CHUCK GETS A THIRD ONE

No sooner do I get done posting an observation that completely humiliates and degrades one of the leading Conservative spokesmen (Charles Krauthammer) the idiot in question comes out with an even more despicable column. Having completely run out of ideas (i.e. “lies”) to aid in derailing a health care reform bill to benefit American society he’s decided to dredge up a recent lie and dress it up with some twisted form of “logic”. His assumptions and those of anybody who agrees with him refer to the non-existent “Death Panels” that will be instituted if any kind of change in the current health care system takes place.

He tones down the patently absurd rhetoric and then makes an even more preposterous assertion: Your doctor would rather see you die then undergo any further treatment if your case appears to be terminal. A provision in the proposed health care reform allows for reimbursement for “end of life” consoling which every doctor would gladly pounce on for a few quick and easy bucks. I can’t imagine what the pay is for a physician to offer you alternatives when facing the grim reaper but apparently you doctor is in favor of death (or, as Chuck says” we know that if this white-coated authority whose chosen vocation is curing and healing is the one opening your mind to hospice and palliative care, we've nudged you ever so slightly toward letting go.”).

The sum and substance of his column is that there’s so much more profit in it for your doctor to pull the plug that he’s bound to encourage you in that direction. Apparently the fee for counseling you to die is more profitable then continuing to administer treatment. In the Conservative world doctors are only in it for the money. Apparently there’s some kind of bonus in it for them to get in you in the ground rather then treat the illness.

Chuck even cites a personal example though I’m really not sure what course he chose. He claims the decision was obvious, but the rational choice completely contradicts the point of his column. So, allow me to explain my own circumstances when dealing with an end-of-life-consultation:

My older brother was determined to be brain-dead after a brief hospitalization. I sat down with the Chief of Neurology and he explained the situation and the alternatives. I sat down with the family and discussed the alternatives and we decided to terminate any further treatment. I don’t know how much longer the insurance carrier he had would have continued to pay to keep him on the respirator. The cost was never a factor. The doctor I talked to was sympathetic and open to the alternatives. There was no additional charge for that end-of-life-consoling. Frankly, there was more money in it for the hospital if they kept him there rather then pull the plug. So how does the Conservative lie of “Death Panels” or alternative form thereof make any sense? It’s always more profitable to continue “treatment” then to terminate the patient. Why would any greedy, capitalistic doctor choose the path of least riches?

In order to believe any Conservative viewpoint on this matter you have to believe that every doctor (including yours) wants nothing more then to get you “out of the way”. You have to believe that the only reason any doctor (including yours) went to Med school was to make a lot of money. You have to believe that every doctor (including yours) is a pawn of the government and one of his main objectives is to eliminate the infirm and elderly from society. You have to believe that there’s a conspiracy among all the doctors (including yours) to reduce your care and encourage your death. There’s absolutely no other way to interrupt the gross stupidity being asserted by moronic Conservatives spouting such outrageous nonsense.

Even though I’ve just made it crystal clear as to why Conservatives are complete idiots and liars, they will continue to influence a large number of people. Fortunately (and amazingly) more and more Americans are beginning to realize what liars they are. They have become relatively insignificant as their desperation continues to grow. However, they do seem to have enough influence on the American public to further wreck our society. I can only hope that Chuck’s Living Will is adhered to. In his own words “If I have anything so much as a hangnail, pull the plug.” Let’s hope so.