Little Brother

Remember the story about George Deutsch, the 24-year-old Texas A&M dropout who was overriding veteran NASA scientists and making them alter their findings and reports to fit the administration's politics?

Well, it turns out he wasn't alone.

James E. Hansen, the NASA climate scientist who sparked an uproar last month by accusing the Bush administration of keeping scientific information from reaching the public, said Friday that officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are also muzzling researchers who study global warming.

Hansen, speaking in a panel discussion about science and the environment before a packed audience at the New School university, said that while he hopes his own agency will soon adopt a more open policy, NOAA insists on having "a minder" monitor its scientists when they discuss their findings with journalists.

To quote the late great Jim Nabors, "Surprise, surprise."

Tim from Balloon Juice has been all over this stupidity, so I'll let him have the final word:

For your own entertainment, draw two boxes on a white piece of paper. In the left-hand box write down all the countries from the last 100 years which insisted that academics and other citizens only speak to the press when attended by ‘minders.’ The US goes in that box. In the right-hand box write down all of the countries that let academics speak freely, including unrestricted access to international meetings. Use Google if you must.

Done? Now tell me whether you’re comfortable with the kind of company that we keep. Thus endeth the exercise.

(Hat tip to the Propaganda Remix Project for the image.)