Saturday, March 27, 2010

Michael Mann and McCarthyism

Rajendra Pachauri: Climate scientists face 'new form of persecution' | Environment | The Guardian
Michael Mann, a US scientist at Penn State University, who is on the list, said: "I think the following quote characterises the situation best: 'Continuous research by our best scientists … may be made impossible by the creation of an atmosphere in which no man feels safe against the public airing of unfounded rumours, gossip, and vilification.' The quote wasn't made during the last few months. It was made by US president Harry S Truman in 1948, in response to politically motivated attacks against scientists associated with the dark era of McCarthyism."
A reader writes:
Truman's address in 1948 had nothing to do with McCarthyism.

McCarthy didn't get started until 1950.

The complete paragraph reads:

"Continuous research by our best scientists is the key to American scientific leadership and true national security. This indispensable work may be made impossible by the creation of an atmosphere in which no man feels safe against the public airing of unfounded rumors, gossip, and vilification. Such an atmosphere is unAmerican. It is the climate of a totalitarian country in which scientists are expected to change their theories to match changes in the police state's propaganda line."

Considering the number of scientists who have been unable to get funding unless they spout the AGW line, the last sentence is applicable, but not in the way that Mann intended.

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