Category Archives: Current Events

Fred Kaplan on Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea.

Michael Hiltzik discusses efforts to kill the "public option" proposals for health care…and he asks the musical question why some folks are so desperate to protect the mega-profits of the insurance companies. Here's one paragraph of many worth quoting…

The firms take billions of dollars out of the U.S. healthcare wallet as profits, while imposing enormous administrative costs on doctors, hospitals, employers and patients. They've introduced complexity into the system at every level. Your doctor has to fight them to get approval for the treatment he or she thinks is best for you. Your hospital has to fight them for approval for every day you're laid up. Then they have to fight them to get their bills paid, and you do too.

That has all been my experience, the experience of most friends, and a constant gripe of darn near every doctor I've had in the last decade. When someone asks me, "Do you really want the government coming between you and your physician?," I have to remind them that right now, that's the position of insurance company employees whose job description is to pounce on every possible loophole to deny coverage and payment.

Unfortunately, I don't think the mounting public debate about Health Care Reform is going to be about things like that. Looks like it's going to be about arguing if the bills really contain provisions for killing Grandma when her nitroglycerine tablets get too expensive.

Jonathan Alter explains to us how great our present health care system works.

A lot of folks seem to have forgotten but we still have a war going in Iraq, albeit one we're on the verge of ending. Fred Kaplan tells us what's going on there.

Joe Conason on the strategy some are employing to try and block health care reform in this country. It's called Lying…and hey, it worked the last time.

General Rule of Thumb: I'll link to any New York Times article that quotes me.

Fred Kaplan explains the surprising (because of who was for and against it) Senate vote to kill production of the F-22 stealth fighter plane. The vote wasn't so much along party lines as pork loins.

By the way: Fred sent me a copy of his new book, which is all about the year 1959 and all the turning points that occurred in or around that year. I'm enjoying what I've read of it but I've been too busy lately to get all the way through it. I will soon, but if you don't want to wait for me, here's an Amazon link that'll get you a copy.

If you have a moment, read this blog post from Kevin Drum about how to market health care reform to people who are satisfied with the insurance they have at the moment.

I'd append what is for me, a biggie: I have decent health insurance…but it's in my interest to have others around me also have decent health care. It hurts me if my friends and neighbors are needy or sick.

Frank Rich on the Sonia Sotomayor hearings. Personally, I heard a lot more that convinced me that guys like Jeff Sessions are unfit for public office than anything about why Judge Sotomayor isn't qualified for the High Court.

Elizabeth Kolbert answers the simple question, "Why are Americans so fat?" Hint: It has something to do with deep-fried Oreos.

Dick Cavett tells us what it was like to have Richard Burton on his PBS show…and provides us with a video of that show. I have eight thousand channels on my satellite dish. Why isn't there room on one for stuff like this?

Jon Stewart's secret weapon: Let's go to the videotape.

Todd Gitlin has another view of Cronkite, focusing on the few times (Vietnam, Watergate, not much else) that the anchorman departed a bit from dispassionate reporting of the headlines. Thanks to Andy Rose for suggesting the link.

Glenn Greenwald uses the occasion of Mr. Cronkite's passing to take a large swing at the nature of current journalism. I think I agree. I also think most reporters today would agree…and then go right on doing what they're doing.

So far, the best essay I've found on the Internet about Walter Cronkite is one written by a guy who died three years ago.