Surely if the original data sets upon which important decisions will ultimately be based are missing or destroyed, such that the results can't be independently reproduced, that alone ought to be cause for concern and discussion.
Most decisions at that level aren't made based on data and facts. They are made based on the emotional appeal of the acquisition of power both through increased control and financial benefit.
Politicians ignore the facts all the time. They invent facts all the time. Politics has little to do with science.
ESR finally noticed the missing data; http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=1487 , which I linked on HN http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=966888 . I don't know what took him so long, I heard about the missing base data before this last media wrangle; I hadn't brought it up in any of my comments anywhere because I had assumed everyone else had also heard about it; until ESR's post today.
