Truth be told, I believe I also would have fired Surgeon General M. Joycelyn Elders had I been President Clinton and was as occupied as he was with dodging the endless barbs from the conservative right.
But that's purely politics: Dr. Elders has come to be perceived as the president's nuttiest political appointee, an impression amplified last week by the report that she advocated teaching masturbation in schools.
But politics isn't always fair or right. Dr. Elders is not a nut. And although she responded to a direct question by appearing to endorse the inclusion of masturbation in sex education courses, that is not quite the same as championing it as a form of playground recreation or advocating that youngsters be trained to do it properly or any of the other crazy interpretations people have put on her remarks.
By dumping Dr. Elders last week, the president illustrated an on-going tendency to sit still while his political enemies run roughshod over the reputations of his subordinates, twisting their words until they sound like lunatics. Bill Clinton appears to possess the same character trait that dogged George Bush throughout his political career. Folks called it the "wimp factor."
Here is what Dr. Elders said during a question-and-answer session after a Dec. 1 speech at the United Nations on World AIDS Day: "I think you already know that I am a strong advocate of a comprehensive health education program, starting at an early age. I feel that it should be age appropriate, it should be complete, and we need to teach our children the things they need to know. . . .
"As per your specific question in regard to masturbation, I think that is something that is part of human sexuality and it's a part of something that perhaps should be taught. But we've not even taught our children the very basics. And I feel that we have tried ignorance for a very long time, and it's time we try education."
When told later that some people had interpreted her remarks as call for how-to sessions in public schools, Dr. Elders seemed amazed by the suggestion: "Heavens no! That's not what I was trying to say. You don't teach people how to do that, just like you don't teach them how to have sex."
To me, Dr. Elders says pretty clearly that our focus should be on providing children with an age-specific, basic sex education as part of a comprehensive health education program. That answer is consistent with the policies she has advocated as surgeon general and as director of the Arkansas department of health. Her attitude is capsulized by the phrase "We've tried ignorance, it's time we try education."
Speaking this summer before the National Association of Black Journalists, Dr. Elders outlined the price we have paid for keeping generation after generation uninformed about sex: The continued spread of AIDS and the increases in teen pregnancy, rape and other forms of domestic violence directed against women and children. She said such an education should begin at an early age if we want children to develop healthy attitudes.
Problem is, there is no public consensus on how to develop such a healthy attitude in children. I once spoke with a group of 13- and 14-year-olds boys who were enrolled in a highly touted sex education program in Baltimore City. The group interpreted the message of the program as "don't have sex until you are mature enough to handle the responsibility." Unfortunately, each youth assumed that he already possessed the required maturity. Obviously, those youths were missing the point.
Adults cannot instill healthy attitudes about sex in the next generation until we decide what we want children to know and how they ought to be told. We cannot decide this without talking about it. I believe this is why President Clinton appointed the blunt-speaking Dr. Elders to the post.
The president could have made this clear last week. He could have insisted that Dr. Elders' comments be interpreted correctly and in their proper context. Instead, the president ducked and ran. He threw Dr. Elders to the wolves to save his political hide. He showed that he lacked the intestinal fortitude (the guts) to stand by his convictions. He behaved like a wimp.