Dr. Richard Carmona, the first US surgeon general appointed by GWB, told a House of Representatives panel that he was muzzled by the White House.
Well I'll be damned! The Bush Administration? No WAY!
Dr. Carmona said:
"Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological or political agenda is ignored, marginalized or simply buried,"...
He said that he was kept from talking about the science involved with issues such as stem-cell research and contraceptives. He apparently also had misgivings about the Administration's "abstinence only" total B.S. approach to sex education (which has been proven not to be effective).
"The problem with this approach is that in public health, as in a democracy, there is nothing worse than ignoring science, or marginalizing the voice of science for reasons driven by changing political winds. The job of surgeon general is to be the doctor of the nation, not the doctor of a political party," Carmona added.
Hmm. This sounds oddly familiar. Give me a minute, it'll come to me.
Frankly, I've been suffering from outrage fatigue lately, so while I'm notably disgusted, I'm really not all that reactive. Every day there is another Big Red Flag that the West is moving in a direction that is repulsive to me and everything I was brought up to believe is right and just. So this is just another piece of evidence, I guess.
The Senate committee he was speaking to is to hold hearings in a few days for Dr. Carmona's successor, Dr. James Holsinger. He's been defended by some bigoted religious groups for his "outspoken disapproval of homosexual behavior". Holsinger's nomination is opposed by none other than Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. However, not even a guy like Holsinger will be left alone to do his job if appointed. According to Wiki (and take Wiki for what it's worth), he doesn't disapprove of sex education, including condom use, for teens and did not support reducing the availability of emergency contraception. I hope he's not entertaining any thoughts of mentioning that in public ever again.
Whoever the Bush Court - and I mean that as in Louis XIV style, not SCOTUS - appoints to anything is going to have to parrot the talking points or else. Whaddya gonna do about it? Huh?
X-posted at the brand spankin' new
A Creative Revolution for "Canadian Politics. Raw, nasty and unwashed. Just like Steve likes it."