Get FREE BuzzFlash News Alerts

Email:  
Home

Bush's Pick for Surgeon General Makes Us Sick: Killed Veterans, Hates Gays, Loves Republicans

Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 05/25/2007 - 1:58pm.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

Dr. James Holsinger was tapped by President Bush Thursday to be the nation's next Surgeon General. Sure enough, Holsinger's record is mired with incompetence, zealous conservatism, and, of course, sizable campaign contributions to Republicans.

As Chief Medical Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs under Bush's father, Dr. Holsinger was neglecting our vets long before Walter Reed made it fashionable. A government investigation found "several cases in which incompetence and neglect led to the deaths of patients." Dr. Holsinger was forced to admit blame for the deaths of six patients in less than a year at a single Chicago hospital alone.

But the problems weren't limited to Chicago. In a Wyoming, a patient scheduled for surgery for a treatable cancer died after he was ignored for 45 days following the resignation of the staff urologist over a contract dispute. Thirty VA hospitals were found to have "high numbers of patient complications and other indicators of substandard care."

A decade later, Dr. Holsinger was appointed Kentucky's Cabinet Secretary for Health and Family Services. By the end of his tenure, a Kentucky newspaper found that the state was at the bottom of the nation for almost every health measure. Kentuckians die at a rate of 18 percent above the national average, the newspaper reported.

"We don't have to worry about foreign aggressors. We are killing ourselves off," said Dr. Baretta Casey, a Hazard physician and University of Kentucky professor. "I see a lot of illnesses similar to a third-world country," added Dr. Sandra Dionisio, a Kentucky internist trained in the Philippines.

"We've got some big mountains to climb," Dr. Holsinger said of the findings, a few months before he jumped ship for a cushy teaching job at the University of Kentucky.

So why does Bush want Dr. Holsinger to be the nation's top doc? For starters, he hates gay people. As president of the United Methodist Church's Judicial Council, Holsinger ruled in 2004 that "the practice of homosexuality is a chargeable offense for clergy" after a highly publicized internal trial for openly lesbian pastor Karen Dammann.

In 1991, Dr. Holsinger resigned from church panel studying homosexuality "because he felt certain its conclusions would follow liberal lines."

Last year, a Methodist pastor blasted Dr. Holsinger for essentially trying to embezzle some $20 million from the Methodist Church through a charity Holsinger chairs. Holsinger has lost in court twice on the matter but continues to appeal through the legal system.

The coup de grace of the Dr. Holsinger story is his more than $16,000 in political donations since 1998 – all to Republicans, including George W. Bush. You can bet Cheney also had a role in the appointment since Dr. Holsinger specializes in cardiology.

Dr. Holsinger seems like a great choice for the VP to take hunting, but he hardly seems like the best candidate out of all the doctors in America to become our next Surgeon General.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

Technorati Tags:Technorati Tags:

»

Surgeon General Selection

Submitted by The Skeptical Cynic on Wed, 05/30/2007 - 10:43am.

Bush's selection of this turkey to be Surgeon General should come as no surprise. Holsinger is actually the Chimp in Chief's second choice. Mary Mallon aka Typhoid Mary actually topped the list until his aides informed him that she died in 1938. To which he replied, "So?"
Cheney convinced El Stupidissimo that although Holsinger was brainless and clueless he did have a fairly discernible pulse and was thus eminently well qualified for the position. __________________________________

The Skeptical Cynic

Santa Claus
Knows when you are sleeping.
Knows when you're awake.
Knows when you've been bad or good.
Unfortunately so does George Bush,
Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzales,the FBI,
the ONI,the USMCI, the AFIA, the DIA,
the CIA, the NSA, MI6, MOSSAD and AIPAC

»

Not even board certified!

Submitted by samblackman on Sat, 05/26/2007 - 11:56am.

I was poking around and found out that Dr. Holsinger isn't board certified in any specialty. While this probably matters less for someone who has chosen to make their life as a political hack than someone who actually takes care of patients, this is certainly something of note. As a physician, I take it to mean that he is someone who didn't care enough about his clinical training to demonstrate competence according to national standards. You can see his lack of board certification for yourself at the American Board of Medical Specialties site.

»

"...Surgeon General whats

Submitted by eyesoftheworld on Sat, 05/26/2007 - 4:47am.

"...Surgeon General whats the deal, is your epidemic real ... have you asked the CIA .... or have they been promiscuous...?"
Governor Ernie Fletcher said, "It is truly gratifying to see national recognition given to someone who has done so much for our state." University of Kentucky President Lee Todd added, "We are excited that one of our own is now taking a crucial leadership position at the federal level."

Talking Points: "done so much" and "one of our own". Done as in possible crimes against humanity and one of our own as in part of the Neo-Con Delusions of Grandeur Gala To Take Over The World? Helloooooooo America, Wake Up America ... this ain't no reality show here, this is REALITY ... let's see a show of hands from those who still know what REALITY is!

RED FLAG: This should be disturbing to all Americans, especially those who know some facts about the corruption in the medical profession, the legal profession, the dept. of labor et.al. in the state of Kentucky and elsewhere. The University of Kentucky is a very "odd" research facility with a VA "research facility" attached. They just got a very large amount of money to build a new "medical research" facility. Let it be known, the University of Kentucky Medical "school"/hospital has performed many a miracle, it employs many a good person and produced many wonderful people into the field of medicine. I am in no way condemning the entire complex.

RED, RED ALERT: The University just got a new BCoach from, TEXAS, Texas A&M I believe ... now, didn't someone else come to DC from that University?

»

Mary Cheney

Submitted by Zee (not verified) on Fri, 05/25/2007 - 11:48pm.

I wonder how Mary Fucking Cheney and Grandaddy "fuck-yourself" Dick feel about Bushie favoring the antigay doc. Maybe we should stand outside Mary Cheney and Heather Poe's house and chant nonstop (like HAGGARD did to Lesbians in Colorado) asking Sammy's two mommies what they're gonna tell their son?

»

Surely he has to be approved?

Submitted by Freedem (not verified) on Fri, 05/25/2007 - 5:50pm.

I would also think that the Democrats would turn him down flat, and if Bush tries to appoint him as an "interim" then impeachment hearings on the surgeon general, based on his lack of qualifications should start immediately

I suppose that our Congress is getting spread out as badly as the troops, or it would if it impeached every one of the Gang Of Pirates who has committed crimes, but if we can stop-loss the troops then D****T we should stop-loss the Congress as well.
------------------------------------------------------
If the Gang Of Pirates think that the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat, only a fool would think it BiPartisan to accommodate them by playing the part.

»

Well, Why Not?

Submitted by lmjohnson on Fri, 05/25/2007 - 3:08pm.

Well, why not? Surely this makes sense to a Bushite. Just a few years ago, I remember the uproar that erupted when Bushie was going to put a VETERINARIAN in charge of Women's Health issues.

It makes perfectly logical Klingon sense in a strange Bushian kind of way.

»