Bush Administration Accused of Suppressing, Distorting Science

[joeunderdog]

WASHINGTON - A group of more than 60 top U.S. scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates and several science advisers to past Republican presidents, on Wednesday accused the Bush administration of manipulating and censoring science for political purposes.

snip

In a 46-page report and an open letter, the scientists accused the administration of "suppressing, distorting or manipulating the work done by scientists at federal agencies" in several cases. The Union of Concerned Scientists, a liberal advocacy group based in Cambridge, Mass., organized the effort, but many of the critics aren't associated with it.

snip
The report charges that administration officials have:


Ordered massive changes to a section on global warming in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2003 Report on the Environment. Eventually, the entire section was dropped.

Replaced a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fact sheet on proper condom use with a warning emphasizing condom failure rates.

much, much more here
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0219-02.htm

[DoctorMyEyes]

1. this pisses me off

and I'm glad it's getting at least a little bit of attention.

Henry Waxman has a website that's been carefully documenting the political interference with science by this administration. They've screwed with everything from breast cancer to abstinence only education.

I have an acquaintance who writes grant requests for scientific medical research, and she shared with me an internal document from the NIH about political interference with AIDS research. Some grants that were already approved (through peer review) were revoked!
http://www.house.gov/reform/min/politicsandscience/

[leftchick]

4. Remember the group of Economists against * tax policies?

There were also many experts warning about the chaos we now have in Iraq. Hasn't it become clear these people listen to NO ONE save the rich donors/Oil/Energy/MIC interests?!? :grr:

[louis-t]

2. memo from Cheney/Rove/Ashcroft/Whoever...

'Revisionist history, revisionist science, revisionist economic news, revisionist war casualties.....'

These idiots think they can keep fooling Americans forever.

[Zero Gravitas]

3. Thats because science is just plain wrong

when you're SAVED! HALLELUJAH! JEBUS IS A COMIN' TO SAVE ME! Who cares what happens to the environment? The end times are upon us!

:eyes: :crazy: :silly: :puke:

[9215]

5. Finally we have one who has Seeen the light!

I heard yesterday that there is a plaque at the Grand Canyon that claims it was created 4,000 years ago. Some well learned fundies put it there supposedly.

[govegan]

6. Even NPR has been carrying this story the last couple of days.

Including, of course, some idiot neo-fascists trying to pooh-pooh these scientists for "politicizing" science!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think they want to privatize all of the public universities so that science can be taught the neo-fascist way.

Funny comment by Gore Vidal, he said that G.W. compared to George Washington makes a monkey out of Darwin, shooting his theory of evolution all to heck. Vidal says it's making him a creationist for sure.

[74dodgedart]

7. So he's not a statistician, but he is a scientist ?

Bush is such a scmuck

Doesn't know anything about job forcasts (even though he is an MBA)
but he knows all abouut science.

[Thor_MN]

16. He HAS an MBA, handed to him, like everything,

due to his father being a vengeful SOB with way too much power.

What he is, is a stupid little man, with too much faith and too little curiousity. The answer that he came up with to the incongruity of what he has received compared to the effort he has put forth, is that he is somehow blessed.

He can't see, or doesn't care that his strings have been pulled since he was a little boy. One can only hope that when he goes down in flames, that the strings drag down those behind the scenes as well.

[Athame]

8. Grist also had this today. It is a big deal--more to come

SCIENCE FRICTION
Top Scientists Accuse Bush Administration of Distorting Science

The Bush administration, reeling from a series of unflattering
stories and unfavorable poll numbers, took another kick in the pants
yesterday when 60 of the world's most influential scientists --
including 20 Nobel laureates and 19 recipients of the National Medal
of Science -- accused the administration in an open letter of
systematically distorting scientific research and misleading the
public about the likely results of its policies. In an accompanying
report, the Union of Concerned Scientists detailed numerous instances
in which the administration has suppressed scientific results, gagged
its own science officials, and replaced independent scientists on its
research panels with industry representatives. John Marburger, chief
of the White House Office of Science and Technology, dismissed the
criticisms as a "conspiracy report" and explained that the real
problem was not distortions of science but his failure to
"communicate" effectively with scientists.

straight to the source: USA Today, Dan Vergano, 19 Feb 2004
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2035>

straight to the source: The Washington Post, Guy Gugliotta and Rick
Weiss, 19 Feb 2004
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2036>

read the UCS report: Scientific Integrity in Policy-Making
<http://www.gristmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=2038>

[sandnsea]

9. It's not science, it's the "liberal left"

I swear to god, that's what I just heard a Bush Administration "scientist" say on Paula Zahn. The lead and global warming studies done under the Clinton Administration are all wrong because the liberal left stacked the deck on the science. You'd think a SCIENTIST could come up with a better explanation for this shit than to blame it on the liberals. :eyes:

[Native]

13. this was also in the NYTimes - here's a freeper response

to this that I rec'd:

the new "jack" times is the most biased, left slanted news agency on the planet. do they even quilify as a news agency?. Also if it's not political why is it plastered all over the tv and news during these primaries? if you libby's think the dems aren't lieing to you thats just ignorant. we both know they are all liars. I guess you guys are all for higher taxes and picking up the tab for the slackers in this country. more power to ya..

Thought you all would get a kick out of this!

[Judi Lynn]

10. Would you have believed this could happen four years ago?

From the article:

(snip)
James Zahn, a former Agriculture Department microbiologist, said he discovered accidentally that pig farms in southwestern Minnesota, northern Missouri and Iowa were emitting airborne bacteria. Because pigs are often fed antibiotics, Zahn speculated that airborne bacteria from farms could include drug-resistant bacteria, which, if breathed by humans, would make them harder to treat when ill.

Zahn presented his findings at a scientific conference in 2000, but the Bush administration stopped him from publishing his data 11 times between September 2001 and April 2002, he said. When Danish researchers sought to learn more about his work, Zahn wasn't allowed to share his techniques.
(snip)

How, HOW can this happen? I'd like to hear a _Bush apologist explain how this is NOT outrageous, contemptible, and downright evil.

This IS surpression, is it not? How do we accept this?

[Dr Fate]

11. Facism in the flesh, folks...

...vote & support straight DEM in 2004...

[pinniped]

12. It's so obvious what these POS only hear what they want to hear.

And pres. POS has to have someone spell it out for him because his attention span is not up to par.

POS fired that O'Neil guy after he told pres. POS the tax cut wasn't a good idea and POS fired someone else (can't recall) for telling POS something he didn't want to hear.

These AHOLES obviously didn't want to hear that Iraq disarmed and had no WMD crap. Now they want intelligence heads to roll.

Can't these AHOLES do anything right? Nevermind, I already know the answer to that.

[stanwyck]

14. How can anyone with a functioning

brain support the Bush administration? I'm serious. The right-wing's only response to a roster of Nobel Prize winners and others (conservative scientists included) who condemn the Bush administration's deceptions is "well, there are other scientists who disagree". Of course. Highly paid corporate scientists who are NOT Nobel Prize winners. This is truly Orwellian. If you ever wanted to know what the people were like who condemned Gallileo as a heretic, look no farther than the Bush administration. I seriously believe that no one with an IQ over 100 could possibly support these people. That's why the Bushies repeat the same statement over and over. They're kindergarten teachers: "Danger. Danger. Danger. Madman. Madman. Madman" It's the only way to speak to the sheep.

[Native]

15. Sad to say it, but I know several people with IQ's over 150

who all support Bush. They also hate the French, and for no reason other than they're French. Bottom line with these people - they only care about themselves. They are self-centered, selfish, and lazy.