HONK IF YOU LIKE BUSH
Something admirable and patriotic occurred this week when former Surgeon General Richard H. Camona exercised his rights and duty as a citizen.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/washington/11surgeon.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5088&en=e90da223753967cf&ex=1341806400&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
He appeared before a congressional panel and told them how his term as surgeon general had been compromised by the Bush administration. One example of interference in his role was the attempt to turn him into a press agent for the administration by mentioning Bush on every page of each speech he gave. No matter that this has never been in his job description.
http://www.answers.com/topic/surgeon-general?cat=biz-fin
Camona, a high-ranking public servant with the mission to educate the public on national health issues such as smoking and AIDS was told to omit these subjects from speeches. While President Bush has been trying for years to build his image as one who cares about the health of the American public, even of the world population, he has repeatedly paid deference to the beliefs of his fundamentalist constituency in health matters. Could he or his minions possibly have thought that beating the drum for the President by the Surgeon General while talking about issues like, say stem cell research, in which Bush trod the path of the religious right, could possibly have convinced the nation that the administration puts public health before politics? One of the nastiest things about his priorities is that in order to show that he makes his decisions from religious conviction and not in order to please the religious right for political gain, he must keep up the his hypocritical role of a deeply devout person. Of course comments on the depth of his piety are based on my opinion.
Other administrations have no doubt at times attempted to influence the work and public utterances of the surgeon general, as mentioned in the above-cited newspaper article, but probably none as egregiously as this one. Still, what else could we have expected from Bush since from the beginning of his first term he has demonstrated that his political agenda was not based on the welfare and security of all the people.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/washington/11surgeon.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5088&en=e90da223753967cf&ex=1341806400&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
He appeared before a congressional panel and told them how his term as surgeon general had been compromised by the Bush administration. One example of interference in his role was the attempt to turn him into a press agent for the administration by mentioning Bush on every page of each speech he gave. No matter that this has never been in his job description.
http://www.answers.com/topic/surgeon-general?cat=biz-fin
Camona, a high-ranking public servant with the mission to educate the public on national health issues such as smoking and AIDS was told to omit these subjects from speeches. While President Bush has been trying for years to build his image as one who cares about the health of the American public, even of the world population, he has repeatedly paid deference to the beliefs of his fundamentalist constituency in health matters. Could he or his minions possibly have thought that beating the drum for the President by the Surgeon General while talking about issues like, say stem cell research, in which Bush trod the path of the religious right, could possibly have convinced the nation that the administration puts public health before politics? One of the nastiest things about his priorities is that in order to show that he makes his decisions from religious conviction and not in order to please the religious right for political gain, he must keep up the his hypocritical role of a deeply devout person. Of course comments on the depth of his piety are based on my opinion.
Other administrations have no doubt at times attempted to influence the work and public utterances of the surgeon general, as mentioned in the above-cited newspaper article, but probably none as egregiously as this one. Still, what else could we have expected from Bush since from the beginning of his first term he has demonstrated that his political agenda was not based on the welfare and security of all the people.
Labels: :Public Health, Bush administration, policy, Surgeon General
1 Comments:
Thanks for pointing out Yippy . I am on it now.
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