Holsinger nomination is still dead

Kentuckian James Holsinger, President Bush's nominee for Surgeon General, got grilled by a U. S. Senate health committee over his 1991 paper for a United Methodist Church committee on the health ramifications of homosexual behavior. Holsinger has invited political enemies on both ends of the political spectrum by, on the one hand, having written the paper, and on the other, by not even trying to defend it.

Here is the Washington Post relating the offensive nature of the paper:

Holsinger said he prepared the paper for a study committee of the United Methodist Church. In it, he argued that the sexes are anatomically complementary and that "when the complementarity of the sexes is breached, injuries and diseases may occur."

Thinking that the sexes are anatomically complementary now apparently constitutes a thought crime in Washington and in the media. Instead of standing up for what he said he believed, Holsinger immediately wilted in the media glare that followed his nomination for the position, and his dissembling continued before the Senate committee. This is how far we have come:

Holsinger said yesterday that his views had evolved and that the issues he raised in the paper would not be relevant in public health discussions today. "I have a deep appreciation for the essential humanity of everyone, regardless of their personal circumstances or sexual orientation," he said.

Of course people's essential humanity has nothing to do with it, and saying that it does goes beyond the bounds of surrendering yourself to the ideological thought police and constitutes rendering them aid and comfort.

Why is the Bush administration even continuing to push his nomination? It has been dead for months.