Housekeeping

June 5, 2006

A few things to mention this morning…

First, as some of you might have noticed over the weekend, I’m filling in for Kevin Drum at Washington Monthly this week. My plan is to keep up a pretty normal schedule: I’ll still post the usual amount of content here; I’ll still be chipping in at the Daou Report; and I’ll post plenty of fresh content over at the Washington Monthly. In a couple of instances, there may be a few posts that I publish there and not here, but only because I’ve covered the topic here very recently and don’t want to be redundant.

Second, I’m delighted at the initial feedback I’ve received about the contest idea about ranking Bush’s biggest whoppers in a March-Madness style competition. (I’m thinking about calling it “Mendacity Madness,” but I’m open to suggestion.) I’m still working on the logistics, but the nominations have been great so far. If you missed it, I talked about the contest last Thursday. If you have a few favorite Bush lies that haven’t already been nomination, feel free to add them here, there, or send them in via email.

Also, I have a doctor’s appointment this morning that might affect the posting schedule a little, if at all. I plan to make it up as the day goes on.

And now, back to the news….

Good luck with your doctor’s’ appointment.

Having been subjected to more of these in the last months than I have in my previous 66 years of living, I have a message to pass along. I suppose it’s due to the increasing corporate control of medical practice, but in their effort to increase income per office visit, managers are squeezing physicians schedules so much that – if one should happen to exceed the limits set for it, patients get backed up in the waiting room. In one case I had to wait two-and-a-half hours beyond the fixed appointment time … with still no end in sight (“Doctor will get to you as soon as he can”) I left the medical center and went home, wasting not only my time but that of my wife and the neighbor who drove us to and from.

I don’t understand why doctors can’t be at least as decent to their clients as almost every restaurant is. “Sir, it looks like there will be a 30 minute wait.” Adding: “If that is inconvenient we can reschedule.” This would at least give the patient a chance to decide (supposedly big in medicine these days). It would also give the physician a chance to prove that patient welfare is near the top of his priorities, regardless of what the medical center’s business manager thinks.

  • One of my favorites since I advocate for low-income tenants:

    ” Home is important. It’s important to have a home.”

    —– GWB 2/18/01 in Crawford, TX

  • CB,

    I’ve been out of pocket for awhile and missed your Thursday post. I love this idea! I don’t know how you limit it to only 64 (+ 1 play-in?). There are soooooo many, I don’t even know where to begin.

    Ed,

    Not to make this thread a discussion on health care, but have you noticed how Republicants always point to the “failed socialist countries health care systems” and say that you have to wait and get poor health care. Seems to me that our system is worse. I look at Canada, whose people, by the way, are healthier than Americans, and it seems to be working there.

  • I put this on a different thread, but to make sure it gets nominated, here is one of my fave Dumbya Deceptions:

    “Harriet Miers is the most qualified person for the United States Supreme Court.”

  • This sounds like a fantastic idea. (Sorry, I was on vacation last week.) The Consumerist (www.consumerist.com) did a similar contest a few months ago for worst corporation. Halliburton won, I believe. And even more importantly, they got mad media coverage. At least a radio interview anyway, which I thought was very cool. Go with it! Let us know when NPR or Air America interviews you.

  • Mr. C.B.,

    Instead of “Mendacity Madness”, how about “Mendacity Marathon”?

    There are just so, so many lies, that it will be a marathon process to pick the most outrageous of them all!! 🙂

  • AL, the “Mendacity Marathon” is what we all have been running since Dubya took office.

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