This Is The Person Who Speaks To The White House For NASA
Keith’s note: Just a reminder. As you ponder why so many things at NASA are not happening (like getting a new Administrator) stop for a moment and consider that the most senior Trump political appointee at NASA is Jonathan Dimock. He is the White House Liaison – the prime person for interactions with the President. He has no known experience in government, science and technology, or space exploration. If you check out his Facebook page you will see that he has a fondness for Redbull and race cars. According to his LinkedIn page he is still “Field Director Donald J. Trump for President August 2015 – Present (1 year 10 months).” Most people would be tickled pink to work at NASA and say so on their resume. Just sayin’
Civil war rages throughout Trump administration, Politico
“[Sid Bowdidge, a Trump campaign staffer] pointed out that other Trump campaign staffers had been the subject of unflattering leaks. Among them: Danny Tiso, a Labor Department appointee, whose academic history has come under scrutiny, and Jonathan Dimock, a NASA staffer whose work background has been put under the microscope.”
Meanwhile over at USDA …
Possible Trump pick for USDA science post draws darts, Science
“President Trump may be adding to his administration’s challenges by picking someone without a science background to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) research programs, former agriculture secretary Dan Glickman said today. The Clinton administration official told E&E News that, while he doesn’t know Sam Clovis – reported to be Trump’s pick for undersecretary for research, education and economics – scientific knowledge is especially useful in a position that requires coordination with scientific agencies within the government.”
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This is just a sad and disgusting state of affairs from any standpoint. Even worse than the SNAFU that our democracy has morphed into over the past 50 years.
Word of the Day: Kakistocracy
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Mr. Rumsfeld’s “not knowing what you do not know”, was greeted with mirth at the time, but in fact is insightful. More seriously, though, is regarding your own world and worldview as encompassing or representative of a larger picture. It’s a case of not being aware that one can be blindsided, a lesson that the WH is learning now in a very painful way.
And this: the mainstream Republican thinking, these days, is antithetical to huge amounts of current government activity. There’s a natural shift in policy and direction with a new government – that is one of the benefits of elections – but new leadership questioning the enabling legislation of Energy, Education, EPA, NOAA? Don’t be afraid to use the right word here. It is revolutionary.
Failing to fill the NASA Administrator position, and others, could be charitably called part of a strategy to make government smaller through encouraging self-inflicted wounds. More likely, though, it’s just ignorance.