Letters to the Editor
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Correction and comment
Frist is not the only MD int he Senate. Coburn of Oklahoma is also. That said, something seems to happen to these doctors when they give up medicine for politics. With Frist it was Terry Schiavo's brain function. With Coburn it was an obsession with a lesbian epidemic in Oklahoma Hhigh schools, which had to restrict access to girls' bathrooms because of all the hot sex going on in them.
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Tragic figure?
Please. He's a clown and he's incompetent. Don't dignify him with the label of "tragic." He doesn't deserve it and he certainly doesn't deserve our sympathy.
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Ironic
Bill Frist does indeeed remind me of the song Ironic. He goes on forever and seems to have no idea what he's talking about. I do indeed hope that the Senator has (mepaphorical) rain on his predidential wedding day. That would be just. It still wouldn't be ironic. But it would be just.
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It could have been worse...
The NYT didn't even mention that this is a guy who used to adopt cats so he could dissect them.
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I know I'm repeating myself...
...but why has no one in the mainstream media suggested that it may be easier and cheaper to go after the employers of undocumented aliens? I mean, there are 11 million undocumented aliens in the United States; how many employers are there who readily hire them? Who is breaking the law here? Even more importantly, which is more efficient, patrolling 2500 miles of border in the hopes of catching just a few of the thousands who cross daily, or doing unannounced spot checks of personnel files and removing the main reason they come here in the first place?
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Is there another doctor in the (upper) house?
How can you -- how can anyone -- overlook the junior senator from Oklahoma, Tom Coburn, M.D. Surely Wacky Tom, as he's affectionately known among Sooner Dems, is the most bizarre, entertaining figure in the Senate.
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your correction
It's nice that you updated your article to include a mention of Coburn, but I don't join in your hope that he doesn't practice his form of medicine in the Senate.
I, for one, would love to see him sterilize his Republican collegues without their consent, even if it is probably too late to stop most of them from spreading their genes to the next generation. I'd even be happy to have my tax dollars go to the falsified Medicaid payments he'd request after doing it.
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Cat-Killing Frist
I'm still reeling from Frist's confession (from his 1989 book) that he used to "adopt" cats from animal shelters so that he could practice surgeries on them. However, he told shelter workers that he wanted them as pets. In his own defense Frist stated, "I was going a little crazy." Heck, crazy doesn't begin to cover that type of behavior; "Serial killer" would appear to be a better description.
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Tom Coburn
Yes, Tom Coburn is a doctor, who diagnosed that there was "rampant lesbianism" in Oklahoma public schools during his campaign. So much so that they were forced to make girls go to the bathroom one at a time. Ahem.
I wonder if he did the diagnosis the same way Frist did Terri Schiavo---via videotapes...many long hours staring, and staring, and diagnosing...
And what ever came of that 'problem' in Okey? More importantly, where is the evidence being stored, Dr. Coburn?
BN
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Dr Wacky Tom Coburn
Don't forget about our fine Oklahoma Senator's other special notable statements:
He believes in the death penalty for doctors (or anyone else) who perform abortions. (Pay no attention to the fact that he performed plenty himself. Details! Details!)
Dr. Tom can read minds. He told Tim Russert on "Meet the Press" that he can always tell when someone is lying.
BTW, as far as we Okies know, those lesbians in Oklahoma schools must have moved to Kansas or something. Our teenage birthrate is pretty high. But, maybe not. Dr. Tom says teenage pregnancy is part of the homosexual 'agenda.'
There is much, much more....
Now, what was that about crazy doctors in the Senate?
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FM...an incredible mind
I have enjoyed...come to depend on Salon's articles as a reference for reality check (aka: am I crazy to feel and think such aghastness at the direction this presidency has driven us?). Many articles in Salon have grounded me.
But this moment, after many months of reading, noting authors in passing, it occurred to me that MF has this amazing ability to take on any current topic, delineate it's facts and particulars and create a lens of observation that is clear and rigorpus and understandable...making the complexity bare without sacrificing the complexity...a rare talent...I hope he sleeps and eats enough.
mindybeede@earthlink.net (please don't contact me...I'm a reader and appreciator of soul and articulation, nothing more)
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Partisan politics as usual
Today I listened to the debates from the Senate re. the bipartisan immigration bill. Some 100 ammendments are up for consideration. Most of the senators who spoke including McCain and Specter, spoke glowingly of the bill and it's bipartisan birth. Respect and congratulations were circulating the hall in a spirit of amicablity.
Then Mr. Frist spoke. He said there was alot of partisan politics going around today and coming mostly from the "other side of the aisle". He said if an up/down vote were taken, the bill would lose, but the "other side" wouldn't allow an up/down vote. He was probably pushing for it so his own bill could come under consideration. The "other side of the aisle" was mentioned at the beginning, middle, or end of at least every other sentence. Then he accused the "other side" for not taking faster action in bringing the ammendments up for a swift vote.
I was struck with how quickly the mood could change back to partisan politics as usual and how shallow it seemed. We've been through six years of partisan politics. Many Republicans up for re-election are distancing themselves from Bush and taking a more moderate stand on issues.
The Christians are quiet having been embarressed time and again with the ultra-extreme views of leaders such as Robertson and Fallwell. It's as if the train ride to the White House that swept them all up on a cloud of glory, has gone farther than they intended. Do they really want to end abortion for rape or abuse victims, or to save the mother? Do they really want to give up contraception?
The good but incompetent Dr. Frist, has proven that he is ill-equiped for his position. But maybe he does less damage in the Senate than he'd do practising medicine.