What’s most shocking about former Surgeon General Richard Carmona’s complaint about Bush administration officials suppressing public health information is that it isn’t shocking; reports of the administration blocking information that doesn’t match its ideological or political views have become old news.
Carmona (in photo), who served as surgeon general from 2002 to 2006, told a House committee Tuesday that the administration wouldn’t allow him to speak or issue reports about stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education and certain other issues and that it delayed and tried to "water down" the report on the dangers of secondhand smoke. He also said he was ordered to mention President Bush three times on every page of his speeches and that he was discouraged from attending the Special Olympics because of the organization’s tie to a Democratic family — presumably, the Kennedys.
The surgeon general’s job likely has never been completely immune from politics. C. Everett Koop told the House committee that Reagan officials tried to keep him from talking about AIDS, and David Satcher said that Clinton officials didn’t want him to issue a report showing that needle-exchange programs were effective. But a total six former surgeons general told Carmona that the problem is much worse now.
Again, that should be shocking but isn’t.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said this week he had a "gut feeling" that there was a higher threat of an al-Qaida terrorist attack in the United States this summer. But he also said he saw no need to raise the threat level.
Seems a bit sketchy, but maybe that’s because fully one-quarter of top Homeland Security positions are vacant, according to a House oversight committee, which warned that the vacancies made the United States much more vulnerable to attack.
Maybe Chertoff should consult his gut about the need for new hires.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
President Clinton has been repeatedly blamed for failing to take out Osama bin Laden in a 1998 airstrike on his Afghanistan camp. Now it’s being reported that the Bush team took a pass on a chance to kill al-Qaida leaders, including bin Laden’s top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, in an aborted 2005 mission.
Then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld apparently called off the military operation at the last minute, deciding that it was too risky and could upset our “ally” in the region, Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan. It’s unclear whether President Bush knew about the opportunity.
Do you hear the Republican outrage? I don’t either.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
The opening of Wild West World was among the best arguments for the need for Kansas lawmakers to look again at regulating amusement rides, a task assigned Friday to an interim legislative committee. The theme park’s abrupt closing does not change the fact that Kansas is among a handful of states that leave such rides’ safety to local code inspectors and insurance companies. Maybe that’s sufficient oversight. But the occasional reports of horrible accidents at least justify a renewed debate in the Legislature. State oversight doesn’t guarantee safety — in Kentucky, which regulates rides, a teen’s feet were severed last month when a cable snapped on a ride. But regulation “needs to happen,” Elmer Denning, a former assistant general manager of the Kansas State Fair, told the Kansas City Star. “Because one of these days someone’s going to get hurt and everyone is going to get uptight.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Remember that Bush judicial appointment that Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., blocked because the nominee had attended a same-sex commitment ceremony in 2002? In the end Monday, the Senate voted 83-4 to approve the nomination to federal district court of Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Janet Neff (pictured). Brownback was among the four Republicans to vote against Neff, over lingering concerns about her views on gay marriage. “I think she has an activist view on this issue,” he said on the Senate floor.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The phone number for Sen. David Vitter, R-La., showed up among those associated with the “D.C. Madam.” He’s sorry for his sin, in marriage counseling, etc. One question is whether, should Vitter run again in 2010, Louisiana voters will return him to Capitol Hill, as they recently did Rep. William “Cold Cash” Jefferson, D-La. Under the circumstances, this 2000 quote from Vitter’s wife, Wendy Vitter (on the adultery that ended the term of GOP Rep. Robert Livingston, whom Vitter replaced), is pretty rich: “I’m a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary. If he does something like that, I’m walking away with one thing, and it’s not alimony, trust me.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman