Republicans, look up the word “Balanced” – Please!

I  came across this earlier and it just reminded me of the Fox News claims of being "Fair and Balanced".

Heavy Editing Is Alleged In Climate Testimony – washingtonpost.com:

Testimony that the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention planned to give yesterday to a Senate committee about the impact of climate change on health was significantly edited by the White House, according to two sources familiar with the documents.

Specific scientific references to potential health risks were removed after Julie L. Gerberding submitted a draft of her prepared remarks to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review. … A CDC official familiar with both versions said Gerberding’s draft "was eviscerated," cut from 14 pages to four. The version presented to the Senate committee consisted of six pages.

The Bush administration has been accused by government scientists of pressuring them to emphasize the uncertainties of global warming. Earlier this year, climate scientists complained to a House committee that the administration had sought frequently to manage or influence their statements and public appearances.

The White House in the past has said it has sought only to provide a balanced view of the climate issue.

First, lets look at Dr. Gerberding.   She is eminently qualified for her position as the director of the CDC, she not only is an M.D., she also has her Masters of Public Health from the UIniversity of California at Berkley.  She is an an infectious disease expert, and she is administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.  She is also an Associate Editor of the American Journal of Medicine and serves as a peer-reviewer for numerous internal medicine, infectious diseases, and epidemiology journals. 

Last March, Director Gerberding, received the Surgeon General’s Medal.  The honor was given for her "outstanding public health professionalism, extraordinary leadership and utmost commitment and dedication to the USPHS Commissioned Corps."  The Surgeon General’s Medal is the highest award of the US Department of Health and Human Services. The medal is awarded in the name of the US Surgeon General for actions of exceptional achievement to the cause of public health and medicine. It is awarded by the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, which is led by the US Surgeon General.

Now lets look at the White House staff.  According to this list of White House staff members from 2006, there does not appear to be anyone with an MD, let alone expertise in public health issues or infectious disease.  I’m very confused about how anyone there could have the nerve to edit a report by someone that that was appointed by their own Health and Human Services Secretary, Tommy Thompson.  If the Bush Administration had some staff member that was secretly better educated and with more knowledge of infectious diseases and public health, why didn’t they appoint that person?

To achieve anything like a "balanced view" on anything science related you need to have people who are equally qualified to have an opinion on the subject.  A high school junior might have very strong views on how the school should be run, but we hire principals who are educated and trained in how to run a school to make the actual day to day decisions.  Until the White House can bring forward an individual or group of individuals who have the equivalent of Dr. Gerdberding’s qualifications, we should be allowed to hear what she has to say without her words being filtered by politicians.

I agree with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, who said in a statement Tuesday that the Bush administration "should immediately release Dr. Gerberding’s full, uncut statement, because the public has a right to know all the facts about the serious threats posed by global warming."