This time the appointee was NASA Inspector General Robert "Moose" Cobb, refusing to allow further investigation of a 5 June 2002 incident in which the Shuttle Endeavour launched despite a "no-go" from both Air Force safety officers:
Two range officials—the mission flight-control officer and the chief of safety—are responsible for determining whether the command-destruct system is working and the public is protected. During the final poll before liftoff, both responded "no go" because of the system's problems.
[Brig. Gen. Donald] Pettit overruled them, however, and declared the range green "with little if any discussion," according to the briefing document drafted by investigators. Shuttle managers launched Endeavour without ever knowing of the safety officers' actions.
No one interviewed by investigators, or by the Orlando Sentinel, was aware of another example in the history of U.S. human spaceflight in which the range's top two safety officials were "no go" and the range commander overruled them.
But wait! There's more:
Cobb, a White House political appointee, is under investigation by an administration integrity committee after being accused of repeatedly quashing cases and retaliating against those who resisted.
Let's see...groupthink, suppression of dissent, bad decision-making, and a total inability to accept responsibility for dangerous choices. Yep, that's a Bush guy.
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