Agriculture Department lifts gag order for scientists after public outcry: https://t.co/fk5XT3mUPk pic.twitter.com/df5Re4DIWm
— The Hill (@thehill) January 25, 2017
The Department of Agriculture has reportedly lifted an order that called for scientists and employees of its research arm not to release any of its work to the public.
After a report that the agency had told staff to stop releasing any “news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content,” BuzzFeed reported that another memo was sent Tuesday night from a top official for the department’s Agricultural Research Service that the original order should not have been issued and “is hereby rescinded.”
Prior to the memo, the agency disavowed the gag order, calling it “flawed” and indicating that new guidance would be sent to its employees.
“This internal email was released without Departmental direction, and prior to Departmental guidance being issued,” the USDA said in a statement.
“ARS will be providing updated direction to its staff. ARS values and is committed to maintaining the free flow of information between our scientists and the American public.”
Phone lines are open. Operators are standing by…
Cacti
Resist.
Give the fascist edicts of the Trump administration no quarter.
Our Republic is at a moment of existential crisis. How we respond will determine how future generations remember us.
Thoroughly Pizzled
All bullies blink.
Yarrow
I hope the scientists are still going to March on Washington.
In other news, the Republicans are having some kind of a retreat in Philly. This quote caught my eye.
They know the crap Trump is pulling isn’t popular with the public and they’ll be the ones paying the price. Keep up the pressure!
zhena gogolia
@Cacti:
I’m astounded that they do back down like this.
hovercraft
Ha, I guess they are beginning to realize that as the only game in town, even with our medias inability to resist shiny objects, every action will be scrutinized. Keep the pressure on, do not let them get away with anything. This Is becoming a pattern, they announce stupid shit, then get beaten back.
Cacti
@zhena gogolia:
Fortunately for us, our American brand of fascist leaders are mostly pampered, manicured business elites.
They didn’t start out as bare knuckle brawlers like the German brown shirts and Italian black shirts.
MattF
I sense some uncertainty among the bureaucrats. So many questions– “Is he lying or demented… or maybe both?”
p.a.
tRump’s gonna have to get some military or white civilians killed to keep his support above the braindead 27%. Remember Göring.
mai naem mobile
I called the Trump Hotel in DC. The young lady who answered the phone was nice aND said they don’t take messages for Lumpy but gave me Lumpys campaign number -Phone the trump hotels and let your voice be heard. White house comment lines shut down. Call the concierge desk (202) 695-1100. I figure he’s taking us for a ride so he can a tiny amount in extra labor answering stupid calls.
Jordan Rules
@Cacti:
Indeed! Though I wouldn’t put it past them to start outsourcing to the more experienced fascists beyond just the think tank stuff.
Spanky
@Jordan Rules: How many have Erik Prince on speed dial?
My ancestors fought the Pinkertons, so I’ve got a legacy to live up to.
Tokyokie
So was the similar gag order for HHS revoked? You know, the one that ends government-funded medical research because of scientists’ inability to publish their findings in peer-reviewed journals?
MCA1
Great news, but this is going to be an exhausting 4 years. I mean, it’s still Week 1, FFS, and already they’re trying to muzzle scientists and shutter lines of communication between the government and the people.
And, again, 98% of der Fuchspeltfuhrer’s supporters either will never even know this happened, won’t understand why it matters, or will reflexively whine about elitist intellectual libtards or somesuch. If American democracy survives this reign, it’s still fucked longterm because half the country will never have noticed the fascism that was defeated.
Mnemosyne
This makes me suspect that Bannon sent out a blanket order to all departments rather than going through channels.
Tokyokie
@MCA1: And a few years after this collection of knaves and con men is hounded out of office, they’ll forget how awful they were and vote in a new collection of them.
Mnemosyne
@Jordan Rules:
They’ll have to import them from overseas. Our homegrown fascists are themselves pampered and sheltered — look at the Malheur whiners and Bundy morons for examples.
Spanky
I know, I know. Frum.
But sometimes he really is funny.
Brachiator
@Cacti:
Putin is standing by to lend assistance.
Oatler.
@Mnemosyne: Hey, we catch a few now and then. 28 years old and he felt his blood stirring… Oddly the most rabid nutz are refraining from commenting on this story.
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2017/01/medford_man_arrested_after_pos.html#incart_river_home
MattF
@Spanky: Note that Jen Rubin quoted the 25th Amendment in her column today. Could be a trend.
Bobby D
I am So, SO close to flipping the bird, and walking out the door right now. I’m a career, federal environmental professional, currently in DoD, having started my career decades ago at the EPA. I’ve worked in air pollution, clean water act enforcement, wetlands, hazmat/hazwaste, Superfund/CERCLA cleanups, natural resources, historic/cultural resources. Everything I’ve spent my life working for, is being dismantled by a Russian-backed Traitor/Stooge/Psychotic toddler and a feckless, complicit GOP.
Going to take off at lunch, on sick leave and try to get my head straight.
My psychological state is rapidly disintegrating and I feel like I’m on the verge of physical violence toward some Trumpkin colleagues. And that wouldn’t end well for anyone involved. I feel like I need an exit plan, and quickly. I’d always planned to leave civil service after the nest egg was sufficienly built, and go to the advocacy/non-profit side or topical journalism where I can combine my career experience with my political desires.
Mnemosyne
BTW, I just checked and Hillary won California by 4.3 million votes. So EVEN IF there were 2 or 3 million illegal votes cast, Trump still gets crushed here by over a million votes.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@Bobby D:
How close are you to retirement eligibility?
I’m eligible in October and the game plan is to get the hell out then.
Betty
@Bobby D: Don’t make any rash decisions. Plan for your future. We all feel for the pain your are going through. Hang in there.
Mnemosyne
@Bobby D:
Do you have any ability or desire to leave the East Coast? California is happy to welcome refugees, and our environmental departments are quite robust.
pamelabrown53
@Mnemosyne: #14.
Possibly Bannon did send out a blanket order, My question is why the Dept. of AG. is the one to have it’s gag order lifted? Also, I hope there’s enough inter-agency relationships that would enhance the use of Dept. of AG. as a conduit to release other agencies’ facts/findings.
MomSense
@Bobby D:
Damn, Bobby D. Sending hugs and support to you. You have to take care of you first. Do you have anyone nearby you can talk to? Keep us posted.
catclub
well there is the whole problem! If that email was kept under wraps there would not have been a problem.
catclub
@Mnemosyne: I really want to ask which states had the most illegal voters. Then which counties? Then which precincts?
Mnemosyne
@pamelabrown53:
If I had to guess, it’s because the governors of agricultural red states kicked up a fuss about not being able to communicate with the USDA.
I’d like to think it’s because the USDA sends out food safety alerts and someone realized that killing Americans with uncontrolled E. coli outbreaks would be a stain on Trump’s administration, but I doubt anything thought that far ahead.
catclub
@Oatler.:
yeah, right. We have a long list of other people arrested for putting up lost dog fliers and defacing others’ property.
Emma
@Bobby D: Plan, plan, plan. Keep your cool while you do it. Then jump as soon as it is feasible.
Bobby D
@Mnemosyne: I’m a Californian, left the east coast in 1998.
Half my colleagues are right where we are…seething with rage, eyeing the exit door, nervous and gobsmacked at this slide into facsism. The other half supported this unhinged clown.
I’m in a really bad place, fighting back tears and hair trigger temper.
Mnemosyne
@catclub:
All of them, Katie. It was massive! Huge! Bigly!
Mnemosyne
@Bobby D:
I would definitely take a little time off, if you can. Weird as this sounds, can you find a career counselor who’s also a trained therapist (like an LMFT or LCSW)?
I have to say, I don’t know how I would be able to keep my sanity if I didn’t live in my deep blue bubble. I don’t think I have a single coworker who voted for Trump.
trollhattan
@Mnemosyne:
You probably didn’t get the memo that “California didn’t count” and thus, when you factor us out He, Trump won the popular vote too. QED and all that.
hovercraft
Just a few of the headlines at TPM right now.
Your Basic Primer on Why Trump’s Voter Fraud Claims Are Bullshit By Josh Marshall
WH Spox: Trump’s Voter Fraud Probe Will Look At Big Blue States
Leahy On Trump Voter Fraud Investigation: ‘Absurd, Even For Him’
“President Trump’s call for an investigation into his latest conspiracy theory is absurd, even for him,” Leahy wrote in a statement emailed to reporters. “The President’s own press secretary could offer no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election. No studies support the President’s view. No Secretary of State anywhere in this country, Republican or Democrat, has reported any evidence that supports the President’s view. Even the President’s own lawyers stated in a court filing that, ‘All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake.’”
“The President’s dangerous falsehoods must stop,” the statement continued. “I hope that congressional Republicans can explain to President Trump that he should be reaching out to all Americans rather than furthering the divisive campaign rhetoric he used on the trail.”
GOP Senator: No ‘Evidence’ Of Mass Voter Fraud, Election Is ‘History’
“I haven’t seen evidence to that effect,” Sen. John Thune (R-SD) told reporters at the congressional GOP retreat in Philadelphia, when asked about Trump’s baseless allegations. “I believe that our election system is the cornerstone of our democracy. There are always reported, in most elections, irregularities. The scale of those, you know, I’m not what the answer of that is.”
Trump-Aligned GOP Rep: No Proof For Trump’s Voter Fraud Claims
Why aren’t the GOPers backing hair furor on this? Perhaps they fear a probe would bring their voter suppression tactics into the light of day?
Adam L Silverman
@Bobby D: Do you work for that Undersecretary that freaks out if she sees non reusable water bottles? I remember when she visited Carlisle Barracks, we got a Warning Order about making sure everyone only had/used reusable water bottles during her visit so we weren’t put on “The List”.
And I’m not making light of environmental issues.
trollhattan
@Bobby D:
Yup, have friends in Region 10 who’re evaluating what’s next. But basically are mad as hatters and want to stay and fight, question being “how?”
I interacted a lot with AFCEE on base cleanups back in the day. They always had a fine juggling act to perform meeting the law to keep fed and state regulators happy while likewise pleasing the brass. Interesting and frustrating in equal measure.
delk
RIP Mary Tyler Moore
Bobby D
@Mnemosyne: Not weird at all. I need some psych/counseling help, no question in my mind.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
The Giant Evil Corporation took away our single-use plastic bottles except for events. It’s a California thing.
Adam L Silverman
@pamelabrown53: Food safety warnings are issued by USDA. If the gag order is in place, they can’t do anything about the next e Coli outbreak or salmonella outbreak. 1,000s to millions of Americans with digestive track issues ranging from the unpleasant to the requiring hospitalization with a percentage of them leading to death because the new President ordered USDA not to release any info is going to produce a really shitty effect.
Iowa Old Lady
@Bobby D: Doing govt environmental work under Trump will be hard on the morale. Still, it’s easier to find a job when you have one.
Mnemosyne
@Bobby D:
I’m thinking that if you can combine psychotherapy with a career escape plan, that will do a lot more good than psychotherapy alone. Good luck! It’s that feeling of helplessness that can trigger a serious depression, so take this as seriously as you would a physical health crisis.
Bobby D
@Adam L Silverman:
Not that I recall, don’t really pay attention to what comes out of SecAF or her underlings.
Always been a little coy about where/who I work for as a token identity shield, but seems quaint now, USAF.
Adam L Silverman
@Bobby D: Since I’m the only one on here who knows who I’m referring to… And she wasn’t on the USAF side, she was on the Army side. Smart woman. But I remember my CG wanting to make sure we all didn’t get put on report…
Hang in there. We’re keeping good thoughts. If there’s anything I can do, shoot me an email.
Skepticat
Please support the Alt NPS while we can! This took real courage.
This is the National Park Service’s Cultural Resources Climate Change Strategy. Pls download before it is removed. https://t.co/oO3ZMVxxwN
— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 25, 2017
catclub
@Adam L Silverman:”If the gag order is in place, they can’t do anything about the next e Coli outbreak or salmonella outbreak.”
This seems intentionally stupid to me. The gag order means all statements come out of the PR office or the administration. I have my doubts that the PR office would refuse to get those E coli health safety warnings out. They are exquisitely sensitive to blame for oversight.
The gag order is to stop leaks to the press and Democratic congressmembers by the minions in the department. (I doubt it will have its intended effect – whether withdrawn or not.) It is actually a step behind where the DOD is. Only the PR office can have any communications with congress members.
hovercraft
RIP Mary Tyler Moore.
Ohio Mom
@mai naem mobile: Great idea! I was born to be a pest, thank you for another route to my self-fulfillment.
Ohio Mom
@Bobby D: We can all empathize with you. But so far, you have not been asked to do anything that specifically goes against your ethics, no? So take a deep breath. Taking some time off to get some perspective is a good idea.
As others have said, you have to protect yourself financially. And as I said in another thread, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself.
The other day I was dusting the living room and saw “How the Irish Saved Civilization” on the bookshelf. I read it decades ago. As I recall, it has to do with the monks going on about their work, transcribing books, while all around them is the chaos of the Dark Ages. I’m thinking of rereading it, just to get some inspiration. Maybe you will be one of the ones who save civilization by metaphorically hanging out in your cell, copying over texts. Don’t throw out the inkwell yet.
O. Felix Culpa
@Ohio Mom: Maybe you will be one of the ones who save civilization by metaphorically hanging out in your cell, copying over texts. Don’t throw out the inkwell yet.
J R in WV
I worked in a state enviro agency, and had problems with internal staff from time to time. But I was there as the agency moved from paper to digital data. So when we IT guys were asked for data, we set a precedent and just sent it. We would let whichever part of the agency was involved know what was asked for and what was sent, just like it was no big deal. 99% of our data was public by statute, which gave us a lot of cover.
Eventually they asked us to adopt a policy of informing the deputy secretary for public information if we got a request and when we fulfilled the request, and the dep sec would inform us immediately if they received a request. We had 10 working days to fulfill a FOIA request.
Sometimes it took several days to build a query that worked for what was requested, very rarely we would inform the citizen that it would take longer.
Eventually they put us in a box that didn’t allow us to hire well-qualified staff, so we moved in contractors at 2x the cost or more, but the EPA was funding us to a large extent, so no big deal. Then I reached retirement age!!!! Yay!
Please don’t lose faith, you ARE doing important work. If you don’t expect to last until retirement age, perhaps you can work for a public interest NGO for a few more years, until your age+years worked = a pension?
That’s now it worked for our agency, years worked + age = 80 was a pension qualification.
If you need to talk, post about it and we can get together. The front pagers know our email addrs, after all. So I can ask them to send you mine if you want to rage with a sympathetic fellow outraged person.
Best of luck !!
Original Lee
@pamelabrown53: I suspect the USDA gag order was lifted because Congress is trying to work on the farm bill, and the farm lobby needs USDA stats.
Michelle
Dr. Silverman,
I’ve been following your posts for some time now and realize you are exceptionally knowable on current USG affairs. Do you work for the USG?
I’ve enjoyed following your posts, very much. Thank you for your keen insight