| UNDERMINING SCIENCE Suppression and Distortion in the Bush Administration Seth Shulman Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006 |
Rating: 5.0 High |
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| ISBN-13 978-0-520-24702-4 | ||||
| ISBN 0-520-24702-7 | 202pp. | HC | $? | |
In addition to the names taken from Shulman's book, there is a growing list of people who either have been fired from the Bush administration for supporting science or opposing the party line, have resigned in protest, or simply were made to keep silent. An example of the latter is Vice Admiral Richard H. Carmona, former Surgeon General, who recently went public with his account of being marginalized. In July 2007, he testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about how the administration, for political reasons, overruled him on medical science issues.
The existence of such people, who refuse to compromise the facts, are a reason for hope — the more so because they are the rule rather than the exception. As Shulman puts it:
The truth is, despite the Bush administration's manipulation and distortion of scientific and technical information, despite a religious fundamentalist backlash that is surely intensified by threats of job loss and globalization, despite woeful problems of scientific illiteracy, the American public does have an abiding sense of fair play and does seem to support the notion that policies ought to be based on solid scientific research and pragmatic problem solving rather than upon the dictates of ideologically motivated fringe groups and industry lobbyists. – Page 157 |
I've listed such people I've found in this table, along with very brief descriptions of the events. Their names — 52 so far — come from various sources cited at the end of the table.1 I also expect the roster of loyal but unsuitable administration staffers to grow considerably longer, with more names joining those party faithful who have already made the news: People like Michael Brown, head of FEMA during Hurricane Katrina, and Bernard Kerik, first choice to succeed Tom Ridge at DHS. Two noteworthy examples are Hal Stratton, head of Consumer Products Safety Commission, who resigned three months before his term expired to take a lobbyist position, and Linda Fisher, a Monsanto executive who had been deputy administrator of EPA from 2001-2003.
| Official | Role | Tenure | Action | Result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/28817/nick_turse_casualties_of_the_bush_administration | |||||
| 2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/14/AR2007051402198.html | |||||
| 3. http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_095231032.html | |||||
| 4. http://www.talkleft.com/story/2005/12/21/775/68879 | |||||
| 5. Suskind, Ron, The Price of Loyalty; New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004 | |||||
| 6. Chandrasekaran, Rajiv, Imperial Life in the Emerald City; New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006 | |||||
| 7. Suskind, Ron, The One Percent Doctrine; New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006 | |||||
| 8. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/08/surgeon_general.html | |||||
| 9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Carlin | |||||
| 10. http://www.publicintegrity.org/GreatLakes/index.htm | |||||
| 11. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0602/062502t1.htm | |||||
| Bunnatine ("Bunny") Greenhouse | Contracting official, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | 20 years | Objected to secret, no-bid contracts awarded to Kellogg, Brown & Root. | Demoted Aug. 2005 after years of stellar evaluations. | 1. |
| Richard A. Clarke | Chief adviser on terrorism at National Security Council | 30 years | Objected to administration's unwarranted emphasis on Iraq. | Requested reassignment, resigned January 2003. | 1. |
| Paul O'Neill | Treasury secretary | 2 years | Opposed president's tax cuts and other economic policies. | Fired on December 6, 2002. | 1. |
| Flynt Leverett | Senior Director for Middle East Affairs, National Security Council | ? years | Disagreed with U.S. policy toward Israel. | Forced out by Elliott Abrams, 2003. | 1. |
| Ben Miller | CIA staffer and Iraq expert | ? years | Disagreed with U.S. policy toward Israel. | Forced out by Elliott Abrams, 2003. | 1. |
| Hillary Mann | Foreign service officer detailed to the NSC as Director for Iran and Persian Gulf Affairs | ? years | Disagreed with U.S. policy toward Israel. | Forced out by Elliott Abrams, 2003. | 1. |
| Larry Lindsey | A top Bush economic advisor | ? years | Revealed to newspaper that Iraq war could cost $200 billion. | Fired, December 2002. | 1. |
| John Brady Kiesling | Political Counselor at U.S. Embassy in Athens | 20 years | Objected to administration's foreign policies. | Resigned in protest February 27, 2003. | 1. |
| John Brown | Veteran Foreign Service Officer | ? years | Objected to administration's reasons for Iraq war. | Resigned in protest March 10, 2003. | 1. |
| Ann Wright | Career diplomat, colonel in Army Reserve | ? years | Objected to administration's foreign policies. | Resigned in protest March 19, 2003. | 1. |
| Rand Beers | Senior NSC director for combating terrorism | ? years | Objected to conduct of war in Iraq. | Resigned in protest March 2003. | 1. |
| General Anthony Zinni | Special envoy to Middle East (November 2002 to March 2003) | 40 years | Predicted a prolonged and problematical aftermath to war in Iraq. | Failed to be reappointed, March 2003. | 1. |
| General Eric Shinseki | Army chief of staff | 40 years | Stated occupation of Iraq could require several hundred thousand troops. | Forced into retirement, June 2003. | 1. |
| Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski | USAF officer assigned to DOD Near East and South Asia (NESA) Bureau (2002-2003) | ? years | Disgusted by Pentagon planning process for postwar Iraq. | Retired, July 2003. | 1. |
| Charles "Jack" Pritchard | State Department's special envoy to North Korea | 28 years | Objected that administration treatment of North Korea encouraged them to go nuclear. | Resigned in protest August 2003. | 1. |
| Captain John Carr | USAF prosecutor assigned to Office of Military Commissions | ? years | Considered the military commission system biased against Guantánamo Bay detainees. | Requested and granted reassignment, 2004. | 1. |
| Major Robert Preston | USAF prosecutor assigned to Office of Military Commissions | ? years | Considered the military commission system biased against Guantánamo Bay detainees. | Requested and granted reassignment, 2004. | 1. |
| Captain Carrie Wolf | USAF officer assigned to Office of Military Commissions | ? years | Considered the military commission system biased against Guantánamo Bay detainees. | Requested and granted reassignment, 2004. | 1. |
| Colonel Douglas Macgregor | U.S. Army officer | ? years | Felt the service equated argument with disloyalty, called it "a very sycophantic culture." | Retired, June 2004. | 1. |
| Paul Redmond | DHS Assistant Secretary for Information Analysis (after long CIA career) | ? years | Complained over lack of staff and secure communication system. | Resigned under pressure, June 2003. | 1. |
| John W. Carlin | Archivist of the United States | 8 years | Became concerned about Executive Order 13233, which limits access to records of former U.S. presidents. | Resigned under pressure December 19, 2003, two years short of his full term. | 1, 9. |
| Susan Wood | FDA Assistant Commissioner for Women's Health and Director of the Office of Women's Health | ? years | Objected to ideology-based obstruction of non-prescription sale of Plan B contraceptive. | Resigned in protest, August 31, 2005. | 1. |
| Frank Davidoff | Internal medicine specialist on the FDA's Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee | ? years | Objected to ideology-based obstruction of non-prescription sale of Plan B contraceptive. | Resigned in protest, September 2005. | 1. |
| Thomas E. Novotny | A deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services | ? years | Privately disappointed with administration's decision to soften U.S. positions on smoking issues. | Resigned in protest, August 1, 2001. | 1. |
| Joanne Wilson | commissioner of the Department of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) | ? years | Objected to administration efforts to gut RSA's funding and staffing. | Quit, February 8, 2005. | 1. |
| James Zahn | Microbiologist with Agriculture Department's research service | ? years | USDA superior ordered him not to publish or talk about his finding of health issues at hog farms. | Resigned in protest, May 2002. | 1. |
| Jack Spadaro | Geodesic engineer investigating the collapse of barriers that held back a coal slurry pond in Kentucky | 28 years | Refused to sign off on whitewashed investigation report. | Resigned October 1, 2003 after fighting harassment for two years. | 1. |
| Tony Oppegard | Led engineering team investigating the collapse of barriers that held back a coal slurry pond in Kentucky. | ? years | Presumably fired because he could not get Spadaro to sign off on whitewashed report of incident. | Fired, January 20, 2001. | 1. |
| Teresa Chambers | Chief of National Park Police | ? years | Spoke with reporters and congressional staffers about budget problems in her organization. | Placed on administrative leave, then fired in July 2004. | 1. |
| Martha Hahn | Idaho director for Bureau of Land Management | ? years | Protested being overruled on mining initiatives and cattle-grazing issues. | Told to accept involuntary reassignment or resign. Resigned March 6, 2002. | 1. |
| Andrew Eller | Ecologist with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 17 years | Disagreed with superiors' position that Florida Panther was not endangered. | Fired, November 2004. | 1. |
| Mike Dombeck | chief of the U.S. Forest Service | 23 years | Opposed the direction in which the Bush administration wanted the Forest Service to go. | Resigned, March 27, 2001. | 1. |
| James Furnish | Deputy chief of the U.S. Forest Service | 30 years | Resigned over policy differences with the Bush administration. | Resigned in 2002, forfeiting $10,000 per year in retirement benefits. | 1. |
| Mike Parker | Director of the Army Corps of Engineers | 30 years | Resigned over policy differences with the Bush administration. | Resigned in 2002, forfeiting $10,000 per year in retirement benefits. | 1. |
| Sylvia K. Lowrance | Assistant Administrator of EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance | 20 years | Objected because "This Administration has pulled cases and put investigations on ice." | Retired, August 2002. | 1. |
| Bruce Boler | EPA scientist | ? years | Refused to support developers' position that "wetlands are, literally, a pollution source." | Resigned, October 23, 2003. | 1. |
| Eric Schaeffer | Director of EPA Office of Regulatory Enforcement | 12 years | Became frustrated at Bush administration pressure on EPA to coddle polluters. | Resigned, February 27, 2002. Started Environmental Integrity Project. | 1. |
| Bruce Buckheit | Director of EPA's Air Enforcement Division | 30 years | Protested the Bush administration's putting coal company profits ahead of clean air. | Resigned, November 2003. | 1. |
| Rich Biondi | Associate Director of EPA's Air Enforcement Division | 32 years | Objected to Bush administration's interference with enforcement actions. | Retired, December 2004. | 1. |
| Martin E. Sullivan | Member of White House Cultural Property Advisory Committee | ? years | resigned to protest the looting of Baghdad's National Museum of Antiquities. | Resigned, April 14, 2003. | 1. |
| Richard S. Lanier | Member of White House Cultural Property Advisory Committee | ? years | resigned to protest the looting of Baghdad's National Museum of Antiquities. | Resigned, April 14, 2003. | 1. |
| Gary Vikan | Member of White House Cultural Property Advisory Committee | ? years | resigned to protest the looting of Baghdad's National Museum of Antiquities. | Resigned, April 14, 2003. | 1. |
| Lanny J. Davis | Democratic member of Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board | ? years | Resigned in protest over deletions ordered by White House in the Board's draft report. | Resigned, May 14, 2007. | 2. |
| John Marti | A first assistant U.S. attorney in Minnesota | ? years | Resigned in protest over the job being done by Rachel Paulose, 33-year-old U.S. Attorney for Minnesota appointed by Bush administration in August 2006. | Resigned, April 6, 2007. | 3. |
| Erika Mozangue | Head of the Minnesota office's civil division | ? years | Resigned in protest over the job being done by Rachel Paulose, 33-year-old U.S. Attorney for Minnesota appointed by Bush administration in August 2006. | Resigned, April 6, 2007. | 3. |
| James Lackner | Head of the Minnesota office's criminal division | ? years | Resigned in protest over the job being done by Rachel Paulose, 33-year-old U.S. Attorney for Minnesota appointed by Bush administration in August 2006. | Resigned, April 6, 2007. | 3. |
| Tim Anderson | Acting administrator in the Minnesota office | ? years | Resigned in protest over the job being done by Rachel Paulose, 33-year-old U.S. Attorney for Minnesota appointed by Bush administration in August 2006. | Resigned, April 6, 2007. | 3. |
| D.C. District Court Judge James Robertson | One of the 11 secret judges of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court | ? years | Resigned from the FISA Court in protest over Bush administration's warrantless wiretaps. | Resigned, December 2005. | 4. |
| John DiIulio | Former director of White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Inititatives | 2 years | Resigned, 2002. Afterward criticized White House policy process. | Was forced to recant. | 5. |
| Lt. Gen. Jay Garner | First and only director of Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA), then head of the CPA, in Iraq. | ? years | Inconveniently sought to hold elections & place Iraqis in charge of Iraq ASAP. | Dismissed, replaced by L. Paul Bremer at the CPA. | 6. |
| Jami Miscik | Chief of CIA analytical branch | ? years | Opposed order to release slanted intelligence. | Forced out by Porter Goss within weeks. | 7. |
| Vice Admiral Richard Carmona | Former Surgeon General | 4 years | Resigned in July 2006 after issuing controversial report on dangers of second-hand smoke. | Later said he had been marginalized. Testified to Congress in July 2007 about administration politicization of medical science. | 8. |
| John Carlin | Former Archivist of the United States | 10 years | Questioned Executive Order 13233, which limits access to records of former presidents. | He was not appointed to another term. He returned to the University of Kansas. | 9. |
| Dr. Christopher Thomas de Rosa | Director, Division of Toxicology, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) since April 1992. | 16 years | Demoted in December 2007 after pressing his superior to release a report on toxic wastes in communities around the Great Lakes. | Spoke cautiously in a 16 Feb. 2008 interview with Living on Earth, but expressed concern about health effects. | 10. |
| Robert Martin | National Ombudsman, Environmental Protection Agency | 9 years | Stripped of major job responsibilities. | Resigned in April 2002 | 11. |
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