Tuesday, July 22, 2003
0 commentsPaging Captain Troy King...
The administration's spin machine today pumps up their latest designated hero. Today's media event is the homecoming of Pvt. Jessica Lynch.
However, the mystery surrounding the truth of what happened that night still misses a key player. One who has thus far escaped the harsh glare of public inquiry or the possible justice of a military court martial.
Just where is Army Captain Troy King?
(And just when are the manufacturers of the deadly equipment, aircraft and shoddy weapons our troops are forced to deal with going to be brought to task?)
Captain King isn't listed on the official casualty list, so he's supposedly alive and available for questioning.
Unless he's being hidden. According to the Los Angeles Times (through the AP) of July 10th, "King could not be reached for comment [last] Wednesday. A spokeswoman at Ft. Bliss said he was on routine leave."
According to the Department of the Army, Captain King was the commander of the 507th Maintenance Company convoy as it drove throught the desert. As the main U.S. army force veered to the left, attempting to skirt the Iraqi army stronghold in the city of Nasiriyah by taking a southern loop around it, King zigged when the rest of the army zagged, and turned north at a critical intersection. He then proceeded to make a minimum of four other wrong turns, trying to un-"lost" himself.
Along the way, Capt. King allowed the vehicles under his command to run out of gas. Others, forced to drive off-road, were allowed to become stuck in the sand.
Although this may sound rather like the classically comic, "Honey, why don't you just stop and ask these nice people for directions?" male nightmare, this directional incompetance came with deadly results.
Then, once they were under heavy Iraqi fire, the army admits, both the 507th's equipment and their weapons failed them, leading to eleven dead, nine wounded and others captured.
[While we await the inquiries into Capt. King's actions, where are the Congressional commissions to look into the fatal jamming of M16s, 50 years after they were first introduced into general usage?]
In all of this, Pvt. Jessica Lynch becomes a classic prototype.
Pvt. Lynch becomes the "schnook."
I don't know if there's a female form of the word, schnook. It's normally applied to guys. A schnook is defined in the few different dictionaries I double-checked it in as, "an easily victimized person; a dupe."
History, novels and films are filled with instances of your typical nobody—perfectly happy to lead a thoroughly unknown, non-public life—thrown by events into the heart of a horribly public maelstrom, with lights and microphones thrust into their faces. An adoring public sings their praises, out of any context of achievement. Powerful figures love making this person the hero, solely because the schnook seem so "normal." And, "normal" and "just a regular Joe/Jane" plays so well in the media.
And "normal" so thoroughly deflects any heat these powerful interests may have been experiencing recently.
The impact we see on the individual involved, of course, is usually far less enjoyable. An horrific example, of course, is the recent fate of Britain's schnook, Weapons Inspector and Scientist David Kelly, who responded to the pressures of the unwanted attention by taking his own life.
Private Lynch, according to reports at the time of her capture, was a young girl who joined the army to escape the poverty of her West Virginia community. She may never have really thought through that her generation would become only the second in over twenty-five years to have their lives put at risk in return for the sizeable benefits of a military job.
Even when faced with a combat situation, we see that Pvt. Lynch was not your typical Audey Murphy action hero. She was a passenger in a Humvee that was hit a glancing blow by a grenade, swerved out of control, and plowed into the back of a 5-ton tractor-trailer that was one of the vehicles that earlier was allowed by Capt. King to break down and become immobilized.
The driver of the Humvee died on impact. Another passenger died later of her injuries from the crash. The deaths of two others, according to the army, "remain under investigation."
Lynch, suffering from a head wound, an injury to her spine and fractures to her right arm, both legs, and her right foot and ankle in the crash, was captured by Iraqi forces and brought to a hospital.
Shortly after, the Iraqi fighters abandoned the hospital, leaving the wounded behind, including Lynch. The reports abound now of how the Iraqi doctors and nurses cared for Lynch, nurtured her in her helpless condition, and attempted to return her to U.S. forces, only to have their ambulance come under American small arms fire, forcing them to return her to the hospital.
But, when the Wag the Dog Show started, with night cameras, special forces troops, helicopters, et al., determined to leave no well-tended and cared for young, female American soldier behind, a book deal was created, a legend was born, and it was only a matter of time before the Talking Heads were spinning, and the "Pvt. Lynch, We Love You!" refrigerator magnets and T-shirts were rushed into production.
It's so much more fun—and so much more helpful—to honor our plucky young heroine (who, unfortunately for interviewers and myth makers alike, has no recollection of any of this; oh well...), than to focus on just what is to be done with the thoroughly inept young Captain who screwed up so badly and got so many of his troops killed, wounded or captured. Or to bring to task Armalite, Bushmaster, Colt, DPMS, FN Manufacturing, Olympic Arms and Z-M Weapons, who all make the M16s which jammed in the middle of a firefight, costing defenseless Americans their lives.
Not to mention how well honoring Pvt. Lynch dovetails with deflecting the surging wave of horrid press that's tossing the White House about, this way and that. How much better to make people look elsewhere, to steer the public's eye from plunging poll numbers to this young girl who just happened to have been involved in the most famous car accident of our time.
And who now becomes the Schnook.
She may just be in more danger now.
***
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Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock
posted by Gotham 7:05 PM
Sunday, July 20, 2003
0 commentsA Context for Iraq
As I wrote at the beginning of this column in April, context is what's missing in most reportage. In that vein, here is a fine piece by John Kifner in today's New York Times. It provides an historical perspective on Iraq; complete with its unique cast of characters. And, yes, history is repeating itself here.
This Eric Schmitt piece, in today's Times as well, is very disturbing. On a number of levels. I originally thought the trip to Iraq by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz was to gather information on how badly things were going, considering the lack of planning, and to figure out how to turn that info into a reconstructed process for the future. Silly me. He's doing the Princess Diana photo-op tour. His mission: Draw the press attacks away from the White House and point the cameras back towards what a bad man Saddam is. As the story states, these mass graves are over twelve years old. A time when George Bush (ol' 41), a former head of the CIA and ambassador to the UN himself, was in the White House. Can you say, "Callous Manipulation" boys and girls? Yes, I knew you could. As the Neo-Cons state repeatedly, "we're not here in Iraq to occupy you." No, we're here to exploit your dead for political gain.
It's All Beginning to Unravel Now at the White House...
And as we know from history, when negative stories move from the rantings of the fringe press to the mainstream press, it's definitely time to seek higher ground. Especially, when it's worldwide and not just the usual targets in the national press.[I'm going to HAVE to make the time to post here on Gotham Notes more frequently. Worldwide, things are moving much too fast to digest it all at once. It has now turned into a roaring flood of negative mainstream press for the White House. It's hard to catch up with all of it.
But, this once, I'll try ...
'Cause that's the kind of guy I am.
But, since so much has happened in the last week or two, I'll just list the links to sites where the facts, and their reportage, can speak for themselves.]
The month began with President George W. Bush in full "the buck stops over there" mode.
That worked for a bit, but things quickly started catching up with our boy-president.
Ipsos/Cook Political Report Poll: Approval of Bush's Job Performance Slipping, Especially With Older Voters
Bush Job Performance Slips to 53% Positive
Economy, Iraq Lower Bush Approval Rating
The Preamble to the Week was given by David Broder in The Washington Post.
Yes, as we see here, it started as a very bad week for Shrub.
Then, our favorite C Student outed himself as the president no one at the White House tells anything to:
Joe Conason's Journal: President Bush's astonishing new reason for the war with Iraq
President Defends Allegation On Iraq
Then, it slowly just kinda unraveled on the philosophical front, as well. First, those fuddy-duddies at UNESCO threw a nasty wrench into the Neo-Cons' plans to create Pax Americanus, then Tennessee's Senator Lamar Alexander's legislative attempts to steer U.S. teachers towards teaching only "Conservative" history was outed.
Then, it just turned horrible for Young Mr. 43:
Bill Clinton's Name Cropping Up Everywhere on Bush Africa Trip
Bill Clinton as NATO Chief?
The jokes early on in his presidency were one thing, but now, Bush is even becoming the butt of parodies—never fun for a he-man leader.
***
Foreign Policy Issues
Iraq
Remember that little tea party Vice President Dick Cheney threw for the oil and energy company bigwigs right after the Inauguration? The one that no one could get the White House to divulge ANY info on? Even with a court order? Remember the "constitutional crisis" it was going to create, until people just gave up and forgot about it? Well, in keeping with the Bad Moon Rising Week at the White House, someone is starting to leak that info, as well. And, gee, guess what it turns out they were talking about??? With charts and maps, even...
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has bungled this whole Iraq affair.
First, there's the horrifically bad planning.
Lack of planning contributed to chaos in Iraq
Allies Didn't Share All Intelligence on Iraq: Mistrust Between Britain, U.S. Surfaces in Controversy Over Alleged Uranium Deal
Cold Warriors Long to Bring Back the Bomb
Questions Mount About Iraqi Resistance
Then, there's the wretched execution of that bad planning.
Harris Whitbeck: Iraqis cheer U.S. death
Of course, there's the ever-popular panicked response to failure.
Wolfowitz in Iraq as Experts Warn of Chaos
U.S. Considering Establishment of New Private Security Force in Iraq; Rumsfeld Deputy Visits Baghdad
U.S. Considers Private Iraqi Force to Guard Sites
U.S. Mulls Annual Cash Payout for All Iraqis (My personal favorite, since I thought Bush's Republican Guard wanted to cut welfare payments.)
It Happened in Baghdad
ESPN Rushes to Right
As well as the stunning hubris-filled panicked reaction:
U.S. Considers Returning to U.N. for Help in Iraq
Bush Woos Old Foes at the UN to Press for Peace Troops
The casulty reports have been badly handled, as well.
507th Families Upset
A Soldier's Life (Time magazine)
Despite frantic Pentagon efforts to control the flow of information about casulties, many Internet sites keep the world informed of just what this administration's blind folly has cost in human life.
List of Coalition Casualties
Casualties in the Iraq war (CBC)
Iraq Coalition Casualy Count
Media Underplays U.S. Death Toll in Iraq
Iraq Body Count
Seven Days, Seven Deaths
There's even blunt, no-real-effort-to-hide-the-fact-that-we're-lying reports about the financial costs of this little adventure:
Military Operations in Iraq Cost Nearly $4 Billion a Month
War's Cost Brings Democratic Anger
There's botched, anger-inducing efforts.
U.S. Hunt for Baath Members Humiliates, Angers Villagers: Deaths of Teenager and Two Others Spark Talk of Revenge
Two U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq Ambush
Iraq’s Shi’a – Prospects for a New Iraq
There's cheap and badly made equipment, training, weapons and vehicles which have all turned deadly. First, you can do a Google search and come up with 201,000 responses to the search string: Iraq military accidents. Among these pages are:
Accidents Taking Toll on U.S. Troops
Despite War's End, Military Deaths a Growing Concern: Accidents in Iraq—Even More than Hostile Attacks—Account for Most U.S. Military Fatalities, As They Do Globally.
M-16s Jammed During Ambush in Iraq: Unreleased Army Report Cites Weapons Malfunctions, Desert Conditions
507th's Weapons Failed in Combat, Army Report Says
Remains Found in U.S Helicopter Crash in Italy
Turbulence Injures 20 National Guard Airmen
The Pentagon has bungled their way right into an unprecedented incipient, full-scale mutiny by U.S. Forces, who seem sick and tired of being sick and tired. And shot at. And lied to. The spectre of Vietnam-era fragging begins to sit on the horizon.
Republicans Praise Troops, But Neglect Fiscal Support
U.S. Troops Struggle to Tell Friend from Foe in Iraq
U.S. Troops Frustrated over Iraq Tour Extension
A Big Letdown: Soldiers Learn They’ll Be in Baghdad Longer than Expected
Soldiers, Families Speak Out
U.S. Military Plane Escapes Iraqi Missile Attack
The CIA and the British
Does anyone else get a distinct Cold War feel out of any of this?
CIA: The World Factbook 2002 / Niger
U.S. Department of State / Republic of Niger
Iraq: Tale of the Cake (Timeline and Impact of the Uranium Falsehoods)
Pattern of Corruption
Spooked by the White House: A CIA Veteran Says a Growing Faction of the U.S. Intelligence Community Is Furious over the Way the Administration Corrupted the System—and that the Nation's Security Is at Grave Risk.
16 Words, and Counting
Uranium Claim Linked to Aide at White House: CIA Tried to Keep Error Out of Speech
A White House Smear
Mission to Niger (Robert Novak)
A Question of Trust: The CIA's Tenet Takes the Fall for a Flawed Claim in the State of the Union, But Has Bush's Credibility Taken an Even Greater Hit?
Credibility Gap Still Growing
MEDIA ADVISORY: Bush Uranium Lie Is Tip of the Iceberg; Press Should Expand Focus Beyond "16 Words"
Bush Declares His Faith in Tenet and C.I.A.
Bush Confident in CIA Despite Iraq Uranium Charge
Tenet: Wolfowitz Did It; The Yellowcake Blame Game
The Speech: What Else May Have Been Wrong?
What Is to Be Done with the CIA? A History of Flawed Intelligence
Rules for Terror Tribunals May Deter Lawyers
BBC Says Kelly Was Weapons Source
Admission 'Spells End for Blair'
THE FALLOUT: WHO WILL GO? Blair, Straw, Campbell, Hoon in the Line of Fire
Observer Focus: the Kelly Affair
The Prime Minister in the Dock
Leader: Spinning to Death
Blair Facing Crisis after Scientist's Death
And this is just the Foreign Policy media flood.
My lord...
The domestic madness that this administration has wreaked upon the country will have to wait until the next post.
***
Get Angry! Have your say. Write your elected officials now!
Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock
posted by Gotham 3:24 PM
Sunday, July 13, 2003
0 comments
Other work has taken my time this week, so it's time to play catch-up.
"Aren't You Dead Yet?"
More than 5,000 people celebrate their 65th birthday every day.
(Administration on Aging, A Profile of Older Americans 1999)
The ethicists and academics are beginning to consider grabbing the pillow that the insurance companies have been holding for the last decade or so. But now, no matter who is doing the spinning, they're all glancing over at Granny.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, insurance companies started hiring major opinion research firms to conduct "ethical dilemma" research, or what we who did the research at those firms coined their "Toss Granny Out of the Boat" research. Basically, we were hired to ask the American people to make the Devil's choice. Insurance companies are not about to pay out to keep everybody alive (although they don't want to be one with blood on their hands), so they've wanted you to decide whether what they will pay out is used to keep Granny alive or to keep the new-born alive, and so on.
In essence, they are going to let someone die—period—and they're not going to lose any sleep over it. Life is cheap in Casablanca. And in Hartford, CT, as well.
Of course, Granny has the Devil's own time garnering any real support in that transaction.
As the years move along, Granny will still be thrilled to see the family come to visit. But, more often over time, she'll be locking up the pillows in order to be certain to still be alive to see them leave, and to wave goodbye.
Long may she wave.
***
Get Angry! Have your say. Write your elected officials now!
posted by Gotham 4:44 PM
0 comments
Equity Stock Trader Alert!
Government subsidies don't always have to be in the form of cash!
The Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technology ("SAFETY") Act is part of the massive Homeland Security law passed by congress last year.
So, the hot new growth industry is now any company having the word "anti-terrorism" in its marketing materials or prospectus.
Happily, this is an even better weasel word than the old ad industry favorite, "helps" ("Helps build strong bodies 12 ways"; "Helps get your teeth whiter"; etc.).
"Anti-terrorism" is clearly this year's winner! No one wants a "terrorism" product or service, right?"The act defines anti-terrorism products very broadly as any product, equipment, service or device 'designed, developed, modified or procured for the specific purpose of preventing, detecting, identifying or deterring acts of terrorism or limiting the harm such acts might otherwise cause.'
The act provides a variety of protections for companies whose products are designated by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge."
Republicans! Why go to all of the trouble of legislating tort reform in a transparent attempt to save your corporate campaign contributors from themselves—only to leave yourself with election vulnerability?
No! Now, Tom Ridge will save our American economy from all those nasty court judgments."Under the act, suits arising out of terrorist acts cannot be brought in state courts, where some critics of tort law argue judges and juries are too favorable to plaintiffs and too generous with awards. Instead anyone wanting to sue the makers or sellers of such products would have to use the federal courts.
[Gotham Notes: Of course, "some critics of tort law" refers to CEOs of companies which consistently are convicted of flaunting laws and regulations.]
In addition, the act eliminates punitive damages—designed to punish guilty defendants—from such cases and expands the so-called 'government contractor defense' to anyone making or selling anti-terror equipment, even if their customers are all in the private sector."
This is custom-made for a Ford (keep those exploding Pintos on the road!—they can be "anti-terrorist" vehicles. Just bump a drone car into the back of it, and let the gas tank explode and fry those dirty terrorist bastards to a fair-thee-well) or an Exxon (the Exxon Valdez spill obviously was an "anti-terrorist" strategy, designed to deny those dirty bastards fuel for their car bombs).
This is a law whose time has come! Just ask one of Tom's favorites which was mentioned in Al Kamen's In the Loop (The Washington Post) in February:"... nearly half—46 percent to be precise—of the duct tape sold in this country is manufactured by a company in Avon, Ohio. And the founder of that company, that would be Jack Kahl, gave how much to the Republican National Committee and other GOP committees in the 2000 election cycle? Would that be more than $100,000?
His son, John Kahl, who became CEO after his father stepped down shortly after the election, told CNBC last week that 'we're seeing a doubling and tripling of our sales, particularly in certain metro markets and around the coasts and borders.' The plant has 'gone to a 24/7 operation, which is about a 40 percent increase' over this time last year, Kahl said. The company had more than $300 million in sales in 2001."
Of course, when the chemical cloud seeps through your duct tape/plastic sheeting fortifications, and you all die, your survivers will be spared the unpleasant effort and expense of suing the Kahl family company or Polyken Technologies of Westwood, Massachusetts, another manufacturer of duct tape (and a unit of well connected Tyco Industries), since these companies will be fully protected under the SAFETY ACT.
Good country, America.
My Dinner with Yahweh
Just stumbled across Al Kamen's In the Loop of June 27 as well, which contains a couple of issues of note:
First—just as we've suspected over the past year or two—whether or not God speaks directly to George W. Bush, Shrub is clearly listening.
Before, it was just the Scotch that called to Bush. Now, it's the Lord. To quote George Carlin, "We all change; we all grow."
Of course, the assumption here is that God consulted with Karl Rove before issuing His edicts to Shrub about postponing the Middle East peace process to allow the administration to focus tightly on the upcoming elections. Obviously, more people will die in the meantime, but again we can only assume God and Mr. Rove see the bigger picture here.
The other item of note in this Kamen column is this from the EPA:"Yesterday, [chief Christine Todd] Whitman said farewell to EPA employees during a sentimental reception and photo session at the agency's headquarters. Her immediate plans include a trip to Cambodia to observe the elections, a family vacation to North Carolina and some possible college speaking engagements later this year."
Cambodia? To observe the elections? Are they having that same pesky hanging chad problem we've had?
And couldn't she find a nice, quiet, unpolluted stretch of beach and boardwalk along the Jersey Shore to spend her vacation on?
***
Get Angry! Have your say. Write your elected officials now!
posted by Gotham 2:25 PM
Monday, July 07, 2003
0 commentsStill a C- Student
George W. Bush has botched the job in Iraq as badly as he botched the job at Harkin Oil.
But, at least at Harkin, it was cash he wasted, not lives.
Simply put, Iraq is a mess.
Of U.S. making.
With no improvement in sight.
Where is all the strategic planning and personnel? Where are all the trucks rolling in to create the economic windfall that was just waiting for us? Where is this new, better life we were supposedly giving to the Iraqi populace? Just how is all of this supposed to happen, exactly?
At the White House, they haven't quite thought things out that far yet. Give them time, they're working on some plans. Possibly. That is, if there's not a photo op this afternoon, or a fund raiser this evening.
Remember when they sold 43 to us on the basis of his having been a CEO? They always steered us away from the unpleasant fact of his having been a horror at the job at Harkin. That he was a lousy CEO, as CEOs go. That he bled cash when everyone else in his industry was doing fine. Remember hearing that it took a sweetheart, insider-trading deal with his Dad's friends to finally take it off his hands and let him walk away? I know, don't worry, most of us have forgotten that.
He hasn't improved any. He's still that C student he's boasted about being at Yale.
The height, breadth and depth of the incompetence of this boy-CEO is stunning. Forgetting for a moment that the idealogues in this administration had already been pushing for Saddam's removal at all costs since 1991; that Deputy Defense Secretary Wolfowitz called Gen. Clark moments after the World Trade Center collapsed, telling him to say that it was Saddam who did it, even without any evidence; that this administration then created a pattern of lies, deceptions and falsehoods to take the American people's eyes off its real dangers and focus them tightly on their own personal enemy; that this administration has allowed the economy to unravel beneath its very feet as it persued its goal of toppling Saddam at any cost.
Forget all that.
Going forward, what's important here is that this Bush group has no clue about how to fix any of the mess they've made. All they can think of to do is blame Bill Clinton for everything short of the sun going down in the west, instead of offering proposals to fix what's broken, without also dismantling the federal government. Beyond the inevitable weary cry of "Tax Cuts!" for their supporters, there is precious little talent in this administration for economic theory. Literally, no one at the White House has any inkling as to how to fix this swamp they've created.
In Iraq, now that they've gotten us to give them the trophy they wanted, they have clearly shown no aptitude whatsoever for knowing how to proceed without making matters horribly worse.
For the Iraqi people, and for the soon-to-be-scores of murdered American soldiers.
If they were so fixated on taking out their favorite bogeyman, you would have thought that some of that high-powered prep school, Ivy League, Neo-con think tank brainpower would have been pointed towards what to do after they've achieved their goal.
Life after winning seems to have escaped them.
When Karl Rove is your Guru, winning is all that is important. Governing can be left for someone else to worry about.
But, that doesn't work when people's lives are at stake.
But, then, they would have had to have had at least a C+ average to understand that.
***
Get Angry! Have your say. Write your elected officials now!
posted by Gotham 9:20 AM
Saturday, July 05, 2003
0 comments"Physicians, Heal Thyselves..."
It's official.
The medical malpractice issue is now officially about scoring political points and slinging mud.
The Democrats rightly assert that a $250,000 cap on pain and suffering awards in malpractice suits is inhumane. The Republicans, however, feel strongly that, even though they most assuredly will lose this vote, they can still use it as a handy way to embarrass the Democrats, and create a non-issue issue.
Which will play well on the Fox News Channel.
Meanwhile, your health care and your rights to sue for damages if something goes terribly wrong are no longer anyone's concern save your own. Besides, as we've seen time and again, no one in this government cares particularly much for your insignificant concerns. You are obviously greedy, and care not for the rights of god-fearing shareholders and physicians.
Hey, we all know you'd sacrifice little Timmy or Gramps in a heartbeat for a clear shot at a windfall payday from Aetna or Pfizer.
No, this is hardball lobbying politics on a grand scale, and no one plays the game any better than the insurance industry.
The simple truth of the matter is that the AMA has rolled belly-up in the face of the onslaught from the insurance guys, and it's done an horrendous job of creating a self-policing profession. Are there bad writers? Yes. Bad cops? Yes. Bad dry cleaners? Of course. Bad Doctors? Shhhhh, it does no one any good to talk of such things.
There have always been incompetent doctors mixed in with the truly gifted and caring. But, in an era where there was direct, on-going human contact and fee-for-service insurance, patients would slowly stop going to the good Dr. Quack and take their families elsewhere.
But here, as in any situation where the insurance industry becomes involved, all humanity and proportion fly out the window.
Managed care insurance tells you just whom you will see for medical treatment and just what you can be treated for. A doctor's livlihood now depends on being pliable to the insurance company's dictates and, above all, for keeping costs down. The "good boys and girls" are sent more patients. The "bad" ones see less and less, as their costs of doing business soar. The actual quality of the care, of course, is immaterial.
You now have more chance of being seen by a poorly schooled, underqualified, over-worked physician than you do by one of quality and experience.
But, the AMA is silent.
Accidents, wrongful procedures performed, procedures performed badly, misdiagnoses, stories of surgical equipment and material left behind in patients' bodies, preventable deaths and all-around shoddy work have all skyrocketed.
But, the AMA is silent.
Obviously, these unfortunate patients have every right in the universe to be angry, and to take the hospital, drug company, doctor, nurse, orderly, the euphemistic "practitioner" or the hospitals' favorite—the low-paid "technician" nurse-replacement—to court for a redress of their grievances.
These people are injured, maimed or killed by people they've trusted.
If there was ever a proper use of our judicial system, it is this one.
Our system of trial-by-your-peers has held repeatedly that the pain and the hardship inflicted by health care personnel, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies was worth various, often weighty, sums of financial redress.
Just how much is the loss of a limb, an eye or ovaries worth to the victim of a botched surgery? How much is the senseless and needless loss of your child, your sibling or your parent worth to your family? How can mere money adequately compensate for that? How can any price tag ever begin to approach the devastating, irreparable hole in your family's life? How can congressional Republicans sleep at night after attempting to state that your legs or your poorly handled surgery is only worth $80,000, when they receive millions from Aetna, Chubb, Pfizer, Kaiser Permanente and the lot?
The N.Y. Times rightly points out: as Senate Majority Leader, as a Senator and as a Doctor, Bill Frist has been a leader in the fight to limit your right to sue....[Frist] and his family own substantial investments that would benefit from limits on medical liability. The group, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said the family's holdings in HCA, the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain, and a subsidiary, Health Care Indemnity, the fifth-largest medical malpractice insurer, created a conflict of interest.
I have heard it said by various types of trial attorneys that juries, amazingly, almost always "get it right."
Why can't the AMA?
Why hasn't more been done to stand up to the insurance companies and take underqualified doctors off staff? And to boot them out of private practice? Where are the standards?
The AMA's failure here has created an opportunity for everyone to point a finger in the wrong direction—namely, at you—as being too damn greedy, and inflamed by unscrupulous attorneys, trying to rip off the system, simply because your two-year-old will never walk again.
But, even if you have been sold a bill of goods by the law firm of I. Kangetcha Moola, Esq., the jury will still have their say. If there are mitigating circumstances, or if the person suffered little harm, the jury should be trusted to rule accordingly, as they most often have.
The big awards we hear about are for the serious violations of sanity and the Hippocratic oath. We never hear about the amounts knocked down or denied altogether. They don't make good copy, normally.
The AMA wants to keep its shiny pedestal in place.
The insurance industry wants to keep the weaker doctors in place, since they keep costs down. To further save on costs, they also want Congress to set a cap on awards for those times those weaker doctors screw up a little too badly. They well remember Ford's Pinto case, where the Ford board decided it was more cost-effective to pay off the families of those killed by exploding gas tanks than it was recalling and refitting all those damn cars.
Since no one wants to take the responsibility of policing themselves, some very highly financed and connected groups now want Congress to put the solution squarely where they feel it should be—on your obviously greedy shoulders.
And the Republicans seem to think that the American people—the very ones who keep getting maimed and killed by their trusted health care system, and who sit on all those juries—will think this is a great stick with which to beat up the Democrats.
***
Get Angry! Have your say. Write your elected officials now!
posted by Gotham 8:43 PM
Wednesday, July 02, 2003
0 commentsAnd...They're Off!
It didn't take long.
The House / Senate Medicare prescription drug compromise hasn't even been hammered out yet, but the weasels are already jockeying for position.
Just be aware that, of all the parties who will make out on this deal, the weasels will get theirs, leaving nothing but grief down the line for the seniors who were supposed to benefit from it.
Let's see...
Lost jobs for themselves, lost jobs for their grown children, lost retirement savings, disappearing pensions, higher rents and transportation, the privatization of Social Security, the slow dissolution of Medicaid and now the selling of Medicare to the highest bidder—yup, that pretty much makes Bush the AARP poster boy for the 2004 election.
Just don't stand in the way of your grandparents on election day...
They may just run you right down.
"It's Good to Be the King!"
... said Mel Brooks in his film, History of the World.
More hubris on another front from this rogue administration.
My. It's such a wonderful world. It stuns me that we actually let other people live in it.
This Is the City
... where the Republican Party will be celebrating their great good fortunes this year...
***
Get Angry! Have your say. Write your elected officials now!
posted by Gotham 8:46 AM
