The title of this blog is a quote from former Surgeon General Dr. Richard H. Carmona, who appeared before a Congressional panel on Tuesday of this week. He attributed the quote to administration officials who encouraged him not to attend a Special Olympics event because the Special Olympics have long been associated with a prominent family—the Kennedys.
That quote just about sums up the divisiveness and partisanship of this administration. Promising to be a “uniter,” President Bush has been anything but. A leader sets the tone for a nation, and the tone that this administration has set has been one of division, hostility, and a perverse rejection of reality.
Carmona, a Republican-appointed official, described how the administration had insisted he water down scientific findings in order to protect business or radical Republican ideology. This hostility toward facts has long been a characteristic of the Bush administration. Carmona described how a report on second-hand smoke had been delayed by the administration for years because the report revealed how “even brief exposure to cigarette smoke could cause immediate harm” [New York Times, 10 July 2007]. He described attending a meeting with government officials who dismissed global warming as a “liberal cause.” Although scientific reports show that the best sex education includes a discussion of contraceptives, the government again told Carmona not to speak on the subject because of its narrow policy of “abstinence only” sex education.
Again and again, this government has twisted arms to make research reflect its own radical agenda, its own fantasy, its own ideology.
Vice-president Cheney used his power to undercut environmental practices that were supported by scientific research and by the Republican appointees who would enforce those practices. Christine Todd Whitman, Republican appointed Environmental Protection Agency administrator, resigned from her position because of Cheney’s insistence that the agency adopt more pro-industry policies that were detrimental to the environment and to the health of the nation.
What I don’t understand is this: Why would anyone want to vote for those people?
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