On Mar 11, 10:21 pm, Bill Carter wrote:

Oh, and another thing. The Hatch Act doesn't prohibit a federal employee
from "endorsing any political cause publicly", that was a lie too.

Actually), it does. However, the restriction is only for employees of
specific agencies, like the CIA, DIA, FBI and several others. NASA,
however, does not seem to be on the list. See: http://www.osc.gov/ha_fed.htm#agencies

As for federal employees of other agencies:
These federal and D.C. employees may not-

* use official authority or influence to interfere with an
election
* solicit or discourage political activity of anyone with business
before their agency
* solicit or receive political contributions (may be done in
certain limited situations by federal labor or other employee
organizations)
* be candidates for public office in partisan elections
* engage in political activity while:
o on duty
o in a government office
o wearing an official uniform
o using a government vehicle
* wear partisan political buttons on duty

Hansen might be argued to have run afoul of several of these, if he
did his politicking on government time. But he was not prevented from
endorsements.