Democrats won't admit it, but many secretly mourned when former Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) dropped out of the presidential race last year. Of all the Republicans who I'd want to run against in 2008, he was in a class all his own. In addition to the fact that his tenure as Majority Leader made Trent Lott look like Henry Cabot Lodge, his only real asset, the fact that he was an M.D., was also the source of his biggest blunders. So when Frist officially exited the world of politics last year, I thought the dream was over.
Enter Judith Giuliani.
As Senate Majority Leader, Dr. Frist embarrassed himself and his party by "diagnosing" Terry Schiavo's condition based on what he'd seen on videotaped footage. Prior to that, in a 2004 interview on ABC's This Week, Frist had a hard time answering the question of whether or not you could get AIDS from tears or sweat. Poor George Stephanopoulos had a hard time keeping himself from laughing at Frist's remarks.
But the cr+żme de la cr+żme was a revelation in his book, Transplant, that as a med student he would adopt cats from shelters, raise them as pets for a while...then kill them for his research experiments. The "Frist as Kitty-Killer" story has been discussed on the internet and in political circles for years, but it had yet to hit the general public.
The first amusing thing about Rudy's third wife is that she obviously wants to be a Hillary Clinton-type first lady. But trying to get her or her husband to admit it is like pulling teeth.
If you missed the Barbara Walters interview with Rudy and wife last week, let me give you a quick recap:
Barbara: Rudy, as President, would you let your wife sit in on cabinet or policy meetings?
Rudy: If she wants to.
Barbara: Judith, as First Lady, would you sit in on your husband's cabinet or policy meetings?
Judith: If he wants me to.
Sadly, in Republican circles, comparisons to Hillary Clinton is probably more damming than killing innocent, adorable animals. And the third Mrs. Giuliani might find out if that's true or not, thanks to her years spent at U.S. Surgical.
From the NY Post:
Judith Giuliani once demonstrated surgical products for a controversial medical-supply company that used dogs - which were later killed - in operations whose only purpose was to sell equipment to doctors, The Post has learned.
Now keep in mind, these were sales demonstrations, not potentially life-saving medical research. They already knew the product in question worked, but they needed sell it.
In Sunday's Post, Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign spokesman, Michael McKeon, said of Judi Giuliani's work with U.S. Surgical, "She was in the operating room hundreds of times, using her nursing skills and training doctors in the stapling technique."Asked yesterday about the procedure being performed on dogs, McKeon said, "I've never heard any of this before."
Then McKeon said he would have to ask Judi.
Finally, he said only that Judi had not been involved in procuring dogs for sales demonstrations - but did not comment on whether she participated in demonstrations involving dogs.
The company, now part of Tyco Healthcare, has long acknowledged its salespeople routinely demonstrated staples on anesthetized dogs as part of sales pitches to doctors.Then-CEO Leon Hirsch defended the practice in the 1980s, saying there was no other way to properly show how the staplers worked.
"A dead dog doesn't bleed," Hirsch said in a 1988 issue of Time magazine. "You need to have real blood-flow conditions, or you get a false sense of security."
There you have it. "A dead dog doesn't bleed." Can't argue with that logic. Unless of course you have a sense of decency. But then again what do I know, I'm just a Democrat.
When I would walk down the halls of the building I would occasionally catch a glimpse of a medical student operating on a live dog. I'm not sure whether or not the dogs were sedated. but I certainly hoped so. The whole experience was gruesome. It was like working in a torture chamber for animals. It would have been much better to execute the experimental rat in another room, but all the rats saw this and knew any one of them could be next.
My father was a doctor and doctors have to learn to develop some insensitivity to these things. Once my Dad invited me to watch him remove a growth from a man's eyelid and it really bothered me. I guess he thought he could figure out some way to interest me in medicine, however this experience of seeing this operation had the opposite effect.
I know experimentation is necessary to advance medicine, but the unnecessary terrorization of animals is immoral in my opinion. I certainly think it is immoral for someone to go out and steal people's pets for experiments.
We also need to be aware that those in our society who have been vulnerable or unable to defend themselves have been the subjects of experiments. I am refering to human beings here. Blacks, Native Americans and orphans have been used for experiments without their knowledge or against their will. I think this should be a criminal offense.