Friday, August 14, 2009

CWTV---Latest Video--On Good Behavior at Townhall Meetings, etc.

The latest video. Shot in my new home office in the garage, where most future vids will be shot.
Posted by The Conservative Wahoo at 8/14/2009

5 comments:

Smoothfur said...

It is quite difficult for informed, reasoned, intelligent people of a conservative bent not to lose their temper when confronted by a politicians who readilly admit that they have not read the proposed legislation but then presume to pontificate knowingly as they dismiss one's concerns out of hand.

You are correct healtcare in america is in many cases more expensive than in other countries, but as the old saying goes, "you get what you pay for." If you want the best, you pay more. This holds true for homes, cars, clothing, jewlry, lawyers, and medical care.

That's life.

August 14, 2009
Mudge said...

I agree with the admonition to be civil. I find people paradoxically hear you better when you talk rather than scream. Plus, it makes us look like the liberals during the last administration when we scream and shout down others trying to speak. But be careful about admonishing some of these folks. They would never think to enter "activist" on the profession line of a job or credit application. These are, as you state, rank and file people who, have little experience in speaking with government officials, who probably view the office at least with some sense of respect and who take staffers at their word when told they would have an opportunity to speak. As Smoothfur said, when faced with the reality that the people currently occupying these offices essentially dismiss you as, frankly, stupid, and you feel as if you've been lied to, you, as an untrained public speaker, with cameras on you, facing a fairly high-ranking official, just might become somewhat flustered. That gentleman who told Senator Specter that he would have to answer to his maker had just been manhandled by someone, had people yelling at him to leave, had police converging on him and had Senator Specter coming right up to his face (although I would like to say I believe Senator Specter, for whom I make no apologies, genuinely wanted to show the man that he was listening to him...I do believe that the Senator respected this man and wanted to right a perceived wrong). Nevertheless, that was a pretty clear case of sensory and emotional overload. The man was shaking from adrenaline but he never swore. I believe this was a decent man. I believe that Senator Specter saw that and tried to right it. And I believe Fox News in particular, tried to turn it into more of a story than it was. It is merely a segment of a widespread fear and distrust among many average citizens who normally go about their lives, obeying the law, doing their jobs and raising their families. This is new ground for many of them so please allow a little latitude for novice activism from time to time. Hopefully, at the end of these next 3.5 years, we won't have need for a cadre of conservative activists and we'll still be relative novices.

August 14, 2009
Anonymous said...

Well said Smoothfur and Mudge. Good on ya mates!

August 15, 2009
bbauer said...

Two links for you. One of them is just funny. To me at least. The second is an article I read some time ago that is in response to your question: Where do you go for health care? I thought it interesting because we often think actual medical care is somewhat safe from being "offshored". Not only are MRI's being read in India by professionals trained in America but, at an increasing rate, complex procedures are being done with the patient recouping in a 5 star hotel at a fraction of the cost. So, according to this article at least, people do go elsewhere for health care. I would expect that trend to continue upward as more foreign born doctors train in America but return home (and ultimately start training in their home countries if we countinue to rest on our education laurels). And get a load of this, the last page of the article talks about how offshore medical is looking good for... local governments trying to make budget! I am not in support of the Democrats plan, but like on a wide range of other issues, I'm tired of hearing "we're number 1". Granted you recognize the system needs improvement, but you spent more time in this video stressing that the system was the best in the world. More time needs to be spent on a real plan to improve healthcare (and education, and...). Yes we spend the most money on health care. -and yet, we are not the healthiest.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-13-2009/glenn-beck-s-operation

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/125/medical-leave.html

By the way, in the spirit of full disclosure, my old man needed a triple bypass and we looked at offshoring it. We ended up going with a world renowned surgeon in Houston. I helped my dad negotiate the toal cost from about $300k to $175k. We paid cash.

I applaud your efforts hear and hope you gain a wider audience.

August 15, 2009
Mudge said...

Bbauer - Thanks for a good post.

"By the way, in the spirit of full disclosure, my old man needed a triple bypass and we looked at offshoring it. We ended up going with a world renowned surgeon in Houston. I helped my dad negotiate the toal cost from about $300k to $175k. We paid cash."

Appears you agreed, after searching, that US medicine is the finest. To be certain, it can become even better, and would be really great if it would become cheaper, but seems you had the means to go elsewhere and your choice, not the government's, was to go to Houston, TX, USA.

That is a lot of money to be sure. But I think it safe to say you would agree that it was worth it...and probably worth even more.

The mantra that life-threatening illnesses put people into bankruptcy and that is horrible and unjust deserves some review. Most houses cost more than $175K I believe. Is a loved one's life worth more than a house?

People go into personal bankruptcy for lots of other things far more trivial than saving our lives. The left, when espousing why cars must all have a rather unnecessary safety devices because of some albeit tragic but rare occurrences, ask "Is it too much to ask to save a life?" Or, they state "No price is too high to save a life." Well, if that is true (and I frequently say it is not) then why aren't they looking at the cost of saving lives similarly when it comes to this health care debate?

If it is a choice between death and bankruptcy, it appears most go with bankruptcy (hence the high numbers being put forth in the debates). And it isn't always such a choice. That it is sometimes a choice between the two is unfortunate, but it isn't tragic. Death is tragic. And bankruptcy, is a way that government relieves you of your debt...the one that saved your life or the life of someone you love.

I've known more than a few people who have gone through personal bankruptcy for far less important choices than whether to avail oneself of the finest medical care in the world. They are all alive--bankruptcy did not kill them. They are, mostly, emerging from the experience wiser, more alert to their choices that got them there in the first place and some have even gone on to restarted their businesses and re-make lots of money. More than I have.

My point is, despite most people's desire never to experience it, contrary to conventional wisdom, bankruptcy is not a death sentence. But bankrupting our nation can be a death sentence for everything we love as a nation of free people. And, short of that, messing too much with a system that creates the kind of care that swayed you to put your father's life in an American's hands rather than any other hands in the planet, could be a death sentence for more and more of us who would make the exact same choice as you did.

August 15, 2009

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