"Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological or political agenda is often ignored, marginalized or simply buried. 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."
- Dr. Richard H. Carmona, US Surgeon General (2002-2006), testifying before the Senate yesterday that the Bush administration would not allow him to speak or issue reports about stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education, or mental and global health issues. Dr. Carmona said that he spoke with 6 prior Surgeon Generals, none of whom recalled such intense pressure. He was even discouraged from attending the Special Olympics, because of the Kennedy family's close ties with the charity.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Quote of the Day
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
This administration has deemed more information classified than it has released bullshit to the public and that's only because the bullshit is becoming recycled material. Where do these testimonies go? I understand impeachment is a lengthy process, but the president has been involved in impeachable acts throughout his entire second term (not to mention misleading his country into an unnecessary war, but i'll let that one slide). How long did it take to impeach Nixon? Has our "democracy" gotten to the point where government officials are actually invincible? And if that's the case, is it really that obnoxious to call Bush a new age dictator?
-Delitta
As we all know, doctors never have any political opinions of their own and, therefore, are not influenced by any of those opinions while tesitfying before Congress. Thus, the fact that Dr. Carmona is considering a run for office according to a report by KVOA television, should not be considered in the analysis of his testimony against a highly unpopular president.
So Delitta, good work on really seeking out the truth of the issue and understanding the personal motivations that are ALWAYS part of individual testimony before Congress.
Impeachment is actually pretty easy. It just requires a simple majority vote in the house of representatives, which could easily be done right now if voted along party lines. Nixon was not actually impeached. He resigned. The only two presidents that were impeached were Andrew Jackson and Bill Clinton. Impeachment is basically just an accusation of crimes. Removing a President from office is much more daunting task as it requires a trial in front of the senate and a two thirds vote, which at this stage is nearly impossible. An interesting poll as of a couple days ago, according to the www.pollingreport.com, shows 54% of Americans support the impeachment of Dick Cheney. The Senate Appropriations Committe on Tuesday voted to cut off funding to Dick Cheney's office, another interesting step. Earlier this year Vermont legislators tried to push foward impeach proceedings, but failed. Also early in the year Dennis Kucinich was pushing for the articles of impeachment against Dick Cheney. You can read about it here : http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/24/AR2007042401542.html
I would guess that there will be an impeachment vote by the end of 2008.
Post a Comment