First Lady’s Skin Cancer ‘No Big Deal’

U.S. first lady Laura Bush describes her skin cancer as no big deal, presidential spokesman Tony Snow said Tuesday.

At a press briefing, reporters quizzed Snow on why Bush’s skin cancer was not reported earlier. She had a squamous cell carcinoma, a rarely fatal tumor, removed from her shin last month.

It’s no big deal, and we knew it was no big deal at the time, Snow said.

He also said Bush, although she is a public figure, is a private citizen with the same right to medical privacy everyone else has.

When reporters kept hammering on the subject, Snow pointed out President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are elected officials with a moral obligation to keep the public informed of potential health problems, but their wives are not.

You guys are really stretching it, he said. I mean, it is now officially a really slow news day.