Where’s the Outrage?

The New York Times today reported the death of Dr. Eugene Saenger of Cincinnati. He was 90.

Dr. Saenger was a radiologist and expert on nuclear medicine who did Cold War era radiation experiments on poor folks and black folks in Cincinnati between 1960 and 1971.

While a University of Cincinnati English Professor named Martha Stephens made an effort to publicize this issue in the early 1970’s, the experiments gained the most attention in Cincinnati in the 1990’s. This was when other government Cold War experiments elsewhere in the country came under a renewed scrutiny.

In 2002, Professor Stephens published a book on the experiments called  The Treatment.

What Dr. Saenger did, was give people with cancer radiation over their entire bodies instead of just where the cancer was located. This despite evidence that existed at the time that such treatment would do more harm than good.

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Tags: Books, Medical Ethics/Issues, Race by Texas Liberal
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3rd place goes to Robert Novak for saying that Ambassador Joe Wilson did not forcefully object to Novak telling him that he was going to run his now famous story.  Of course, Mr. Novak is trying to revise history so it doesn’t look like he outed a CIA operative.

2nd place goes to Rush for smearing a 12 year old and his family.

1st place goes to Bill O’Reilly.  Remember when Bill was saying that that abducted kid wanted to be with the Child molester?  Do you remember?  Well Michael Devlin testified in court that he was going to kill the child be the child talked him out of it.  Yep, I’m sure that the child wanted to be there.

 

 Worst Persons in the World - Billo and Rush [2:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Countdown by ecthompson
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Smearing, and the other word for smear in this case is lying, is a way of life in Washington. It on side says Z the other side says Y. So, on the SCHIP bill vetoed by President Bush, the Democrats had a 12 year old boy who was in a car crash give the weekly radio address. Ever since that address, the Right’s media machine has been cranking out the nonsense. I haven’t gone to the boys house nor have I checked the parent’s bank statements. I will assume that the Dems did their homework before choosing this boy. If they didn’t they should be taken out back and flogged but I think that they did. They should have known that this was coming. Right wing blogs, Rush Limbaugh and various congressmen spreading whatever they can and see what sticks. I’m guessing that honesty is too much to ask.

Keith Olbermann talks with Rachael Maddow of Air America.  As usual, Rachael does a great job conveying Right Wing hypocrisy.

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From Think Progress:

The right wing’s attack on Graeme Frost, a 12-year old recipient of SCHIP, is now attracting attention from a number of traditional media outlets. “I think it’s really a sad statement about how bankrupt some of these people are in their arguments against S-chip that they would attack a 12-year-old boy,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said.

Mounting evidence suggests that the right-wing smear campaign may have been orchestrated by a staffer in Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) office. (more…)

 

 Countdown - Smearing a 12 year old [6:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Bush Administration, Congress, Countdown by ecthompson
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I thought that Congress should have taken this up a couple of weeks ago. As soon as they came back from their August recess. The good news is lawmakers didn’t wait until next year. If the law goes until next year without renewal expect that it becomes a political football. FISA needs to be fixed. There has to be a way to fix the law so that we can spy on those folks that need spying but still protect the American people. Congress should NOT grant immunity to those who have broken the law.

Glenn Greenwald has been one of the few clear thoughtful voices on FISA. Here’s what he wrote a couple of days ago -

Personally, I’ve been arguing since the disgraceful August FISA gift to the Bush White House that the chances were far greater that Democrats, before the six-month sunset provision elapsed, would actually pass an even worse FISA bill — one that gave the President all the warrantless surveillance powers they gave him before plus what he wants most: retroactive amnesty for lawbreaking — rather than adhering to their promise to “fix” what they did. So it is quite possible that Congressional Democrats will do here what they have been doing all year long, ever since they were pointlessly given control of Congress — namely, meekly (and/or eagerly) give George Bush everything he demands.

Keith Olbermann tackles this subject last night.

I’m not sure why the Democrats are so wimpy on FISA.  Why can’t they explain what the deal is to the American people.  Instead, I think that they want to pretend to be tough and roll over the president.  Then when we get a new president, they will try and reverse those powers.  That’s crazy, in my opinion.  There is no guarantee that the Dems will take the White House.  Furthermore, what will the president do with expanded powers.  It appears that there is no limit to what the claims are presidential powers.  I’m waiting for him to yell off with his head and point to Harry Reid.

 

 FISA reviewed [3:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Bush Administration, Domestic Spying by ecthompson
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I’m not sure what the answer is to school shootings. Our kids and our teachers need to be safe at school. This is clear. Do all middle and upper schools need to have metal detectors and guards? Does this need to be mandatory for all schools? I guess so.

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From MSNBC.com:

A 14-year-old suspended student, dressed in black, shot four people in his downtown high school Wednesday before he killed himself, police said.

<snip>

Coon was armed with two .38-caliber revolvers, and police found a duffel bag stocked with ammunition and three knives in a bathroom, officials said. Parents were angry that firearms got into a school equipped with metal detectors that students said were intermittently used.  (more…)

 

 School Shooting - again [1:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: General by ecthompson
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