There's no longer any reason to feel sorry for this George Deutsch character. I had figured he might be a young guy in way over his head, and therefore worthy of our forgiveness or even sympathy. Well, forget it. Deutsch didn't know when to shut up and slink away. Now, in an attempt to "defend himself," he's dug a deeper hole with comments like this:
Speaking to a Texas radio station and then to The New York Times, Mr. Deutsch said the scientist, James E. Hansen, exaggerated the threat of warming and tried to cast the Bush administration's response to it as inadequate.
If Deutsch still thinks he's in any way qualified to tell James Hansen what's scientifically accurate and what's exaggerated, then he obviously hasn't learned anything from his experience. In his self defense, he doth protest way, way too much. Still, this part is interesting:
"When I left college," he said, "I did not properly update my resume. As a result, it may appear misleading to some. However, I was up front with NASA about my undergraduate status when they hired me."
If this is true, then the question becomes--who at NASA made this hire???
Phil Plait has more debunking of Deutsch.
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I think it's George Deutsch, not John.
Sorry, Chris, but I think you were right in the first place.
He's a poor schlub of a kid who hasn't yet figured out how dumb he really is.
He may even think that he was hired for reasons other than his political connections.
Folks like him almost never understand that the best thing to do when you find you have dug yourself into a hole is to put down the shovel.
I think we look bad if we continue to pile on to that guy. My take on Deutsch is one of my more recent entries at my blog, which people can reach by clicking the link by my name.
He's gotten what he deserves. Let's stop gloating about it.
Reading the excerpts at Phil's place, I was struck by how well Deutsch has learned the game we've seen played over and over during the last five years. Admit nothing, or at least nothing significant. Make no apologies, show no remorse. Attack your opponents. Accuse your opponents of exactly the kind of things you've done. Make yourself the victim.
The really depressing thing about it is knowing that there are people out there who'll applaud every single thing Deutsch has done (except for making a frowny-face at the resume, quickly forgotten).
I'll bet he gets some PR job at a firm owned by Republicans, spends a year or two laying low, and returns to politics with this dismissed as a youthful indiscretion.
I certainly hope that Deutsch's phrase "they hired me" refers to the Administration officials who appointed him as a reward for his loyal service. From Plait's entry that you linked to, it sounds like Deutsch was foisted upon NASA by the Bush Administration.
The quotes I have seen from Deutsch look like he's a man who lives and breathes partisanship. It may very well be that his view of the world is so twisted and perverse that all he sees is liberal vs. conservative (or democratic vs. republican). That's sad. Even more sad is that simpletons like him can get into the higher echelons of our government.
Didn't update his resume? So he didn't take the five minutes to change it on his word processor? Although, from what I understand, he was an appointee, so the resume was more formality than anything else. I'm a bit surprised he resigned over this. Not that I'm worried about his future career -- this whole incident makes him a martyr in the eyes of some people, so I'm sure he will have jobs lined up for him.
There's something about this story that sums up everything that's wrong with this administration. I hope it gets the press it deserves.
He didn't "properly" update his resume?
Let me guess: He fired up Microsoft Word to update his resume and began to type, "...droppped out of college". The Word spelling/grammar-checker flagged "droppped out" and offered as an alternative, "graduated from". Stuff like that happens to the best of us! Maybe you should cut this guy a little slack.
Entry corrected--it is indeed George Deutsch, not John.
My prediction:
Now that he has "persecution creds," Deutsch will be marketed as an outspoken crusader for Sound Science. Maybe he'll open for Michael Crichton on the rubber veal circuit.
Did anyone else notice that Michael Crichton was given the journalism award by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists? Correlia Dean wrote about it in the NYT. I also noted it on my nascent blog. I don't know too much about the AAPG, but I think it's a legitimate scientific society with an albiet obvious link to industry.
I'm expecting he'll get picked up by Michael ("Brownie") Brown's new consulting firm.
I did a search on Technorati on George Deutsch and got lots of hits, but none from any right-wing blogs. haven't they got their talking points out yet? Has anybody heard their take on the "victimization of Deutsch"?
He should have put "theory" next to his graduation date.
I realize I am many weeks behind on this news: I just
stumbled upon this today.
I just wonder if George Deutsch "did not properly update his resume" upon leaving Texas A&M, what was on
this resume to begin with? "Graduated from Texas A&M
(etc.)" would have been a lie then too.
Am I missing something?