The Kicker
Surgeon General’s Warning
By Gal Beckerman Wed 11 Jul 2007 10:28 AMBoth The New York Times and The Washington Post today front devastating stories about the former surgeon general, Dr. Richard Carmona, telling Congress in a hearing yesterday that the White House infused politics into everything he did. “Anything that doesn’t fit into the political appointees’ ideological, theological or political agenda is often ignored, marginalized or simply buried,” he told a House committee. “The problem with this approach is that in public health, as in a democracy, there is nothing worse than ignoring science or marginalizing the voice of science for reasons driven by changing political winds.”
As both papers remind us, Carmona is not the first government official to charge that, as the Times puts it, “politics often trumped science within what had previously been largely nonpartisan government health and scientific agencies.”
But the Post does something that the Times doesn’t do. It’s one thing to say that Carmona is “one of a growing list of present and former administration officials” to make this complaint, and it’s another thing to actually name a few examples. This is what the Post does. There’s Story Landis, the head of the NIH’s task force on stem cells who in January said that because of the Bush policy, the nation is “missing out on possible breakthroughs.” Three months later the director of the NIH called the Bush policy “shortsighted.” Then there’s also the NASA researchers who have said that the administration has made it almost impossible for them to work on global warming. And remember the head of the FDA’s Office on Women’s Health who quit in 2005 to protest the constant political interference.
This background matters. It gives context. This is not just a story about one surgeon general’s complaints. This is a pattern, a consistent approach. Newspaper stories sometimes miss this bigger picture, the accumulation of evidence. Especially with a White House administration, it’s critical to provide us with all those dots so we can connect them.
CJR
Subscribe Today
padikiller![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.cjr.org/nav-commenters.gif)
Wed 11 Jul 2007 07:52 PMIt wouldn't be a Gal Beckerman story if it didn't ignore reality in order to attack the Bush administration...
First of all, Mr. Beckerman maliciously and falsely presents the disputed accusations of a former appointee as the undisputed truth... Beckerman mentions NOTHING of the fact that the White House flatly denied Carmona's claims...
So the CJR standard appears to be, that when a disgruntled appointee airs a gripe, the gripe "trumps" the White House denial...
For the record, here is the ball Mr. Beckerman is hiding from his readers...
"White House spokesman Tony Fratto rejected claims of political interference, saying Carmona had all the support he needed to carry out his mission. "As surgeon general, Dr. Carmona was given the authority and had the obligation to be the leading voice for the health of all Americans," Fratto said. "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."
Oh.....
And THEN there's the little matter of history... It turns out that President Clinton also interfered with the efforts of his Surgeon Generals. In FACT... Clinton actaully FIRED one of his Surgeon Generals for expressing a controversial opinion!...
"Satcher, Carmona's predecessor, who served from 1998 to 2002, said that under President Bill Clinton he could not release a report on sexuality and public health, in part because of sensitivities triggered by the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Clinton also forced out Joycelyn Elders as surgeon general in 1994 after her controversial remarks that public schools should consider teaching about masturbation."
Beckerman is nothing more than a political hack...
kkl![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.cjr.org/nav-commenters.gif)
Sat 14 Jul 2007 10:22 AMPadikiller must be one of those folks who believe there were WMDs in Iraq, and believe that Iraq was behind the attacks on 9-11. After all, someone from the administration said it, so it must be true.
And when all else fails, "ClintonDidIt!" is the way to justify anything.
Beckerman's article is one of what I hope is many where the media are finally beginning to connect the dots to how overtly political and corrupt this administration is. I wonder how many decades it will take to undo the damage they have done.
padikiller![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.cjr.org/nav-commenters.gif)
Sat 14 Jul 2007 09:35 PMTo take the CLAIMS of a disgruntled former appointee and to present them as undisputed truth to readers is simply yellow journalism in its lowest form...
Any way you look at it...
But it is trademark technique of Mr. Beckerman's brand of "professional journalism"...
One cannot reasonably conclude that an unsubstantiated and hotly disputed claim by a canned employee amounts to positive "proof" that "politics ALWAYS trumps" science in the Bush administration...
No matter how fast Mr. Beckerman clicks his ruby red heels together...
Whenever I state a simple bit of undeniable reality like this... The moonbats come out to attack me... However it may serve to soothe the emotional wounds of those offended by the facts, this knee-jerk hostile reaction, birthed in a silly, underinformed allegiance to the standard liberal stupidty of the day, doesn't alter the truth one iota...