The Bush administration politicized the intelligence community in the run up to the aggression against Iraq. It politicized the Justice Department by firing (completely legal and completely unethical) of US attorneys who followed investigations where they led rather than following the administration's political objectives. It has launched a broader war on science.
So I guess it's little surprise that the administration politicized public health as well. Though this accusation was made not by Democrats but by the man appointed by President Bush himself.
Former surgeon general Dr. Richard Carmona told Congress 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, reported The New York Times.
In what is supposed to be a job advocating for the public's health interest, administration officials tried to turn him into a North Korean-style appartchick. 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.
These people are so small minded that according to Carmona, the president's cabal even discouraged him from working with the widely-respected Special Olympics, because it was closely linked the Kennedys.
I've often said that this administration's fundamental flaw is not ideology (odious as it is) but rather a process that discourages intellectual rigor and serious debate. It's been long clear that the administration figures out its game plan and then contrives the facts to fit their ideas rather than the sane method of letting the facts drive the decision. The former surgeon general echoed this.
On issue after issue, Dr. Carmona said, the administration made decisions about important public health issues based solely on political considerations, not scientific ones.
“I was told to stay away from those because we’ve already decided which way we want to go,” Dr. Carmona said.
The difference between rational people and fanatics is that rational people are open to changing their minds if they are confronted with a compelling argument or reality to the contrary. Fanatics make up their mind and 'stay the course' even if it means ramming their head into a brick wall over and over again.
Except it's not just they who become dizzy, but the entire nation.
Update: Maybe they wanted to get rid of Dr. Carmona so they can install a new, more bigoted person for the job. Since Carmona couldn't be the pseudo-scientist they wanted, they found someone whose 'science' more closely reflected the administration's ideology
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