Bush's Former Surgeon General Blasts Administration
By Nicole Belle Monday Jul 09, 2007 3:45pmThe Oversight Committee is currently holding a hearing, "The Surgeon General's Vital Mission: Challenges for the Future." The hearing is focusing on the importance of the Surgeon General's Office, the need to preserve the Surgeon General's independence, and recent limitations on the Surgeon General's ability to carry out its public health education mission. Richard Carmona, who resigned as Surgeon General in 2006, will testify about what he viewed as political and partisan pressure.
Richard Carmona: During my first year as Surgeon General I was still quite politically naive in the ways of the Beltway. As I witnessed partisanship and political manipulation I was astounded but also unsure of what I was witnessing. I had no reference point. I asked myself whether this was just happening to me as a new Surgeon General, or whether this was the norm for all Surgeon Generals.
Much of the discussion was being driven by theology, ideology, pre-conceived beliefs that were scientifically incorrect. So I thought this is a perfect example of the Surgeon General being able to step forward, educate the American public as well as elected and appointed officials so that we can have, if you will, informed consent on an issue to the American public to make better decisions. I was blocked at every turn. I was told the decision had already been made. Stand down, don't talk about it. In speeches where initially that information was put in speeches it was removed from my speeches...
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Too little; too late. Again.
This is why we must stop the war!
son at funeral
Peace Now
Abstentia!!! ;)
Politicizing public health.
Republicanism...aaaah...the SMELL of it! LOL! ;)
why do we have these hearings? Nothing ever happens afterward to change things.
Hillary Clinton walks out on SiCKO screening…
Well gosh, Richard Carmona, it sure does make me respect you that you coWardly resigned rather than stayed to fight for what you knew was right.
Really, really impressed with your Republican spinelessness.
Really.
But regardless I enjoyed the money and perks while I was in. And I'm enjoying the money and perks now that I'm out.
E tu brutus?
The hearings are for history, not for us. The more information like this gets aired, the more will be included in the history of the most oppressive adminstration in the history of the nation. Historians will, if they choose to look and listen, be able to paint a portrait of the Bush Administration's failures in leadership, failures in candor, failures in intelligence (both kinds!), lack of real vision for the nation, contempt for its citizens and its constitution. This guy, had he spoken out earlier, would have been ruined by Rove and Cheney and no one in the MSM would have paid him much heed. He can speak out now with conisderably less fear because the Administration has lost its strength to intimidate. And, by speaking out, he adds an important piece of documentary evidence to the anti-intellectualism and morbid dishonesty of the worst presidential Administration ever. IMHO, anyway.
Richard Carmona while at the University of Arizona was not well thought of. He did nothing while at the university and no one in Arizona expected much from him in any respect.
So with his fancy new uniform and federal paycheck he chose to let the Republithugs ruin America and not a peep from him until now. Not what I call a great American. He could have come out years ago with the facts. Right now, they don't mean a heck of a lot except to prove Republithugs are unAmerican and they should all be impeached.
Poliicalization to the point of subversion of government functions. Think K-Street Project. Think ARMPAC. Think TRMPAC. Think rampant political cronyism. They're playing for keeps folks.
Why does it take people so long to get a conscience?
Michael Moore will be on wolf again within the this hour. Just an FYI
He's a coprophagic cestodic invertabrate.
"limitations on the Surgeon General’s ability to carry out its public health education mission."
He means that quarenteen concentration camps couldn't be funded?
That folks with aides couldn't be put out in the desert?
That condoms with the deciples on them could not be produced??
The camps will come my friend, be patient. It is how they will respond to a real public heath crisis...
Clean water, nope.
Clean water, nope.
Less consumption, nope.
Less corperate control of our for profit heath care system... Yeah right.
Okay, my spelling was correct, now I need to work on proof reading. That should have read "within this hour"
Is there a department of the Government that has not been soiled at the expense of the American tax payer by this administration? From Robert O'Harrow, Jr. Web Column "Government, Inc." on the Washington Post site.
GSA, Sun and More Questions To Come
The troubles with the General Services Administration's contract with Sun Microsystems became well known this spring.
Investigators for Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the Democratic Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, turned up evidence in documents and interviews that appeared to show that the giant software maker had overcharged taxpayers for years.
The amount of alleged gouging -- involving charging the government more than the private sector for the same stuff -- could be tens of millions.
AND
What has been almost overlooked is the fact that Sen. Charles E. Grassley, a Republican, is conducting his own probe of the Sun contract with the GSA. Grassley has expressed outrage that GSA officials appeared to press to renew the Sun deal last summer, despite repeated warnings from the agency's own auditors and contracting officers that taxpayers likely would pay millions more than necessary under the terms offered by Sun.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/government-inc/?hpid=topnews
My emphasis.
Bison, Michael Moore and Hillary don't get along, therefore the Bush Administration can be excused for silencing their top medical guy? Yours is a logic beyond easy comprehension.
"Hillary Clinton walks out on SiCKO screening…" Hey Bison (#6 )did you find this "fact" on Drudge??? Must be some reich wing site putting out these lies. It takes an old RNC talking point and adds a new twist. I wouldn't believe one thing I read on these reich wing sites if I were you. Plus I'd never repost it as being a fact, makes one look bad.
"... based on merit ..."
What a laugh.
Bison @ 6:
Did you not read the "disclaimer/qualifier" in the article? It is supposed to be humor
and is NOT a true account of such an event happening.
obvisously this man hates america.
hey, science-believer, why don't marry a chimpanzee and move to france, you latte-sipper!!!!
"It takes a special breed to recognize a problem, wait until it's too late to do something about it, and then express an opinion." Stephen Colbert, 06/28/07
Bison, I agree. Hillary sold out a proper national healthcare initiative for a profit "govt helper" crap system. She did it for money. Its no wonder she would try to buy off Moore. Keep the money Michael, you are WAY above Hillary on the integrity scale. Taking money from the corrupt and useing it to help the downtrodden is Honorable.
Nancy Pollack @ 24:
See my comment above #21....You people who post false/Drudge type articles need to
get a life and do some check finding before believing crap put out by right-wing idiots.
This is the same guy who stood there and told you the country was healthy. The same guy who reported to congress that the public health of the US was improving. This is just a bunch of crap. He doesn't even make any sense. The point of having a good Surgeon General is to have someone likable enough to catch the attention of 300M people who don't give a shit what they smoke, what they snort, or what man made crap they cram in their mouths and call food. A good Surgeon General might even motivate some Americans to get up from the couch, turn off the TV and do something with their lives.
This guy was not a good Surgeon General. This guy sucked. Who even remembers who the fuck this dude is? Right, nobody. Fuck it, go eat your KFC and watch some more Wheel of Fortune.
"Much of the discussion was being driven by theology, ideology, pre-conceived beliefs that were scientifically incorrect."
Any questions? Trolls, any questions???
Bison @ 6:
this is pure com-e-dy. don't get me wrong, i'm not the biggest hillary fan, but this story is fake, fake, fake.
this isn't the onion/the daily show satirical-fake, but more like dumB-fake. or, howzabout, only-a-fool-could-believe-fake.
Well there is no way I'd vote for Hillary now. Not after Michael Moore exposed her.
fiver @ 23:
Ahhhh you beat me to it. ;)
For everyone that wants to go beyond these hearings and their backward-look at what has gone wrong with the Surgeon General position, please consider visiting this website
http://eqfed.org/campaign/no_on_holsinger
and signing the petition to deny Dr. Holsinger confirmation as the new Surgeon General. He has a terrible track record regarding "appropriate" treatment of homosexuals. He's actively promoted harmful programs designed to turn homosexuals "straight."
Nancy Pollack @ 29:
Are you dense or what? MM did NOT expose Hillary. It is public record that she took
monies from Pharam Companies, as did almost ALL in the U.S. Senate.
had to get my headphones off Lieberman is telling how to win the war, attack Iran I bet ha says that, waiting for Moore, Woooof will show it last to hold viewers, I have him on ignore
Phej Omatic @ 27:
What does "sci-en-tif-ic-a-lly" mean?
Repeat after me, in your best Tony Snow voice . . .
"Disgruntled former employee"
"In speeches where initially that information was put in speeches it was removed from my speeches… "
And God knows if it doesn't appear in the text of your speech, you can't ever mention it. Dude, you were Surgeon General, not Regurgitator General. Thanks for nothing.
soothsayer @ 35:
Yeah, and it took him only 4 plus years to speak up...mainly because bush et.al
have the "clamps/censorship" on all employees.
With Bush's track record, it's a wonder he didn't hire the guy who trims his dog's toenails as Surgeon General.
Eminence Front. It's a put on.
These hearings are all show and zero substance. Nothings going to change, nothings going to get accomplished.
At the end of the day these guys from both sides head out to the local DC watering holes for expensive beers.
Bison @ 6:
This is bogus, why would you put this here?
so what he is a Republican, and that is what Republicans do fu@k over the poor.
Dave @ 40:
Maybe Binson # 6 is a troll...
this guy is a jerk. at any time, he could have called a press conference, or gone on tv and spoken. he could have said all this years ago. they vetted his speeches? he could have made last-minute changes that they did not see, and go on to say what he thought was the truth!
but just like Colin Powell, these dudes want to enjoy the salary and the perks and don't have the guts to speak out (they might get fired? is that what they are afraid of?)
no guts, just like Powell.
cowards all.
I made no claim of authenticity of the article, I found it interesting and believed that it would provoke thought and conversation.
Also found this interesting, George W. Bush Interview (Irish TV)
but don't click on it if you don't want too.
fiver @ 34:
Republican dis believe considered voodoo
Bison @ 44:
I keep hearing "too little too late". Here's the thing. He DID speak out when he resigned and NO ONE IN THE MEDIA FOLLOWED UP ON THE STORY.
When he first took office he said that all tobacco products should be banned entirely (can you imagine the firestorm?) and afterwards was muzzled and he said as much more than once.
I admit I wish he'd run into a few television studios and screamed the houses down about the politics of his office but give the guy a bit of a break, he said "it was too politcal and I couldn't be effective" when he resigned and no one in the mainstream media (or bloggers for that matter) followed up on it. Not one. Now he's been asked back by congress to speak into the public record and before witnesses. Should he say "aww I didn't say anything earlier so I'll just keep mum now that someone is finally asking questions?"
So yeah, it may be too little, but I don't think it's too late. I hope they all come out of the freaking woodwork and start talking. I don't care if it's politically timed as long as someone is spilling the beans on this sham of a Executive office.
Is there anything the Bush administration hasn't tarnished and corrupted?
roxnev @ 45:
That's what I thought. A perfect question.
Bison @ 44:
Bison @ 44:
Dave @ 50
Did you want to say something?
What I witnessed today made me want to cry. Today a single soldier with two beautiful daughters, ages 2 and 4, were at my facility finalizing his paperwork before his deployment to Iraq in a couple of days. As he was sitting with a group of soldiers getting his paperwork in order, his daughters were running all over the place, so I gave them both balls to play with, and their father joined in. Right their in front of about 50 soldiers he played catch with both his beautiful daughters who don't have a clue that their father is leaving for a very long time.
Two female soldiers started crying while watching them play. The soldier then gave both his daughters a long group hug, kissing them both on their heads, until he was called back to complete his paperwork. One of the female soldiers who was finished played with the girls until their father was ready, and she also kissed them on their heads. Later they all walked out to get some icecream from what I overheard, shortly after his oldest daughter asked him what he's getting for her birthday next week! He said "I wish I could tell you."
These F----- Dems better get their ass in gear! Lovin families are being destroyed!
the southern baptist sharia has to stop
The parade of ex-Bush admin members who are now dissing Bush and his regieme reminds me of the the scene in "The Nightmare Before Christmas" where Jack Skellington grabs the edge of the potato sack covering of the evil Oogie-Boogie, a huge ghost-like creature. As the fabric begins unraveling, scorpions, spiders, vermin of all kinds come swarming out, scattering in all directions, finally nothing left but a hateful-eyed slimy worm crawling out of the sack, which Skellington promptly stamps out with his foot.
If you haven't seen the film, it's a musical directed by Tim Burton. Lots of fun, great songs.
And OogieBoogie has a strong resemblance to Cheney. If you could get a clip of the scene described above, it would serve well as an emblem of the last days of the Bushites.
Milo
Good question. Which department has not been absolutely corrupted or inverted by this administration? EPA, FDA, OSHA, FEMA, USAID, Interior, Labour, Education have all be royally screwed up, if not given entirely over to corporate control. The same is true of the intelligence agencies and the military where there are more contractors in Iraq than actual US soldiers, and the CIA is scrambling to get a handle on out-sourced services.
Corruption, Colusion, and Incompetence at such an unbelievable scale...
The methodologies behind "evidence-based medicine" were largely developed by Canadian researchers. Those meddling reality-based fools!
You idiot this was a farce
Bison @ 6:
[...] Outgoing Surgeon General Richard Carmona (appointed by Bush) testified before Congress today and described in painful detail the Bush Administration’s War on Science. [from C&L] [...]
Jeff @ 14:
LMAO Jeff!!!!
In other words Preznit War Pig just isn't a sciencey kind of guy? Imagine that?
biotch @ 57:
Duh.
I watched the entire hearing and to me you could not get a more devastating account of Bushie politicization through what ought to be independent government agencies.
I think the three surgeon generals have impeccable credentials. They are independent, apolitical and totally science-evidenced based. I think because of their esteem the republicans can't spin them as partisans.
Richard Carmona lays out overwhelming proof that Bushie political aides tried to rewrite reports. They told him he needed to mention the president a certain amount of times in reports against his wishes. They wouldn't let him speak at certain events because they thought it would help the democrats, yet wanted him to speak at repub events. They sent email to hold repub pep rallies just like what happened with Lorita Doan.
However, Carmona would not kowtow to the politics and remained steadfastly independent. And stood only on the best available science. I honestly didn't get any sense that these men compromised.
I think this testimony will go along way to indicting Bush for politicization.
What good does this hearing do? Well, the next candidate for surgeon general is up for a senate confirmation hearing in the next couple of days, and this hearing will go along way to stopping him.
Some people above think that Carmona, having faced problems, should have resigned and spoke up sooner. I disagree. Why? Because he's not a politican. He's a scientist, a non-partisan, and I think he did the best with the job for his four year tenure. If he spoke sooner under a repub congress, do you think anything would have been done? No. It worked out well that he did his best, gathered evidence and is presenting to a dem congress.
If you have doubts about the guy for some reason I urge you to listen to the entire testimony. I have a lot of admiration for them.
I like these surgeon generals because they are first and foremost SCIENTISTS, and they work with the BEST AVAILABLE SCIENCE. "The best available science" : that's my new mantra when confronting such people as climate change deniers.
There is no real story here. Just a disgruntled malcontent who was a miserable failure in his job.
Bison @ 6:
Oh, for Pete's sake. Read the stupid disclaimer at the end of the article. The blog is a new, "experimental and artistic" attempt at self expression. The article is supposed to be humorous. It isn't, of course, not even remotely.
Impeach and remove from office those at the highest level...Bush, Cheney, Gonzo, and Rove. WHAT MORE PROOF does the Democratic Congress need???
He is toast. The Bush cultist will send out a squad to make this poor sucker disappear. He is still naive.
if only he didn't read the damn thing verbatim from his paper.
weak!
JudyLou @ 38:
LOL! YOU FUNNY!
No, that's the next guy; that's what the Shrub administration calls 'progress'.
Dick Carmona used to work at the University Hospital in Tucson, AZ, then he got affiliated with mafia scum there who were involved in murdering ordinary folks who didn't like mob drug trafficking, even got ensnared in some involvment in other organized crime in
southern arizona, whereupon the 'coroner' would cover up murders for the mafia sheriff, Clarence 'the punk' Dupnik. Then the coroner mysteriously 'killed himself' and next, the coroner's wifey 'killed herself' in a Detroit Suburb by routing her exhaust system into her automobile. Oh, forgot to mention, 'coroner' boy kills self by wolfing pills and tying plastic bag over head. All of this going on with Dick Carmona tied to it in one way or another.
The irony is that Carmona is bitching because he is now linked to another ORGANIZED CRIME FAMILY, this one not the Licavoli's' or Luccese's, but this one being the BUSH CRIME CABAL that put him on like a condom and used his sorry butt just like he's used to being used by organized crime.
Well done, Dick! what crime family you gonna work for next???
[...] this country even further into the depths of hell. New allegations have emerged that the previous Surgeon General was put on a gag order at the expense of peoples health due to the administrations simpleton [...]
[...] Jul 13th, 2007 by J. Jerrald Hayes Wow! Just an absolutely scathing criticism of how the Bush administrations manipulates and/or disregards science to advance thier own theological and ideological agenda and muzzled the Surgeon General. (thanks to CrooksAndLiars.com: Bush’s Former Surgeon General Blasts Administration) [...]
Bush's Former Surgeon General Blasts Administration (includes videos)
[...]The Oversight Committee is currently holding a hearing ?The Surgeon General?s Vital Mission: Challenges for the Future.? The hearing focuses on the importance of the Surgeon Genl.'s Office, the need to preserve the Surgeon General?s independe...
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