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Bill Clinton Turns ‘Politicizing’ Charge On Its Head, As He Turns His Back On The Uninsured
Former President Bill Clinton disclosed to Firedoglake last Thursday that he would not attend a free medical clinic in Arkansas organized by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann — an event which would be attended by well over 1,000 uninsured Arkansans needing medical attention — because he claims that Olbermann had “politicized the event.”
The event went on to save many lives:
Saturday’s free health clinic at the Statehouse Convention Center treated more than 1,000 uninsured Arkansas residents with a variety of health problems, many of them serious. More than 90 percent were diagnosed with three or more life-threatening conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes and pulmonary disease.
Seven people had such serious conditions that physicians decided they should be taken immediately by ambulances to local hospital emergency departments. Of those, five were admitted to hospitals for cardiac reasons, and two of them had had recent hearts attacks of which they were unaware.
Clinton revealed to Eve Gittelson (of Firedoglake) that he considered the free clinic to be sort of a kick-off primary against Blanche Lincoln — the Blue Dog AR Senator who opposes the public option, and who had threatened to filibuster the Senate health care reform bill with the Republicans to keep the legislation from getting an up or down vote (Note: she did ultimately vote for cloture on Saturday, allowing the bill to be debated on the floor).
Bill Clinton effectively turned his back on helping to bring attention to the uninsured (the clinic exposed the sheer number of uninsured — who they are — and the severity of their untreated medical conditions) as a display of political solidarity with Blue Dog Democrat Blanche Lincoln; this Blanche Lincoln:
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Lincoln has received $325,350 in contributions from the health industry, as of June 30. […]
One of Lincoln�s biggest contributors this cycle is the insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield. The company�s political action committee and employees have combined to give the senator $29,500 this year alone. Blue Cross Blue Shield and their parent company Wellpoint are vocal opponents of the inclusion of a public option plan in any health care reform bill. Blue Cross Blue Shield is the dominant insurer in Arkansas holding a 75 percent market share.
So Bill Clinton puts the interests of a bribed political crony above the best interests of 836,000 uninsured Arkansans, and as his excuse he charges those who organized the free life-saving health care clinics as having politicized the event? Sure, in addition to saving American lives, they politicized the event — only as far as helping to pressure obstructionists, like Blanche Lincoln, from ensuring these 836,000 Arkansans remain uninsured. Only as far as shining a light on how American citizens are being left untreated for life-threatening conditions while corrupt politicians get bribed by the very industry reaping obscene profits from such a system.
Politicians, like Bill Clinton, are so political — so corrupted — that I’m convinced that in his narcissistic, partisan, elitist world he and others like him probably actually believe that his shunning the event was somehow a principled stance against ‘politics as usual’.
MJ Rosenberg Sums Up Key Reasons For Mideast Peace Failure: AIPAC & Israeli Firsters
MJ Rosenberg, a Senior Fellow of Media Matters Action Network (and incidentally a former AIPAC official), writes in the Huffington Post why he believes subsequent U.S. Administrations continue to fail at bringing peace to the Middle East: namely, The Israel Lobby and well-positioned Israel Firsters.
He points out the key reason the Bush Administration failed miserably:
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell was the most popular political figure in the United States when he went to the region to kick-start negotiations during the George W. Bush administration.
He accomplished nothing largely because Israel-firsters back in Washington (Elliot Abrams played the leading role) let the Israelis know that they did not have to pay attention to Powell. He didn’t speak for the administration. Later Abrams said that he viewed his role in the administration as blocking any moves that the Israelis didn’t like.
Rosenberg goes on to say that the primary cause for lack of progress does not lie in the Middle East, but here in Washington:
The reason the United States continues to fail on the Israeli-Palestinian track is because of the power of the lobby in Washington. And by lobby I don’t only mean the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). I mean AIPAC plus its friends throughout Washington who, even without speaking directly to AIPAC or the Israelis, know instinctively what the Israelis want — preserving the status quo, i.e. the occupation.
I would add to Rosenberg’s list of AIPAC’s friends throughout Washington, many prominent voices in the main stream media — household names, like CNN’s Wolf Blitzer (before writing for The Jerusalem Post, Blizter worked for AIPAC where he wrote for their propaganda sheet, The Near East Report), William Kristol, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, Charles Krauthammer, just to name a few… The Lobby is a force that can inflict serious political damage not only by withholding political contributions, or by funding political opponents of those who won’t subjugate themselves to Israel’s interests, but also by determining the kinds of press coverage our politicians get in the main stream media. If you don’t believe me, ask Jimmy Carter, Charles Freeman, or any other public figure who has outwardly criticized Israeli policies.
Ironically, their actions have done nothing, but harm both Israeli and U.S. national security interests.
U.S. Press Corps Not Buying White House Spin On Israeli Intransigence
The Huffington Post is reporting that, in clear violation of both U.S. demands and international law: The Jerusalem city government moved toward the construction of 900 additional housing units in a Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim for the capital of their future state. This comes right after the Obama Administration recently softened […]
NY Times: Congress Should Abandon Obama’s Deal With Pharmaceutical Industry
It’s been long reported now how President Obama — who had promised total transparency in all health care negotiations during his campaign (stating he would have them all televised on C-Span) — proceeded to cut a secret backroom deal with the pharmaceutical industry as far back as summertime. The terms of their deal violated several […]
Ha’aretz Journalist, Gideon Levy: “Israel Is Addicted To The Occupation”
Israel’s most prominent journalist, Gideon Levy, follows up on his recent column — one where he blasted the U.S. for continuing to ‘suck up to Israel’ — with an interview on The Real News Network. Here he describes Israel as a country “addicted to the occupation.” He pleads with the U.S. to be a friend […]
Organizing For America Targets GOP On Health Care: Why Not Blue Dogs?
We’re starting to see an iota of pressure — at least symbolic pressure — exerted by President Obama’s powerful and popular campaign arm, ‘Organizing for America,’ on the health care reform front. Now housed within the Democratic National Committee, the group hopes to mobilize their once-energized members. The Times reports that yesterday the group emailed […]
Stupak-Pitts: A ‘Poison Pill’ Devised To Abort Health Care Reform
How did we ever get to this point — to the Stupak-Pitts amendment — which now threatens to smother meaningful health care reform in its crib? Let’s start with the underlying agendas of the opposition, and how their failed tactics brought us to the divisive issue at hand. The GOP agenda, in a nutshell, has […]
Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly: Was For The Public Option Before He Was Against It
The disingenuous Bill O’Reilly … Here’s Bill O’Reilly on September 16, 2009, understanding the significance of a public option, and saying that he supports it: O’Reilly: I want for working Americans to have an option — that if they don’t like their health insurance, if it’s too expensive and they can’t afford it — if […]
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