Were you hoping for her to reprise her positions on legalizing drugs, or teaching masturbation in schools? <g>
Can you imagine attending that class in high school? Or better yet, junior high? And better still, could you imagine bentway as your teacher? <VBG>
en.wikipedia.org
In 1987, Governor Bill Clinton appointed Elders as Director of the Arkansas Department of Health. Her accomplishments in this position included a tenfold increase in the number of early childhood screenings annually and almost a doubling of the immunization rate for two-year-olds in Arkansas. In 1992, she was elected President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers.
In 1993 after Clinton was elected president, he appointed her United States Surgeon General, making her the first African American and the second woman (after Antonia Novello) to hold the position. She was a strong backer of the Clinton health care plan. As surgeon general, Elders quickly established a reputation for controversy. Like many of the surgeons general before her, she was an outspoken advocate of a variety of health-related causes. She argued for an exploration of the possibility of drug legalization and backed the distribution of contraceptives in schools. President Clinton stood by Elders, saying that she was misunderstood.
In 1994, she was invited to speak at a United Nations conference on AIDS. She was asked whether it would be appropriate to promote masturbation as a means of preventing young people from engaging in riskier forms of sexual activity, and she replied, "I think that it is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught." This remark caused great controversy and resulted in Elders losing the support of the White House. White House chief of staff Leon Panetta remarked, "There have been too many areas where the President does not agree with her views. This is just one too many."[1] Elders was fired by President Clinton as a result of the controversy in December of 1994. |
