NRA 'Blackmail' Must Stop, Top Journal Says

[spanone]

The National Rifle Association should not be allowed to hold up the nomination of a new surgeon general, editors of one of the world’s top medical journals said Wednesday in an unusually strongly worded commentary.

The editors of the New England Journal of Medicine accused the NRA of political blackmail and said members of Congress had given in to the lobby group’s pressure.

Hearings on the nomination of Dr. Vivek Murthy are on hold for now after 10 Democrats in the Senate said they would probably vote against his nomination. The White House says it’s re-thinking its strategy for the nomination, although a spokesman told NBC News that President Barack Obama wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

It’s all due to pressure from the NRA, the three editors –- Dr. Jeffrey Drazen, Dr. Gregory Curfman and Stephen Morrissey -- wrote.


http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/nra-blackmail-must-stop-top-journal-says-n57181

[badtoworse]

1. They have as much of a right to lobby as the NRA does.

They should be doing their own lobbying instead of whining about how effectively the NRA does theirs.

[spanone]

3. brilliant!

[Scuba]

2. NSA blackmail too, eh?

[Dr. Strange]

4. If only we had enough Democrats to confirm.

Oh wait, we do.

Hearings on the nomination of Dr. Vivek Murthy are on hold for now after 10 Democrats in the Senate said they would probably vote against his nomination.

And there's your problem.

[linuxman]

5. Am I the only one

who finds the appointment of a 36 year old MD to the office of SG to be somewhat...premature?

18 at college enrollment+4 years of undergrad+4 years of medical school+4years of residency+a possible 2 years of fellowship= ~ 4-6 years maximum as a practicing physician. Hardly surgeon general worthy, IMO.

[pipoman]

6. Short sighted silliness

Until lobbying isn't legal for anyone, it must be inclusive of all.