The Blackwell of the South

If you are white, you know all about something that my friend iomi calls the "racist elbow." That's when you are alone with other white people and they think that they can feel free to share some sort of racist remark with you, and you will be on the same page as them. TomPaine.com recently reported on just such a thing, which they call a "just us" moment, that happened with Katherine Harris, the Ken Blackwell of the 'O2 elections. Only this time it wasn't about race. In fact, it sounds eerily like what I just blogged about Blackwell. While being interviewd by a reporter from a Baptist publication she said:

… that lie we have been told, the separation of church and state, people have internalized, thinking that they needed to avoid politics and that is so wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers. And if we are the ones not actively involved in electing those godly men and women and if people aren’t involved in helping godly men in getting elected than we’re going to have a nation of secular laws. That’s not what our founding fathers intended and that certainly isn’t what God intended.

Yikes!! The lie about the separation of church and state?! Our founding fathers didn't want separation of church and state? Then why exactly, as the Interfaith Alliance pointed out, it mentioned in line ONE of the Bill of Rights? I guess its easy to say that, and get away with it because its not like people actually pay attention to what happened last year, let alone pay attention to some dusty old document like that. People like Harris seem to forget that,

If there is not freedom from the imposition of religion, there is not freedom for the free practice of religion.
-Kim Baldwin, director of public policy at the Interfaith Alliance

But then here is my favorite part of the interview:

If you are not electing Christians, tried and true, under public scrutiny and pressure, if you’re not electing Christians then in essence you are going to legislate sin. They can legislate sin.

Wow. I'll just leave it at that.

Like I Said...

Gotta love YouTube.

Thanks for Letting Me Know

Our beloved Secretary of State has once again, given me reason to want to vomit. In talking about his stance on the separation of church and state, he tell us:

We are fundamental believers in the fact that the public square should not be stripped or scrubbed clean of religion or faith or God. I will fight for the right of the nonbeliever to not believe, because we all have a right to be wrong.

Thank goodness that he is giving us the right to be wrong. How very sweet of him. My question for him is this: how exactly does his Christian "faith" influence his actions in the public square? By attempting to end poverty? By treating others how he would like to be treated? By overturning the money changers tables in the temple? By being the good samaritan? Oh no, that's right, his expressions of faith are more along the lines of taking a line or two from the Bible and then trying to turn that into legislation: Issue 1 for example (which makes domestic partnership illegal). Because we all know how much Jesus preached about how people loving each other is wrong. Or maybe it has more to do with lying and hypocracy. Not combating it, but doing it. From the Dayton Daily News:

Blackwell Won't Press for Disclosure on Attack Ads Aimed at Strickland

Four years ago, Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell said voters should have the right to know who is behind groups that secretly pay for political ads.

"Without knowing who is behind these ads, voters are forced to make decisions without being fully informed," Blackwell told lawmakers considering campaign reforms in November 2002. "The secrecy surrounding the funding of these advertisements contributes to the erosion of voter confidence in the political process ..."

And now?

Four years later, as a candidate for governor, Blackwell is the beneficiary of this type of ad from a group that has managed to keep its contributors secret. Blackwell dodged a reporter's question Monday about whether he still believes issue-advocacy groups should disclose their donors.

Instead of answering any question directly himself, or standing in front of the public and being up front with us, he does his usual trick of sending out his toady Carlo LoParo, whose response is:

It's what the law allows.

Since when has Blackwell given two shits about the law?

"Straight Talk"

[Disclaimer: I have had one wonderful doctor in a hospital setting, and have witnessed other good doctors, as well as caring and humane nurses, but this post had to be written, because unfortunately, those wonderful human beings who were there for me when I needed humanity the most, were in the minority, not the majority. It has been my experience that the blame for all problems with the health care system from financing on down to bad hospital stays is placed firmly on the shoulder of the patients: frivolous lawsuits from overly litigious and greedy patients; patients who use "too much" health care; and patients who just complain too much and have the nerve to actually be ill and ask for help from medical professionals for it. As an often time patient, I know how truly powerless we are in the sick care system, and how unbelievably frustrating and agonizing it can be. That's why I wrote this pissed off post.]

I came across a publication today, entitled "Straight Talk About Hospitalization: A Guide for IBD Patients." I found the link to this guide through a website, Crohns & Me which I wished had been in existence, or at least I wish I had known about it when I was first diagnosed. At any rate, even though I have had a couple of hospitalizations and know what to expect, and how to make things as easy on me as possible, the thought of this straight talking guide made me excited. Wow! I thought. Maybe I can pick up some pointers, because as anyone who has been a patient in a hospital knows: it SUCKS, and any help a person can get, I will take!

I began reading, and immediately became suspicious. The text begins:

Communicating effectively with your medical team
Remember, the painful emotions you are experiencing may impact the people around you. Doctors and nurses care deeply about your emotional as well as your physical well-being. Therefore, when you feel depressed, scared or helpless, you may be misinterpreted by your medical team as being demanding and impatient. Your medical team is working hard to get you well. They need your patience, courtesy and understanding.

Deep breath. THEY need my patience, courtesy and understanding? WE need to keep our emotions in check, lest it adversely affect the staff whose only concern is for us, the patient? Yeah RIGHT!! Sorry, I mean I have had some good doctors, a few good nurses, and some great CPA's, but its painfully obvious to the scared, sick, confused patient that you don't exist as a human being to most of the people working at the hospital. You are a specimen, an unimportant afterthought. The disease you have is what the medical staff cares about, not you.

This is not the place that you spend most of your time, unlike the medical staff who are there daily for their jobs. You don't know how things are supposed to work, what is supposed to be happening, what is the norm, and on top of it all, if you are hospitalized, you are feeling horrible. It should not be up to us the patients to make sure that things go smoothly. Its not our fault when we get stuck sitting on a gurney for hours with no idea why, with no one answering our questions, with no one answering when you are desperately calling to have your bed pan removed after you've been left alone on it for hours at a time, and on and on. But the guide explains why you have to be ignored sometimes:

Things often take more time than expected
It is important to remember, however, that procedures sometimes get off schedule because each patient is given the time and attention they need. When it is your turn, you will be given all the time you need as well.

HA!!!!!! Mmmm hmmmm, that's why nothing happens when it is supposed to. That is why you are woken in the middle of the night for some god awful test that you were never told about, and have no one to ask questions of except the person who was sent to move your bed from one place to another, who know nothing except the lay out of the hospital, and where they are supposed to leave you. It is because they are spending so much time with patients. I'm sorry, but when it was my turn, I never did get "all the time I need." I was never even spoken TO, only over, from one medical staff person to another, unless I was the squeaky wheel that no one wants to have to be. And apparently, this guide doesn't want you to be squeaking either, lest you be "misunderstood."

They all really care about you, its just you, the patient, who doesn't understand and who needs to make things go right. For example, you might need to put your nurse at ease, because he may be a little uncomfortable having to deal with a patient who has such awkward symptoms.

It can be uncomfortable for both the patient and the nurse when dealing with stool....A little humor may help to ease the tension.

Poor nurse, you gotta help them out. Because remember:

Although your nurse will undoubtedly want to assist with your emotional needs, their time is often limited. They may feel frustrated if they cannot assist you in the manner they would like.

Ohhhh, so that explains why nurses tend to act like they hate you, and that you are the enemy. It is because they just care about your emotions so much, and are so frustrated by not being able to help in the way they want to. It's up to us guys to ease their nerves, and make sure that their stay at the hospital is a pleasant one. I'm sorry, but in my experience, the lower you are on the totem pole of a hospital (minus the administrative staff who LOATHE patients, I know, I used to work along side them), the more sympathetic and caring you are to patients, the more you treat them like human beings.

Why the Middle Class is Losing Ground

Because apparently, those who are talking about the middle class have no fucking clue what it actually means. See the article from Jonathan Schwarz on www.TomPaine.com.

Rick Santorum's and Joe Lieberman; what hard working salt of the earth types, no? Joe's response to being told that the working class is being forgotten:

"I came out of the middle class," he said, "and, being a senator, I haven’t gone much beyond the middle class."

Ummm, yeah, Joe and his wife (not counting assets) in 2005

together made $366,084. This places them securely in the top 1 percent of U.S. households.

And Rick, ewwww, Santorum (thanks Savage Love) says:

"We live paycheck to paycheck, absolutely,'' he says. Does he have money set aside for college? ''No. None. I always tell my kids: 'Work hard. We'll take out loans. Whatever.'"

His parents even contribute now and again to his measly salary of $162,100. Poor guy!! Let's help him out and have a fundraiser for the struggling middle class politicians shall we?

Phew (Pain Part IV)

The Washington Post reported today on the overturning of the conviction of a doctor who was charged with being, basically, a common street hustler.

Patient and medical advocates hailed the decision. "It's about time that courts start to realize that these are doctors, not drug dealers," said Kathryn Serkes, a spokeswoman for the Arizona-based Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

Hurwitz's attorney, Marvin D. Miller, said the "good faith" argument ran to the core of Hurwitz's defense because "he believed what he was doing was helping patients with their pain."

This doesn't mean that he is out of the woods, just that he gets a new trial.

Now, you all know how I feel about the difficulties that chronic pain sufferers go through to get relief and how frustrating it is. This could be a big hallelujah, but I honestly don't know enough about the case. In fact, if he is what the prosecutors claim he is (though I know they can tend towards over zealousness with their DEA crackdowns), then fuck him because he makes it that much harder for us to get the relief we need. But if he is what the patient advocates say, then THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Doctor McLean for putting your life on the line for us.

A Different Side (Medical Malpractice Crisis My Ass Part IV)

[Thanks to the comments of an anonymous poster, I've decided to take a slightly different slant on my regular rant.]

We've heard all the arguments, pondered what was to be done about it, debated if it even in fact exists. That's rights folks, its time for my favorite topic: the medical malpractice "crisis." As you know from past posts (Parts I, II, III), I'm angered by the way supposed lack of tort reform has been used as a sorry excuse for the rising costs of health care in this country, which I'm damn sure can't be solved by taking away a patient's protections. And in fact, it turns out that even if the fear of being sued went away, that wouldn't do much for patient's safety (and we already know it would do nothing for cost containment.)

The Seattle Times published an article based on a study regarding a doctor's decisions to tell, or to not tell an unknowing, unsuspecting patient about a medical mistake that had been made. The title of the article is Lawsuit fears aren't reason for docs' silence on errors.

As debates over medical malpractice raged in Washington and across the country, many doctors have blamed a litigious system in the United States for discouraging doctors from openly admitting mistakes to patients. Those same doctors have held up the Canadian system, which drastically limits liability and discourages lawsuits, as a model.

But it turns out that it's not the risk of lawsuits that zips doctors' lips but rather the "culture of medicine" itself, say leading researchers on the subject.

I couldn't imagine the difficulty of being a doctor, or surgeon, or caregiver of any kind, when someone else's life is in my hands. I know many if not MOST physicians take this responsibility with the utmost seriousness and gravitas that it deserves. Of course that's not to say that there are uncaring SOB's out there practicing medicine (as witnessed by this Washington Post article) who could give a care about you as the patient, but that's not my point.

My point is that if you are going to allow 46 million U.S.ians to go uninsured, and allow 18,000 of them to DIE every year because of it, and then blame it on frivolous medical malpractice suits which are the cause of sky rocketing health care costs, you've got to be out of your mind, and think that the rest of us are too.

Canadians don't have better health outcomes, and more general coverage than we do because of their system of "don't tell the patient" therefore don't get sued, therefore don't have out of control insurance costs that makes health care unaffordable.

Doctor's fears of getting sued don't keep insurance costs down, or make for a more just health care system.

disclosure is... crucial to improving patient safety, advocates such as Larson say.

"This code of silence, this conspiracy of silence does not work for reducing errors," Larson said. "What we know now is it does nobody any good to bury a mistake or cover up a mistake; you can't correct what led to the mistake unless you deal with it explicitly."

It's a simple and human fact that it's damn fucking hard to admit to a mistake, especially when it's one that could change a person's life forever. Understandable, but not excusable. Let's now follow this red herring of "crisis" and out of control costs. Let's make sure that patients are getting the best care possible, and when they aren't, let's make sure they know about it, and have the right to recourse.

Follow Up

The front page of the metro section of the Columbus Dispatch today carried a story: Official's F-16 flight no joy ride, aide says

Lt. Gov. Bruce E. Johnson cruised Downtown yesterday in one hot ride, real fast and real loud.

Office workers and residents were surprised by the sudden appearance of an F-16D fighter jet roaring overhead about 2 p.m. In the rear seat, behind the pilot, was Johnson.

The Ohio Air National Guard jet made two quick passes overhead before flying off.

"We had 911 calls galore," a Columbus police dispatch supervisor said. "One lady called me absolutely panicked because they were flying so low."

At least it wasn't only me who was horrified. Unfortunately, despite the article's headline, I kind of doubt that it wasn't a joy ride. His excuse:

Training flights usually do not go over cities, National Guard Lt. Katherine Arvai said. But because Johnson was aboard, the pilot had flight controllers’ permission to make a couple of passes over the Statehouse...

Johnson wasn’t out for a joy ride, said his spokesman, Merle Madrid.

"It’s not just the thrill of riding shotgun in an F-16," Madrid said. "He was learning about the program."

The flight served as an orientation to give Johnson an idea of the plane’s flight characteristics, Arvai said.

And just why exactly does the Lt. Governor need to understand an F-16's characteristics?

The jet was with the 178 th Fighter Wing and flew out of the Springfield Air National Guard Base. Johnson has been instrumental in trying to bring a new mission to the Springfield base, she said. The base is slated to lose its F-16s in 2010 because of the base realignment and closure program.

"This helps him understand what he is helping us fight for," she said.

Ohhhhh, now I get it! Because even though he is already trying to make sure that they don't get their F-16s taken away, maybe he will fight a little harder if he would see just how COOL they are!!! And besides, its not like it cost the tax payers any extra:

The pilot already was scheduled to fly a training mission yesterday and Johnson had some free time in his schedule.

Marla Day

I had a "Marla Day" today. Really, I shouldn't say that, or I shouldn't name it that because we all know that Marla was...well, maybe it was a Marla day.

I was having a wonderful "back to school" lunch with my mom at a ritzy restaurant, on their beautiful terrace, this fine afternoon. We've always had these lunches since I was little, and even though I don't go back to school anymore, I did just start a new job, so it counts.

As we were finishing our bisque and waiting for the bill to come, we heard a noise. OK, that is understating it to say the least. The whole sky shook, your eardrums vibrated to the point that auditorily you could barely understand what was happening. I have lived in Nevada and am somewhat accustomed to planes breaking the sound barrier, but this noise, this shaking of the earth/sky/spirit was so disconcerting that I hardly knew what to do with myself.

The blocks of blue sky and dappled sunlight peeking between the patio's shading umbrellas made it almost impossible to see anything above that might be causing this, but everyone looked up to see what the fuck was going on. I looked around at the other diners who had horrified looks on their faces, same as I must have had myself. Then I swung around to the table across from me where there sat three blonde ladies of varying ages, with the most excited ear to ear grins I have ever seen. One stood up to reach across the table to another and gave her most enthusiastic high five. I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. They continued with their "yeah!" responses with each other, and I continued to sit and try to enjoy the afternoon. Not one minute later it happened again, and people began going out to the street and looking up to see what they could. The blondes' enthusiasm grew.

The sound was the sound of confusion, of uncertainty, of power. It was the sound of war. It took most all of my body and soul not to leap across the patio at them and shout: I hope that someone drops a bomb on your family!

I understood that these women probably had a pilot in their family, and they were used to the sound and to them it meant excitement and pride. But the only reason that an invisible overhead explosion like that could be anything but utterly terrifying is because of where we live. Of COURSE no one is about to drop a bomb on us, or our family, or who knows where. Of COURSE it was just some sort of air show or routine mission. Of COURSE we weren't all about to die, or to watch others die. Of COURSE we weren't about to go home to find our houses and markets and schools and bridges and families blasted to smithereens. It was just FUN and exciting, tee hee.

FUCK THAT!!!! As I sit here and type this, there are innocent human beings going about their business, eating lunch on a patio, doing their daily errands, who are looking up at a drone heard high above them, not knowing what it holds, not knowing.... innocent human beings just like us. There is nothing exciting or fun about war. We can and should have pride in the men and women who have chosen to defend us, but that unfortunately is not what is happening. We are not safer. We are just at war and it seems like this country and our allied countries go about their daily business, anesthetized to that fact. Unaware, truly, of the unimaginable horror we aid in unleashing every moment of the day. Just as a suicide bomber is terrorism, so are we. We just choose not to acknowledge it, hoping that in our ignorance we will be shielded. I pray that we can all (yes, all all all all all all) live in such ignorant bliss.

Back to the title of this post. As I felt all of this emotion of nastiness towards these blissfully ignorant women, I knew that I shouldn't say anything to them. It would not be right. So I apologized to my wonderful mother and walked back to the car, sobbing from deep within my soul, the shared soul of humanity, of all of us. I sobbed from the soul of those women though they didn't know it. And I thought of Marla. And my God I miss her.