Hyprocrisy Sucks, Part Health Care

ok, someday I will actually weigh in a little bit about my opinions on the attempts to reform health care in this country.  They are something along the lines of – Duh, socialized health care can work in some places.  Let’s move on.  It probably won’t work in the US.  I’m not advocating it here.  But stop saying it’s a failure everywhere in the world.  Just stop. 

I think a debate on health care does need to include some ideas for tort reform.  I’m not sure what the President’s reasons are for not advocating caps on liability lawsuits.  I think they should be considered.  Not happy with the idea that no tort reform may happen, given that I think that (most) lawsuits suck. 

As far as end of life counseling, I’ve had “the talk” with a parent.  That parent then became incapacitated and died.  I’m very thankful we had the end-of-life talk so that I, my mother, my sister, and my brother-in-law understood exactly what my father did and did not want to happen as he died.  We did it on our own as a family, with some help from an attorney years ago who helped mom and dad draw up some legal papers.  If the new health care reforms include reimbursements for families to have these discussions ahead of time, I say – Hoorah.  How you twist that around to then propagandize that the health care reforms will result in killing infirm people involuntarily…….I’m not sure.  Oh wait…….I do understand how that happens – IT MAKES FOR GOOD TV.  Bravo. 

For the moment, I have to applaud the archivists (again) over at the Daily Show for pulling together this little gem of old footage to display Glen Beck’s hypocrisy when debating health care issues in the United States.  I do think Jon Stewart gets a little overly snarky here, but then – the bad rhetoric is rising in this country these days.  Not a good thing.

<td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'Glenn Beck’s Operation

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There is no logic where emotions are concerned

…I have in the past railed against a sometimes excessive use of litigation by environmentalists. And I understand the argument that, if you can’t demonstrate the success of Recovery Plans for endangered species to restore a healthy population, then what is the use of a Recovery Plan? And what is the best evidence of success? To remove a species from the list of threatened or endangered species.

Which is what happened this year for the gray wolves in the contiguous 48 states (they were never listed as threatened or endangered in Alaska). Having watched the process unfold since the Recovery Plan was first formulated…….having written my own recovery plan of sorts for the wolf for a senior project in college……..I did count the move as a measure of success. I did.

I get it. And in the case of the wolf, some of the Fish and Wildlife Service folks who have been working on wolf reintroduction for many, many years claim there is good reason to delist them. But delisting them is one thing. Actively opening up hunting season amongst a group of people who hate this animal is quite another. You can just see the licked lips and cocked guns of the men waiting to (legally) bag themselves a wolf in the lower 48 states with management turned over to Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. And it isn’t a pretty picture. There are better ways to manage the population.

And logic can be known to fly out the window for me when I am dealing with a topic that can either warm my heart or boil my blood. I can admit that. And this topic can, and has, done both for over 20 years for me.

So, ha. I’ll count this as a victory for the wolf. From the news article:

A federal judge has restored endangered species protections for gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, derailing plans by three states to hold public wolf hunts this fall.

A victory for my animal. Not the entire environmental movement. Don’t attribute motivation to me that I don’t have. This is an emotional issue for me and it is limited to this one animal. Whatever the battles in court, the wolf will eventually be delisted permanently. Is it too much to ask these states to not try and hunt them into extinction the moment that happens? Go back and work on it Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. Haven’t we learned any lessons from our past actions here in the United States?

Wait………what was I talking about?

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Stop the Blame Game

You know how I mentioned the big wildfire up near South Lake Tahoe?

It’s still raging and many structures have been destroyed and it really sucks. And residents, especially evacuees and people who have lost structures, are all very upset. Understandably so.

But what’s the first thing everyone seems to be doing?

Blaming someone else.

They are blaming the Forest Service for not completing enough prescribed burns. They are blaming the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency for not allowing them to cut trees. They are blaming every agency they can name.

WTF?

You live in a FOREST. According to experienced fire fighters, these are the driest conditions that have seen for 40 years. You can’t blame anyone for that (well, I’m sure people can). One woman came on the news last night and explained that she did cut out 100 feet (or is it yards..?) of defensible space around her home, and her home did not burn. Some residents may blame the Forest Service or other government agencies for not letting them cut trees, but I’m sure many residents never tried to clear trees and brush away from their houses. How do I know? They showed one house on the news that had a huge pine tree as one corner of their patio deck. Intentionally built into the house. Very pretty. But it’s a tall freaking pine tree with pine needles right above your house. I understand not wanting to cut away all the trees around your house when you live in a beautiful forest. But why scream blame at someone else when this kind of uncontrollable accident happens? Why are we always looking for someone to blame?

I’ve admitted that I would be devastated if my entire home was destroyed. I don’t mind people being distraught. But why, why is it – the first thing they do is have a meeting and scream at public agencies? Are they trying to set up their lawsuit cases already? Or are they just trying to redirect all their personal frustration on someone else, as if that will assuage their own grief? Why not focus on yourself, and your family, and concentrate on getting your insurance payments (you were insured, right?). Why add grief upon grief by screaming at everyone else, when YOU LIVE IN A FOREST and everyone *says* they were expecting this type of fire at some time or another? Why distract yourself with more reasons to be upset and angry? Why not at least wait until the fire is controlled and officials can concentrate on what you have to say, rather than have to deal with a raging mob who points blame before the final ember is extinguished? No one likes a raging mob.

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