Saturday, December 11, 2010

CAN I JUST SAY...

In many ways, this post on friend and poet Tom Raworth's great blog says it all.

And after starting my day with the new TIME magazine with Palin on the cover and a story that allows her to make all the accusations and soundbites and sloganeering and propagandizing she wants to (including misrepresenting the recent healthcare legislation, that the press continues to allow the right to get away with calling "Obamacare" as if Congress didn't vote for it and "American" voters didn't vote that congress into office as well as the president, democracy at work doesn't count for rightwingers) without the writer refuting any of it with facts, just citing some of her adversaries' positions vaguely.

This is the tribulation of our times, news that often ignores facts for opinions and even more often ignores any perspective for the framing of any event or argument or occasion other than the right's.

But back to Tom Raworth's post and experience, his first heart operation (was it the first heart transplant in England as I once heard?) was in a still recovering post-war Britain that had established national healthcare, and all the care he has received since that has kept him alive and able to write and travel and have a full life has come from that same national healthcare, while, as he points out in his post, so many here (did anyone hear the NPR interview with the blues singer Robin Rogers who is dying of liver cancer and for whom there was a recent giant benefit concert to raise money to pay for some of her medical expenses?) are left to their own devices and either go broke, are unable to afford proper treatment, or they and their family and friends go deeply into debt to enable them to have some healthcare that should be a right for anyone, and is in many countries...but not ours, yet, and if Palin and the right have their way: never.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

why is it a Right to have health care?
why is it a Right to go to college?

and
who IS the US Citizen who gave Wikileaks the ....sensitive ... info...


THAT US CITIZEN is who is the ...."dirty dog"

or
should the blame go to the US's SECURITY Apparatus?

there aren't enough good livers out there to do ALL of the liver transplants "in the pipe-line"

or
enough money!

the ONLY solution is to tax EVERYONE 50% of their ADJUSTED GROSS income....

JIm said...

The question of our time is whether the federal government should be curtailed and made to comply with the enumerated powers provision and the 10th Amendment. The provision and the amendment has been violated by politicians going back to the first administration. Tea Party Folks with Sarah Palin being the most visiable demand compliance. It is a worthy question and debate.

Robert G. Zuckerman said...

Hopefully, A-non and Jim, you will never need a liver or heart or other transplant (except for the conscience transplants you both clearly need) or other long term care.

Seems there's enough money to perpetuate incursions into other sovereignties at the expense of our educational and health systems while lining the pockets of corrupt greedy contractors and vendors (water, utilities, etc.) who jack up their prices shamelessly.

The other day I was being driven to the airport and the driver helped me get my bags in the trunk. I said "thank you" to him in Nigerian and he was floored. That one word of reaching out bridged a gap. Imagine if our educational system fostered command from an early age of five languages, the bridges that would ba gapped in this world? Understanding would increase dramatically, as would fair exchange and the world economy would improve beyond our current imagination. Of course you naysayers will feebly attempt to refute this invoking fabricated factoids. But that won't stop the ultimate reckoning from occurring except that you, your families and fellow non-thinkers will likely not survive.

Anonymous said...

what destroys the liver
&other organs is

Lipitor
and all the other garbage medications Americans take

and the CRAP that's in EVERY item of food that "we the peopler" eat!

NO ONE IS TREATING the causes
they just feed the problem....

now that we have another non-problem solving stimulus package
things SHOULD
turn around!

slickered again...

JIm said...

Robert,
You could use a little of the Nigerian civility in your reponses. The health care debate is about to be reargued in congress. The question will be; does government have the constitutional authority to run the health care system?
An equally important question will be; is the government the most capable, or should the private sector do it?

Anonymous said...

I suppose that the "unhealth care" program will continue much as it i now being .... run:

by Big Pharmacy (Squibb &etc
in ca-hoots with

Big Medical Insurance
Big AMA
AND
most of all

BIG LEGAL


as

the majority of our "leaders" are Lawyers and beg
ANY and ALL responsibility and

to-s (person) wear a little flag on their $2400 suit!

Robert G. Zuckerman said...

Thank you Jim - you are correct, I took Michael's cue to "wail" as we all have done on this chain, but I stand behind my position and the debate goes deeper and broader that your parameters.

We're all living in hypocriscy - it's one thing to identify a problem it's another to live and lead by example and walk the walk.

JIm said...

Obamacare-on to the Supreme Court as the "Individual Mandate" is declared unconstitutional. I was thinking since there is no severability clause, that the whole act would be thrown out. There is some thought that, severablitiy is implied. We shall see. Eric Cantor is asking for the court to take it up immediately.

Robert G. Zuckerman said...

hmmm ever wonder if the Constitution is unConstitutional?

Like I said, I hope you're never in a situation where you need long term or urgent care that is not covered and all your life savings are drained. Oh well, too bad, you just suffer and die.

JIm said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.