Acrostics — the spelling out of words through the first letters of lines or paragraphs — are all the rage with the frustrated civil servants who were trying to offer up their expertise to the Trump administration but find themselves unwilling to do so after the president’s Charlottesville comments. Now, Trump Science Envoy Daniel Kammen has resigned from his post with a letter that contains a secret coded message, much like that penned by the Arts and Humanities Committee which contained the word RESIST. Kammen’s list of grievances takes the committee’s jab a step further and spells IMPEACH.
Mr. President, I am resigning as Science Envoy. Your response to Charlottesville enables racism, sexism, & harms our country and planet. pic.twitter.com/eWzDc5Yw6t
— Daniel M Kammen (@dan_kammen) August 23, 2017
Kammen’s letter detailed a number of grievances:
“My decision to resign is in response to your attacks on core-values of the United States. Your failure to condemn white supremacists and neo-Nazis has domestic and international ramifications. …Particularly troubling to me is how your response to Charlottesville is consistent with a broader pattern of behavior that enables sexism and racism, and disregards the welfare of all Americans, the global community and the planet.”
He also notes that “examples of this destructive pattern have consequences on my duties as Science Envoy.” The Science Envoy program is designed to encourage cooperation and collaboration between private and international entities and the United States government on subjects relating to scientific research. Kammen, a professor of Energy at Berkeley, was working with the State Department on matters related to climate change, so it’s no surprise that he lists Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate accord amongst the many reasons for his resignation.
Kammen is only part of a mass exodus — which started long before the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville — that has included most of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Trump’s Manufacturing Council. But it’s only recently that the departed have gotten so creative with their letters of resignation. Who knows what secret word might crop up next time a civil servant tells Trump to talk to the hand.
(Via Business Insider)