Civil Discussion About Health Care

Ramblings _One Who Can Discuss Health Care Without A Gun (+)
by: Tom B

My wife was an old school, hands on RN for all of her too short adult life. We met when she was an MICN and I was a firefighter/medic hauling patients into her ER over 30 years ago.
When she learned that a maternally hereditary and terminal kidney condition had picked her generation to strike and her in particular to afflict, she quietly sat down and put her affairs in order. When the time came that she knew the only way she was going to be able to live was through constant dialysis treatment in some assisted care facility she, again very quietly, checked herself out of the hospital and went home to die.
She firmly believed in every person's inherent right to live a life of dignity and to a certain standard quality of life in regard to health issues, with the knowledge that nobody will be given preferential treatment based on their position on the financial food chain, especially when it comes down to living or dying. She worked her entire life doing what she could to provide that right to anyone and everyone she ever came into contact with professionally. Now those beliefs are being spit on by gun toting extremists being whipped up by pimp politicians and radio and TV talking heads.
We spent many hours during those days in the hospital, me not wanting to let go and her trying to explain to me that what was going to be left was not going to be her anyway and that she truly needed to go... for our sakes and for hers. She finally managed to convince me and I and the rest of the family were able to finally realize that we selfishly wanted her around for us and that it was time to think of her for a change.
She came home on a Monday, lapsed into a coma eight days later and passed away ten days after coming home to be among friends and family at the end. I hope... when my time comes... I can meet it head on with as much grace and dignity as that woman did.
I learned a lot of lessons during the short weeks after her decision was made. Things that today, the running dogs of the health care industry are attempting to marginalize in favor of higher profits for their corporate handlers. I've seen things in recent weeks and months that have led me to develop huge levels of contempt and disgust for those politicians and other government lackeys that would have denied her the care she received had the hospital she worked at not been a public entity.
In other words, had she, as a public employee, not had the "public option" health insurance that the ultra right wing mavens of religious righteosity and corporate self interest would deny the average citizen... most often while enjoying and/or taking advantage of it themselves... the choice wouldn't have been hers to make. She would have been SENT home instead of them trying their damnedest to get her to have surgeries and other expensive treatments that she as well as they did would not improve her condition.
By the way, his is not a political issue for me. I don't give a damn what party you belong to or what your "ism" happens to be, so don't start flinging labels or calling names. This is an issue of my right to decent health care at an affordable price as opposed to your right to unimaginably obscene profits based on denying me that right or... if your a running dog politician... your "right" to make more money acting against the public interest than for it. It's an issue of right or wrong, pure and simple and I just wanted to get that crap out of the way.
People who profit hugely... to the point of profiteering especially... from the suffering of other people are simply evil. There is no other word for it. Republican, Blue Dog Democrat or what the hell ever, if you're taking huge amounts of money from our for profit health care system and supporting the abuses and what ought to be called crimes against humanity being committed daily by the corporations and Wall Street bloodsuckers, then I'm sorry... you're nothing but totally evil, greedy little punks... jackals pecking at the bones of the dead... and often before the dying is even over.
I used to think there were a lot more people like my wife out there than there were miserable self serving malignant little gnomes who would vote to let people die if they didn't have the means to contribute to the obscene bottom line of the health care "industry". But I suppose that if the percentage of punks in congress reflects the percentage of punks in our society, then I was probably wrong about that, eh?
When you stand in the way of universal health care... and ESPECIALLY when your sole verifiable reason for doing so is that you have taken MONEY for it and you have to make up bullshit stories to absolve your masters of being little more than maggots... you lose any credibility you might ever have had with any thinking human being on the subject.
The more I hear the crap coming from the fringe 29 percenters, most recently epitomized by the blithering fricking idiot who openly wore a damned gun to a presidential appearance on health care with who knows WHAT fricking purpose in mind and thereby crapped on the entire concept of reasoned debate on an issue of supreme importance, the more convinced I become that maybe the wrong people are wearing guns to the wrong rallies. I wonder what would happen if I strapped on my old Colt and went to a "tea party".
To you bloviating right wing punks... I'm sorry, punks is the most printable name I can come up with for you right now... you congressional and right wing talking head punks... who advocate and egg on the kind of political "dialog" and "debate" we're seeing today... thanks, you miserable little sonsofbitches for turning this country into a fricking banana republic style lampoon of itself. Too bad you're doing it solely for the money and, even worse, including gnawing the bones of the dead and dying as one of your major means of doing so.