Tell truth about Rehnquist

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A recent statement released by the Supreme Court on the medical condition of Chief Justice William Rehnquist was notable -- not to add frustrating -- for what it failed to disclose. The absence of important details about Rehnquist's medical condition has created a vacuum that has been quickly filled by speculation about the nature of his illness and who might be appointed to succeed him. This speculation is inevitable, but it isn't very illuminating and it ought to be ended. That objective can be best achieved by the disclosure of a detailed medical bulletin by Rehnquist, his doctors or the court.
Thus far, they have said very little. Rehnquist, they have disclosed, was admitted to Bethesda Naval Hospital for treatment of thyroid cancer on Oct. 22 and received a tracheotomy, a procedure in which a hole is made in the throat to ease breathing.
Only after he failed to show up for work as planned on Monday did Rehnquist explain that his hopes of getting back to work that day were "too optimistic," that he is receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatment and that he planned to work on court matters at home.
At no time have he, his doctors or the court explained the type of thyroid cancer Rehnquist had, how far it had progressed, the prospects for a recovery, why the tracheotomy was performed, whether he had the surgery to remove cancerous tissue and when the chief justice might return to work.
Private citizens are entitled to medical privacy, of course, but the chief justice of the United States is hardly a private citizen; he holds one of the most public jobs in the country as well as one of the most important. Even a minor illness could affect his work, and it is work that affects the day-to-day lives of millions of Americans.
That is why the public has a legitimate right to know how sick Rehnquist really is. When the facts are not made known is when the speculation -- some of it informed, much of it guesswork -- begins. The public deserves more than the crumbs it is getting. It deserves the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.