John P. Coale: The Curious Incident of the Scientologist in the Boardroom
“The Washington Times recently reported the curious appointment by Governor Martin O’Malley of John P. Coale to the Board of Directors of UMMS (University of Maryland Medical System). Coale is a high-ranking Scientologist and trial lawyer who got rich from the “tobacco wars” and has particpated in Scientology’s assault on Ritalin, taking on not only its manufacturer, Novartis, but the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and patient advocacy group CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Defict Disorder).
Coale is a member of Scientology’s glitterati, married to Scientologist Greta Van Susteren of Fox News. Along with Tom Cruise and other celebrities, he helps to fund Scientology’s campaign for the “Global Obliteration” of Psychiatry so memorably reported on by head of the Church David Miscavige in 2007:
By way of a recap, the campaign was expressly, maybe even “diabolically,” engineered to ignite both government action and media blizzard. It’s also got an internal kicker: our Mental Health Budget Adjustment Kit, which essentially works like a “smart bomb” in that it “sniffs” out psych fuel lines and blows the funding mechanism. And in that way—to put it bluntly—we booby-trap the whole psychiatric ecosystem.”
To put it in context, it’s like having “intelligent” design proponents on the school board.