http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/13/opinion/l13surgeon.html
July 13, 2007 New York Times Letters to the Editor
To the Editor:
I am a scientist who traveled to and lived in Romania between 1980 and 1990 while the brutal Stalinist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, ruled the country during most of that period. Every scientist was required to cite both Ceausescus liberally in any papers they published or speeches they delivered. The Romanian secret police listened to every speech and scoured every scientific paper to make sure the rule was followed. Violations of the rule led to catastrophic occupational consequences for the scientist.
Your July 11 article recounting the requirement that President Bush's name be mentioned three times on every page of speeches by Dr. Richard H. Carmona, the former surgeon general, was reminiscent of the Ceausescu government. But at least Dr. Carmona was not required to mention Laura Bush as well, so I guess that is some progress.
Frank Landy