As Surgeon General, Sanjay Gupta will give the Obama Administration a slew of firsts--member of India-born parents, cable TV correspondent, surgeon to save a life in Iraq and doctor to tangle with Michael Moore over "Sicko."
As the nation's highest-ranking medical officer, the 39-year-old Dr. Gupta would be making a financial sacrifice by giving up his work for CNN and CBS as well as his career as a neurosurgeon but could become the most influential Surgeon General in recent history as the new White House undertakes the upgrading of American health care.
Talk about hands on: In April 2003, while reporting from Iraq in a surgical tent, Dr. Gupta removed a bullet from the brain of a 23-year-old Marine, Jesus Vidana, who had been struck by a sniper and twice pronounced dead in the field.
An outspoken Surgeon General would be a big change from recent years, symbolized by Congressional testimony of 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.
If Dr. Gupta takes the job, Wolf Blitzer will be losing a colleague, but the rest of us will finally have a doctor in the White House again.
Showing posts with label Surgeon General. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Surgeon General. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Sunday, July 29, 2007
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Karl Rove's Campaign Against Ignorance
The Bush Administration has been championing education more than we knew. Today’s news is that American ambassadors have been attending seminars to enhance what a White House spokesman describes as “understanding of the political landscape.”
The briefings by Karl Rove's deputies began in early 2001 and included detailed analyses of “critical congressional and gubernatorial races,” according to documents obtained by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Typically, State Department officials were briefed on “the 55 most critical House races for 2002 and the media markets most critical to battleground states for President Bush's reelection fight in 2004.”
Until this Administration, ambassadors sent to represent the U.S. in foreign countries may have been handicapped by total ignorance of our domestic politics.
Rove’s efforts to educate government employees have not been limited to the State Department. Previously, Congress learned that staff members of the General Services Administration, which oversees $56 billion a year of government contracts, received regular power-point lectures on ways to help Republican candidates.
The educational efforts for U.S. Attorneys, about which Rove has been typically modest, are still being studied by two Congressional committees.
Earlier this month, former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona testified before Congress about White House efforts to keep him abreast of correct information about stem cell research, contraception and second-hand smoke.
When all of this Administration’s educational undertakings are finally revealed, history will undoubtedly judge Karl Rove and his staff to be among the most ardent educators of all time.
The briefings by Karl Rove's deputies began in early 2001 and included detailed analyses of “critical congressional and gubernatorial races,” according to documents obtained by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Typically, State Department officials were briefed on “the 55 most critical House races for 2002 and the media markets most critical to battleground states for President Bush's reelection fight in 2004.”
Until this Administration, ambassadors sent to represent the U.S. in foreign countries may have been handicapped by total ignorance of our domestic politics.
Rove’s efforts to educate government employees have not been limited to the State Department. Previously, Congress learned that staff members of the General Services Administration, which oversees $56 billion a year of government contracts, received regular power-point lectures on ways to help Republican candidates.
The educational efforts for U.S. Attorneys, about which Rove has been typically modest, are still being studied by two Congressional committees.
Earlier this month, former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona testified before Congress about White House efforts to keep him abreast of correct information about stem cell research, contraception and second-hand smoke.
When all of this Administration’s educational undertakings are finally revealed, history will undoubtedly judge Karl Rove and his staff to be among the most ardent educators of all time.
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