Self-criticism - just like the "good old days" in Stalin's Russia

NASA chief regrets remarks on global warming - Climate Change - MSNBC.com :

"NASA administrator Michael Griffin said in the closed-door meeting Monday at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena that “unfortunately, this is an issue which has become far more political than technical, and it would have been well for me to have stayed out of it.”"

The groveling in front of one's peers, the confession of crimes that are not crimes, the exaggeration of one's offenses, the apologies to those who have not deviated from the "party line" - all this has more than a whiff of the old-style Communist self-criticism sessions. But what was NASA administrator Griffin's offense?

“I have no doubt that ... a trend of global warming exists,” Griffin said on NPR. “I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with.”

That's it? There is a warming trend, but it might not mean the end of the world as we know it. Compare this to some rather candid comments from the alarmists about the need for their rhetoric to punch above the weight class of their evidence. Seems to me the apologies ought to be demanded of the other side.