some sort of gay rights inspections.
