Clearly, the Bush administration's policy has been 'if we don't like what you're saying then we'll shut you up!'- whether it be protestors, scientists, or anyone else who might disagree with them. So yes, this is their idea of freedom, democracy... blah, blah, blah.

Climate Expert Says NASA Tried To Silence Him

In one call, George Deutsch, a recently appointed public affairs officer at NASA headquarters, rejected a request from a producer at National Public Radio to interview Dr. Hansen, said Leslie McCarthy, a public affairs officer responsible for the Goddard Institute.

Citing handwritten notes taken during the conversation, Ms. McCarthy said Mr. Deutsch called N.P.R. "the most liberal" media outlet in the country. She said that in that call and others, Mr. Deutsch said his job was "to make the president look good" and that as a White House appointee that might be Mr. Deutsch's priority.

But she added: "I'm a career civil servant and Jim Hansen is a scientist. That's not our job. That's not our mission. The inference was that Hansen was disloyal."

Ewe.