Thursday, July 12, 2007
The Pinstriped, Gucci Clad Thugs of Bush White House
Confederacy of Goons
Reports about the muzzling of Dr. Richard Carmona, former surgeon general, shed more light on the zealots in the White House. Dr. Carmona was a Bush nominee and served from 2002 to 2006. Makes one think of a mafia capo telling the underlings "Go, lean on him". Fired up by the devout, born again Christian president, they probably didn't need any urging.
Los Angeles Times 7/11/07
- WASHINGTON — President Bush's first surgeon general testified Tuesday that his speeches were censored to match administration political positions and that he was prevented from giving the public accurate scientific information on issues such as stem cell research and teen pregnancy prevention.
- "Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological or political agenda is ignored, marginalized or simply buried," Dr. Richard H. Carmona, who was surgeon general from 2002 to 2006, told a congressional committee. "The job of surgeon general is to be the doctor of the nation — not the doctor of a political party."
- Early in the administration, when the issue of federal funding for stem cell research arose, Carmona said, he felt he could play an educational role by discussing the latest scientific research. Instead, he said, he was told to "stand down" because the White House already had made a decision to limit stem cell studies. He said administration appointees who reviewed his speech texts deleted references to stem cells.
- Carmona's remarks were the latest in a series of complaints from government scientists about what they say are administration efforts to control — and sometimes distort — scientific evidence in order to support policy decisions.
It never fails. Every time they get caught in a sexual scandal Republican politicians immediately turn to god and seek forgiveness. It must be getting tiring for the almighty. God is said to be 'all forgiving' but surely can see through blatant hypocrisy. One gets the impression that the deeply religious politicians might know what sin is but they don't have a clue about the difference between right and wrong.
Adam Nossiter in NY Times 7/11/07:
- NEW ORLEANS, July 10 — From the beginning of his political career 16 years ago, Senator David Vitter has been known for efforts to plant himself on the moral high ground, challenging the ethics of other Louisiana politicians, decrying same-sex marriage and depicting himself as a clean-as-a-whistle champion of family values.
- “I’m a conservative who opposes radically redefining marriage, the most important social institution in human history,” Mr. Vitter, a 46-year-old Republican, wrote in a letter last year to The Times-Picayune, the New Orleans daily.
- That self-created image, a political winner here since 1991, when Mr. Vitter joined the Louisiana House, took a tumble Monday with the disclosure that his phone number was among those on a list of client numbers kept by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the so-called D.C. Madam, who is accused of running a prostitution ring in Washington.
"This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible," Vitter said in a statement. "Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there -- with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way." (Jake Tapper - ABC News)
Read that they were "circling the wagons". Do I hear "Praise the Lord and pass the rubbers"? But to them condoms are sinful. So pass on STDs and promote unwanted pregnancies would be more like it.
“Contrariwise,” continued Tweedledee, “if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn’t, it ain’t. That’s logic.”
----Lewis Carroll (1832–1898), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, chapter 4 (1865).
