Betsy McCaughey--still bat sh!# crazy

Jon Stewart reading verbatim the H.R. 3200 to Betsy McCaughey that the end of life consultation spelling out exactly what life sustaining treatment the patient will be willing to receive. Below is the pertinent part of the legislation that read aloud, with McCaughey declaring immediately afterward that 'sustaining treatment' meant ending life and she had written "disgusting" on her personal copy of H.R. 3200.

17 INITIATIVE FOR END OF LIFE CARE.—
18 (1) PHYSICIAN’S QUALITY REPORTING INITIA
19TIVE.—Section 1848(k)(2) of the Social Security Act
20 (42 U.S.C. 1395w–4(k)(2)) is amended by adding at
21 the end the following new paragraphs:
22 ‘‘(3) PHYSICIAN’S QUALITY REPORTING INITIA
23TIVE.—
24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of re
25porting data on quality measures for covered

432

1 professional services furnished during 2011 and
2 any subsequent year, to the extent that meas
3ures are available, the Secretary shall include
4 quality measures on end of life care and ad
5vanced care planning that have been adopted or
6 endorsed by a consensus-based organization, if
7 appropriate. Such measures shall measure both
8 the creation of and adherence to orders for life
9sustaining treatment.
10 ‘‘(B) PROPOSED SET OF MEASURES.—The
11 Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register
12 proposed quality measures on end of life care
13 and advanced care planning that the Secretary
14 determines are described in subparagraph (A)
15 and would be appropriate for eligible profes
16sionals to use to submit data to the Secretary.
17 The Secretary shall provide for a period of pub
18lic comment on such set of measures before fi
19nalizing such proposed measures.’’.

I've met McCaughey when she was running for Democratic nomination for governor in 1998. My initial personal reaction upon meeting her was "Wow, she's a deer caught in headlights." She abandoned the Republican party because being the incumbent Lt. Governor was unacceptable to her after being pulled from her career of being a right-wing columnist without ever running for elective office.

Large Swaths of the American Public Are Ignoramuses

Liberal blogosphere has already jump all over the fact that 39% of the American public believe the government should stay out of the beloved government agency Medicare. My concern is that only 90% believe the fiftieth state admitted to the Union believes Hawaii is part of the United States.

6% of the respondents deny that Hawaii is part of the United States, while another 4% taking the Hamlet route and are unsure of the state's being... well a state. 4% and 6% seem like far too small of numbers to be concerned about, but 10% either denying or unsure about 1.2 Million U.S. citizens status as citizens is disconcerting. 10% of Americans is 30 Million people, not a population you could really ignore. 39% being ignorant of the fact that Medicare should also bring shame to our national pride (especially since those 39% respondents are likely the ones that are quick to claim we are smartest, richest, best in everything country in the world), but confusing a government agency with private insurance is a little more understandable since Medicare pays private service providers and it is the private service providers are in direct contact with the public while Medicare exists several degrees of separation away from the end user. 30 million Americans not knowing enough about their own country shocks me.

With this response I would have like to seen the same poll have asked whether Alaska is part of America? The Hawaii question was the first of a string of questions leading to ferret out how many 'birthers' really are out there, and where do the 'birthers' believe President Obama was born. My question far any of these 30 million or any 'birther' conspiracy theorists, do they believe that Panama is part of the U.S.? Why would I ask that non-sequitur question? Well because that is where 2008 GOP nominee for president John McCain was born. Panama being one of the rare examples of former U.S. territory being handed back.

If birthers can't believe Hawaii is a state, or that the state's department of health issued a certificate of live birth for Barack Hussein Obama, or that 2 newspapers in Hawaii independently issued birth notices contemporary to the president's birth; how would they contain the possibility that John McCain was constitutionally eligible for the office of the president but not Barack Obama who was born in a state that is still part of the U.S.?

The Christian Street

The Christian Street (like the eastern variation the Arab Street) is unfocused, intense, fearful and of course very, very, angry. Reza Alan wrote a book/thesis about the Islamic-fanatics called Cosmic Wars, that could just as easily describe the temper tantrums that have been occurring at Congressional town halls all through out the country.

• Neither the Arab Street or the Christian Street have plans for, or believe in a resolution.
• Neither the Arab Street or the Christian Street have complaints that are specific. (Anti-Zionism /Anti-Socialism)
• Neither the Arab Street or the Christian Street have desire for civil discourse.
• Neither the Arab Street or the Christian Street have solid organization or strict tenet of beliefs other than you are either one of us or one of them.

Now obviously the American left has wing-nuts that share in these traits, but currently the Cindy Sheehans, Code-pinkers, and paint tossing PETA members are not in the spotlight. The left's wing-nuts also hasn't shown a violent/terrorist side since the Weathermen, while anti-abortionists, miltia, white supremists, and the like have been committing acts of terrorism at a steady clip in the past 20 years. A Beer Hall Putsch can't be too far away and it will be welcomed by the wing-nuts.