6/21/2007

Put this on a cigarette pack!

Surgeon general warning!

A natural progression of George W. Bush’s leadership record is his nominee for surgeon general - a post tantamount to America’s family doctor.

In seeking the right person to be responsible for the health and well-being of all Americans, Bush, quite naturally, selected an evangelical homophobe.

Kentucky surgeon and cardiologist Dr. James W. Holsinger, Jr., called gay activity "unnatural and unhealthy" in a 1991 paper, which physicians reviewed as “prioritizing political ideology over science.” Bush’s nominee has compared reproductive organs to plumbing parts. And, his church offers a program to “cure” homosexuality. ABC News: LINK

Seemingly, the selection process at the White House has a single criterion: controversy.

The Boston Globe editorial of 19 June 2007, “Intolerance Makes Bad Medicine,” is worth reading. LINK

I let my two Republican senators know my views on this nominee, but I went one step farther.

Why have a surgeon general at all?

Michael Tanner, director of health and welfare studies at the Cato Institute and author of "Leviathan on the Right," makes a strong and witty case for eliminating the position of “national nanny.”

“Can you name the current surgeon general?” Tanner asks.

Read his argument for eliminating the post. The Baltimore Sun, 19 June 2007: LINK

And, let your senators know your views.

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An email form for each U.S. senator is available. Simply do a google.com search on a senator’s name followed by “contact information.”

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I certainly hope Dr. James W. Holsinger, Jr. doesn't win but if he does, we need to make sure he never goes to England. When he finds out that the English refer to cigarettes as fags. He will make sure that every homosexual gets a surgeon generals warning tattoed on their bum.

Anonymous said...

Between Holsinger, Jr. and Sen. Frist, who diagnosed Terry Schiavo via a 15 second video, this nation's health department is in deep doo-doo. Hopefully, Michael Moore's "Sicko" will shake people from their complacency so they will stand up, speak up, and take action to bring equality to health care for all people. Afterall, we are all cut from the same cosmic fabric.

Our bodies are from the same two molds and our internal organs are all the same. Perhaps Bush and his administration should spend a few days, months or years in Abu Ghrab getting the same treatment they ordered for other human beings.