The Mayberry Machiavellis Are At It Again

When I blog about something, I mostly try to either pick an item that interests or amuses me, or I focus a topic that I think is important, but is not getting the attention that it deserves in the media. So I generally don't cover political issues that have been adequately addressed in the press, but the testimony of former Surgeon General Richard Carmona deserves special comment.

The Pennsylvania Progressive provides a good summary of the litany of issues that confrontly Carmona during his tenure, Ex-Surgeon General Testifies on Bush Censorship:

Among the claims made by Carmona:

* He was not permitted to provide relevant scientific data regarding stem cell research, and Bush appointees would delete references to such from his speech texts
* His report on second-hand smoke was stalled for political purposes
* His reports on mental health and emergency preparedness were blocked from release
* He was not permitted to discuss teen pregnancy outside of the realm of abstinence, despite evidence that abstinence-only is a failed policy
* He attended a meeting with senior officials on global warming, which was labeled 'a liberal cause with no merit.' After discussing the science of global warming with the same officials, he was never invited back.
* President Bush's name had to be mentioned 3 times per page in any speech texts prepared
* He was admonished for giving a keynote address to a group associated with the Special Olympics because it helped a 'politically prominent family'--the Kennedys.

Dick Polman, as always, provides the essence of the problems confronted by Carmona in The national doc's damaging dish:

Dr. Richard Carmona, an ex-Army Special Forces medic and ex-Arizona deputy sheriff who served as U.S. Surgeon General from 2002 to 2006, clearly had an unenviable job. He tried repeatedly to speak out publicly about empirical scientific truths (on everything from stem cells to sex education), but he was working for a regime that adhered to faith-based certitudes; hence, he spent most of his tenure trying in vain to remove the masking tape that had been affixed to his mouth.

For instance, he once was invited to attend a meeting on global warming. At that meeting, a Bush official dismissed global warming as a liberal cause. Carmona wanted to discuss the science, but he was “never invited back.” And when he tried to raise the issue of stem-cell science, “I was told to stand down and not speak about it. It was removed from my speeches.”

It’s rare to hear a former loyalist dish on the Decider with such impunity, but apparently he’s still rankled by his dealings with the Bush apparatchiks: “Anything that doesn’t fit into the political appointees’ ideological, theological or political agenda is 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…The job of surgeon general is to be the doctor of the nation, not the doctor of a political party…”

All true, as we are finding out more & more each day -- politics is all. Then, Polman notes the highlight of his testimony, stating:

I was particularly struck, however, by one item in his sworn testimony – fresh evidence that the loyal Bushies were trying to compel nonpartisan public servants to subscribe to the kind of leadership cult commonly seen in places like North Korea:

It was the little detail about how he was ordered to invoke Bush’s name three times on every page of every speech. (Emphasis added).

Polman harks back to the prescient words of John DiIuilio, which I've quoted several times over the years, see, e.g., Remembrance of Things Lost and Tears of a Clown:

But Carmona’s remarks need to be seen in proper context – as further evidence of the Bush regime’s unprecedented attempts to politicize the institutions of government, to bend them in the service of partisan ends.

* * * *
Indeed, everything Carmona said yesterday merely confirms what John DiIulio was the first to say, five long years ago. DiIulio, a University of Pennsylvania professor and domestic policy expert, lasted barely a year as director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. His parting shot looks more prescient with each passing day:

“There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus. What you’ve got is everything—and I mean everything—being run by the political arm. It’s the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis."

Yes. The Bush Administration: Politics is all.

Via Kiko's House, Rick Moran also discusses the Carmona situation. Both Polman and Moran acknowledge that these positions have always had some degree of politics infused in them by various prior Administrations, but emphasize that this is something very different. This is the "flush the government down the bathtub drain" theory in full force. As Moran says, WHY THE POLITICIZATION OF GOVERNMENT IS WRONG:

There are many disturbing aspects to the Bush Administration that historians will examine and perhaps, if they are charitable, chalk up to an overreaction to the 9/11 attacks or perhaps a zealotry for securing the United States from another, bigger catastrophe.

But there is one facet of the Bush Presidency that historians will universally and roundly condemn; the politicization of governance that, top to bottom, has interfered with many of the vital functions we expect the government to carry out. From the office of the Attorney General, to the Environmental Protection Agency, to NASA, to the National Park Service and more, politics has intruded into what traditionally has been non-political or apolitical functions of government. Science issues seem to be a favorite target of the Bushies for political massaging but other important government operations have also seen the heavy hand of politics interfere with public policy decisions – decisions that affect the health, safety, and security of the American people.

See also, TPMmuckraker.

Tags: Bush, Politics