Month: June 2007

The Bush-Cheney Cliff

One thing the GOP may not have considered when re-electing both a vice-president and a president who will not run again: what if Bush and Cheney don’t really care what they do to the Republican future in their final years? What if neither really cares what anyone else thinks? Look at the Cheney legacy on the environment detailed in yesterday’s WaPo and tell me it doesn’t read like an Oliver Stone caricature of an evil Republican? Ever wonder why the next generation is lost? And check out Bush’s determination to pass an immigration bill that will almost certainly destroy his own coalition for the foreseeable future. Many of us saw that this duo was out of control and unaccountable a while back. I have a feeling many loyal Republicans are beginning to find out as well.

The Weakness of the Mullahs

Tehranriot

Amazingly enough, it’s oil, or, more specifically refinery capacity. Judith Klinghoffer blogs:

Maybe, just maybe, the Iranian people will rise and save themselves and us. It would be the best of solutions. Indeed, according to the MEHR news agency mere talk of sanctions led to the Majlis approving rationing in a close session and the subsequent riots:

Pointing to the U.S. Congress’s plan to pressure Iran by interfering with gasoline imports, he said that the country should reduce its international vulnerability by solving the country’s transportation problems, preventing fuel smuggling, and rationing gasoline using smart cards.

What if the Iranian authorities do the expected and ruthlessly suppress the riots? After all they have already started to attack reporters covering them. Well, limiting Iranian access to gasoline does not seem to have a down side in the worst of cases.

Debka says three protestors were killed.

Healthcare In France, Ctd.

Another first-person rave:

I agree with your reader’s positive description of the healthcare system in France. A recent commentator in Le Monde argued that, despite the US’s anxieties about "socialized medicine," our healthcare system actually shows more evidence of "socialization" than theirs does. As the commentator points out, countless French physicians operate independently out of their own offices, whereas most US physicians, because of the burdens of paperwork, have to work in groups or in hospitals. French citizens have far more liberty in choosing the doctors they would like than most US citizens do.

I was treated for the same minor health problem in France and in the U.S. In France, I walked into the French hospital, spoke with a doctor in a few minutes, received treatment, and was charged $25. In the U.S., I was subjected to a barrage of bureaucracy before I could ever speak with anyone, and I left $600 poorer (after health insurance), on my graduate student’s salary. In France, a visiting friend hurt her foot, so we stopped by a hospital. An internist examined her and told her what the problem was. When we tried to pay, she shrugged and said that there would be no bill, as we were from "le pays de la liberté." (This was admittedly before the Bush presidency.) If only U.S. physicians could function with the efficiency, common sense, and independence of their French equivalents.

My British friends say the same. Many escape the NHS for French medicine.

A Doctor Leaves

A pediatrician blogger who hung on in the Gulf Coast after Katrina has just decided to quit and leave. Money quote:

When George W. Bush spoke in New Orleans days after Katrina, he promised to do whatever it took to set things right. He gave us hope. He didn’t have to say those words. He could have expressed sympathy, mentioned that "the nation stands with you as you rebuild," et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But instead he promised action. The terrible tragedy would be met with just as equally awesome a recovery.

Perhaps the only thing worse than no hope is false hope. Hear me out: no hope leads to reasonable expectations. No one is coming; make your plans accordingly. False hope, on the other hand, encourages you to go to the brink, even over it. I may be near the end of my rope, my finances, my energy, but at least the cavalry is coming. Until you finally realize that it isn’t. And then it’s too late, and the anger comes forth.