Look, I was going to stay above the fray. I was going to let the dead rest and the grief-stricken bear their sorrow without my commentary.



I didn't like the man's politics or his character, but I wasn't going to go there.



That is, until Democrats saw Ted Kennedy's death as a political opportunity. Robert Byrd wants the Obamacare healthcare bill renamed in Kennedy's honor. Pelosi is also promising that Kennedy's favorite cause will see passage of a bill.


So, since they couldn't let the man pass without bringing in politics, neither shall I.



I saw it on Ace of Spades and think we should change the name to honor Kennedy. Let's call it ChappaquiddiCare. Damn, wish I had thought of that!

Let this be a lesson to the Left. There are some who you shouldn't use as poster boys. And, of course, using a moment of grief to score political points is tacky.

For all the proponents of Obamacare out there, I offer up this lovely "success" story from that bastion of healthcare for all, England.

Man Collapses with Ruptured Appendix...Three Weeks After NHS Doctors "Took it Out"

Obama really is Christ returned to Earth - he can rejuvenate organs! They come back crap, but hey, a miracle is a miracle!

Key excerpt with probing, and probably unpatriotic questions (were he an American):

'I was lying on a stretcher in terrible pain and a doctor came up to me and said that my appendix had burst,' he said.

'I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I told these people I had my appendix out just four weeks earlier but there it was on the scanner screen for all to see.

'I thought, "What the hell did they slice me open for in the first place?"

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1208970/Man-collapses-ruptured-appendix--weeks-NHS-doctors-took-out.html#ixzz0PF9jAzNc

Very good question, Mr. Wattson. Methinks you have cause for a lawsuit. Maybe. Not sure of the law in jolly old England. Even so, this reeeeally sucks.

The next question is what exactly did they remove the first time? Seriously, dude? This is scary bad.

And, a cautionary tale to the rabid Obamabots who are still drinking the Kool-ade on The One's superhuman capabilities (or lack thereof).

In particular, this lovely tidbit is helpfully provided about NHS at the end of the article:

Compensation payments to NHS patients have risen by 20 per cent in the past year to a record high of £769million. At this rate more than £2million a day is being paid over claims against the Health Service.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1208970/Man-collapses-ruptured-appendix--weeks-NHS-doctors-took-out.html#ixzz0PFBEA6P7

I hope the money is adequate to those people's losses.

Drudge was trumpeting this article by Caroline Baum this morning. It is delicious in its simplicity. I've placed an excerpt below, but you really should read the whole thing. Emphasis is mine.

Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- “UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. It’s the Post Office that’s always having problems.” -- Barack Obama, Aug. 11, 2009

...

The only way the post office can stay in business is its government subsidy. The USPS lost $2.4 billion in the quarter ended in June and projects a net loss of $7 billion in fiscal 2009, outstanding debt of more than $10 billion and a cash shortfall of $1 billion. It was moved to intensive care -- the Government Accountability Office’s list of “high risk” cases - - last month and told to shape up.

...

Impromptu Obamanomics is getting scarier by the day. For all the president’s touted intelligence, his un-teleprompted comments reveal a basic misunderstanding of capitalist principles.

For example, asked at the Portsmouth town hall how private insurance companies can compete with the government, the president said the following:

“If the private insurance companies are providing a good bargain, and if the public option has to be self-sustaining -- meaning taxpayers aren’t subsidizing it, but it has to run on charging premiums and providing good services and a good network of doctors, just like any other private insurer would do -- then I think private insurers should be able to compete.”

Self-sustaining? The public option? What has Obama been doing during those daily 40-minute economic briefings coordinated by uber-economic-adviser, Larry Summers?

Government programs aren’t self-sustaining by definition. They’re subsidized by the taxpayer. If they were self-financed, we’d be off the hook.

Llewellyn Rockwell Jr., chairman of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, and editor of LewRockwell.com, put it this way in an Aug. 13 commentary on Mises.org:

“The only reason for a government service is precisely to provide financial support for an operation that is otherwise unsustainable, or else there would be no point in the government’s involvement at all.”

...

The public is left with one of two unsettling conclusions: Either the president doesn’t understand the health-insurance reform plans working their way through Congress, or he understands both the plans and the implications and is being untruthful about the impact.

Neither option is good; ignorance is clearly preferable to the alternative.

One of the downsides of playing with the big boys is you don't have time for other things.

Blogging, sadly, is one of those things.

But, I have to take a moment and express my love, love, LOVE for Matt Drudge and his minions.

Currently on the Drudge Report are the following linked stories:

In the UK, that bastion of socialized medicine, a woman gave birth on the sidewalk because she was denied an ambulance. Lovely. Incidentally, this was the woman's fourth child. She went into labor early and knew from experience that there wasn't time to walk to the hospital or get a lift from somewhere else, as instructed by the maternity ward. Key quote:

"They said they were not sending an ambulance and told me I had had nine months to sort out a lift."

That's compassion for you. Coming soon to the US healthcare system, brought to you by Obama and the letters S, U, C, and K.

Next up in our Socialized Medicine Roundup...the Canadian socialized healthcare system is in such financial trouble that more than 6,000 medically necessary surgeries are proposed to be cut. That's not tummy tucks and Obama's famed elective tonsilectomies, that's medically necessary surgeries such as "neurosurgery" and "treatment for vascular diseases."

So, if your brain is malfunctioning or if your arteries are blocked and you live in Vancouver, pack your bags and book your flight to the USofA while you still can.

Oh, I know, the article is clear to point out that it isn't final, that these measures are just being planned. But, you know what? This is what happens with socialized medicine. Eventually you run out of money for critical services and have to start rationing care. What concerns me is the budget shortfall means serious cuts of the life-and-death sort. All sorts of jobs are expected to be lost as a matter of course, another bonus.

And yet, socialized, government-run healthcare is supposed to be the morally "right" thing, an imperative. It is what Dear Leader wants for all us hicks in the sticks. So, either Obama's been smokin' his breakfast, or he wants to consign us all to lines where we wait to die, suffering in pain the whole way.

Charming.

And, lest you start believing the White House spin that regular-joes protesting Obamacare at town halls are just imported hired protestors who are clearly plants because they are dressed too well to be believed, here's the proof in the pudding to the otherwise. The AARP has lost about 60,000 members since July 1 over their support for Obamacare. It seems our seniors don't all have dementia and aren't ready for Obama's plans to deny them care because they are nearing the end of their lives. Can you imagine? These unpatriotic grannies and paw-paws are not willing to just take Obama's shaft. Instead, they are doing what they can to make their point. Good on them. The AARP assures us that this always happens when they advocate controversial positions, that they lose 300,000 members in a normal month, etc. Still, enjoying a bit of schadenfreude with my poptart this morning.

As an interesting if obliquely related tidbit, comes the results of a Gallup poll indicating that Obama has made real progress...converting people to the Conservative cause.

Soon to be Named President for Life, Barack Obama is urging all good Americans to inform on their neighbors for having an unapproved viewpoint on Obamacare and socialized medicine.

Hey, I’ve reported suspicious behavior in airports trying to keep people safe, so I suppose I need to be a good American and report on myself now, lest one of my far smarter and morally superior acquaintances does it first.

Here goes…

I have nothing but contempt for the President of the United States and Democrats in the House and Senate.

Contempt, loathing, hell’s bells, I’ve treated them all to brutal setdowns.

And I, personally, am vehemently opposed to Obamacare or ANY government interference or endeavor in healthcare, health insurance, or any further intrusion into my life.

This is a President who thought members of the military wounded in action should pay for their own recovery.

Do you honestly think he’s gonna give a damn about your kid’s heart, leg, or brain?

(And, if you do, I may have a real estate opportunity for you in coastal Kansas.)

Moreover, if any proposed healthcare system will not be the only coverage and care possible for our elected officials, including the President of the United States, then I feel it is not adequate for any child of this land.

Next, the federal government has no business being in business. The fact of the matter is, they haven’t managed a successful program yet. Amtrak=Joke. Medicare/Medicaid=Broke. Social Security=Ponzi Scheme. United States Postal Service=Can’t run in the black. Cash-for-Clunkers=irresponsible, wasteful, un-“green” promotion that does little but steal from some taxpayers to enrich others while propping up the Government’s ridiculous adventure in automobile manufacturing.

If Cash-for-Clunkers ran out of money in less than a week, will Obamacare run out of money in less than a month?

I am deeply, vehemently opposed to mortgaging my children and my grandchildren’s future to provide healthcare to 7% of the population. It isn’t fair. It isn’t wise. And Obama and his galloping hordes can’t be trusted to do it. There is far too much corruption, too much pay-to-play, too much creep on my civil liberties. Joe the Plumber saw right through Obama’s socialist agenda and when he pointed it out, Obama’s thugs went rooting into Joe’s past, digging up dirt. Nevermind the fact that he wasn’t a public official, nevermind the illegality of their actions. This is Hope and Change. This is what we’ve been waiting for?

Instead of reading, considering, and debating bills we just vote, sign, and to hell with the consequences? Yep, that’s change.

Instead of reporting suspicious behavior that puts people’s lives in jeopardy we inform on people with unapproved anti-Obama opinions? Yep, that’s change.

Instead of providing a framework of government that allows people a chance to work hard and realize the American dream, we tax people until they are no longer economically feasible to socialized medicine then we put them out to pasture as drains on the system? Yep, that’s change.

Instead of recognizing the long-standing friendship shown to us by some nations we spit on them? Yep, that’s change.

Instead of standing up to tyrants and terrorists we embrace them, giggle, and agree that the USA is criminal? Yep, that’s change.

Of “Hope”, sadly, there is little.

Look, if you want some committee of government stooges deciding what you can and cannot do to your body, you are insane. The left has long been a firm voice for a woman’s right to choose what happens to her own body but are woefully quick to abdicate that right now. You are not going to have any choice anymore. If you are pregnant and it is determined that your child has a congenital heart defect and will be a permanent drain on the national healthcare system, will they make you abort it?

Suppose you are 65 years old, retired, and need very expensive surgery and very expensive medicine. As you are nearing the end of your lifespan, aren’t you a bad investment for those nationalized healthcare dollars? You don’t actually think they’re going to care for you, do you?

Even if you were magically able to poof! all the big, tough questions away, one problem remains and it is insurmountable.

We simply can’t afford it. Increasing taxes on the “rich” isn’t going to get it done unless you redefine “rich” to mean anyone making $30K or more.

It is irresponsible and it is a freedom-killer.

If that puts me on the “enemies of the state” list, so be it.

Be warned, though: I’m not likely to go quietly when you come to reeducate me.