My trail half-marathon today was canceled due to Hurricane Hannah. Instead, I took a gig covering AARP events (but I don't get to go to the Chicago concert) and did the convention hotel 5K. There's got to be a limerick in there somewhere. Give me til the end of this entry to think of one.So the other day, I see a teaser in the Post about Sarah Palin's health care policy work. So I'm thinking, well, let's not judge, maybe she has some good ideas. Turns out she has had but one idea, about a pretty obscure policy issue, and her take on that is kind of, well, mavericky. She pushed very hard for radiologists (imaging) to be able to open their own shops freely, separate from hospitals and as independent businesses. In Alaska, it's hard to open your own freestanding healthcare shop, probably because of legislation designed to protect hospitals. See, in the past 10 years or so, doctors, surgeons, all kinds of health care folks, have been opening up their own places where they can ply their trade--anything from the surgeon who did my daughter's adenoids (one of the best in DC--she wanted to go out and play two hours after it was done) to the guy who'll Botox your cock--and not have to give over the money to hospitals. But hospitals don't want the competition. In-and-out surgery and mammograms and the like are really good clean moneymakers for them, and help pick up the losses caused by uninsured homeless GSWs in the emergency room.
Seems pretty simple to solve that one--don't have any more uninsured homeless GSWs. At least address ONE of those problems, right?
Instead, the for-profit hospital lobby has worked to stifle competition, as probably happened in Alaska, where a doctor or similar has to obtain a "certificate of need" to open a business. Here's where it gets funny. The for-profit hospital lobby is majorly Republican, big McCain supporters, and a huge source of Republican K street revolving door lobbying "talent." It's loaded with lawyers who pop back and forth between advisor positions and lobbyist positions without even having to put down their steak knives.
So why has Palin been pushing to make things so hard on the poor widdle for-profit hospitals in Alaska (where there are probably more than their share of uninsured homeless GSWs, what with all that wild moose shooting going on out of helicopters and all)?
Her one idea on health care policy is obscure, parochial, and contrary to the party she says she stands behind. So OK, I gave her a chance, she fails, and now it's open season. Thanks for the link, BA.
Oh and, um, Dear Police of St. Paul: What part of "he's not resisting" do you not understand?
OK, so it's not up to the one in The American Wife. But here's a try:
There once was a lady named Hannah
Who choked on a great big banana
Her teeth couldn't stop it
Nor the epiglottis
But it stopped when it hit vox humana.
2 comments:
To arrest Amy Goodman, patron saint of journalists who give a shit, was too much to bear. When you see the video, all she asks the cops is what happened to her producers. Seems reasonable, since they took them away...
And I haven't seen a bloodletting like the one on Guiliani Night (re: Sarah Palin Night) at the Republican Convention since the graduation party scene in Abel Ferrara's "The Addiction." Scary, scary red meat people. So I was moved to write to the St. Paul chief of police, and I tracked down his email. I never received a response or had thugs sent to my home to beat me, so maybe the response to his department's fine work generated many missives of congratulations in his direction. Here was mine. -- John S.
"As an American, I am deeply embarrassed by the actions of the St Paul Police Department taken during during the Republican National Convention. I know it is a very difficult and dangerous task to be asked to maintain order during a convention in such a tense election year, but you must remember that your first role is to uphold the law of the land and the rights embedded in the Constitution of the United States of America. What, to you, is America, without the fundamental right to free speech, for example? Do you know the sacrifice our forefathers made to create this country to give liberty to those rights?
You are in a position of great trust and responsibility and the actions of your officers reflect poorly on your wisdom. I heard firsthand about the herding of peaceful marchers. I heard about the yellow tape, the inability to leave, the threats of tasing. We are ALL Americans, Mr. Harrington. It is an absolute disgrace the way you treated the people you are sworn to defend. Not just the politicians inside the arena, but the people exercising their rights as protected by law. You should thank God every night the journalist Amy Goodman is out there reporting truths and exposing abuses of power. Instead, you arrest her. Have you ever considered that treating political speech in the same way you treat violent crime is by definition fascist? With all due respect, exactly whose side are you on?"
"There once was a lady named Hannah
Who choked on a great big banana
Her teeth couldn't stop it
Nor the epiglottis
But it stopped when it hit vox humana."
oh, that's good!!!!
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