Bush's Twit of the Year

In the competition inspired by the immortal Monty Python skit, we now have a winner--a second-generation Bushie who sat on the Surgeon General’s report on world health because it wasn’t political enough.

The censored document, according to the Washington Post, dealt with “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.”

Written and vetted by public health experts, the report was suppressed by William R. Steiger, a political appointee with no experience in the field. He is a godson of President Bush’s father, who appointed Steiger’s mother to the Federal Trade Commission.

Steiger’s complaint about its failure to praise the Administration enough is consistent with the recent Congressional testimony of former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona that he was “muzzled” on public health issues, ordered to mention President Bush three times on every page of his speeches and discouraged from attending the Special Olympics for disabled people because of its ties to the Kennedy family.

The strange stuff the Chinese are putting into toothpaste and pet food is beginning to look innocuous compared to what Bush’s twits have been injecting into our political bloodstream.