Friday, August 28, 2009

Local Health Care Debate Question

When Paul Leithart uses a Dispatch LTE to attack an article on preventable deaths from medical errors, because it contains references to a 1999 report from the Institutes of Medicine that he doesn't agree with, despite the fact that the estimates in the article are based on 10 years of subsequent monitoring and research, concluding "Let's not use more lies to bring about socialized medicine," is it more important to note that he is is:

A) A retired doctor, or
B) On the National Council of the John Birch Society, approaching his 50 year anniversary with the organization?

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Recess Equals Playtime

So, in the ongoing saga of Pat Tiberi's love/hate relationship with pork, he's holding his annual hog roast this Saturday, an event at which the newly formed Central Ohio Republican Women will be a Hog Sponsor. I found out about it from Sara Marie Brenner's blog. Sara's a hoot. I'd like to link to her picture, so you could see how she looks like a wannabe Alaskan governor. Then I'd link to her blog post where she compares her personal experience with baselesss persecution to that self-same Ms. Palin's. But I won't, because she includes in the basic description of her blog a prohibition against doing things like linking to any of her posts or quoting her, etc.. A prohibition which, for obvious reasons, I can only summarize. I could, instead link to her husband's campaign site, which she designed, as the profile (that I'm guessing she wrote) of him gratuitously includes her resume (including her involvement in a non-existent state senate campaign??), but I won't.

The CORW appears to have been her idea, so it's only fitting that she's the president. "Singer, Educator, Avon Rep" Cheli Turner is the VP. Renee Seeley, who unfortunately is probably not the PUMA Renee Seeley who stated that : "Obama is just another Bush. Stealing votes is the Bush Way. To win caucuses by bussing in college students and his church friends is cheating the Bush Way," is Secretary. Evangelical Reverend/NRA shooting instructor Sue Antolik is Treasurer. (Gina Baker is Assistant Secretary/Treasurer, with a less amusing Google trail, although the sec/treas combination title is one she has no doubt grown used to while holding it in her husband's company.)

Their marketers at Constant Contact would have you believe that the group looks like this, rather than other generic womens groups like this, or this (to be fair, 2 of their 140 Facebook fans are in fact African American females, compared to only 29 who are white males).

While I can only dream of seeing Tim Russo interviewing the CORW table at the Tiberi Hog Roast, a more realistic hope is audio from the Tiberi Tele-Town Hall on Tuesday:

"Constituents who want to be on the call should call Tiberi's district office by 5 p.m. Monday, at 614-523-2555, according to his office."

I'll be out of even cell-phone contact at the time, but if any other constituents would care to ensure that Pat gets a more representative view of his district's feelings regarding health-care reform, please do so and keep me informed.