Anti-NRA Ebola Theme Infects Media, Spreads Rapidly
Posted on October 24, 2014
In the weeks since we last reported on
media attempts to tie NRA to the Ebola crisis because of our opposition to the
nomination of Dr. Vivek Murthy as surgeon general, the anti-gun echo chamber
has continued to promote this absurd line of argument. Absent most of the coverage
is a forthright discussion of NRA’s legitimate concerns with the nominee, or
any evidence that Murthy himself has a singular ability to effectively handle
the nation’s Ebola response.
NRA opposes Dr. Murthy’s nomination for the very reason that he has a history of exploiting his status as a medical practitioner to advance a purely political agenda of extreme and unproven gun control measures. In January 2013, Dr. Murthy signed two letters sent from his organization Doctors for America (formerly Doctors for Obama) to Vice President Joe Biden and Congress, advocating for stringent gun controls. The letter to Congress advocated for a ban on popular semi-autos and their ammunition, limits on ammunition purchases, firearm owner licensing, and a mandatory waiting period of at least 48 hours. The letter also expressed a desire to leverage the resources of the Centers for Disease Control to provide data for gun control efforts. Such proposals are of obvious import to gun owners. Moreover, as surgeon general, Dr. Murthy would have the ideal platform to direct the nation’s public health apparatus towards redefining firearms ownership as a disease, a tactic that Congress has curbed with funding limits since the 1990s, but one President Obama hopes to reinvigorate.
Oddly, many of those lamenting Dr. Murthy’s stalled nomination in the media take for granted, without evidence, his unequaled capacity to competently manage the Ebola outbreak, or convey vital information to the American public. Worse, the baseless media presumptions are echoed by some two dozen members of the U.S. House of Representatives, who are using the Ebola outbreak as a pretext to urge the Senate to confirm Dr. Murthy’s nomination. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) has organized a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) insisting that the pair take action to “confirm [Dr. Murthy] as soon as possible.”
Should Murthy have critical information to convey on the illness, one would suspect that various news outlets would be eager to spotlight the high-profile nominee’s thoughts on the matter. Yet the strongest evidence that Dr. Murthy would have little to contribute on the topic has come directly from the White House. Obama had the opportunity to engage Dr. Murthy in the Ebola response by appointing him, without the need for Senate approval, as Ebola Response Coordinator (the so-called “Ebola Czar”).There is no indication that Obama ever considered Dr. Murthy for the position. Instead, the president chose Ronald Klain, and attorney and former chief of staff to the vice president with no medical training.
NRA opposes Dr. Murthy’s nomination for the very reason that he has a history of exploiting his status as a medical practitioner to advance a purely political agenda of extreme and unproven gun control measures. In January 2013, Dr. Murthy signed two letters sent from his organization Doctors for America (formerly Doctors for Obama) to Vice President Joe Biden and Congress, advocating for stringent gun controls. The letter to Congress advocated for a ban on popular semi-autos and their ammunition, limits on ammunition purchases, firearm owner licensing, and a mandatory waiting period of at least 48 hours. The letter also expressed a desire to leverage the resources of the Centers for Disease Control to provide data for gun control efforts. Such proposals are of obvious import to gun owners. Moreover, as surgeon general, Dr. Murthy would have the ideal platform to direct the nation’s public health apparatus towards redefining firearms ownership as a disease, a tactic that Congress has curbed with funding limits since the 1990s, but one President Obama hopes to reinvigorate.
Oddly, many of those lamenting Dr. Murthy’s stalled nomination in the media take for granted, without evidence, his unequaled capacity to competently manage the Ebola outbreak, or convey vital information to the American public. Worse, the baseless media presumptions are echoed by some two dozen members of the U.S. House of Representatives, who are using the Ebola outbreak as a pretext to urge the Senate to confirm Dr. Murthy’s nomination. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) has organized a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) insisting that the pair take action to “confirm [Dr. Murthy] as soon as possible.”
Should Murthy have critical information to convey on the illness, one would suspect that various news outlets would be eager to spotlight the high-profile nominee’s thoughts on the matter. Yet the strongest evidence that Dr. Murthy would have little to contribute on the topic has come directly from the White House. Obama had the opportunity to engage Dr. Murthy in the Ebola response by appointing him, without the need for Senate approval, as Ebola Response Coordinator (the so-called “Ebola Czar”).There is no indication that Obama ever considered Dr. Murthy for the position. Instead, the president chose Ronald Klain, and attorney and former chief of staff to the vice president with no medical training.
A cynic (or maybe just a realist) might even conclude that
37-year-old Dr. Murthy’s primary qualification for receiving the nomination as
surgeon general in the first place was his political activism on behalf of
Obama. This included Murthy’s activism for Obama in the 2008 and 2012
presidential campaigns and during heated legislative battles such as those over
health care reform and gun control. Murthy’s credentials as a leading
authority on Ebola, if indeed he has any, are considerably less well
documented.
Yet even before Murthy gained fame as Obama’s unlikely pick for America’s top doctor -- chosen at an age when most physicians are still struggling to establish their practices and pay off medical school loans -- he was offering his unsolicited “expertise” on gun control in correspondence to America’s leaders. Should he likewise care to offer his musings on combating Ebola, he presumably remembers the addresses of the White House and Capitol and will chime in accordingly.
Yet even before Murthy gained fame as Obama’s unlikely pick for America’s top doctor -- chosen at an age when most physicians are still struggling to establish their practices and pay off medical school loans -- he was offering his unsolicited “expertise” on gun control in correspondence to America’s leaders. Should he likewise care to offer his musings on combating Ebola, he presumably remembers the addresses of the White House and Capitol and will chime in accordingly.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
Jeffrey
P. Koplan was a VP at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), and is a VP at Emory University.
Note:
Ebola Has No Escape From Emory University's
Isolation Ward
CDC Foundation is a foundation for the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
John
G. Rice is a board member for the CDC Foundation, a
trustee at Emory University, and was a director at the U.S.-China
Business Council.
William M. Daley was a director at the U.S.-China
Business Council, the chief of
staff for the Barack Obama administration, is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and a trustee at the Third Way.
R.
Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Newton
N. Minow is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP, and is an
advocate for the ONE Campaign.
Susan
McCue was the founding president & CEO for the ONE
Campaign, Harry Reid’s chief of staff, and is a trustee at the Third
Way.
Ronald
A. Klain is a trustee at the Third Way, the coordinator
of government Ebola efforts for the Barack Obama administration,
and was Joseph R. Biden Jr’s chief of staff.
Thomas
R. Frieden is the director at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) for the Barack Obama administration,
the U.S. representative nominee for the World Health Organization, and
was the commissioner for the New York City Health Department.
Global
Polio Eradication Initiative is a partner with the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a partner with the World
Health Organization (WHO), and Bloomberg Philanthropies was a funder.
CDC
Foundation is a foundation for the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
Bloomberg
Philanthropies is an umbrella organization for the Bloomberg
Family Foundation, was a funder for the Global Polio Eradication
Initiative, and the Joyce Foundation.
Valerie
B. Jarrett was a director at the Joyce Foundation,
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the senior adviser
for the Barack Obama administration.
Bloomberg
Family Foundation was a funder for the CDC Foundation.
Michael
R. Bloomberg is the founder of the Bloomberg Family
Foundation, the founder of Everytown for Gun Safety, a co-chair for Mayors
Against Illegal Guns, an advocate for the ONE Campaign, was the New
York (NY) mayor, and a benefactor at the Harlem Children's Zone.
NRA-ILA (Michael Bloomberg’s Gun Control History)
Susan
McCue was the founding president & CEO for the ONE
Campaign, Harry Reid’s chief of staff, and is a trustee at the Third
Way.
Ronald
A. Klain is a trustee at the Third Way, and the
coordinator of government Ebola efforts for the Barack Obama
administration.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Harlem
Children's Zone.
George
Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote
Open Society, a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, and married
in 2013.
Jim
Yong Kim was a guest at George Soros’s 2013 wedding,
and a director, HIV-AIDS department for the World Health Organization (WHO).
Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf was a guest at George Soros’s 2013 wedding,
and is the president of Liberia.
Ebola in Liberia
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