This election madness is getting to the point that it’s infringing on the hospital. People keep blurting out comments on the election, or even diving into a complicated analysis of each state’s possible outcome and impact on the electoral college instead of the football calculations which usually occupy the guys.
The attending tried to hold a discussion session on current therapies for some surgical disease or other, but was completely unable to restrain himself from explaining, instead, the great danger that a radical socialist president in complete control of both houses of Congress would pose to the nation. I, of course, joined in, and we exchanged rumors and speculations. The chief shook his head and insisted that he prefers not to think about such things. To be sure, I much preferred to keep the attending on the subject of politics, on which we were on an equal footing, to returning to surgery, in which I was making a rather poor showing (along the lines of, there’s only two answers to each question, and I persisted in remembering the wrong answer to every one. . . bother).
Possibly I was a little distracted. I’ve been plotting for a week now how likely it is that I will be able to get out of the hospital in time to vote on November 4. I decline to vote absentee, on the grounds that everything I’ve read suggests that these ballots get lost, mislaid, and miscounted in droves. I don’t actually have any particular expectation that the electronic voting machines won’t simply eat my vote as well, or reverse it, but somehow there seems to be strength in numbers – do it all at once, I say. (And doesn’t the whole concept of “early voting” rather dramatically undermine the purpose of Election Day? What if some horrible truth about either McCain or Obama were revealed next Wednesday, for instance? What about the people who already voted? Or what if, God forbid, this country were to suffer another terrorist attack? The point of a set day for elections is to do things in an orderly fashion. . .)
With the advent of ACORN and the gross insistence of Secretaries of State across the country (Ohio’s being the most egregious – refusing to enforce federal law? how does she get away with that?) upon not enforcing any kind of rational limits on fake voters, I give this country one more election cycle at the most before all trust in the ballotting system disintegrates completely, and we are reduced to the level of any African/Asian/post-communist country. The end is closer than we think. Frankly, no matter who wins in November, I personally will have only a very faint hope that it was an honest result. (And why does CNN, deciding finally to cover voter fraud, after the online new media has been all over it for weeks, choose to highlight a Republican who jammed Democrat headquarter phone lines a few years ago, rather than ACORN, which has literally registered millions of Disney characters, dead fish, and defunct seniors in the past few months?)
Ahem. Will stop ranting now. You may conclude that I had very little of surgical interest to occupy me today. Although the specter of the absite is starting to loom closer.
October 23, 2008 at 8:09 am
I agree. I heard that a CNN reporter tried out some of the ballot machines were you push a name and it lights up with your choice – only it lighted up the wrong name selected! Gonna be scary.
October 23, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Can I just say that I agree 100%! The media is so biased this election, it’s downright scary. Glad to know I’m not the only one who hasn’t swallowed the Obama kool-aid.
How about the fact that no major media sources (except Glenn Beck who just got kicked off of CNN and sent to Fox News), are reporting the fact that Obama’s economic advisor was the head of Fannie Mae for the 5 worst years of sub-prime lending, and took home $90 MILLION bucks. Or that Obama received the 2nd highest amount of money from Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae, more than any other senator (including those who have been in for 30 years), except the chairman of the housing and finance commission.
Having a president that the media is afraid to scrutinize is a dangerous thing, especially when that president is in control of the House AND the Senate. We all might as well move to France if he’s elected, after all we’re going to be socialist here, too, and the view’s better over there.
November 18, 2008 at 2:35 am
Whether something is socialized or privatized, there are humans involved. Generally inefficiencies increase with the size of the organization being managed or mismanaged.
Government provides some socialized services such as those provided by the fire department, police, public secondary schools and universities, freeways (except for toll roads). It provides a broken medicare and medicaid, and social security. This is also one way that medical residencies and fellowships are funded.
There are many private successes and failures as well which may be attributed to the humans which run them.
Please remember that you do not have as much time to devote to these subjects such as the significance of reduced energy trading on NYMEX and increased unregulated trading on ICE and the relation to energy prices. Just like an economist doesn’t spend much time thinking about the unintended effects of drug metabolites or adequate cerebral perfusion and ICP. One thing is clear to me though. Our nation faces incredible problems that are complex. I will now take my humble medication as needed.