Another Bush Appointee Bites The Dust

[edward]

Dr. Richard Carmona a local Tucson resident and skilled trauma surgeon was not invited by the administration to serve another four year term as Surgeon General. Locals, myself included, had wondered why Rich had kept such a low profile as Surgeon General. He is a very outspoken person.

WASHINGTON - The first U.S. surgeon general appointed by President Bush accused the administration on Tuesday of political interference and muzzling him on key issues like embryonic stem cell research.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19697182/

The guy couldn't even mention any form of birth control except abstinence.
Every time he made a speech he was required to mention Bush by name.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Mission of the Surgeon General
The Surgeon General serves as America's chief health educator by providing Americans the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce the risk of illness and injury. The Surgeon General is appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate for a 4-year term of office. In carrying out all responsibilities, the Surgeon General reports to the Assistant Secretary for Health, who is the principal advisor to the Secretary on public health and scientific issues. [continued]

http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/aboutoffice.html

Carmona also stated that the office of the SG has been politicized more and more over the years, and former SGs claimed that under Bush it has been much worse than ever before - that Carsmona had it much worse than they did. But it does seem to be a systemic problem that the SG is now a political pawn rather than a public servant and the voice of science wrt public health issues.

 

[Astronuc]

The guy couldn't even mention any form of birth control except abstinence.

Every time he made a speech he was required to mention Bush by name.

Apparently he had to mention Bush at least 3 times per page.

Surgeon General Sees 4-Year Term as Compromised
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/washington/11surgeon.html

WASHINGTON, July 10 — Former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona told a Congressional panel Tuesday that top Bush administration officials repeatedly tried to weaken or suppress important public health reports because of political considerations.

The administration, Dr. Carmona said, would not allow him to speak or issue reports about stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education, or prison, mental and global health issues. Top officials delayed for years and tried to “water down” a landmark report on secondhand smoke, he said. Released last year, the report concluded that even brief exposure to cigarette smoke could cause immediate harm.

Dr. Carmona said he was ordered to mention President Bush three times on every page of his speeches. He also said he was asked to make speeches to support Republican political candidates and to attend political briefings.

And administration officials even discouraged him from attending the Special Olympics because, he said, of that charitable organization’s longtime ties to a “prominent family” that he refused to name.

“I was specifically told by a senior person, ‘Why would you want to help those people?’ ” Dr. Carmona said.

. . . .

Full text available with registration for 7 days.

This is unbelieveable. This is the shining example of democracy we want to send to the rest of the world.

 

[denverdoc]

Its curious that as a physician I couldn't even tell you the SG's name--in the past, I knew. IMO, simply emblematic of the anti-science attitude in the current administration. Even more galling was the appointment to head some council of womens health issues an adamant anti-abortionist.

 

[edward]

I don't know how the Bush administration kept Carmona muzzled. Perhaps it is because he is a former member of the military that he displayed loyalty.

Locally he was a very outspoken trauma surgeon and a member of the swat team. In the 90's he rappelled from a helicopter to rescue the survivor of a medevac helicopter which had crashed in a mountainous area.

 

[Gokul43201]

This is a little off-topic, but related to the above theme:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?alias=us-could-reverse-suspect&chanID=sa003&modsrc=reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, accused of letting a political appointee meddle in the science of endangered species, said on Friday it could reverse eight decisions if it finds they were inappropriately influenced by political concerns.

The decisions under review affected species as varied as the Hawaiian picture-wing fly and the white-tailed prairie dog. All involved input from Julie MacDonald, a former deputy assistant secretary who resigned in May after government scientists complained of political interference.

Clinton's appointment to Fish & Wildlife was Dr. Robert Davison, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at South Dakota State University. Bush's appointment to the same post, Julie MacDonald, is a Civil Engineer.

MacDonald resigned a couple months ago, just as a House congressional oversight hearing was about to boot her off.

 

[edward]

This is a little off-topic, but related to the above theme:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?alias=us-could-reverse-suspect&chanID=sa003&modsrc=reuters



Clinton's appointment to Fish & Wildlife was Dr. Robert Davison, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences at South Dakota State University. Bush's appointment to the same post, Julie MacDonald, is a Civil Engineer.

MacDonald resigned a couple months ago, just as a House congressional oversight hearing was about to boot her off.

This is pretty typical. A lot of Bush appointees have either not been qualified to do the job, or ended up in an area outside of their area of expertise. Homeland Security's Chertoff was a federal appeals court judge.

BTW The head of the Veterans Administration resigned recently.