Surgeon General Describes Censorship From Bush Administration

UniversalVM writes "The NY Times is reporting that the former Surgeon General in damaging testimony given to the senate describes how he was repeatedly censored by the Bush administration while speaking out about topics such as global warming, Stem cell research and so on. The effort was to 'water down' or weaken reports on important issues to suit Republican Agenda. He describes how he attended one meeting where Global Warming was being described as a 'Liberal Agenda' and being dismissed. He tried to intervene thinking that the people there did not understand the science so he set about explaining it to them, the result? He was never invited back."

Comments

If you want to help

[Lord Ender]

Join Scientists and Engineers for America. They are "a non-profit organization dedicated to renewing respect for evidence-based debate and decision-making in politics and at all levels of government."

If groups like that had the same sort of clout that religious groups have, America could remain the economic and philosophical leader of the world.

Of course, if we continue to elect politicians who make decisions based on theology instead of science, it may be time to start looking for jobs in western europe.

Re:Well It's About Time!

[sammy baby]

Wow! And the Clinton administration would let Dr. Carmona speak out of needle sharing programs for drug users. Remember Joycelyn Elders?

Say it with me: "Clinton did it too."

Look, it's for damn sure that I'd rather have Bubba back in the White House than Dubya, any day of the week, twice on Sunday. That doesn't mean that we agree with everything he did, especially where something like this is concerned.

Nevertheless, I think it's pretty obvious that you haven't read the article, because:

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.

The Special Olympics is one of the nation's premier charitable organizations to benefit disabled people, and the Kennedys have long been deeply involved in it.

When asked after the hearing if that "prominent family" was the Kennedys, Dr. Carmona responded, "You said it. I didn't."

You know what? That's it. Messing with the Special Olympics? Screw you guys. I already thought that this administration was severely morally challenged, but I had no idea they could be so, abso-fucking-lutely small.

Re:Global warming?

[Glog]

Why is the Surgeon General talking about global warming? What a patently silly question! Have we forgotten the hundreds if not thousands of people who died of the heat waves in the last few years in Europe. How about the coal plants spewing toxic gases - this not only contributes to the heating of the atmosphere but is a public health menace of significant proportions.

Do we even need to point out how global weather is closely related to the public health of individuals?

(+5, Informative)

[Scrameustache]

Bill Hall, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said that the administration disagreed with Dr. Carmona's statements. "It has always been this administration's position that public health policy should be rooted in sound science," Mr. Hall said.

BWAHAHAHAHA.... wait, he's serious? "sound science" is a codeword, it doesn't mean what you think it means:
"The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC), an organization that was covertly created by Philip Morris for the express purpose of generating scientific controversy regarding the link between secondhand smoke and cancer."

They have recently been mostly funded by the oil lobby for the express purpose of... well, you can deduce that last bit.

Re:Story of my life

[NeutronCowboy]

Who the hell modded this informative??

#1 Local weather stations aren't the only input.
#2 Very few are actually at airports - and airports (aerodromes) were tarmac based since after WW1.
#3 Being within 30 feet of an AC exhaust (especially small window based ones) means squat for the local temperature.
#4 Local encroachment does not yield a small but systematic increase in temperature - it yields spikes.
#5 Average temperature readings from a population of sensors cancel out local variations.
#6 A systematic temperature increase is a systematic temperature increase, regardless of source.

Yes, the individual sensors record the heat-island effect that is found in urban environments. Congratulations. You found out something that is 15 years old. Yes, urban environments are warmer than non-urban environments.

However, you are an idiot if you believe that you are the first to think of this. Not only that, but carefully check the trend of both graphs shown on the homepage: after 1950, they both trend upward. And that's the key part: regardless of where you are, where you look at, temperature trends are on the up tick. Steadily. Some parts see heavier up ticks than others. But the end result is the same: things are getting warmer.

Local construction does play a part, but it merely exacerbates a trend that shows up everywhere you look.

Re:We should...

[TapeCutter]

Al Gore did not come up with the information in his movie, the IPCC did. What I would like to know is who do people who poo-poo Gore think we should listen too?

Jim Hansen does know a thing or two about climate, yet he also recieved similar treatment.

For the record: Gore originally attacked Hansen's assertions on climate change in the senate, Hansen and NOAA are both contributors to the IPCC reports.

"...we should question why anybody listens to Al Gore on the subject"

No we shouldn't, I listened to you and you have ZERO credibility. Science has no political or personal boundries, that is what TFA is all about.