WASHINGTON, July 10, 2007
Ex-Surgeon General: Bush Muzzled Me
Dr. Richard Carmona Accuses White House Of Censoring His Speech On Sex Education, Stem Cell Research
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Play CBS Video Video Ex-Top Doc Muzzled? Dr. Richard Carmona told Congress members of the Bush administration refused to let him speak out about controversial health issues when they didn't agree. Sharyl Attkisson reports.
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U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona testifies on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005. (AP)
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Dr. Richard Carmona, the nation's 17th surgeon general, told lawmakers that all surgeons general have had to deal with politics but none more so than he.
For example, he said he wasn't allowed to make a speech at the Special Olympics because it was viewed as benefiting a political opponent. However, he said was asked to speak at events designed to benefit Republican lawmakers.
“The reality is that the nation's doctor has been marginalized and relegated to a position with no independent budget, and with supervisors who are political appointees with partisan agendas,” said Carmona, who served from 2002 to 2006.
Responding, the White House said Carmona was given the authority and had the obligation to be the leading voice for the health of all Americans.
“It's disappointing to us if he failed to use his position to the fullest extent in advocating for policies he thought were in the best interests of the nation,” said Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto. “We believe Dr. Carmona received the support necessary to carry out his mission.”
Politicians trying to control the message is nothing new, reports CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson. President Clinton axed Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders after she expressed liberal ideas about sex education in schools.
Confirmation hearings are scheduled to be held Thursday for Dr. James. Holsinger Jr., the Kentucky cardiologist Bush nominated as the nation's 18th surgeon general. The nomination has been criticized by gay rights groups.
Carmona testified Tuesday at a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Also appearing were Drs. C. Everett Koop, who served as surgeon general from 1981-1889, and David Satcher, who served from 1998-2001.
“Political interference with the work of the surgeon general appears to have reached a new level in this administration,” said committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
Koop is probably the most recognized former surgeon general. He talked about AIDS as a public health issue rather than a moral issue, which won him many admirers and some critics. He said President Reagan was pressed to fire him every day, but Reagan would not interfere.
Koop said that after he left office he had more access to the secretary of Health and Human Services than his successor, Satcher, and that embarrassed him. “Dr. Carmona was treated with even less respect than Dr. Satcher,” Koop said.
A report condemning secondhand smoke was a hallmark of Carmona's tenure.
Another report, on global health challenges, was never released after the administration demanded changes that he refused to make, Carmona said.
“I was told this would be a political document or you're not going to release it.” Carmona said. “I said it can't be a political document because the surgeon general never releases political documents. I release scientific documents that will help our elected officials and the citizens understand the complex world we live in and what their responsibilities are.”
He refused to identify the officials who sought the changes.
Carmona said he believed the surgeon general should show leadership on health issues. But his speeches were edited by political appointees, and he was told not to talk about certain issues. For example, he supported comprehensive sex education that would include abstinence in the curriculum, rather than focusing solely on abstinence.
“However, there was already a policy in place that didn't want to hear the science, but wanted to quote, unquote preach abstinence, which I felt was scientifically incorrect,” Carmona said.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 95 CommentsSubject: Fw: Machiavellian
Read the definition and think which political person(s) immediately comes to your mind?
Mach%u2022i%u2022a%u2022vel%u2022li%u2022an
Pronunciation: (mak"%u0113-u-vel'%u0113-un), [key]
%u2014adj.
1. of, like, or befitting Machiavelli.
2. being or acting in accordance with the principles of government analyzed in Machiavelli's The Prince, in which political expediency is placed above morality and the use of craft and deceit to maintain the authority and carry out the policies of a ruler is described.
3. characterized by subtle or unscrupulous cunning, deception, expediency, or dishonesty: He resorted to Machiavellian tactics in order to get ahead.
Yeah, me too.
What do they think their job is anyway.
It's to be a puppet...puppets don't speak words of their own!
DUH!
Posted by notbuynit at 04:08 PM : Jul 11, 2007
it means he has a book deal pending....
hahahaha
What do they think their job is anyway.
It's to be a puppet...puppets don't speak words of their own!
DUH!
Posted by infidel_us at 10:50 AM : Jul 11, 2007
This is what as known as a lie. A right wing urban legend. It did not happen. The Clintons only took their personal possessions when they left the White House. The story that they took government property is a lie made up out of whole cloth by right wing pundits. They did not.
What do you think??????
Posted by nikosk1 at 12:22 PM : Jul 11, 2007
Laura is a robot, so it doesn't matter for her and George gets his from his mistress, Condi Rice.
When Bush Sr. was in office, the EPA produced a draft document on the health effects of low-level electric and magnetic fields. The draft identified such as probable (I seem to remember that "probable" was the word used) human carcinogens. The Bush Sr. "science" people (lawyers all, I seem to recall) made the EPA delete this fact from the final document. Bad for business you know.
Imagine: the White House meddling in science. It's a disgrace. I agree. W and his circus intimus should gracefully resign at this juncture.
Posted by nikosk1 at 12:22 PM : Jul 11, 2007
BJ's and cigars? Definately BJ's and cigars. :)
it doesn't matter which party is in the whitehouse... thay all do it... even clintoon did it...
and when you are in the whitehouse you will do it too...
it's called partisan politics...
hahahahaha
Last December, when Bush rebuffed a bipartisan exit strategy presented by the Iraq Study Group, he said he would leave the decision to withdraw from Iraq to his successor.
That question is "not going to face this government," Bush said, chuckling slightly at a news conference with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, "because we made up our mind. We've made that part clear. It'll face future governments. There will be future opportunities for people to say, 'Well, it's not worth it. Let's just retreat.' "
Since then, nearly 700 more American soldiers have died in a war that has now lasted more than four years, lost the lives of more than 3,600 U.S. troops, cost $10 billion a month -- and cost Republicans control of the House and Senate.
Posted by infidel_us at 10:50 AM : Jul 11, 2007
I'll give this God awlful piece of Souther Fascist Garbage any painting or china he wants if he will leave RIGHT NOW! By the way, most of the garbage put out by this LYING Administration as to what the Clinton's did was shown to be yet MORE lies. Sieg Heil Bush!!
Posted by skyk at 07:57 AM :
That's because they didn't have forums like this when Reagan was president.
Posted by infidel_us
It's also skyk that we've never had a president with such blatant disregard for the things that we as Americans hold dear: The constitution, the Geneva Convention, et al and then have the nerve to try to lie about it or say it's "for our own good." He has basically lost the faith of this nation and he doesn't care.
Personally I would love to have a president that hasn't completely divided this nation as our current administration has.
Wherever two or three of you are gathered...
Whatsoever you do to the least of them...
Posted by skyk at 07:57 AM :
That's because they didn't have forums like this when Reagan was president.
Posted by infidel_us
Well said! A lot of us detested him. He was just about as bad for the country as Bush! But, even he could hold a candle to Dubya.
Posted by grumpas
Yep, I've smelled a rat for the past 25 years, but the neo cons keep the praise flowing flying banners on stage in a fashion that reminds me of Lenin, Stalin or Hitler.
"The truth is useless. You have to understand this right now. You can't deposit the truth in a bank. You can't buy groceries with the truth. You can't pay rent with the truth. The truth is a useless commodity that will hang around your neck like an albatross all the way to the homeless shelter. And if you think that the million or so people in this country that are really interested in the truth about their government can support people who would tell them the truth, you got another thing coming. Because the million or so people in this country that are truly interested in the truth don't have any money."
It wouldn't surprise me, my brotha. They've already sold the oval office and Iraq to Haliburton. :)
Bill Clinton in NOT relevant to this topic. He has been out of office for 6 1/2 years and WHO CARES about the Surgeon General he had????
We are talking HERE AND NOW - TODAY. Every president has a chance to make policies that are completely independent of past presidents.
This is one of them!!
Posted by infidel_us at 10:38 AM : Jul 11, 2007
Thats hilarious! Great Post
Posted by Hwk_i67 at 10:40 AM : Jul 11, 2007
A more appropriate question would be, "when it comes time to leave, will they take the paintings and china like the previous occupiers did?" :)
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