Patterico's Pontifications

I love his post on Eric Holder’s comments ( previous post ):

“They told me if I voted for McCain, the war on terror would be run by a bloodthirsty cowboy who’d make a mockery of civil liberties. And they were right!“

SPQR (26be8b) — 3/16/2010 @ 8:11 pm

Don’t worry, DRJ and Patterico: Myron will be by shortly to snipe that you are just servicing “talking points.”

Which contributes to his irony-rich diet, I know.

Professor Reynolds has it right. It’s just that some animals are more equal than others.

Eric Blair (c8876d) — 3/16/2010 @ 8:14 pm

Eric Holder was really being a jackass about that.

Imagine if Bush or Mccain had said ‘we won’t have to deal with that civil rights problem because I’ll have that man killed before we ever catch him, and I’m mirandize the corpse!’

It’s a step further than the ‘KSM will not go free’ claims.

Osama’s dead anyway, but imagine if he turned himself in (which would be a pretty clever move).

Dustin (b54cdc) — 3/16/2010 @ 8:17 pm

Eric Blair: You are right, for once. Here I am.

And they ARE Talking Points. Boring, silly ones, at that.

And I agree with Dustin: Osama’s probably dead.

That is all, for now.

Myron (a79d53) — 3/16/2010 @ 8:46 pm

Hey DRJ,

This comment isn’t really about this topic, but it belongs here since this is the most recent thread.

You have put yourself through way too many innane and insane things the last few days with all of the nonsense at hand. We appreciate your hard work, but take a break and let people go to PowerLine if they don’t have enough to read here.

Before I need to call out Stashiu3

I have now stumbled upon truly horrific tools of interrogation; have the prisoners watch and listen to speeches by Reid, Pelosi, and Obama and try to convince the interrogator that what they see and hear actually makes sense.

MD in Philly (70a1ba) — 3/16/2010 @ 8:52 pm

First, the obligatory shout-out to instapundit, because he really does do a good job, while being an egghead and all.

And, now for a couple of sincere questions, since Myron brought it up and he and his friends seem to keep bringing it up:

Where are these talking points he mentions? I would like to read them. Do you get them by email or is there some regular conservative site that outlines them on a daily basis?

I ask, because I actually know where to go for Dem talking points: change.gov, kos, TPM, Media Matters, etc.

Also, since these talking points are so boring, why do they exhaust so many electrons disputing them? When I get bored, I walk the dog, read a book, start cooking dinner or play my guitar.

An inquiring mind wants to know.

Ag80 (f67beb) — 3/16/2010 @ 9:11 pm

I have now stumbled upon truly horrific tools of interrogation; have the prisoners watch and listen to speeches by Reid, Pelosi, and Obama and try to convince the interrogator that what they see and hear actually makes sense.

Good one, MD. Also, make them read the ObamaCare bill and give a detailed summation of how the funding mechanism will save $300 billion (or whatever their phony-baloney number is) over ten years. Think of all the terrorist heads exploding over that one.

JVW (fd30ab) — 3/16/2010 @ 9:22 pm

JVW-

Brutal and heartless you are…

MD in Philly (70a1ba) — 3/16/2010 @ 9:28 pm

MD in Philly – Barney tapes – truly cruel and unusual punishment !

Alasdair (205079) — 3/16/2010 @ 9:47 pm

You are very thoughtful, MD. And I vote for making them read the House, Senate and reconciliation health care bills out loud and without a break, but that probably would be torture.

DRJ (daa62a) — 3/16/2010 @ 9:49 pm

“…That is all, for now…”

If only. Troll that you are, I knew your knee would jerk to that stimulus.

Myron, you are just a tedious alphabetist. And you are supporting the actions of Pelois and Reid.

Laughable hypocrite. All you care about is how you feel about yourself, supporting the idea of this kind of nonsense…rather than the facts, and moreover, the precedent.

And the part that actually is funny? You actually accusing other people of promulgating talking points. Completely predictable and as usual, projective.

Like a budgie with a mirror.

Eric Blair (0b61b2) — 3/16/2010 @ 10:01 pm

MD,

Since we’re off-topic, I’m still curious about the way AMA doctors look about health care reform. I understand many private practice doctors understand health care reform will hurt their practices, but I don’t understand why AMA doctors don’t feel the same way. My initial thought was that many AMA doctors practice in institutions where they may not feel or see the cuts the way private practitioners do.

And now that I’ve read this article that confirms nearly 1/3 of doctors will quit their practice if reform passes, I’m even more confused. Why are the views of AMA doctors so different from other doctors?

DRJ (daa62a) — 3/16/2010 @ 10:02 pm

maybe AMA is controlled by a small power elite, and doesn’t necessarily represent its members accurately as a whole, let alone all doctors?

redc1c4 (fb8750) — 3/16/2010 @ 10:10 pm

Last I heard, AMA was down to representing less than 20% of US doctors …

Alasdair (205079) — 3/16/2010 @ 10:14 pm

They’re Presbyterians!

AD - RtR/OS! (02b3ae) — 3/16/2010 @ 10:16 pm

But Alasdair, 20% is still a big number. (And there aren’t that many Presbyterians, AD!)

DRJ (daa62a) — 3/16/2010 @ 10:24 pm

red,

I wouldn’t want to pay to be in an organization that doesn’t represent my beliefs and, at this point, how many don’t realize what the AMA supports?

DRJ (daa62a) — 3/16/2010 @ 10:27 pm

DRJ: the same people who still belong to ARAP?

redc1c4 (fb8750) — 3/16/2010 @ 10:46 pm

I give.

I heard a town hall today where an older lady said she didn’t understand why we don’t give everyone Medicare like she has. Maybe her doctors will explain it to her someday.

DRJ (daa62a) — 3/16/2010 @ 10:54 pm

i just want what Congress gets, except for the laproscopic surgeon Murtha got…..

redc1c4 (fb8750) — 3/16/2010 @ 11:29 pm

DRJ – yes, it potentially is – IF it meant that all of ’em supported the current AMA Leadership …

More likely, it’s those AMA members who are too busy to pay attention to politics (and have patients who pay well, no Medicaid) – and those Doctors who believe that Obama is Teh One …

Alasdair (205079) — 3/16/2010 @ 11:35 pm

i was w*rking in a teaching hospital here in LA just before the morons voted in Clintoon…. the docs & nurses, at least the younger ones, were all for him.

the screaming when the tax increases went through was music to my ears….. as was saying “i told you so”. %-)

redc1c4 (fb8750) — 3/16/2010 @ 11:48 pm

Eric Blair: You are right, for once. Here I am.

And they ARE Talking Points. Boring, silly ones, at that.

And I agree with Dustin: Osama’s probably dead.

That is all, for now.

They told me that if I voted for McCain, criticism of the president would be received with teh grumpy. And by God were they right.

skwiself (b69230) — 3/17/2010 @ 12:54 am

DRJ-

Glad to give you my thoughts, FWIW.

1. From my experience most doctors, especially in teaching centers, have a total disconnect in the way they think about medicine and the rest of life, apparently like many others in academia. They will tear apart an article in a peer-reviewed journal looking for errors or caveats, but accept what NPR says 100% without question.

2. AMA and the docs it represents are used to trying to work within the system to get what they can out of it. I imagine they’re going along for the same reasons big Pharma and the Insurance Companies are; which may be that they just can’t grasp the idea of what’s happening, or they’re trying to salvage what prestige and influence they can while they (the individuals) are still around, or they are being smooth talked into believing lies.

3. Maybe many are pro-left these days and are convinced of the cause. I think most conservative docs just want to take care of their patients.

4. Maybe some are so fed up with the hassles of practicing medicine already, fighting the multitudes of issues with too many insurance companies, they (falsely) believe that it can’t get worse.

It has gotten much worse in just the last 10 years. Back in the 90’s if I called an insurance company to say I really wanted “x” for my patient they would likely approve it just based on the fact I thought it important enough to call. By 2005 I had to argue with people who knew nothing before demanding to talk to a doctor. Even then I had a situation where one MD reviewer approved something one day, and then I was told the next day it wasn’t approved and that I didn’t have the conversation the previous day that I knew I did.

Had I had time and energy I would have gone to that office for a face to face. Being directly lied to is not to be taken lightly. The patient never got the test she needed and ending up dieing.

My advice to someone interested in medicine is to think about what they want to do, and can they do it as a nurse practioner or physicians assistant; less school, less debt, less sleep deficit, less frustration, less hours.

I’d be interested in what others might say.

MD in Philly (70a1ba) — 3/17/2010 @ 6:17 am

“I heard a town hall today where an older lady said she didn’t understand why we don’t give everyone Medicare like she has.”

In this comment, I wonder if she really meant the word “give”. I have Medicare, but they certainly don’t give it to me. I pay about $112 a month for it. But possibly she does get it for free, thanks to my taxes.

PatAZ (9d1bb3) — 3/17/2010 @ 11:37 am

Oh, and the taxes of everyone else that pays them. Didn’t mean to sound like I am the only one that pays them.

PatAZ (9d1bb3) — 3/17/2010 @ 11:38 am

PatAZ – if you are part of Teh One’s Administraton, you probably *are* the ONLY one payig taxes …

Alasdair (e7cb73) — 3/17/2010 @ 1:57 pm

LOL, Alasdair. Not working for Teh One. But I am a Government retiree and I do pay taxes.

PatAZ (9d1bb3) — 3/17/2010 @ 2:37 pm

3/16/2010

“They Told Me if I Voted for McCain …”

28 Responses to ““They Told Me if I Voted for McCain …””

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