Unbeleivable

Bush surgeon general blasts interference

"I was blocked at every turn," says the former health leader, testifying with others who say partisan pressure has grown.

WASHINGTON -The Bush administration attempted to politicize the nation's health policy and, when former Surgeon General Richard Carmona refused to follow orders, he was repeatedly muzzled and marginalized, according to Carmona's testimony Tuesday....

He said that senior administration officials and political appointees vetted and censored his speeches, would not let him speak freely with reporters, tried to get him to appear in uniform - Carmona was a vice admiral - at political events, and told him to follow administration policy instead of science.

He said he was ordered to mention President Bush three times on every page of his speeches and was called to mandatory "brown-bags" with administration officials that "were really more political pep rallies." He said he stopped going.

He said that, from the beginning, Bush officials blocked reports or Carmona's input on everything from emergency preparedness to mental health.

ITMFA.