Warning: Bush Administration Harmful to Your Health
Kevin Dietsch/United Press International
C. Everett Koop, Richard H. Carmona, David Satcher, Hippocrates
"I will keep them from harm and injustice." Hippocratic Oath, Classical version
The Bush administration--driven by political expediency, greed and Right Wing Christian "values"--is all about harm and injustice. And it's expertise in ignoring sacred oaths is second to none.
So now we find out from a former Bush appointee that the Surgeon General's office--the medical arm of our government--has been infected too. It should come as no surprise ... but it makes me sick.
Political expediency is one thing, the suppression of information vital to the health and safety of Americans quite another. These Bush goons are so irresponsible it's beyond belief.
And the extent of this administration's direct interference with medical and scientific efforts to protect the country's health is criminally negligent.
Former US Surgeon Dr. General Richard H. Carmona told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee this week that the Bush administration closely monitored his office and made decisions about health issues contrary to public health and safety.
Let's review the list of health issues and reports about them Dr. Carmona said he was not permitted to make public:
1. Stem cell research. (Baby killers! Baby killers!)
2. Emergency contraception. (Got raped? Your fault, you dressed too sexy, live with it.)
3. Sex education. (Abstinence only, you horny little non-Christian brats.)
4. Prison mental and physical health problems. (Who cares about criminals. And hey, if they get out of jail and spread disease, it won't touch us.)
5. Global warming. (Doesn't exist. Just a campaign issue Al Gore made up.)
6. The Special Olympics. (Whoa! That's Kennedy country! Not gonna help any handicapped people, even kids, if they hang out with Democrats.)
7. The dangers of secondhand smoke. (The tobacco lobbyists who fund our campaigns and give us our own private jets say there aren't any dangers.)
These are all critical issues, but that last one is huge. According to Dr. Carmona and two other former surgeons general, the landmark report on secondhand smoke finally released in September 2006 was delayed for YEARS by the Bush administration ... who also tried mightily to water it down.
So there's one thing that bothers me almost as much as the administration's heinous sacrifice of public safety on the alter of political gain: Dr. Carmona's--and Drs Koop and Satcher's--silence at our expense.
I remember Koop at least trumpeting the dangers of smoking. Why didn't Satcher and most recently Carmona--The Nation's Doctor--speak up sooner? His claim of political "naivete" only covers the beginning of his one-time 4-year term.
He wasn't asked back for a second term. A perfect chance to become a whistle-blower. More, the right time to step up and be a real DOCTOR.
Carmona's been out of the Surgeon General's office almost a year. What the hell was he waiting for?? Hmm. He's got a sweet job with Canyon Ranch resorts and spas. One wonders, are they Republicans too?
Interfering with the dissemination of crucial medical information for political gain could--and possibly did--kill people. Yet, once again, Bush and his Right Wing posse got away with murder.
You have to ask yourself, is there ANY part of our lives these bozos have Not harmed?
C. Everett Koop, Richard H. Carmona, David Satcher, Hippocrates
"I will keep them from harm and injustice." Hippocratic Oath, Classical version
The Bush administration--driven by political expediency, greed and Right Wing Christian "values"--is all about harm and injustice. And it's expertise in ignoring sacred oaths is second to none.
So now we find out from a former Bush appointee that the Surgeon General's office--the medical arm of our government--has been infected too. It should come as no surprise ... but it makes me sick.
Political expediency is one thing, the suppression of information vital to the health and safety of Americans quite another. These Bush goons are so irresponsible it's beyond belief.
And the extent of this administration's direct interference with medical and scientific efforts to protect the country's health is criminally negligent.
Former US Surgeon Dr. General Richard H. Carmona told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee this week that the Bush administration closely monitored his office and made decisions about health issues contrary to public health and safety.
Let's review the list of health issues and reports about them Dr. Carmona said he was not permitted to make public:
1. Stem cell research. (Baby killers! Baby killers!)
2. Emergency contraception. (Got raped? Your fault, you dressed too sexy, live with it.)
3. Sex education. (Abstinence only, you horny little non-Christian brats.)
4. Prison mental and physical health problems. (Who cares about criminals. And hey, if they get out of jail and spread disease, it won't touch us.)
5. Global warming. (Doesn't exist. Just a campaign issue Al Gore made up.)
6. The Special Olympics. (Whoa! That's Kennedy country! Not gonna help any handicapped people, even kids, if they hang out with Democrats.)
7. The dangers of secondhand smoke. (The tobacco lobbyists who fund our campaigns and give us our own private jets say there aren't any dangers.)
These are all critical issues, but that last one is huge. According to Dr. Carmona and two other former surgeons general, the landmark report on secondhand smoke finally released in September 2006 was delayed for YEARS by the Bush administration ... who also tried mightily to water it down.
So there's one thing that bothers me almost as much as the administration's heinous sacrifice of public safety on the alter of political gain: Dr. Carmona's--and Drs Koop and Satcher's--silence at our expense.
I remember Koop at least trumpeting the dangers of smoking. Why didn't Satcher and most recently Carmona--The Nation's Doctor--speak up sooner? His claim of political "naivete" only covers the beginning of his one-time 4-year term.
He wasn't asked back for a second term. A perfect chance to become a whistle-blower. More, the right time to step up and be a real DOCTOR.
Carmona's been out of the Surgeon General's office almost a year. What the hell was he waiting for?? Hmm. He's got a sweet job with Canyon Ranch resorts and spas. One wonders, are they Republicans too?
Interfering with the dissemination of crucial medical information for political gain could--and possibly did--kill people. Yet, once again, Bush and his Right Wing posse got away with murder.
You have to ask yourself, is there ANY part of our lives these bozos have Not harmed?
Labels: Doctor Dramas and Dilemmas, Political Polemics, Soapbox Specials
posted by Sally Swift at 11:36 AM
1 Comments:
"You have to ask yourself, is there ANY part of our lives these bozos have Not harmed?"
Of course not, as King George's raison d'être is to hurt people, particularly if he thinks they're Democrats.
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