Letting it Go

Surrender really isn't in my DNA. My grandparents survived the Depression. My great-great grandparents settled the west, braving Indian attacks and disease. My male ancestors have served in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the War of Northern Aggression, both World Wars, and Vietnam. I served proudly as a Marine during Desert Storm. I beat the odds and made it into medical school. It wasn't easy for me, but I did it. Typically, I am able to see difficulty as a challenge to be confronted. But this time has been different.

I recently read the entire speech by Patrick Henry which ends with his famous words, "Give me Liberty, or give me death". I noticed something. A major theme of his speech was an admonition to beware of public apathy.

I haven't traditionally thought of Revolutionary-War-era Americans as apathetic. Apparently they were. So much so that it threatened the success of the effort to obtain Liberty. Not very much has changed. Just today I read that ABC Nightly News will be airing from the White House, before presenting a one-sided view of the socialist health care plan against which I've been fighting for over a year on this blog. No dissent will be allowed during this broadcast.

I'm not really surprised at ABC's actions in this matter. I am horrified and saddened that no public uproar has occurred. No pretense of objectivity or neutrality remains, and yet the public remains silent. So eroded is our expectation that we hardly notice this troubling development.

The frustration, fear, and rage that has been building over the past several years finally broke through this week. It was cathartic, but also frightening. Nobody got hurt. Nobody but me.

Medicine will be socialized in this country. It may not happen this year or the next, but it is coming. I remain convinced that this will be disastrous. Nevertheless, despite my best efforts, it will happen. People want it. They want it because they've been told that they should want it. People will get it. I used to think that they'd regret having it, but now I'm not so sure. The same apathy that has allowed the destruction of our Liberty will likely continue in the form of further apathy. This is a shame.

Regardless, I know now that I can't stop it. I wish I had the powers of a Payne or an Adams. Maybe I lack something. Or maybe I am merely an anachronism. I hope and pray that I will find a place in the brave new world that's coming. All I can do is be all I can for my family, and maintain my sanity. There was a time when I'd have sacrificed "my life, my fortune, and my sacred honor" for the cause of Liberty in this country. Now I see that this would likely be pointless.

I thank those of you who have honored me by reading these thoughts. I pray that sanity will return to this great land, but for now, I am retiring from the field of battle. I will continue to fight. I will fight by doing all in my power to raise a virtuous, respectful, and Liberty-loving son.

May God richly bless you. May He hear our earnest and fervent prayers to heal our land. May He help me to have the wisdom to know His will for my life, and the strength and faith to do my duty to Him. I thank you and wish you all well until I feel I can write again.

Callous Objectivist Thought for the Day

I don't want to have to pay for someone else's irresponsibility. I'm sick of being the financier for everybody else's stupidity.Here I am, working my butt off 60 to 70 hours a week just to pay off my school debt before I'm run out of medicine by my own government, trying to raise a respectful child, keeping my nose clean, paying my ever-increasing taxes...and some bozo wants to try and jump his skateboard off a building or something. I don't call that an accident. I call that natural selection.

Ever seen that show "America's Dumbest Criminals"? How about "Scarred"? Those are just a couple of the exhibits in my case against socialism. Under Obama's health care plan, those idiots will reap infinitely more benefit than they'll ever pay into the system. Why? Because they'll probably be "permanently disabled" by the time they're 20.

Grown-ups should pay their own way, as much as it is possible for them to do so. They shouldn't blame white people for all their problems. They shouldn't run through waist-deep water in the aftermath of a hurricane, seeking to steal televisions instead of trying to find food, water, and shelter. They shouldn't BASE jump with a parachute they rolled while they were stoned.

I'm sick to death of continuing to subsidize this sort of short-sighted self-obsessed looting. Anybody who looks at the state of affairs and says "Yeah. This seems okay. All that's missing is more money from the people who work for a living so we can give a higher quality of life to the lazy" is not simply intellectually lazy and wrong. Increasingly, I am starting to feel that they are actively engaged in trying to steal food from my own family's mouths.

I can no longer have a calm conversation with a self-professed "Liberal" or "Progressive". They are starting to look more and more like thieves to me. And I can't have an intelligent conversation with a thief about the relative merits of thievery.

Additionally, politicians who facilitate this sort of behavior merely to maintain their voter base are worse than criminal. It is a satanic sort of self-obsession.

Grow up, America. Get a job, stop whining about how somebody dun you wrong, and pay your own damn way. I'm sick to death of this crap.

Thanks. I needed to vent. I feel a little better now. Seriously, though. Get a job, jackass.

Thank Goodness for Bad Habits

The U.S. Senate has cleared the way for the FDA to regulate the hell out of cigarettes. The logic? Cigarettes make people sick, sick people go to doctors, and since nobody wants to pay for their own doctor bills, we all get to pay for their health care. Yeah. I get it. Makes perfect sense.

That's certainly one way to go about it. It's like motorcycle helmets. Riders hate them. But when they splatter their heads on the pavement, they have to go to the hospital, where (once again) we all have to pick up the tab. So the government makes them wear helmets. You know. For the public good.

But according to that logic, if motorcycle-related accidents are expensive, and if mandating the wearing of helmets is good, then why not just outlaw motorcycles altogether? I mean, since we're all about the greater good, then one person's individual liberty and exercise of their right to splatter their head on the ground shouldn't trump our right to not have to pay their bills. Or am I missing something?

Therefore, I am proposing the super-duper ultimate mega-solution to smoking-related deaths. Let's outlaw cigarettes completely. Let's make the sale, purchase, possession, distribution, or use of cigarettes punishable by...oh, let's see...oh yeah. Beheading. Yeah. We should behead all the smokers.

What's that? What do you mean they already tried that with booze? Prohibition? Well, there's no need to get all historical on me. Besides, it was a dumb idea anyway. We could never pay for SCHIP without smokers. So light up, brothers and sisters! It's your patriotic duty!

Unions Battle to the Death

Well, I guess we know who wields the power in our government.

The Indiana State Pensions Fund filed a case to be heard before the SCOTUS to stop the sale of Chrysler Motors LLC to Fiat SpA of Italy and the U.S. and Canadian governments. Why?

Well, it seems that the Indiana teachers' union, as well as the state and local governments of Indiana were heavily invested in Chrysler. When Chrysler declared bankruptcy, its assets were supposed to be divided among the creditors (as is usually the case with bankruptcies). Interestingly, though, they were not. Through some sort of political hocus-pocus, the assets were disproportionally given to...wait for it...the United Auto Workers union.

The SCOTUS, prompted by Justice Ginsberg, delayed the sale in order to consider the merits of the case. For almost 24 hours.

Tonight, the Court dropped the matter with a perfunctory ruling that failed to address any of the merits of the case. The result?

I think the take-home message is that the UAW can pretty much have its way with our government. Have a home? It's only yours until the UAW decides it wants it. Have a job? You'll spend the first several months working to support the lazy, shiftless, unskilled bullies at the UAW.

They are pigs, feeding at the troughs of money provided by you and me. We had our best chance to purge this cancerous growth from our country when GM and Chrysler announced their impending bankruptcies, but government made sure they coerced the companies into allowing their continued existence.

Just like a fatal parasite, UAW will continue to suck the life-blood of the country until the country itself dies and ceases to be of any use to them. Only then will they die a long-overdue death themselves. Want proof? Just look at what they've done to GM and Chrysler.

Yay, unions. You should be so proud.

Ode: To A Czar Unknown

First, he came for the bank executives.
But I wasn't a bank executive, so I kept silent.
Then he came for the auto executives.
But I wasn't an auto executive, so I kept silent.
Then he came for the doctors.
But I wasn't a doctor, so I kept silent.
Then he came for all the other executives,
But I wasn't one of those other executives, so I kept silent...

Who's next?

If there's a single person in the country deemed poorer than you, then eventually, you will be.

It's Officially Over. My Goodbye to Medicine is Imminent.

This is what I've been talking about. Forced physician participation, in a program with draconian cuts in our reimbursement, by a committee that is shielded from our ability to petition it for a redress of grievances.

Who the hell do they think they are? Seriously. How unbelievably and excruciatingly arrogant of them to tell doctors whom they have to enter into doctor-patient relationships with, and to limit reimbursement by fiat without any chance of negotiation. By what right?

The text below. Even though I've expected it, the blow isn't softened. To paraphrase Kipling, I "see the things I gave my life to, broken". I will have to go Galt now. I haven't any choice.

June 5, 2009

Concerns Grow as HSR Details Emerge

The latest information from Washington indicates that the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will introduce their proposal for health system reform (HSR) by the middle of this month. A separate bill from the Senate Finance Committee is also in the works.

Indications are the two separate aforementioned Senate bills will differ a great deal on a number of HSR issues, including the public plan element insisted upon by President Obama. The two bills will probably be combined into one piece of legislation and ready for Senate consideration in July. In addition, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has committed to passing the House HSR bill by July 31.

Clearly, Congress and President Obama have an ambitious timetable for passing sweeping reforms this year. MASA leadership and lobbyists are continually working with Alabama’s Congressional Delegation on behalf of physicians as more HSR details emerge. From the currently available HSR information, MASA has a number of concerns with certain health reform proposals.

Despite President Obama’s insistence on a new public health insurance plan, developing a new plan for Americans who aren’t disabled and aren’t more than 65 isn’t the best solution for expanding coverage to the uninsured. The public plan option is also opposed by private insurers.

One of the most egregious proposals being discussed in Washington right now would mandate physician participation in the public plan if adopted. Physicians already face a 21 percent cut in Medicare payment rates on January 1, 2010, with steeper cuts coming over the next decade. To help pay for HSR, President Obama wants to cut an additional $200-$300 billion from both Medicare and Medicaid over 10 years, on top of the $300 billion cuts already in his proposed budget. Given Medicare’s history and its uncertain future, a similarly-styled public plan, particularly with mandated physician participation, would be devastating.

MedPAC and the Last Straw

Okay. First a little history...

Medicare, the socialized medicine program designed to give sub-standard health care to our nation's elderly and infirm, pays doctors fees for their services.

These fees are clearly too low, having failed to keep pace with inflation, much less the rising costs of doing business in medicine.

Nevertheless, these fees are "negotiated" with doctors through a supposedly "independent" panel of idiots,called MedPAC, who have themselves traditionally been overseen by Congress.

Just to give you some idea : MedPAC suggested for years that all doctors were making too much money. In order to cut Medicare costs, then, they recommended that physician fees be cut by 21% this year. This would have driven most primary care doctors like myself right out of seeing Medicare patients. This would have been a tragedy, mostly for Medicare patients.

It was only through the lobbying efforts of physicians' groups that this draconian pay cut was (temporarily) avoided.

Enter Obama the Wise. He said today to Senators Baucus and Kennedy that MedPAC could "negotiate" the physician payment schedule under his new Obamacare plan. But wait for the punchline...

In order to "protect" the members of MedPAC from the corrupting influence of the lobbyists, Obama plans to move MedPAC to the Executive Branch, thereby insulating them from any "influence" from the outside.

Now the translation. The President will decide what doctors will be paid. There will be no negotiation. Resistance is futile.

"I'll quit seeing their patients!" you may cry in outrage, as I did. Ah, but not so fast....

Obama has promised to nationalize physician licensure. You will see their patients, at their price, and you will keep your filthy mouth shut, declares the Omnipotent Warlord Obama, or he will strip you of your ability to make a living. It's the gulag, with a fancy 21st-century twist.

Welcome to Socialzed Medicine fellow doctors. This is what I've been screaming about. Maybe you'll believe me now.

Healthcare-NOW!: Clueless

My favorite Single-Payer Marxists over at www.healthcare-now.org are cracking me up. Their entire front page is devoted to (1) whining about how Senator Baucus ignored them at the recent hearings and (2) whining about how the moderators at www.mybarackobama.com keep deleting their comments and suggestions about socializing healthcare (even more than it already is).

It's funny because they can't seem to make the connection. They want government to take over health care because (*chuckle*) the government will be so much more responsive to our concerns and so much more touchy-feely with us about our health than the current private system. They just can't get why they can't get Washington to listen to their concerns and suggestions, especially after Obama promised them the moon and stars. Hope and Change, after all.

Welcome to America, naive ones. Washington looks on all of us as their subjects - inconvenient masses of idiots they have to deal with to get elected, then take a hot shower to wash off our stench. They could not possibly care less about the sick, the infirm, the poor, or anyone else. The ONLY reason they'd ever support government health care is so that they could further consolidate their power.

Don't get me wrong. They definitely will socialize medicine in this country, and it will be the greatest disaster for liberty to date. They just won't do it for the reasons Healthcare-NOW! thinks. I guess I shouldn't be so hard on them. They are simply useful idiots, being manipulated by those in power. Still, they are a bit irritating in their self-righteousness.

I had thoroughly enjoyed pointing out the obvious logical flaws in their arguments, but it seems I'm being "moderated" - web-lingo for shutting me up. Tisk, tisk.

Not So Semper Fidelis

I spent four years on active duty as a U.S. Marine. They were four of the most difficult years of my life, but as is so often the case, I've found, they were also four of the most rewarding in retrospect. Call me a bit of a sucker, but I still get choked up when I hear Sousa marches, especially Semper Fidelis, affectionately known by Marines as "Six Bits". I still have quite a few friends in the Corps, and I think of them all the time, especially in these trying days. For over 225 years, the Marines have served with distinction and with honor, doing things others thought impossible, answering the call of their country without question. I've never been as proud to be a Marine as I am right now. The job they continue to do, whether or not one agrees with the mission they've been given, is one deserving of the highest respect and admiration.

The term Semper Fidelis is, itself, a bit of a trademark of the U.S. Marine Corps. I don't think anybody really knows when it started being used, but it is a term that is used with extreme pride by those of us proud to have earned the title Marine. It's Latin for "Always Faithful". We use it as a term of endearment and greeting to our brother and sister Marines. I always make sure to shake the hand of any Marine I meet, active or prior service. I look them directly in the eyes and say "Semper Fidelis".

It means a lot to me. It means that I would do almost anything to assist a fellow Marine in distress. It means that I would shudder at the thought of allowing a fellow Marine to suffer. And, perhaps most importantly, it carries with it a supreme responsibility. I strive to be worthy of my earned title of Marine at all times. I would feel an intense feeling of shame if I were to bring dishonor or bad reputation to the Marine Corps I love and respect so much, even after all these years.

There is another term we Marines use from time to time. It is "Once a Marine, Always a Marine". It's related to Semper Fidelis but is a bit different. It is a statement that once you have earned the title of Marine, nobody can ever take it away from you. Some old-timers even bristle if you ask them if they are an "ex-Marine" or a "former Marine". "Once a Marine, Always a Marine", they are likely to say, likely a bit perterbed.

It brings up an interesting question, though. Can a person willingly forfeit their Marine status through their actions? If a Marine comes out and speaks disparagingly of the Marine Corps, its members, its history, and so forth, wouldn't it be sort of understood that he or she no longer is being Semper Fidelis?

I find myself feeling ashamed of John Murtha in exactly this sense. His political career has led him to a point where he has chosen to libel Marines, accusing them of the most hideous forms of cruelty and most deviant war crimes imaginable, only to have those accused Marines be acquitted of all charges. He did this for the most despicable of reasons - cheap political points designed to benefit him directly. In short, he sold out. Never has Murtha recanted his hasty and now thoroughly discredited accusations. Never has he apologized. He apparently feels no sense of shame for dishonoring the title he himself once earned.

I don't know what the official stance of the Marine Corps is on this matter. I can only speak for myself. As a proud Marine who is horrified at the depths of depravity to which John Murtha has sunk, I find him to have displayed conduct that is unbecoming of any Marine.

I hereby renounce any ties between myself and John Murtha, and I strip him unilaterally of any rights or privileges that should attend his status as a Marine. I find him a despicable and thoroughly dishonorable human being. He is no longer faithful to us, and therefore, I shall henceforth no longer be faithful to him. He is no longer a Marine, as far as I'm concerned.

Better Late than Never. I Guess.

The President finally made time in his busy Apology Tour of the motherland (the Moslem Middle East) to mention that he is "saddened" by the premeditated hate-murder of a 24-year-old Army Private fresh out of basic training.

It was a shame that it happened. I mean, it's no great tragedy, like the murder of Dr. Tiller, but nevertheless, thanks for your condolences, Mr. President. I'm sure it means a lot to the family.

Better get ready for more of this, folks. Those of you who voted for our esteemed Marxist leader in the hopes that we could genuflect and apologize our way out of all our world troubles should rest really easy. Clearly, the Moslem world just simply loves the heck out of us now. Problem solved, right?

Well done. I'm sure they'll eventually quit being mad at us. After all, they've only been mad at the Hebrews for 4 thousand years. I guess we've got time to wait.

Yawn...Still Waiting

Obama named a new Secretary of the Army this morning. Still either unmoved or unaware of the murder of an unarmed 24-year-old Army Private outside a Little Rock recruiting station.

Eric Holder still hasn't sent any Marshals to protect recruiting stations.

No civil rights protections for military service people, apparently.

Civil rights only count if you are a law-breaking late term abortionist.

Joined the military to serve your country in a constructive way? Big whoop. Want to be a hero? Terminate 60,000 lives by delivering viable infants, then puncturing their tiny skulls and sucking out their tiny innocent brains.

When you do that, making millions in the process, your murder is a national tragedy.

What despicable hypocrisy.

Still Waiting...

It's now apparent that the murder of a U.S. soldier outside a Little Rock, Arkansas recruiting station was the work of a Moslem extremist, with "political and religious motives", according to local law enforcement.

I'm still waiting for President Obama to be "shocked" and "outraged". I'm still waiting for this to be labeled a "hate crime". I'm still waiting for Attorney General Holder to mobilize the full force of the U.S. Marshall's service to respond to this obvious violation of the soldier's most basic civil rights - the right to life.

I am still waiting, and something tells me I'll be waiting for a long time. You see, an innocent soldier, fresh out of basic training, is not as important, in the cruel liberal calculus of the present power elite, as a law-breaking abortionist.

America's Turning Red, says...PRAVDA!

Well, I guess if it "takes one to know one"...

You know you're in trouble when even the former Soviet Union thinks your "descent into Marxism" is shocking in its speed.

Nice work, Hopenchangers. You should be so proud. Oh, incidentally...what job do you think you'll be assigned by your block captain when the transformation is complete? Hope it's something fun.

Nice Work, Seattle!!!

Seattle mobilized a very respectable counter-offensive against the Cloward-Piven Obamacare drones. Superb job! You're patriots, one and all.

Michelle Malkin coverage here.

Definitely NOT a "Hate Crime"

A military recruiting center was attacked today in Arkansas. A recruiter was killed. It's all over the news...(not).

I'll be interested to see if Attorney General Eric Holder addresses this tragedy fairly. After the assassination of the scofflaw late-term abortionist yesterday, Holder promised to beef up security using U.S. Marshall guards. He also promised to investigate whether the killer had any connection to any of the pro-life groups.

I'm sure that Holder will send Marshalls to guard Military Recruiting centers. I'm sure he'll look thoroughly into any connection between the shooter(s) and the radical military-hating left-wing groups like Code Pink, et al.

Furthermore, I'm sure the President will come out in the next few minutes talking about how "shocked" and "outraged" he is at this murder. After all, I'm sure that the hate-murder of a military recruiter warrants exactly the same sort of response, right?

Right...?

We probably shouldn't hold our breath. After all, as we know, assassinating a military recruiter because he's a military recruiter is NOT a hate crime. So big deal, right? I guess a "baby killer" just got his due. Liberals and Marxists aren't capable of hatred, apparently. Just ask the family of Czar Nicholas.

As a veteran myself, allow me to be one of the far too few people who will extend to the family of the recruiter in Arkansas my deepest sympathy, and my most sincere appreciation for his service. I pray that you will feel "the peace that transcends all understanding" in the coming days. I am truly sorry, both for your unfair and tragic loss, and for the country that fails to understand or even comprehend the nature of your sacrifice.

Stimulus?

Incidentally, how's the stimulus working out for everybody?

You guys have what you wanted. You have your Marxist president and an unstoppable socialist majority in Congress. With quite literally all the power on earth, have they delivered the Utopian paradise you hoped for? Have they brought the rich down and elevated you in their place? Have they punished success and rewarded mediocrity to your benefit?

How stable is your job? Feel confident? If not, ask yourself why not. He promised to lift you up to unbelievable heights of success by stealing the efforts of others - what happened?

Obama and his henchman want to fail. They want to implement the Cloward-Piven strategy, forcing the collapse of our form of government so that they can bring about Marxist totalitarianism. Everything they've done so far is directly in line with the Saul Alinsky playbook.

1. Nationalize the banks...check.

2. Nationalize industry...check.

3. Increase the welfare rolls...check.

4. Promise to deliver new and invented "rights" (e.g. healthcare, etc.)...check.

5. When government fails to deliver, foment revolution on the part of the masses to overthrow the "failed capitalist system"...coming soon...

You've been warned, by the author of this satanic strategy himself - in his book Rules for Radicals. Read, learn, prepare. Whether or not you realize it, war has been declared. Don't be asleep.

Congratulations!

President Obama has made me feel so much better about things. He admitted that things are going to be really hard, that jobs will continue to be lost, that factories will close, that the economy will continue to stink...but it's all gonna be worth it! We have been "asked" to sacrifice (at the point of a gun), and sacrifice we will. At least we got a failing, union-strangled uncompetitive car company for all our "sacrifice".

Why must we sacrifice? Why, for the children, of course. "Sacrifice" has been thrust on us so that our children can continue to live in a country where stuff is made.

Enjoy your sacrifice, comrades. It's your patriotic duty, after all.