Just picked up this story you may or may not have read. Thought you might be interested:

'White House 'gagged' Surgeon General'

For generations of Americans, the Surgeon General has been the "nation's doctor," the person they turned to for unbiased advice on everything from smoking to obesity and the HIV Aids pandemic. And United States presidents have generally defended the Surgeon General's right to speak out on public health matters. But under President George W. Bush, the independence of the Surgeon General has been placed below industry lobbying and the demands of the religious right. Damning testimony by Dr Richard Carmona, the Surgeon General from 2002 until 2006, has revealed that the Bush Administration frequently censored him and tried to mould his public statements to fit political goals. He was even ordered to mention Bush three times on every page of his speeches. The Bush White House banned Carmona from speaking or issuing reports on stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education, prison, mental health and international health issues. For years the White House tried to "water down" a report on the dangers of secondhand smoke. When he tried to address the subject of embryonic stem cell research: "I was told to stand down and not speak about it. It was removed from my speeches. Much of the discussion was being driven by theology, ideology, [and] preconceived beliefs that were scientifically incorrect." Even the Special Olympics were deemed politically suspect, because they receive support from the Kennedy family. "I was specifically told by a senior person: 'Why would you want to help those people?"' Just as it seemed that you couldn’t get angrier at the sick joke of democracy that George W Bush has become, suddenly we find out that he gagged the Surgeon General of all people, and he seems to have done so based on his redundant ‘the Earth is only 6500 years old’ bullshit theology. The man is a mentally insane clown and the sooner America gets a new President, the better for the planet.

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