Yesterday I wrote a blog on public health issues under Bush and how politicized his Surgeon General was forced to be. I titled it "If Karl Rove controlled public health issues" and described how politically "Bush infested" those issues affecting the health and welfare of the nation's citizens had been compromised to the conservative agenda.
While we're all familiar how Bush, when challenged by the opposition throughout his presidency, dismisses those challenges as being purely politically motivated. Yet none plays politics better and dirtier than Bush, even if it means sacrificing public health and safety. When your ideology trumps the welfare of the citizenry, that's politics par excellence.
And so it was I wrote of some of the revelations that came to light under four years of outgoing Richard H. Carmona's tenure as the nation's Surgeon General for the Bush regime. From very serious issues either weakened, ignored, denied, or suppressed to the almost laughable, yet disgustingly sick revelation that each page of speech delivered by Carmona was required to mention der Führer's name "BUSH" at least three times!
But I chose not to post that blog. It's just more of the same-old, same-old outrageous bullshit and it's nothing anyone can't read about online. That's how it is some days here when some of the best, most gut wrenching outrageous Bush crap just gets left in the "Drafts" bin.
I think my next blog will be something of my own choosing, not a response to Bush madness. Call it a mental health day or whatever, but already today has started off very well. That's because July is my birth month and thinking about what I'd like most for a present, I went shopping online and ordered it. And for the moment, I'm as excited as a kid thinking about the present that'll appear in my mailbox soon. But more about that next time.
16 comments:
ooh, ooh, a present! good thing you got a birthday coming up to justify it, huh?
ps, when I watched the ex-surgeon gen'l yesterday, I was sure you'd be saying something about the supression of science today. So it was a pleasant surprise to see your appropriate between-the-lines coverage, thus avoiding having to mention the B-word the govt-req'd 3 times. Dada, you got the gift. ~~ D.K.
it seems these days that just when I think the Bush Administration can't top itself, can't defy Congress or the American People any more, can't tell one more lie, or that more dirt from the past can't possibly be uncovered, it is.
And no matter what people do,say, write, and blog about, it seems to make no difference.
Maybe we'd all be happier if we just watched funny dogs with hats filmed with wide angle lenses or blogged about things that are interesting in our personal daily lives.
I'm so dumbfounded by American apathy. So we went to see "Sicko" this afternoon. As we were leaving the theatre a few minutes to 7:00, I jokingly said, "What time does the gun shop close?"
So I left a comment earlier...about wanting to throw you a party for your bday...and hmmm, now it is gone...hmm??what happened???
A present---- I'm thinking you've ordered the patent pending lawn chair/balloon flight instruction kit!
As for der Fuhrer- "B"-- it's not the same old outrageous bullshit. It is the new enhanced bullshit that would astound the most avid of bullshitters. More like ultra, mega, super-sick, ultimate bullshit-o-rama. If anything, I keep thinking that boomerang of Karma is going to come zinging back full force....
Hey Dada, I found Sicko online, the complete movie. yeah, yeah, pirate bootleg -- sucky sound out of whack with the picture. my back's killing me trying to watch it at the computer, but! it will be months before Sicko comes here (if ever), so I feel justified. 3 other sites had this up today, but they were all pulled within an hour. This one's still up tonight (but will probably be pulled soon). Here's the URL:
http://
www.cjonline.org/mooreSicko607.htm
It starts up right away & there's no way to FFWD or Rewind, you can only Pause it. I'm 2/3rds through & am afraid if I pause it too long, it'll delink.
I just saw the France part. OMG, Je t'aime, je t'aime! "Over there, the gov'ts are afraid of the people (because they still protest, what a concept), but over here the people are afraid of the gov't". I'm crying (and singing) ... The Time is Right for Violent Revolution!
OK, I think he's going to Gitmo now. Michael Moore is a hero. Everyone should see this movie! I think it goes to the very heart of what is wrong. ~~ D.K.
poli: I keep reading your comment over and over, esp. the part about "Maybe we'd all be happier if we just watched funny dogs with hats...or blogged about things that are interesting in our personal daily lives," and conclude by nodding, "Yes, we would!" That's why every so often the ennui of ranting endlessly washes over me and I must go spend time with Sam (The Dog--sans funny hats) or blog about personal things.
But, of course, I can't do that long because the outrage is continuously building and must be vented. But an occasional brief R&R interlude helps.
It's the fucking apathy of my sad, sad fellow Americans equally upset with this endless shit who choose to just shut off to it that churns my gut.
As "Sicko" reminds us, it is those countries where the government fears the people and not the chickenshit other way around, that the people actually get better representational style gov'ts (and free/cheap medical care, college education, etc. because they fuckin' demand it!)
Here, in this country, we get what we deserve: SCREWED!
enigma: Ah, drats! That's the sweetest thing. Thank you so much. While I shun being the center of such attentions (I've only had a few "public" BD's since age 18), I swear I didn't delete it--HONEST!
Nay, I would have loved to have read it but, unable to do that, I suppose I am spared turning several shades of redder. TY, dearest!
g.d.: Well, a funny thing about that BD present I ordered--it's from a place in Eugene, Oregon. When I Googled it, it was one of the two places that actually sell these things that first topped the page.
I'll tell you what it is now, but I hope to write a short blog about it in the next day or two.
(I'd planned to write that today, but there was an outrage or two yesterday that may have trumped it for today's blog...but stay tuned.)
Of course, in that my "most wanted" BD present from Eugene is so inexpensive, I am probably going to return to Google very soon and do a search for "the patent pending lawn chair/balloon flight instruction kit!"
Thanks for inspiring me to "get even higher" for my birthday!
raed: WTG! Congrats for finding "Sicko" online. (Oh, and some of that sound/image quality was inherently present in the orig. big-screen version too.)
There were a couple of spots in this movie the tears welled up in my eyes. (Cuba was definitely one.) One was the Americans living in France talking with Moore and the woman who felt guilt living there, thinking of her parents back in the US who have struggled for 20 yrs. or more for what she gets in France for free that her parents still don't have/probably never will. (Oh shit! I hope you've seen that part by now.)
Last weekend, we entertained friends who had seen the movie (we hadn't yet). Inquiring what they thought of it, we were taken aback by their desire to become "French". One of them whose mother was from England and, hence, has aunts and cousins there is seriously considering relocating.
This, of course, set me to thinking: Being the grandchild as I am, of grandparents who both migrated here from France...maybe there's a "grandfather" clause (or grandchild clause) that would allow me to return to my roots?
I've always admired the French passion to demonstrate/riot when they feel their government becoming lackadaisical or anti-citizen. And maybe you could tutor me with your French?
Je t'aime, je t'aime! indeed!
dada, it is my sorrowful LACK of french that keeps from moving to southern france! Afterall, Woody Allen says he's never encountered anti-semitism there (grin). I speak enough Spanish to get in trouble, can understand food-oriented Italian, can read a little Portugese, but French? Moi non plus. EK sprecht Deutsch, but I get cold even thinking about Deutschland.
That french part of Sicko made me yearn for at least one summer there before I die. I thought MM's use of "je 'taime" in that segment was most affecting. He does that a lot with music. Now, the bad news: I took too long a break last night & the online movie disconnected just as he was reaching Cuba, so don't tell me anything about it! I'll try it again today, assuming it's still available.
Hmmm, I don't know of any grandfather clause that would allow dual-citizenship, but you should check it out. Might be easier to drop the "dual" part. Then, all you'll have to do is calculate how many balloons are required to carry you & your lawn chair over there! There must be a simple formula. ~~ D.K.
Dada,
Interesting post. We too saw "Sicko." Although I think that the Canadian system may be as good as if not better than the French system we too can have national health care, if we want it, provided: We rid ourselves of the Reaganesque notion that "Government is the enemy, not the solution;" we resist the pejorative insurance company propaganda labeling public employees (vs. insurance execs) as "bureaucrats;" we learn to live with waiting (any "rationing" of health care must involve a triage of sorts) and we in the U.S. are not good at waiting (viz, "We want the world and we want it NOW"); we accept the notion that it will not be free, and that we as a country need to pay for it out of...taxes. Having recently forked over the equivalent of $6 a gallon for gasoline in that fortunate land of your ancestors, we realze that we get what we pay for. They do pay and they do get. Will we?
Eljoven
PS Joyeux Anniversaire. Look for a personal greeting in your mailbox.
Deke: Well, France is out. Mrs. dada reminded me we would never subject Sammy Cincos to the tortures we are willing to endure to go there, i.e., put him on an aeroplane.
So it looks like CA or LA for us (LA, as in Latin America) Damn, I'd forgotten about the flying dog thing.
(NOTE: Eljoven [above]is my old HS/JC compadre. We share much the same thoughts on many, many subjects, so I don't know how my comment below reads, but it is just a rant against the machine his input triggered. It is not a rant against my friend, despite the anger it provoked (at the system).
NOTE NOTE: Eljoven is also the chum who sent me those beautiful redheads (on a postcard) from my "homeland" that graced this blog a couple of weeks ago.)
Eljoven:
(BTW, thanks for the Joyeux Anniversaire, having my own anniversary soon, but will be singing Dadadada2u (sung to the melody of the birthday song) instead.
You bring up some good points re French (and others) health care that all Americans should carefully consider before we all then joyfully embrace the new piece of mind such systems could bring.
Re rationing, waiting for treatment, I assume you mean long-term...like for hernia surgery or such. As far as short-term, emergency "need-it-now-I'm-bleeding-badly" type care, if we're to believe the Moore movie, then it appears America may be worst than 37th internationally! Referring to my niece's recent emergency room experience in Portland, OR ith her 90 yr. old M-I-L who was sent immediately to the hospital after a visit to her doctor (I blogged this, but may have understated the wait after reverifying it since with my niece).
In the middle of a major heart arhythmia and sinking, sinking while waiting, waiting in the ER reception area she was finally triaged AFTER 7.5 hours(!). Three hours later she finally saw a doctor. The attending physician said, "Next time you must use an ambulance!" (Of course, be sure to get it pre-approved.)
As for French $6.00/gal of gas, being a fraction of the size of the U.S. one could make a couple of roundtrip X-country trips in France for less than it would take to drive once across the U.S. at $3.00/gal. Not only that, in France you would have 5-6 weeks vacation time to do it in each year!
But all Dada aside, the higher taxes paid for the benefits received in piece of mind alone that one may not have to sell their souls to the insur./pharma/HMO's and STILL have to end up living under a fwy overpass has to be worth something. (I know, I know, I'm preaching to a choirmate....but this is good, I'm releasing my daily anger here, in a comment, so's I can blog something more pleasant on the front page.)
We have "insurance". It's the next to last fine tuning of that concept by insurers in attaining insurance's ultimate evolution, i.e., YOU pay and pay, but never meet your deductible, i.e., "We don't pay you shit, sucker!" quoting Aetna, Blue X, etc.
The couple of hundred we pay each month for example, doesn't help with meds until one meets their $4,000/person deductible. In the meantime, we have friends in a similar boat who are paying a couple $100's/MO. for medications IN ADDITION to their "excellent insurance" coverage! The money saved just for insur and pills alone would go a long way to paying the add'l $3/gal for gas in a France, say.
The longer life expectancy is probably a benie resulting from loss of angst of having to find a fwy overpass to live under when your time comes to move there.
Longevity due to fewer stresses like knowing that as high as our over-the-top college ed. costs are, while bombing the shit out of several nations around the world and threatening the rest of 'em--which is all being accomplished on borrowed monies from Asian countries, is NOT something our grandkids will have to repay has to be a great weight off one's mind.
(But I digress, sorry, we were talking health insurance, weren't we?)
Oh, wait, I forgot, me and Mrs. Dada don't have grandkids.
Good comments! Dada, I know I am a choirmate (the one with the off-key voice), but just wanted to say you hit the bullseye deadeye center on this. We are also high-deductible sufferers, but figured it was better than nothing. Not so sure of that after Sicko.
I wouldn't mind paying higher "france" taxes if they were equally applied, i.e. EVERYONE is paying the same %. Not like here, where the highest earners pay the least % of taxes (% of total income, that is).
oooh, if we changed our tax structure here to mirror the french, we could call the new tax rates our "freedom tax" !!! ~~ D.K.
ps, can't sammy's weight be included in the balloon calcuation? btw, another french benefit is the way they treat their dogs -- access to most public areas, incl outdoor restaurants etc. aaah, to live the life of a french dog where there is no species discrimination! although something in the back of my mind says things might be changing under their new friend-of-bush prezzie. ~~ D.K.
Post a Comment