HoodaThunk?

The mental wanderings of a common man.

Obama’s “reaching out” and “wanting bipartisan support” doesn’t mean he’s working for cooperation

Obama’s trying to spin his crashing failure of a healthcare “reform” bill into a kumbaya “let’s work together” moment.

President Obama and some Democratic congressional leaders had pledged to involve Republicans in health care reform negotiations, but it is looking increasingly likely that bipartisanship will be among the casualties of the rush to approve a bill.

Bipartisanship was a casualty the moment the newly-inaugurated President dismissed the need to actually take Republican concerns seriously with his contemptuous “I won” comment. His attitude hasn’t changed since and the fact that he’s calling for “bipartisanship” when what he means by that is that he wants the Republicans to shut up and sign on doesn’t mean he’s interested in cooperation. Quite the opposite, to my perception.

The President’s plan for healthcare is a disaster and there are plenty of examples of his approach both in history and currently around the world. We don’t need to wonder if it is and we sure don’t have to inflict it upon ourselves. If the President wants bipartisan action that’s good but he needs to show it by incorporating Republican ideas and concerns into the fix.

July 18th, 2009 Posted by ricjames | Medicine, Politics | one comment

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Walter Cronkite dies at 92

While I was on the road yesterday I wasn’t watching the news or listening to the radio much so I missed this news: Walter Cronkite has died at the age of 92.

Walter Cronkite, the premier TV anchorman of the U.S. networks’ golden age who reported a tumultuous time with reassuring authority and came to be called “the most trusted man in America,” died Friday. He was 92.

Cronkite’s longtime chief of staff, Marlene Adler, said Cronkite died at 7:42 p.m. at his Manhattan home surrounded by family. She said the cause of death was cerebral vascular disease.

I’ve had issues with Cronkite and his pronouncements over the past several years and I remain convinced that his reporting and that of his MSM colleagues were responsible for the catastrophic cut in support of our allies in the Vietnam War. However, only a fool would dismiss his contributions to news reporting over his career, especially in the realm of television. He saw with his own eyes so many things that rate their own mention in the history books and he worked diligently to bring those events into the living rooms of the average American family. Good or ill, failure or victory, Cronkite sought to bring us the story

Walter Cronkite, 1916 – 2009. “And that’s the way it is…” 1

July 18th, 2009 Posted by ricjames | Human Interest, The Media | no comments

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