Read this Arkhangel post right now.
Why are you still here? Go!
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Bush On The Campaign Trail
Dan Froomkin reports on the campaign style of the most managed President in history:
Instead of taking questions from reporters, President Bush has become increasingly partial to playing talk-show host to an audience of sycophantic fans....which, of course, is quite the accomplishment. But, as Froomkin makes clear, the audience "questions" go well beyond softball level to outright character assassination of John Kerry - without the Bush campaign having to get their own fingers dirty:
There were four "Ask President Bush" events last week and in each case, after a long speech and staged interviews with prepped guests, Bush opened the floor to some incredible softballs.
The format allows the president to come off as very smooth.
"Q On behalf of Vietnam veterans -- and I served six tours over there -- we do support the President. I only have one concern, and that's on the Purple Heart, and that is, is that there are over 200,000 Vietnam vets that died from Agent Orange and were never -- no Purple Heart has ever been awarded to a Vietnam veteran because of Agent Orange because it's never been changed in the regulations. Yet, we've got a candidate for President out here with two self-inflicted scratches, and I take that as an insult. (Applause.)Froomkin's thesis is that the press corps is getting tired of this kind of theater, but I'm less optimistic. Fox News will always have an endless appetite for pro-Bush quasi-news clips, and in the echo chamber of right-wing punditry, admiration of Bush's natural touch with the voters - and voters' overwhelming distaste for Kerry - will flourish undisturbed. Even in the mainstream news, the propaganda events seem to be working well enough. Froomkin himself links to this Valentine of a Washington Post article by John F. Harris, which speaks admiringly about Bush's smooth speaking style and demeanor:
"THE PRESIDENT: Well, I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you for your service. Six tours? Whew. That's a lot of tours.
"Let's see, who've we got here? You got a question?"
In loosening his style, Bush tightened his message. Fielding friendly questions at "Ask President Bush" forums, or lathering up the crowds at pep rallies like the one here on Saturday afternoon, he presented his case for reelection with a force and fluency that sometimes eluded him at important moments over the past year.Harris also writes that, despite polling data suggesting that the Bush campaign is embattled, in fact he is "drawing appreciative crowds" - without bothering to mention just why the crowds attending Bush rallies are so uniformly enthusiastic. Even the Froomkin piece notes that Bush events have been successful in eliminating "hecklers," instead of making it clear that Bush events have barred everyone but true believers.
Saturday, August 14, 2004
CDC HIV Prevention Regulations: Reprise
Recently, Doug Ireland's April scare piece about new CDC regulations for HIV prevention activity has been given new life in the blogosphere. In the last couple weeks, I've seen the article quoted all over LiveJournal, as well as in favorite blogs of mine, such as Echidne of the Snakes. People have also started e-mailing it to me again with requests for comment.
I don't normally reprint my own stuff, but given the increased circulation of the Ireland piece, I'd like to repost a link to my analysis of the proposed new CDC regulations. In summary: I think that Ireland's piece is an alarmist and misleading distortion of what the regulations actually say, and I don't think that the proposed changes will have a negative impact on HIV prevention activities. The new regulations certainly do not restrict future HIV prevention efforts to "abstinence only" models. If you're still concerned, follow the link for my detailed analysis.
I don't normally reprint my own stuff, but given the increased circulation of the Ireland piece, I'd like to repost a link to my analysis of the proposed new CDC regulations. In summary: I think that Ireland's piece is an alarmist and misleading distortion of what the regulations actually say, and I don't think that the proposed changes will have a negative impact on HIV prevention activities. The new regulations certainly do not restrict future HIV prevention efforts to "abstinence only" models. If you're still concerned, follow the link for my detailed analysis.
Friday, August 13, 2004
What God Hath Joined Together
Marriage is a term with legal meaning, but that's not all that it is.
Marriage is the binding of persons by sacred oaths.
Marriage shelters parents and children together in stable families.
Marriage is the means by which communities recognize relationships as legitimate, and pledge to support them.
Marriage is a declaration that two people strive for permanency of their relationship, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health.
As I said last February: come what may, these people are married. Look at them, look at their faces. The California Supreme Court may have annulled their legal certificates, but their marriages abide. The long fight is still before them, still before us, but their marriages abide.
What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. Some things can't be taken away.
Marriage is the binding of persons by sacred oaths.
Marriage shelters parents and children together in stable families.
Marriage is the means by which communities recognize relationships as legitimate, and pledge to support them.
Marriage is a declaration that two people strive for permanency of their relationship, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health.
As I said last February: come what may, these people are married. Look at them, look at their faces. The California Supreme Court may have annulled their legal certificates, but their marriages abide. The long fight is still before them, still before us, but their marriages abide.
What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. Some things can't be taken away.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Compassionate Conservatism In The ER
Via Body and Soul, I discover that the Bush Administration's conservatism just keeps getting more and more compassionate.
Hospitals are required to treat anyone who shows up in the Emergency Room with a bona fide medical emergency, regardless of that person's ability to pay. If the person can't afford to pay anything, or can't be billed because they have no legal address, the hospital is required to absorb the cost. For hospitals in border states, a disproportionate number of these indigent ER patients are illegal immigrants. These hospitals have been arguing for years that illegal immigration is the government's problem, and that the government should reimburse them for the costs of emergency care given to undocumented patients.
Last year, they managed to convince Congress to set aside some money for it, and all seemed well. But now the Bush Administration has declared that, in order to be reimbursed, hospitals must ask all uninsured emergency patients about their immigration status, including placing photocopies of immigration documents in the medical record. They won't be required to turn the records over to the government unless they are audited, but the INS and local law enforcement officials will presumably be able to access them - as they can access the rest of the medical record - via subpoena.
This policy will obviously have the effect of keeping illegal immigrants out of the ER - and probably many legal immigrants, as well. Parents who are undocumented will hesitate to bring their U.S.-citizen children to the ER, for fear that the parents' immigration status will be questioned. Legal immigrants whose papers aren't at hand, or aren't perfectly in order, will be afraid of being misidentified as illegal. No one will trust that the hospital won't notify the INS.
People won't get the emergency health care they need.
Hospitals want to use common-sense methods of identifying cases eligible for reimbursement - for example, counting all indigent patients who give invalid Social Security numbers. The Bush Administration argues that "hospitals could ask the questions in 'an unobtrusive way' that would not discourage immigrants from seeking care." As if there's an unobtrusive, casual way to ask questions like:
Once again, the Bush Administration will have it both ways: they'll get a PR boost from a policy which seems humane and compassionate, and yet they won't actually have to pay for the provision of costly services.
Why should we care? If "human kindness" isn't a sufficient answer, then we should care for reasons of public health. You don't want someone with untreated Hepatitis A in the restaurant kitchen, making your salad. You don't want a child with ringworm or an untreated infection playing with your child on the playground. You don't want there to be a population in your city which is undervaccinated, living under poor sanitary conditions, and without prompt access to health care. That's how epidemics start.
Hospitals are required to treat anyone who shows up in the Emergency Room with a bona fide medical emergency, regardless of that person's ability to pay. If the person can't afford to pay anything, or can't be billed because they have no legal address, the hospital is required to absorb the cost. For hospitals in border states, a disproportionate number of these indigent ER patients are illegal immigrants. These hospitals have been arguing for years that illegal immigration is the government's problem, and that the government should reimburse them for the costs of emergency care given to undocumented patients.
Last year, they managed to convince Congress to set aside some money for it, and all seemed well. But now the Bush Administration has declared that, in order to be reimbursed, hospitals must ask all uninsured emergency patients about their immigration status, including placing photocopies of immigration documents in the medical record. They won't be required to turn the records over to the government unless they are audited, but the INS and local law enforcement officials will presumably be able to access them - as they can access the rest of the medical record - via subpoena.
This policy will obviously have the effect of keeping illegal immigrants out of the ER - and probably many legal immigrants, as well. Parents who are undocumented will hesitate to bring their U.S.-citizen children to the ER, for fear that the parents' immigration status will be questioned. Legal immigrants whose papers aren't at hand, or aren't perfectly in order, will be afraid of being misidentified as illegal. No one will trust that the hospital won't notify the INS.
People won't get the emergency health care they need.
Hospitals want to use common-sense methods of identifying cases eligible for reimbursement - for example, counting all indigent patients who give invalid Social Security numbers. The Bush Administration argues that "hospitals could ask the questions in 'an unobtrusive way' that would not discourage immigrants from seeking care." As if there's an unobtrusive, casual way to ask questions like:
Are you a United States citizen?One of two things will happen under this new policy. Hospitals with a serious dedication to making emergency care accessible will refuse to ask immigration questions, foregoing reimbursement. Hospitals too financially strapped to forego reimbursement, or too focused on the bottom line to care, will be avoided by anyone whose immigration status is undocumented or ambiguous. More of those people will wind up seeking medical attention from unlicensed traditional healers, or going without care altogether. But here's what won't happen: large numbers of illegal immigrants declaring their status at the ER and receiving treatment for which the hospital is reimbursed.
Are you a lawful permanent resident, an alien with a valid current employment authorization card or other qualified alien?
Are you in the United States on a nonimmigrant visa of the type issued to students, tourists and business travelers?
Are you a foreign citizen who has been admitted to the United States with a 72-hour border crossing card?
Once again, the Bush Administration will have it both ways: they'll get a PR boost from a policy which seems humane and compassionate, and yet they won't actually have to pay for the provision of costly services.
Why should we care? If "human kindness" isn't a sufficient answer, then we should care for reasons of public health. You don't want someone with untreated Hepatitis A in the restaurant kitchen, making your salad. You don't want a child with ringworm or an untreated infection playing with your child on the playground. You don't want there to be a population in your city which is undervaccinated, living under poor sanitary conditions, and without prompt access to health care. That's how epidemics start.
Monday, August 02, 2004
Terror In The Skies!!! Australian Style
Lots of people defended Annie Jacobsen's bizarre episode of anti-Arab paranoia by pointing out that the plane's crew was apparently concerned as well. Jacobsen has cited support from multiple airline employees who have written in to tell her that Arab terrorists are constantly probing airline security and conducting "dry runs" of attacks. Surely these reports are trustworthy. Surely air travel professionals would have calm and reasoned responses to innocuous, terror-free in-flight events.
Surely not.
Surely not.
Ninety minutes after taking off from Sydney Airport, a flight attendant on a United Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles found an airsickness bag - presumably unused - in a lavatory with the letters "BOB" written on it.
The flight attendant decided that the letters stood for "Bomb On Board" and immediately alerted the captain, who decided the risk was serious enough to turn the plane around and land back in Sydney. [...]
Why in the world would someone decide that out of all the possible meanings that "BOB" scribbled on an airsickness bag could have, its presence on this particular airsickness bag on this particular flight must mean "Bomb On Board"?
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