It seems that now we as a nation have to contend with George W. Bush's political cronyism interfering with our medical system as well as with our justice system.
According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's
blog, GWB's political appointee William Steiger substantially modified the Surgeon General's report on public health, changing its focus to Administration talking points (such as Bush "health achievements" in Iraq and Afghanistan) and altering or removing important, but less politically convenient, items.
Look at the differences between the two drafts. Surgeon General Carmona's report directly examines the link between poverty and public health. Steiger removes the discussion. Dr. Carmona explores intimate partner violence, women's health and reproductive freedom. Steiger changes the focus of this section to children and families. Dr. Carmona explicitly acknowledges the threats to public health contained in global warming and environmental pollution; Steiger removes this discussion. The list goes on, and the fight over this document blocked its release for over a year.
I find this horrifying. Dr. Carmona's report is supposed to be politically neutral and contain information necessary to the health and welfare of the citizens of this country based on considered medical opinion. It was not intended to be a political document, and should not be one.
Maybe I'm naive. Maybe every Administration in this country's history has censored documents they found inconvenient. But it seems to me that for a government so supposedly focused on "spreading democracy" to semi-willing people elsewhere in the world, it would benefit them to remember what that word actually means here at home.