Surgeon General Used as Political Tool
Former Surgeon General Richard A. Carbona told a Congressional panel that top administration officials repeatedly tried to weaken or suppress important public health reports because of political considerations, according to The New York Times,
There were important public health concerns on which he was silenced. He was not allowed to voice his opinion on subjects like stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education or prison, mental or global health problems.
Dr. Carbona wrote a landmark report on the evils of second-hand smoke. Its release was held back for years, while administration officials tried to water it down before public release.
Dr, Carbona, however, was not totally silenced. He was instructed that in the speeches he made he was to mention Bush’s name three times on every page. Our guess is that such a silly demand was made with the hope that Dr Carbona would throw up his hands in despair and leave his post. He was also assigned to make speeches for Republican candidates.
Dr. Carbona displayed an interest in attending the Special Olympics whose participants are disabled. “I was specifically told by a senior person ‘Why would you want to help those people?”
Actually, the underlying reason for pressure on Carbona not to attend was based on the fact that the Special Olympics is one of the pet projects of the Kennedy family.
‘Nuff said!
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