NASA’s bad news just keeps on rollin’.
Another Bush/Cheney/Rove flunkie has been given a sweet job at NASA. Jane Cherry, a Karl Rove staffer, is now NASA’s White House liaison. It’s unclear if, like George Deutsch, she is totally unqualified for the job, or, like Patrick Rhode, she was placed there to get her out of a less-than-flattering spotlight on the White House.
Maybe neither. But c’mon, have you been paying attention lately? Maybe it’s both.
Ms. Cherry worked for White House Deputy Chief of Staff (and top Presidential advisor) Karl Rove, and is up to her neck in the scandal – if you can keep them all straight — where White House staffers were using an RNC email address for official business, which is, to say the least, incredibly suspicious. Moreover, she was one of the Top Ten users of that email address.
Moreover, Ms. Cherry is involved in the scandal involving the removal of U.S. Attorneys for political reasons.
Her career has certainly shot her up the ladder; she went from a relatively obscure staff position in Alabama (making about $24,000 a year from the RNC) to staff at the White House ($30,000 a year) to the now White Liaison for NASA in less than 4 years, where she will pull down between $110,000 and $143,000 annually.
From the reading I have done, her qualifications to be NASA’s White House liaison are probably good… given her experience in the White House. This NASA document lists the WHL responsibilities:
The White House Liaison will provide the following:
(1) Direct handling procedures for the correspondence from the Executive Office of the President.
(2) Provide liaison between the Executive Office of the President and NASA and prescribe special procedures for the Agency`s management of specific correspondence and related actions from the Executive Office of the President.
Hmm, nothing in there about telling the President when someone at NASA accidentally says something accurate and truthful about science so they can be smeared or squashed, so that’s a plus. Though I suppose part (2) of the above could be interpreted that way.
Of course, NASA is a government agency and historically has had lots of political appointments in key positions — that’s only natural. But the history over the past few years here is very clear: we have seen countless times that this Administration has placed totally incompetent people into critical government positions, and many times putting the worst possible person into that position.
So forgive me for being a tad bit suspicious.
We’ll see where this goes. It’s completely possible that this position is largely irrelevant, or that it can do no further damage. It’s also possible that Ms. Cherry will be used as yet another way this Administration will muzzle, trample, strangle, distort, and otherwise spin, fold, and mutilate science. NASA is having a bad time of it right now, in a larger setting of trying to do some real science and some real exploration while shifting over from one major system (the Shuttle) to another (Constellation). They hardly need this bit of drama in their lives too. There are some good things going on right now; for example putting Alan Stern in as Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, and having Dan Durda there as well. These guys will not only do good by NASA, they’ll do great. They’re also launching Phoenix and Dawn soon, and there’s still a lot of good stuff coming up that’s easy to forget in the midst of all the woes.
But for every step forward, this White House seems to want to take a monstrous step back. We’re still losing ground, and I wonder how far back we’ll go before we lose sight of what’s ahead.
August 1st, 2007 at 3:27 pm
We’ll probably lose ground until the next election.
August 1st, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Minor nit here, BA.
In your second sentence, you should say Ms. Cherry’s now NASA’s White *House* liaison. She may well be a white liason (never having seen a picture of her), but I doubt you were trying to get ethnic here…
August 1st, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Ding Dong.
The real world is ringing your door bell.
This is the way that the world of politics works. People who are career lackies excel when people who they know or are in “cahoots” with are in power.
This is the same for BOTH political parties.
Will space programs continue to lose ground under the current administration? Of course. The current administration doesn’t rate space programs highly (even though they did declare that they wanted to establish a man on mars mission). Do all Republicans slash and hack on space funding? No.
So please temper the political tilt on this story. I hardly think there is a political agenda here; but rather just good ol’ “good ol’ boy club” politics in action.
August 1st, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Urm, I think you mean White HOUSE liason in that first paragraph. Though with this administration, who knows?
August 1st, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Darn, and I thought I could work my way to NASA employment by studying and appearing to competent… and now it turns out I was totally wrong. How depressing.
Maybe I can apply as being totally incompetent but utterly likeable-should give me an edge over all those guys at least. I just want to go to the moon
Or to the mars… or beyond 
August 1st, 2007 at 4:39 pm
… to the mars? To Mars? Me go Mars, that’s what I meant… or maybe I just need a kick in the pants to go beyond. It’s late, and I am babbling.
August 1st, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Oops. I know the word was in there before; I must have deleted it at some point. Fixed.
August 1st, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Hey didn’t nasawatch.com break this story over the weekend? Shouldn’t you tip your hat to them for that
August 1st, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Oh, the lingo of the Intertubes…lol=laugh out loud, pwnd=owned, hosue=house…
As for the topic at hand…in my six years working as a fed, I guess I saw too many GS-12 scientists fail to make the short list for their own promotion competitions to be surprised about the political appointees. Still makes me sad, though.
August 1st, 2007 at 5:32 pm
I am no fan of either political party, but those who claim the Democrats are just has hostile to science are rationalizing so they can keep voting for these morons.
August 1st, 2007 at 6:11 pm
[...] Court Contact the Webmaster Link to Article white house Another Bush flunkie at NASA » Posted at Bad Astronomy Blog on [...]
August 1st, 2007 at 8:07 pm
They really should have to make these jobs public to pick the best candidate. Bush of course has always employed cronyism as his method of picking bureaucrats. He got caught with Katrina so everybody knows at least.
August 1st, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Sheesh, the Bush Administration isn’t THAT bad…
Oh wait, yeah it is.
August 1st, 2007 at 9:10 pm
just another chapter in his no planet left behind program. also i think he only started his talk about going to mars so he could sucker smart people to vote for him knowing that he would bankrupt our country before it could get fully funded. not that im any kind of bush basher;] ;] ;]
August 1st, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Aaron wrote: “This is the same for BOTH political parties.”
Wrong. Sure, the Democrats have their share of that but their overall history is much cleaner than the Republicans. Karl Rove wants you to think the parties are he same so you’ll be discouraged and not vote for Democrats.
August 1st, 2007 at 9:21 pm
@daffy on 01 Aug 2007 at 5:32 pm
Got any legitimate links or references to prove Democratic administrations are more apt to appoint flunkies/unqualified party apparachiks/religious-policy-adhered -vs- qualified-scientific-adhered people than this administration has?
August 1st, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Remek, reread my post.
August 1st, 2007 at 11:50 pm
Not that I’m against “Bush Bashing”… but it’s just so cliche these days… the mans got a 35% approval rating (at it’s best)… I don’t think we need to continue to beat the man into the ground… lets move on.
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:41 am
>>> Urm, I think you mean White HOUSE liason in
>>> that first paragraph. Though with this
>>> administration, who knows?
I have zero use for Bush, but one thing he does NOT seem is racist. His Secretary Of State is a black woman (and previously a black guy) and his Attorney General is Hispanic.
There’s talk of Viet Dinh as a SCOTUS nominee. For those unfamiliar with the name, Viet Dinh was the chief architect of the Patriot Act.I’ll let that one soak in to your minds.
And then there’s Bush’s de facto open border policy, but let’s not open that can of worms.
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:59 am
>>> Wrong. Sure, the Democrats have their share of
>>> that but their overall history is much cleaner
>>> than the Republicans.
Honestly, you “my Party is better than your Party” types used to amuse me, but now it’s just ponderous.
Oh, and you have to surrender your skeptic’s license after that comment. It’s like saying Marburg hemorrhagic fever isn’t as bad as having Ebola hemorrhagic fever.
Here’s a Judicial Watch corruption list for funsies:
http://www.judicialwatch.org/6091.shtml
August 2nd, 2007 at 2:05 am
To think we usdtothink we were somuch betetr than the Soviets with their political commissars bluighting everything …
Anyone know if this lady believes in Evolution /Creation / Big Bang / Goddidit-& asknoqus?
For the record – blind Freddy could tell you the Republicans are a lot worse for science than thedemocrats -not tomentionbad for your country and a nightmare for the rest of the planet.
Stop beating Bush Jr? No way – not until he’s been held accountable for the damage he’s done and continues to wreck on pretty everything which his administration touches. Bush should have faced impeachment and trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity a *very* long time ago.
My humble opinion naturally – albeit one very widely shared by most of the planet incl. most Americans.
August 2nd, 2007 at 2:16 am
CORRECTED DRAFT – Since I can’t edit the post above .. Sigh.
————————————————————–
To think we used to think we were so much better than the Soviets with their political commissars blighting everything …
Anyone know if this lady believes in Evolution /Creation / Big Bang / Goddidit-& asknoqus?
For the record – blind Freddy could tell you the Republicans are a _lot_ worse for science than the Democrats – not to mention bad for your country and a nightmare for the rest of the planet.
After all, its NOT the Democrats who are advocating turning school into Church by ramming Creationism (aka Intelligent Design) through the textbooks, denying and stalling on Global Warming & reducing environmental laws,standards and protections left, right and centre .. Or pertinently for astronomers insisiting on using the word ‘Theory’ afetreach mentionof tehBig Bang. Way they’re going it won’t be long before we’re taught – and worse told to teach – that ther Sungoes round theEarth not vice-versa.
(Read Stephen Baxter’s novel ‘Titan’ for a snapshot of where this is all heading folks …)
Stop beating Bush Jr? No way – not until he’s been held accountable for the damage he’s done and continues to wreck on pretty everything which his administration touches. Bush should have faced impeachment and trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity a *very* long time ago.
In My Humble Opinion Naturally : albeit one very widely shared by most of the planet incl. most Americans.
———————————————-
PS. Please, BA, pretty please witha modelof the ‘Hubble Space Telescope’ on top can we have some means of editing our posts here?
August 2nd, 2007 at 2:25 am
Typos again … Sigh.
I doubt anyone is that confused but for the extra paragraph properly spelt & grammar-ed (that a word?); heres take III :
After all, its NOT the Democrats who are advocating turning school into a fundamentalist Christianist extremist Church by ramming Creationism (aka “Intelligent Design”) into the textbooks replacing evolution, denying and stalling on Global Warming & reducing environmental laws, standards and protections left, right and centre .. Or pertinently for astronomers insisting on using the word ‘Theory’ after each mention of the Big Bang.
Way they’re going it won’t be long before we’re taught – and worse forced to teach – that the Sun orbits the Earth not vice-versa.
For a fictional but frighteningly likely (at least under the Republicans) vision of where this is taking us I’d recomend reading Stephen Baxter’s novel ‘Titan’.
August 2nd, 2007 at 2:36 am
>>> ‘Theory’ after each mention of the Big Bang.
Bah! The ekpyrotic cyclic model is going to pwn the Big Bang *THEORY* very soon now. Just you wait…
August 2nd, 2007 at 6:22 am
You should come where I am and see incompetence on parade like a mating peacock
August 2nd, 2007 at 7:00 am
A history reminder: Bush was being bashed for not having “big ideas.” He was being bashed for not having an inquisitive mind.
Space was not much of an issue in the public’s consciousness at the time.
Out of the blue Bush announces “man to mars” and then promptly forgets about it.
When it happened it was one of those things that makes me go, ‘huh’?
it was obvious to me that it was just a brief posturing to try to convince people he has “big thoughts.” That’s all it was about.
Bush never intended to do anything to carry it through. It was BS from the beginning.
August 2nd, 2007 at 7:55 am
Oh, I see.. I see… ^_^
August 2nd, 2007 at 8:26 am
Politics. The mating dance of the incompetent mammal. For species survival and progress, reproductive success is vital. I contributed my three to the species. I note that most highly intelligent folk have few children, primarily because of awareness of population pressure and consequent resource depletion. Thus we have a continuing degradation of the species. It’s bad enough that statistically, intelligence regresses to the mean. With all these incompetents running the country and breeding w/o restraint, that mean is declining. On the upside, I note that Eddie Murphy( a really bright guy) has five acknowledged off spring and potentially one more(to be announced). Way to go Eddie. Keep contributing to the gene pool, Dude!
SCR. I use Yahoo(with Mozilla) and it/they do a great job catching my spelling errors. This little robot makes me look a lot smarter,,,so I don’t have to worry about editing posts after submitting.
Politics is the way hominid mammals keep track of who’s doing what, with which, to whom. I hope someday we will develop a better method of doing that but for now, it’s all we have.
Bummer!
GAry 7
August 2nd, 2007 at 8:37 am
I believe EJ Dione says the Republicans run for office talking about how bad government is, get elected, and then set out to show us how badly they can run the government.
“You’re doing a hecka of a job, Brownie”
August 2nd, 2007 at 8:43 am
Interesting that now the Bush Administration has turned our to be as bad as many of us said it would from the start (especially regarding the disaster in Iraq), we are being told more and more frequently to “Just move on,” and not say, “I told you so.”
This after we were resoundingly called “traitors” and “cowards” by many of the same people. Nice.
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:07 am
Just frakkin’ lovely.
Just when you think that His Holiness The Glorified Houseplant Who Would Be Caesar might fade quietly into the sunset without causing too much more damage (because let’s face it, there isn’t much left for him to wreck in this world), he surprises ya’ yet again.
He’s good like that.
Kisses
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:18 am
RE Quiet Desperation
Judicial Watch? Judicial Watch is about as reliable as the Discovery Institute. I can remember their former head, Larry Klayman commenting on a cancer victim who used medical marijuana to alleviate the complications from chemotheropy. Mr. Klayman suggested prayer as an alternative.
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:37 am
Well, to be fair, wouldn’t you WANT the White House liaison to be an administration flunkie who knows influential people in the White House? It’s not a science job, and it;s not a public information job.
I don’t see any hard evidence that this appointment doesn’t make sense.
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:17 am
Daffy: it’s often true, when your opponent is down, they plead for the consideration they would in no way grant you. It’s the way of the coward,,,which I think applies to the Flaming Bushies,,,
I detest them and all the fear they’ve tried so hard to engender in our population. Fear, as the Mentat said in Dune, IS the mind killer and one of the principal ways rulers control their populations. Read Machiavellis, The Prince, for more insight. His advice to rulers is still their principal guide,,,
GAry 7
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:08 pm
BA cites her connection with the ongoing “scandal” surrounding the removal of 4 US Attornies. I keep wondering why no one is screaming to high heaven about the fact that Clinton replaced all 93 of them shortly after coming into office. Oh, wait, Slick Willie was the Golden Boy of “how to be Presidential”. Right…
And if you’re one who believes that Democrats aren’t guilty of stifling science to promote their agendas, please take off your blinders. Some of their actions on environmental policies have been at the opposite extreme of the spectrum, trampling on personal property rights and creating unfunded mandates that are *at best* based on very thin scientific evidence.
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Re DennyMo
1. As usual with the Rethuglicans, Mr. Denny Mo tells a half truth. What Mr. DennyMo forgot to mention is that Mr. Clinton fired the prosecutors at the start of his first term, as does every new president who takes over from a president of the opposing party. Mr. Bush fired the prosecutors at the start of his second term. Better luck next time Mr. DennyMo.
2. As usual with the Rethuglicans, Mr. DennyMo excuses the Rethuglican war on science by stating that the Democrats do the same thing. There is no doubt that both parties are guilty of putting politics above science. However, comparing Democratic transgressions with Rethuglican transgressions is like comparing the guy who steals a little silverware from a restaurant with the guy who sticks up a bank.
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:42 pm
outofspace: Hmmm, I read it in Daily Kos and then found info at NASAWatch. I didn’t hat tip since they are both linked in the main article.
To the many people decrying Democrats: for Pete’s sake, read what I wrote. I don’t care about what the Democrats are doing, because this isn’t about Democrats. Stop trying to change the subject. The Bush White House is behind this, and so that’s who I’m calling out. If and when the Dems do stuff like this, I’ll talk about.
DennyMo, you are regurgitating long discredited neocon talking points. What Clinton did was part of a normal process, just as when Bush did it when he originally took office. The firing of the 8 US Attorneys by the White House is a very, very different issue. Read that link.
August 2nd, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Democrats are gifted, highly advanced benevolent geniuses incapabile of fault. Republicans are greedy, criminal types who hate and oppress. They can’t do anything good. This is a mature statement based on clear evidence. Hollywood agrees, especially the actors who dropped out of high school.
Unfortunately, the country is too stupid to understand this, which is why the relected President Bush.
August 2nd, 2007 at 2:23 pm
I wasn’t defending or excusing Bush’s actions. Rather, I was responding to claims by multiple posters that “Dems aren’t as bad as Republicans”.
OK, Clinton replaced the 93 as a matter of course. I’d be curious to find out about the other 30 some replacements: how many resigned vs. died vs. fired? If any where fired, why? Any suggested reading?
Oh, and SLC, I make a comment you disagree with, so I’m a thug? I guess that makes you either clairvoyant or a prejudicial bigot.
August 2nd, 2007 at 2:59 pm
JanieBelle, Every time I hear somebody griping about how much time TGHWWBC (The Glorified Houseplant Who Would Be Caesar) spends at his ranch, Camp David, or just generally on vacation (According to some sources it’s close to 50%) I simply smile, and tell them:
“If GWB can do THIS much damage by being essentially a part-time President, imagine how bad things would be if he were actually on the job!”
August 2nd, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Re DennyMo
When one gets into the pen with the pigs, one may expect to emerge with a coating of mud.
Re JoeCamel
Mr. JoeCamel is about as humorous as AIDS.
August 2nd, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Move along nothing to see here…keep moving….stupid sheep.
August 2nd, 2007 at 4:45 pm
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August 2nd, 2007 at 6:20 pm
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August 2nd, 2007 at 7:44 pm
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August 3rd, 2007 at 7:56 am
Hi, Gary,
I think your comments are exactly right. I have read “The Prince,” and am absolutely certain Bush had Dick Cheney read it out loud to him.
August 3rd, 2007 at 10:36 am
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August 3rd, 2007 at 9:18 pm
I’m sorry, but… where’s the controversy here? Granted, I stopped really paying attention when the author proved an inability to differentiate between “Bush/Cheney/Rove”.
I guess you’d be upset that the janitors at NASA didn’t have BSME’s in Sanitation.
August 3rd, 2007 at 11:52 pm
Look at the bright side – at least while Bush is screwing NASA he’s not invading Iran.
August 4th, 2007 at 3:12 am
Just another step by King George II (”My political mentor is Jesus.”) to turn the US into a police state.
The latest was yesterday when the Congress, with its Democrat majorities who were elected to put a stop to this abortion of justice and defilement of the Constitution, knuckled under and gave King George even more authority for illegal wiretaps and spying on American citizens.
Come on, January 20, 2009!
But it’s still going to take a long time after that to repair the damage done to science, education, and the country in general after we kick the bums out.
August 4th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
kick the bums out you say? i say that the next pres. election will be a mis-election. a system failure. bush will stay president. for years. his successor will be appointed. history will show that the last pres. election in the u.s.a. was in 1996. no one can do anything to stop them. the average joe on the street has no inkling of the capabilities of the wealthy elite. they will have their police state, and their one world government. and dumbass protesters will march and chant ”peacefully” right into prison or worse. there isnt much in the way of guts or balls when it comes to dissent in the u.s., and thus they will have no discernable effect at all.
August 6th, 2007 at 4:46 am
Andrew wrote
“I’m sorry, but… where’s the controversy here? Granted, I stopped really paying attention when the author proved an inability to differentiate between “Bush/Cheney/Roveâ€.”
There’s a good reason for that inability to differentiate among the three. They’re all connected.
Here’s the applicable reference:
Cerberus
If pictures are better for you then there’s this:
Cerberus
Anyone who has been following the highjinks of the Bush II “administration” since 2001 should recognize the principals immediately.
Compared to the scandals and corruption of the current gang of thugs, the Nixon boys looks like rank amateurs.
August 6th, 2007 at 5:13 am
BTW, one drawback to this blog commentary is that, for example, if you’ve provided a link that won’t work, there’s no way to go back and fix it.
Therefore, here’s the revised link to the picture version of the Bush/Cheney/Rove Cerberus:
Cerberus
BTW, mythologically-speaking, Cerberus wasn’t always limited to three heads. In earlier times he had many more, so there’s room for Rumsfeld, Libby, Gonzales, Doolittle, Peters, Brown, Snow, Abramoff, Safavian, Griles, Ashcroft, et al. Wow, that’s some junkyard dog!
August 7th, 2007 at 7:11 am
SLC, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m in good company because apparently you don’t either. When you want to stop using frivolous and fallacious cliches and actually engage in some discussion, let the rest of us know…