Hi, Tim! Didn't realize anyone was around here any more. Was really using it to provide a note of encouragement to our friend after a particularly tough day. As for Carmona, it seems to me that, if it really bothered him then, he should have resigned then and said why. He didn't, so I tend to think it didn't really bother him then and what really bothers him now is having been a part of one of the most unpopular administrations of the modern era.
The five-point plan you mention was undoubtedly shown to and agreed to by higher-ups, so I doubt it was his own without benefit of consultation with Bush Administration officials. It reads to me like pretty standard fare.
All political appointees are political operatives. Don't know why Carmona thought he had a right to be different. On some levels, I imagine that this Bush Administration has interfered more than most, on other levels perhaps less.
Johnathan Adler at the Volokh Conspiracy makes the point that government funding of stem cell research is, to this administration, not a political question, but a moral one. I'm not so sure, but it is a good example of Carmona's failure to investigate the administration before accepting a job with it.
As for second hand smoke, like you it seems, I believe that it is complete nonsense designed to appeal to people's fears and prejudices. IIRC, recent, more widespread research has not achieved the reported earlier results of more limited research. (I may be mistaken, I admit.)
I have no great problem with banning smoking indoors in public places (or those providing public accommodation). I have a huge problem with banning smoking anywhere within a city limits, on the street, or just about anywhere outdoors. |
