Political meddling

[AtomicLabMonkey]

WASHINGTON, July 10 — Former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona told a Congressional panel Tuesday 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, he said. Released last year, the report concluded that even brief exposure to cigarette smoke could cause immediate harm.
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.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/wa...3d5317&ei=5070

A surgeon general's report in 2006 that called on Americans to help tackle global health problems has been kept from the public by a Bush political appointee without any background or expertise in medicine or public health, chiefly because the report did not promote the administration's policy accomplishments, according to current and former public health officials.The report described the link between poverty and poor health, urged the U.S. government to help combat widespread diseases as a key aim of its foreign policy, and called on corporations to help improve health conditions in the countries where they operate. A copy of the report was obtained by The Washington Post...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...072801420.html


Jesus Christ on a crutch. I cannot fucking stand this adminstration anymore. Even the surgeon general's office isn't safe from their political tampering to try and stay "on message".

My view of these people over the years has slowly but steadily slid from moderate approval, to moderate disapproval, to genuine dislike, and these days to absolute loathing. I can't believe I voted for this festering asshole the first time around, it really embarasses me now. January 20, 2009 can't come soon enough.

[sperry]

The W. Administration is easily the lowest, most self involved, most self serving, most politically motivated, assembly of power-mongers since Nixon's cadre of hoodlums. The difference is that Nixon was man enough to admit that things were out of hand and resigned. Bush and his cronies, on the other hand, are so full of themselves that they continue to attempt to spin reality with a look of contempt on their faces, as if somehow it's the American People's fault we're not buying their bullshit any longer.

All I can hope for, is that when Bush and his administration is out of office, his replacements (be them Democrat or Republican) take the time to clean up this mess and hold these people accountable instead of simply picking up where they leave off with only a different set of self-concerns to serve.

It wouldn't be so infuriating if there weren't hundreds of thousands of lives lost or ruined across the world, or permanent damage to the US's credibility done by these assholes. Or if the fact that Bush was reelected in 2004 didn't point a long accusing finger back at the American People indicating us as gay-hating, war-mongering, imperialists. George W. Bush and his neo-con yahoos make me hate being an American.

[MikeK]

Don't forget the cash money that that the US taxpayers will be paying to China for the next 100 years as interest on loans!

[sperry]

Originally Posted by MikeK

Don't forget the cash money that that the US taxpayers will be paying to China for the next 100 years as interest on loans!

It's cool. Once China starts living the life of fast-food, internet porn, plasma TVs, and Hummer H2's... they'll just outsource all their tech support to us. I'm already practicing my bad Cantonese:

Them: "...wait a minute... what city are you in!?"
Me: "I in Bejing. Nice day here, in Bejing! Now, reboot computer and call back! <click>"

On a more serious note, the 1st wave of Republican scandals (remember the whole Jack Abramoff scandal?) have finally created new laws: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...la-home-center

[knucklesplitter]

This is old news of course, and these a-holes make the Nixon administration look like a dream team. I saw this reminder the other day:

" When history looks back at the Bush presidency, one of the more celebrated quotes that will help capture much of what went wrong will be John DiIulio's. It was DiIulio, the first director of the president's White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, who told Ron Suskind, "What you've got is everything -- and I mean everything -- being run by the political arm. It's the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis." "
(http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/015943.php)

BTW you guys like sperry who sometimes think you are "old" - ha, I can remember Watergate and Nixon's resignation while I lived about 15 miles from the Watergate Hotel.

[100_Percent_Juice]

this is why I don't vote.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by 100_Percent_Juice

this is why I don't vote.

That's the problem. Reasonable intelligent people are too busy to vote.

Meanwhile all the conservative retired, and the easily manipulated (read: less intelligent, and/or highly religious) folks are whipped into a voting frenzy. "Vote for GWB or the terrorists win!" "Vote for GWB or you're one of them gays!" "Vote for GWB or God will hate you!"

</over generalization>

[JonnydaJibba]

I don't get why this stuff happens. Well, I get why (mostly), but not why it is allowed to happen.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by JonnydaJibba

I don't get why this stuff happens. Well, I get why (mostly), but not why it is allowed to happen.

In order for it to change, the people in power will have to give up their own power. It's not in human nature to cut off your own income and fire yourself for the greater good. If political service were a temporary job taken on out of a sense of duty, we wouldn't have this situation... but alas, our government is run by career politicians.

[100_Percent_Juice]

Originally Posted by JonnydaJibba

I don't get why this stuff happens.

greed

[knucklesplitter]

Well... greed and power are certainly always factors on both side of the aisle. But one overriding reason why the W. admin. got so absolutely far out of hand with the incompetence, politicization (is that a word?), corruption, and usurping the Constitution (just to name a fraction of their ills) - the one overriding reason why they have been getting away with all this is that all the branches of our government (and the "fourth branch" - the press) have been, until recently, controlled by the conservative right - the political wing that believes that government is inherently bad and needs to be "shrunk down until it can be drowned in the bathtub" (to paraphrase their spiritual leader Grover Norquist). The system of checks and balances has not been working to reign in these freaks. It's one thing to believe that government should be minimal and efficient (a true conservative viewpoint that is arguable), but it is altogether different to have utter contempt for government, policy, science, facts, and due process like the Mayberry Makiavellis have. And then to give them virtually-free reign over all aspects of government - what the hell were "We the People" thinking?!?

[sperry]

Matt's right... it's like the planets aligned for the neo-cons on 9/11/2001. They controlled both the legislative and executive branches, were on their way to appointing themselves control of the judicial branch, and with the terrorist attacks got "we the people" behind them in a way that allowed them to step on the Constitution due to some "clear and present danger" type mentality regarding personal rights.

Basically, it was coup that nearly took away everything that the Constitution stands for with regards to the checks and balances in our system. And the general population was either too scared by 9/11 or too involved in trying to afford a new H2 with $10,000 rims to bother to care that the fundamental fabric of the US was being torn.

Frankly, if it weren't for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart... we'd be head-long into an Mid-East based Orwellian perpetu-war on terror.

[MPREZIV]

Originally Posted by Sperry, in a related thread at the bottom of this page from 2005

Yeah, I remember the days when I was young and still in school... you know, before the real world beat the idealism out of me.

yeah, that's about where I stand on matters such as this... just beaten out of idealistic ravings and drive to "make a change", if there were a change that one man could make.

[knucklesplitter]

Originally Posted by MPREZIV

yeah, that's about where I stand on matters such as this... just beaten out of idealistic ravings and drive to "make a change", if there were a change that one man could make.

One man *can* make a change! Just ask Jesus...


...as soon as he is done cutting my grass. BTW how do make an accented "e"?

[Dean]

Originally Posted by knucklesplitter

BTW how do make an accented "e"?

Start: Run: charmap

Go ©®ÅŹÿ

[Libila]

I think the inevitable “Who are you voting for and why?” thread will be interesting.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by JonnydaJibba

Well, I get why (mostly), but not why it is allowed to happen.

The U.S. constitution is only an old piece of paper. It's not worth it's weight in shit unless people actually obey what's written on it.

Unfortunately it seems like a lot of people in this adminstration don't much care about adhering to the constitution if it doesn't further their party's agenda.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWGSYj39G_I

This idiot actually had the gall (or ignorance, I don't know - either way she shouldn't be working at a high level in the government) to say she took an oath to the President, not the constitution, as a reason for not answering the Senate's questions.

Political parties should be outlawed. The parties have gotten so aggressive these days, that when one party controls 2 or more branches of the government it starts seriously short-circuiting the checks and balances written into the constitution.

Frankly I'm not optimistic about the long-term future of this country. It wouldn't surprise me if, even within my lifetime, the parties morph how the government functions enough that the old, traditional constitutionally-governed U.S. system will be effectively dead. All things must come to an end eventually...

[sperry]

A lot of people have been bitching about "the system" for the better part of 4 decades. The difference is, for the first time, it seems like the vast majority of the nation finally agrees things are broken.

I hope that's enough catalyst for change... but I may be underestimating the stupidity of people in large groups.