Diana’s Death, 12 Years On, Offers Lessons for Health Care Debate

Although Beloved Princess Was ‘a Goner, ‘ Experts Find Guidance in French System

abc NEWS Politics

By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
Aug. 31, 2009

The Mercedes 600 carrying Princess Diana and her companion Dodi Fayed was traveling more than 85 miles per hour when it hit a concrete pillar head-on in the Place D’Alma underpass, crumbling like an accordion.

Both were killed, as well as the driver, Henri Paul — later proven to have been under the influence of alcohol.

The Paris accident — just before 12:30 a.m. local time 12 years ago today — ended the life of one of Britain’s most celebrated royals, unleashing a torrent of emotion in that historically stoic culture and catapulting Diana to near sainthood status. …

… But the most baffling question was whether doctors could have done more to prevent Diana, 36, from dying.

The horrific accident illustrated the difference between the French and U.S. approaches to emergency care — a relatively small piece of the French medical system, but deemed by some people to be the best in the world and often cited as a model for U.S. health care overhaul. …

… Diana’s last hour — in cardiac arrest and bleeding to death — was spent in a mobile medical unit parked a few hundred yards from Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, where an emergency team followed French protocol and administered treatment at the scene of the accident and en route to the hospital.

At the time, many people surmised that had a U.S. ambulance responded, Diana would have been rushed to the nearest emergency room, where a full set of professionals and diagnostic equipment might have revived her. …

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/HealthCare/story?id=8437560

The world felt the pain of Diana’s tragic death. And many thought that whoever was responsible for her death was going to pay – dearly. I believe there were facts revealed – concerning her death but the “health care system” of France did not come in for extensive criticism.

The author said:

Diana’s last hour — in cardiac arrest and bleeding to death — was spent in a mobile medical unit parked a few hundred yards from Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, where an emergency team followed French protocol and administered treatment at the scene of the accident and en route to the hospital.

At the time, many people surmised that had a U.S. ambulance responded, Diana would have been rushed to the nearest emergency room, where a full set of professionals and diagnostic equipment might have revived her.

The author could very well be within reason for making statements like the above. Nobody knows how an American scenario would have played out. Nobody knows how, even the same accident – at a different time-of-day(TOD) in France would have played out.  The TOD of the accident was very early morning – a time when hospitals are not generally fully staffed:

At around 12:20 a.m. on 31 August 1997, the Princess and Dodi Fayed left the Ritz to return to the apartment in rue Arsène Houssaye. They were the rear passengers in a Mercedes-Benz S280 W140, registration number “688LTV75″, driven by Paul. Trevor Rees-Jones, a member of the Fayed family’s personal protection team, was in the front passenger seat. They left from the rear of the hotel, the Rue Cambon exit. After crossing the Place de la Concorde they drove along Cours la Reine and Cours Albert 1er (the embankment road running parallel to the River Seine) into the Place de l’Alma underpass. At around 12:23 a.m. at the entrance to the tunnel, their driver lost control; the car swerved to the left of the two-lane carriageway before colliding head-on with the thirteenth pillar supporting the roof at an estimated speed of 105 km/h (65 mph).^[7] It then spun and hit the stone wall of the tunnel backwards, finally coming to a stop. The impact of the crash reduced the car to a pile of wreckage. There was no guard rail between the pillars to prevent this. …

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Diana,_Princess_of_Wales#Circumstances

Does France have universal health care? Since the current neocon – American people issue is universal health care, I decided to search the Internet. Currently,except for my ISP,  that can be done  free of charge. Here is what I found:

“Single-payer health insurance” is used to describe the primary systems of health care funding used in Canada and the United Kingdom. Multi-payer systems are used in France and Germany, but like Canada and the United Kingdom, health care in both of these countries is primarily financed by publicly controlled insurers.

Health care systems vary according to the extent of government involvement in providing care, ranging from nationalized health care systems (such as the U.K. and Sweden) to decentralized private or non-profit institutions (as in Germany and France). Universal health care is implemented in all industrialized countries, with the exception of the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_health_care

Is Diana’s death really a lesson for health care debate?

***

Technorati Tags: diana’s death,lessons for health care debate,mobile medical unit,treatment at the scene,rushed to nearest emergency room,time of day of accident,single payer health insurance,multi-payer,canada,united kingdom

Kerry Slams Cheney on ‘This Week’

abc NEWS

George’s Bottom Line

Reporting and analysis from ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent and “This Week” Host George Stephanopoulos

August 30, 2009

In our interview this morning, John Kerry hit back at Dick Cheney’s charge on Fox News that the Attorney General’s decision to investigate possible CIA abuses is an “outrageous political act.”

“Dick Cheney has shown through the years, frankly, a disrespect for the constitution for sharing of information to Congress and a [dis]respect for the law and I’m not surprised that he’s upset about this,” Kerry told me this morning on “This Week.”

Senator Orrin Hatch defended the former Veep’s position, saying that the Obama Administration’s probe into CIA interrogation techniques of terror detainees would weaken efforts for protecting national security.

“We don’t want to cripple our ability in very crucial times to get the information we gotta have to save our country and to protect our people,” Hatch told me during our interview this morning on ‘This Week.’

Kerry conceded that the issue has caused tension within the administration itself. …

http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2009/08/kerry-slams-cheney-on-this-week.html

When the neocons come in for criticism of their usually train-wreck performance, they quickly wrap themselves in a symbolic reference to America.

They wrapped themselves in the American flag when their Iraq war performance proved they “knew not what they were doing”. But, any criticism of the neocon “performance” was treated as criticism of AMERICA and criticism of the armed forces of America. It was rare to never that they  “entertained” publicly the idea that they needed the help that the senior Bush offered.

And now the focus changes to America’s delving into un-American activities in the CIA world. The CIA is a part of America – just as the Congress is a part of America – just as the Executive branch is a part of America and just as the Judicial Branch is a part of America.

America is not – and hopefully never will be defined by NEOCONS.

It should, by now, be obvious that the CIA has been politicized. Perhaps those 25 Democrats who voted to change the CIA leadership from civilian to military may have helped the neocons strengthen their hold on the CIA. Perhaps now, there is no American citizen, working for the CIA, who would attempt to expose “illegal spying on American citizens”.

The neocons, who may have contributed bad behavior to the CIA, are now squealing like “stuck pigs”. It is likely that they squeal more for themselves or their party than for the CIA itself.

***

Technorati Tags: john kerry,dick cheney,attorney general,cia abuses,disrespect for constitution,disrespect for the law,senator orrin hatch,obama administration

Murdoch attack on ‘dominant’ BBC

James Murdoch has said that a “dominant” BBC threatens independent journalism in the UK.

The chairman of the media giant in Europe, which owns the Times and Sun, also blamed the UK government for regulating the media “with relish”.

“The expansion of state-sponsored journalism is a threat to the plurality and independence of news provision,” he told the Edinburgh Television Festival.

The scope of the BBC’s activities and ambitions was “chilling”, he added.

Organisations like the BBC, funded by the licence fee, as well as Channel 4 and Ofcom, made it harder for other broadcasters to survive, he argued.

‘Chilling’

“The BBC is dominant,” Mr Murdoch said. “Other organisations might rise and fall but the BBC’s income is guaranteed and growing.”…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8227915.stm

Sometimes really strange stuff appears in the news world. The above post sounds like the business managers of News Corporation did not read about other businesses, suffering the same financial problems as News Corporation but minus the “knocking” of other businesses in the same line of work.

When you make your bed, you ought to be ready to sleep in it.

The rules have not changed. News Corporation knew or should have known what the rules were when it decided to “corner a large part of the news market”. BBC was there when News Corporation was buying up news sources.

News Corporation – welcome to the real world of General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Chrysler, Big Banks and Big Investment firms. They are all experiencing BIG money problems due to a recession that was in progress a year before some political leaders realized it. Many businesses failed. Some will not recover. And BBC played no role in bringing on the recession.

It must be assumed that News Corporation is searching for a response to the world-wide recession. Other businesses on planet earth are doing the same thing. But “how cum” BBC is a part of News Corporation’s problem?

Is BBC helping to manage News Corporation? Why is News Corporation just now relating to BBC? The next thing you might see is America’s health care industry knocking Great Britain’s health care industry if America’s health care industry gets into financial difficulty(not likely). News Corporation knew of BBC’s relationship to its government. If that was an insurmountable problem then perhaps News Corporation should have picked a different line of work. When there is a choice between watching BBC and watching FOX News – well, what do YOU think? Perhaps that is no choice at all.

How did BBC get to be “dominant”? Certainly NOT by trying to corner the market by buying up news sources. Certainly not by its relationship to its government. People watch and read BBC news. If people did not watch or read BBC news then News Corporation might not have  a complaint. News Corporation is quoted as saying:

“The expansion of state-sponsored journalism is a threat to the plurality and independence of news provision,”

Now put ” plurality and independence”  in your pipe and smoke it. I have never been compelled to search for a definition of journalism after reading or viewing BBC news. I can’t say the same for viewing news stories in general. When I read the columnist’s story that said Mr. Bush might be helped politically after a federal judge told Mr. Bush his Guanatanomo activities were outside his authority – I was NOT  reading BBC news. Acting outside one’s authority could be “construed” as breaking the law – I thought. And I went searching for “free” Internet content that would tell me just what a columnist is. I found  ”free” content which described journalists using four categories.” Truth” was number one but the last two were “opinion and columns”.

FOX News is owned by News Corporation. FOX News bears no resemblance to BBC. Perhaps a good place to start reconstruction of News Corporation’s empire could be FOX News. The managers of News Corporation could find out how BBC selects and delivers its news content – then find a way to provide a similar news content. And if FOX News was going to be the test model, FOX News could likely change its approach to its  news content. Perhaps its  neocon “honey pot” could be modified or thrown out.

When YOU make your bed then YOU sleep in it.

***

Technorati Tags: murdoch attack,dominant bbc,threatens independent journalism,state sponsored journalism

Obama Vows to Speed Hurricane Katrina Recovery Effort

The New York Times

Politics

By HELENE COOPER

Published August 29, 2009

OAK BLUFFS, Mass. — President Obama used his weekly radio address on Saturday to note the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, pledging to work to advance the recovery effort along the Gulf Coast and announcing that he would visit New Orleans before the end of the year.

“None of us can forget how we felt when those winds battered the shore, the floodwaters began to rise and Americans were stranded on rooftops and in stadiums,” Mr. Obama said. “Over a thousand people would lose their lives. Over a million people were displaced. Whole neighborhoods of a great American city were left in ruins. Communities across the Gulf Coast were forever changed. And many Americans questioned whether government could fulfill its responsibility to respond in a crisis, or contribute to a recovery that covered parts of four states.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/us/politics/30radio.html?_r=1

Hurricane Katrina showcased America’s neocon  disaster readiness plan. America was unready for a disaster. The train-wreck performance by the neocons will long stay in America’s memory. Dead bodies floating down America’s streets will also be long remembered.

Few of Katrina’s victims were in the neocons’ base. Katrina’s victims, in large part, came from the group that had no transportation out of harms way. They were at the mercy of America’s government – then “managed” by the neocons.

The neocons, after trying to “hand-off” the Katrina failure to the states, finally  put forth a feeble effort.

And a feeble effort may have been better for America than if the neocons had gone all-out. Had the neocons mounted a massive effort, that  likely would have produced a “massive train-wreck” for Katrina’s victims while enhancing corporate coffers.

Katrina and Hospitals:

Before Katrina struck, Americans were in New Orleans’ hospitals hoping for recovery from their illinesses, ailments and what-have-you. But the neocons’ “inept” response to Katrina put a stress on hospitals that hospitals were ill prepared to deal with.

America’s national government failed the New Orleans area and the domino pattern of falling civilizing structures began. Those who lived by the Hippocratic oath suddenly found themselves in a helpless situation. They could no longer help the helpless. Through no fault of their own, they had trouble trying to keep the helpless out of harms way. Was euthanasia more humane than fighting hurricane Katrina?

Katrina and The New Orleans Police Department:

The police was not there in their usual capacity of serving and protecting.  So ethnics got out their high powered rifles and went a-hunting other ethnics.

Katrina and a clergy member:

A clergy member made the “TELL AMERICA” press  by saying that GOD was punishing New Orleans for its sins. The clergy knew – right?

I have heard it said, that “in the beginning GOD created man and man did likewise”. And it looks like man did “likewise” over, and over, and over … It is difficult to find a people whose GOD does not approve of much of what they do.

Are you, as a people, into slavery, lynching and other forms of human torture? There was a time when you were free to sing religious hymns at those occasions.

***

Technorati Tags: obama,hurricane katrina,recovery effort,disaster rediness plan,neocons,katrina and hospitals,katrina and clergy,katrina and the new orleans police department,ethnics

RNC Suggests Dems May Deny GOP Health Care

A Survey Sent in the Mail by the Republican Party Suggests Democrats May Restrict Care to Republicans

CBS News

POLITICS

Aug. 28, 2009

(AP) The Republican national party has mailed a fundraising appeal that suggests Democrats might use an overhaul of the health care system to deny medical treatment to Republicans.

A questionnaire accompanying the appeal says the government could check voting registration records, “prompting fears that GOP voters might be discriminated against for medical treatment in a Democrat-imposed health care rationing system.”

It asks, “Does this possibility concern you?”
Katie Wright, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said the question was “inartfully worded.”

She said, however, that people should worry because government officials would have access to personal financial and medical data. …

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/28/politics/main5272000.shtml?tag=stack

Now lets go over this one again – S-L-O-W-L-Y:

“A S-u-r-v-e-y S-e-n-t in the M-a-i-l by the R-e-p-u-b-l-i-c-a-n P-a-r-t-y   s-u-g-g-e-s-t-s D-e-m-o-c-r-a-t-s M-a-y R-e-s-t-r-i-c-t C-a-r-e to            R-e-p-u-b-l-i-c-a-n-s”

How low can they go?

Now they want you to believe that Republicans will be subject to “bias” if Democrats are able to overcome their stonewalling of health care for all America. Let us revisit the definition of PROPAGANDA.

Noun: Propaganda

1. Information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause

WordWeb

The cause is the derailing of health care for Americans. Neocons want to derail health care for America. The health care industry also wants to derail health care for America. It is not unusual for Republicans to oppose health care for America’s citizens. They have provided opposition to Democrat’s efforts at health care since 1945 – 64 years.

So, if the Republicans continue “stonewalling” health care for America, and Democrats attempt to pass health care over their stonewalling,  then the Democrats  “may try to deny health care to Republicans” RIGHT?.

So, how will health care detect Republicans. It would be too clumsy to just come out and have an application form ask: “ARE YOU A REPUBLICAN”? That would surely raise a ruckus.

The neocons know or should know that an application will or should need to be filled out. You can’t manage what you can’t measure. The government should be asking questions to confirm citizenship and other details of the applicant. Knowing this, the Republicans have come up with another one of their “mind teasers” – how will the government form “detect” Republicans.

By now, every American ought to know  “NEVER TO TAKE REPUBLICAN’S RHETORIC AT FACE VALUE”. As few as “16 words” of rhetoric, taken at face value,  were helpful in steering America into a war with Iraq. The document that those “16 words” referred to were bogus. By now, every American ought to know “NEVER TO TAKE REPUBLICAN’S RHETORIC AT FACE VALUE”.  If necessary, “queue up the rhetoric” for later validation. That should help one “separate the wheat from the chaff”

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Technorati Tags: rnc,dems,deny gop health care,voting registration records,care rationing system,inartfully worded

Stagnant Incomes Raise Recovery Fears

TIME cnn

By AP/ MARTIN CRUT SINGER

Friday Aug. 28, 2009

(WASHINGTON) — Household income in the U.S. is essentially stagnant, raising doubts about whether consumers already hurt by job losses can sustain an economic recovery.

The now-ended Cash for Clunkers program helped lift consumer spending last month and is expected to provide an even bigger boost in August. But any rebound could falter if shoppers don’t boost their buying, which makes up about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity. “Consumers just don’t have the financial firepower to go out and spend more,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “Unless businesses curtail their job cuts, the recovery could very well peter out.” See 10 big recession surprises.

Stronger consumer spending is the key to a sustained recovery. For spending to rise, analysts said, income growth has to resume. …

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1919418,00.html

The neocons, early on, addressed income growth. Their “4 – point” economics plan, called VOODOO economics by some, has a component that addresses a possible cause of inflation – spending by consumers.

The thinking here, is quite simple. “consumers can’t spend what they never earned”. So hold wages flat and the inflation problem will eventually be solved. RIGHT?

Income growth took a hit as soon as the neocons got traction in America’s government. And while Americans were trying to budget a mortgage with the amusing name of “ADJUSTABLE” rate mortgage their incomes stayed flat. Income  was not growing. American productivity was increasing but wages did not follow suit. That is vividly shown by the  below graph:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5303590.stm

You might note that prior to 2001, Republicans and Democrats allowed American incomes to track productivity in an almost parallel fashion. And that makes sense! Why tell a HUGE segment of America’s population that it  should not benefit from its improved productivity?

Well, VOODOO economics told the American worker  that he/she should not benefit from improved productivity!!!

The full impact of the damage done to America during the rein of the neocons is becoming evident. Eventually the revealed information will make it into America’s history books. And the latter-day neocons will take their rightful place in history. They won’t likely have to ask any other administration to “step aside” for no other administration in recent memory has managed America so poorly. The latter-day neocons should have a special place reserved  just for them.

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Technorati Tags: stagnant incomes,recovery fears,household income in u.s. is essentially stagnant,cash for clunkers,busness curtail job cuts,stronger consumer spending,voodoo economics,neocons

In Health Care Debate, Fear Trumps Logic

npr

August 27, 2009

by JULIE ROVNER

Past efforts to overhaul the nation’s health care system had different proponents, different opponents and different plans that were under consideration. But they have two things in common: They all ended in failure, and in every case, opponents used fear as a key weapon in their arsenal.

So Jonathan Oberlander, a political scientist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says he’s not at all surprised to see recent claims — all thoroughly debunked — that suggest, for example, that bills under consideration would encourage senior citizens to commit suicide when they become ill or infirm.

“It’s really a case of deja vu,” he says. “You hear in today’s debate echoes of the past that extend all the way to the early part of the 20th century. And I think the reason that people use fear again and again is that it’s effective. It’s worked to stop health reform in the past. And so they’re going to try and use it in the present.”…

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112315433

Key Dem Calls Party Moderates “Brain Dead”

Rep. Pete Stark Says Blue Dogs Are Just Looking for Campaign Donations from Insurance companies

CBSNEWS POLITICS

WASHINGTON, August 27, 2009

(AP) A key House liberal suggested Thursday that party moderates who’ve pushed for changes in health care legislation are “brain dead” and out for insurance company campaign donations.

Moderate Blue Dog Democrats “just want to cause trouble,” said Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., who heads the health subcommittee on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

“They’re for the most part, I hate to say brain dead, but they’re just looking to raise money from insurance companies and promote a right-wing agenda that is not really very useful in this whole process,” Stark told reporters on a conference call.

Kristen Hawn, spokeswoman for the Blue Dog coalition, said in response that the lawmakers “have played an active and productive role in this important debate” and “believe it’s more important to get it right than to rush legislation on this complicated and critical issue.”…

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/27/politics/main5269699.shtml?tag=stack

The Washington Post

Health-Care Reform 2009

BLUE DOG DEMOCRATS

Industry Is Generous To Influential Bloc

By Dan Eggen

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 31, 2009

On June 19, Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas made clear that he and a group of other conservative Democrats known as the Blue Dogs were increasingly unhappy with the direction that health-care legislation was taking in the House.

“The committees’ draft falls short,” the former pharmacy owner said in a statement that day, citing, among other things, provisions that major health-care companies also strongly oppose.

Five days later, Ross was the guest of honor at a special “health-care industry reception,” one of at least seven fundraisers for the Arkansas lawmaker held by health-care companies or their lobbyists this year, according to publicly available invitations.

The roiling debate about health-care reform has been a boon to the political fortunes of Ross and 51 other members of the Blue Dog Coalition, who have become key brokers in shaping legislation in the House. Objections from the group resulted in a compromise bill announced this week that includes higher payments for rural providers and softens a public insurance option that industry groups object to. The deal also would allow states to set up nonprofit cooperatives to offer coverage, a Republican-generated idea that insurers favor as an alternative to a public insurance option. …

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073004267.html?hpid=topnews

WWW.geographic.org

a division of theodora.com

The World Health Organization’s ranking
of the world’s health systems.
Source: WHO World Health Report – See also Spreadsheet Details (731kb)

The World Health Organization’s ranking of the world’s health systems was last produced in 2000, and the WHO no longer produces such a ranking table, because of the complexity of the task.

1 France

2 Italy

3 San Marino

4 Andorra

5 Malta

6 Singapore

7 Spain

8 Oman

9 Austria

10 Japan

11 Norway

12 Portugal

13 Monaco

14 Greece

15 Iceland

16 Luxembourg

17 Netherlands

18 United Kingdom

19 Ireland

20 Switzerland

21 Belgium

22 Colombia

23 Sweden

24 Cyprus

25 Germany

26 Saudi Arabia

27 United Arab Emirates

28 Israel

29 Morocco

30 Canada

31 Finland

32 Australia

33 Chile

34 Denmark

35 Dominica

36 Costa Rica

37 United States of America

.

.

.

Total Health Expenditures as % of GDP, 2002-2005 – Country Rankings

1 Marshall Islands

2 United States of America

.

.

.

World Health Organization

The World Health Report 2008 – primary Health Care (Now More Than Ever)

Why a renewal of primary health care (PHC), and why now, more than ever? Globalization is putting the social cohesion of many countries under stress, and health systems are clearly not performing as well as they could and should. People are increasingly impatient with the inability of health services to deliver. Few would disagree that health systems need to respond better – and faster – to the challenges of a changing world. PHC can do that. …

http://www.who.int/whr/2008/en/index.html

It looks like America’s health care industry is getting top dollar for a service that is not ranked as tops. When the WHO report was written, America’s health care industry ranked # 37 in services delivered at a price that ranked # 2. They are protecting their bottom line.

Running a political campaign is expensive. Campaign contributions help keep politicians in office. And so far, the health care industry seems to be willing to “share the wealth” with politicians. The American population in general can be ignored. They are not really organized like business is – so they can’t easily mount a campaign against the health care industry. The American population, in general, depends upon their elected officials to carry out their wishes.

And in order to make sure that the American population UNDERSTANDS the issues – misinformation, propaganda, lies and perhaps even damn lies have been used to keep America informed. And so far, so good.  Harry S. Truman failed in 1945. And also, President Bill Clinton failed.

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Technorati Tags: health care debate,fear,logic,brain dead,blue dogs,right wing agenda,health care companies,lobbyists,world health organization,ranking of world’s health systems

America’s Presidential Impeachment Process – A Double Standard?

Impeachment of Bill Clinton:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bill Clinton, President of the United States, was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 19, 1998, and acquitted by the Senate on February 12, 1999. The charges, perjury, obstruction of justice, and abuse of power arose from the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the Paula Jones lawsuit. The trial proceedings were largely partisan, with no Democratic Senators voting for conviction and only five Democratic Representatives voting to impeach. In all, 55 senators voted not guilty, and 45 voted guilty on the perjury charge. The Senate also acquitted on the charge of obstruction, with 50 votes cast as not guilty, and 50 votes as guilty.^[1] It was only the second impeachment of a President in American history, following the impeachment of Andrew Johnson in 1868. …

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Bill_Clinton

Ex President Bill Clinton was impeached mainly by Republicans whose “values”, perhaps, were “assaulted” by a failure of Bill Clinton to tell the truth while under oath.

The source of the “problem” was a personal act. Nobody died, no treasury was sacked, no wars were started, no American agency was encouraged to spy on Americans.

No yellowcake lies concerning Iraq’s WMDs were told. No CIA covert agents were exposed. No attempt was made to persuade America’s Congress to sign on to a war using “bogus” evidence.

No Americans were illegally spied on. Sesame Street was not politicized. The CIA was not politicized. There was an ImpeachBush.Org;  but no matching ImpeachClinton.org.

Just what did ImpeachBush.Org say?

It wasn’t pretty. An earlier joejolly post listed the first twenty of ImpeachBush.Org’s charges here.

It is mind boggling that Republicans were more interested in personal touching than Impeachbush.Org charges. Perhaps that was  because those serious charges were being brought  against “one of their own”.

Should America’s impeachment process be “bias driven”? Will anyone ever understand the “value system” of the Republican party. No, I am not talking about “family values”. We already know about Republicans and family values. I’m talkin political values. I’m talkin where do they draw a line – below which they will not go? And where does America, the country, fit into that value system?

We have heard a description of America’s Constitution. It was described as an [EXPLETIVE DELETED] piece of paper. Where can their values be found? Perhaps – in The age of ‘neocons’ ?

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Technorati Tags: presidential impeachment process,double standard,republicans,neocons,impeachbush.org,bias driven,value system,family values,[expletive deleted] piece of paper

First “Gang Of Six” Member Backs Reconciliation For Health Care

THE HUFFINGTON POST

Ryan Grim

08-25-09

A Democratic member of the “Gang of Six” senators charged with finding a bipartisan solution to health care reform said at a town hall Monday that he would support using the budget reconciliation process to push a bill through the Senate if necessary.

Reconciliation is a parliamentary procedure that would allow Democrats to pass health care reform with 51 votes, meaning the party could do it without any Republican support.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico has been one of three Democrats participating in the widely-watched Finance Committee negotiations. His willingness to consider reconciliation is another sign that a a genuine bipartisan deal may be impossible.

“We made a provision in the budget resolution [earlier this year] that it could be used to try to enact health care provisions related to health care reform,” Bingaman said. “There are restrictions to what you can include in that…but I would support it if that’s the only way.”…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/25/first-gang-of-six-member_n_268518.html

President Harry S. Truman(Democratic President)  tried to get health care for Americans in 1945. He wanted to give America’s children the same rights to health care as to education. He failed. President Bill Clinton(Democratic President) tried to get health care for Americans. He failed. And now President Barack Obama(Democratic President) is trying to get health care for Americans passed.

Although the Republicans learned to care for the unborn fetus – they have been real slow at learning to care, health care wise, for the child.

Caring for the fetus “ain’t SOCIALISM. Caring for the child would lead America down the path to socialism. And the Republicans have been guarding that socialism path since 1945.

Just think how long ago 1945 was. 2009-1945 = 64 years – if the math is correct. The Democrats have been trying to get health care for America’s citizens, that includes America’s children, for at least sixty-four years.

It looks like the Republicans now feel the problem with providing health care for America’s citizens is that it could be called SOCIALISM. And the Republicans don’t  cotton to socialism. The Republicans, wanting to lead a country of 300,000,000 people, must be VERY careful in providing benefits for the citizens. Providing tax-cuts for the wealthy is not socialism because their numbers don’t reach 300 million.

So, if the Democrats want to move the health care plan forward, it looks like they could borrow a page from the Republicans’ playbook and go it alone. America has presented the Democrats with the possibility of going it alone.

But now the Republicans are suggesting that “reconciliation” is “not fair”. That is strange to hear from the Republicans. Republicans “steamrollered” the loyal opposition when they had superior power.

But now, since the American people have removed the Republican’s superior political power, Republicans have put the hat with the “horns” away. They now wear the hat with the “halo” – in  their new “angelic” performance. Republicans have proved to be “master opportunists“. And that makes one wonder what guiding principles they use – it doesn’t look like America’s laws qualify as “behavior guiders”.

Today, the Republicans would  not likely suggest “blowing up” America’s computers as a solution to a problem. So now one can say, “Ain’t” they nice?

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Technorati Tags: reconciliation for health care,gang of six,bipartisan solution to health care,finance committee negotiations,president harry s. truman,president bill clinton,president barack obama,unborn fetus,child,socialism,64 years,going it alone

Cheney Slams Obama Administration Decision

Strong Words From the Former VP on the Attorney General’s Decision to Appoint a Prosecutor to Review CIA Interrogators

abc NEWS Politics

By KIRIT RADIA, JASON RYAN and KAREN TRAVERS
August 25, 2009

Former Vice President Dick Cheney slammed the Obama administration for its decision to appoint a prosecutor to review and investigate whether CIA interrogators violated U.S. torture statutes and questioned its ability to protect the nation’s security.

“President Obama’s decision to allow the Justice Department to investigate and possibly prosecute CIA personnel, and his decision to remove authority for interrogation from the CIA to the White House, serves as a reminder, if any were needed, of why so many Americans have doubts about this Administration’s ability to be responsible for our nation’s security,” the former vice president said in a statement Monday.

Cheney said the intelligence gained from interrogations of terror suspects “saved lives and prevented terrorist attacks.”

“The people involved deserve our gratitude. They do not deserve to be the targets of political investigations or prosecutions,” he said.

The CIA released the documents Monday that former Vice President Dick Cheney requested be released earlier this year in an attempt to prove his assertion that using enhanced interrogation techniques on terror detainees saved U.S. lives.

The documents back up the Bush administration’s claims that intelligence gleaned from captured terror suspects had thwarted terrorist attacks, but the visible portions of the heavily redacted reports do not indicate whether such information was obtained as a result of controversial interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding. …

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8409637

What IS the problem? Is somebody trying to HIDE something? Americans opened up all panes of their “Johari window” to the probes of the neocom government. The citizens were inspected. Now its the neocons’ government turn. America wants to know if its statutes were violated during the neocons’ terror investigations. They were not – were they?

The neocons have substituted “cleverness” for “competence”  on many occasions. They renamed “aggression” to “pre-emptive self defense” in order to start a war with Iraq. They renamed “waterboarding”  – “enhanced interrogation” in order to make “terror candidates” TALK.

Therefore, the neocons aggression against Iraq was not aggression and their water-boarding of terror candidates was not water-boarding. Understand?

So, what is Mr. Cheney so afraid of? He now seems to be concerned about the CIA. Now what a timely concern! It used to be that if you were concerned about the well-being of something or someone you would not suggest policies or procedures that could possibly cause a backlash on that someone or something.

If you are concerned about an American organization, you do not suggest that organization do something that is contrary to the rules, statutes or laws of America. If you are the driving force for activities contrary to America’s laws – but AFTER GETTING CAUGHT, YOU EXPRESS CONCERN FOR THE ORGANIZATION – one could wonder who the concern was really for.

Watching the neocons trying to disengage from their train-wreck – possibly illegal  performances has been quite a sideshow. And America is just starting to view the “tip of the iceberg”.  They got out of impeachment free and they  continue trying to avoid being held responsible for their behavior.

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Technorati Tags: cheney,obama administration,strong words,appoint a prosecutor,review cia interrogators,u.s. torture statues,ability to protect nation’s security