Followup to the news last week about NASA PAO supposedly censoring/pressuring climate scientist James Hansen. I'll certainly grant that Hansen is outspoken on policy as well as science, so one could make a case that he stepped over boundaries at times (I'd grant scientists that right, but again, one could make a case).

The Administration's attempt to put its own spin on science went even farther, apparently. The same PAO official mentioned in Hansen's case (George Deutch, a 24 year old former GOP volunteer with no science background) also was directing NASA authors to leave the door open for creationism.

According to the New York Times (story rerun in the Alabama Gasden Times, for a registration-free version), Deutch directed that the existence of the "Big Bang" not be presented as established fact:

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"The Big Bang is "not proven fact; it is opinion," Mr. Deutsch wrote, adding, "It is not NASA's place, nor should it be to make a declaration such as this about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent design by a creator."

It continued: "This is more than a science issue, it is a religious issue. And I would hate to think that young people would only be getting one-half of this debate from NASA. That would mean we had failed to properly educate the very people who rely on us for factual information the most."

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http://www.gadsdentimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060204/ZNYT02/602040351/1011