Leaving aside the issue of scientific censorship and integrity, a little background might be informative. For those interested in issues of scientific integrity and censorship, I refer you to the Union of Concerned Scientists including their statement signed by 10,000 American scientists speaking out against political interference in science (full disclosure: I have signed this statement), as well as the brand new organization, Scientists and Engineers for America founded by, among others, fourteen really pissed off Nobel Prize winners who want to help scientists fight back at the ballot box.

What I will do is give a tiny glimpse into what is behind Jim Hansen's statements. For more than 3 years, Jim Hansen was a loyal team player who advocated laying low and trusting Bush. He remained out of politics and advocated waiting and seeing and advocated faith in Bush's statements that he was concerned about warming science and would listen to scientists. I considered him a Bush apologist (my opinion, not intended to be representative of anyone else's views). Others merely viewed him as unwilling to stand up to authority or genuinely believing that cooperation with the Bush administration is the best way to go.

One had to wonder what it took for this loyal team player to become a whistle blower.