More on Lysenko and Deutsch

[unixronin]

Well, well, well.  It turns out the parallels between George Deutsch and Trofim Lysenko were closer than we knew.  As james_nicoll reports, it turns out Deutsch's qualifications were, shall we say, overstated, much as Michael Brown's were .... though it's widely reported -- and his resume on file with NASA claims -- that he's a graduate of the Texas A&M school of journalism, it turns out he was SCHEDULED to graduate in 2003, but ended up leaving in 2004 without achieving a degree.

It also transpires that Texas A&M confirmed to NASA yesterday that Deutsch did not, in fact, graduate and that his diploma was falsified, whereupon Deutsch resigned in disgrace late yesterday.  NASA, with entirely undeserved grace, is declining to discuss the reasons for his resignation.

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."

One wonders when, and where, the next skirmish in this administration's war on truth will take place... or perhaps I should say rather, "be exposed".  I have no doubt it's already ongoing.

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Footnote:  james_nicoll comments, "If I were a bored journalist, I would compare the resumes of every Bush appointee to their actual records, just to see what popped out."  I think that's an excellent idea.

Comments

[dr-nebula.livejournal.com]

Hmm..this gets rid of the scapegoat - but the fiscal shift/problems are likely to still remain.