If you don’t believe me, just look in your medicine cabinet and see if there might perhaps be more than one ‘natural’ or ‘herbal’ supplement that you are swallowing; a pill for which there exists no scientific data that it works, only the anecdotal hype on the bottle cover that stirs hope.

I don’t take any such things or have any such things at home. Am I really that unusual? The last time I had any medication was a vaccine nearly a year ago.

I’m curious. Are you saying that the concepts of individual liberty and adequate representation in government (i.e. freedom from imperial/despotic rule) that “started” the Revolutionary War (and birthed this country) did not work out for “the common good”?

And the Founding Fathers (and Mothers) were a bunch of selfish goons?

I acutally CAN (get it?) imagine healthcare reform. But it’s going to have to incorporate a lot more of the revolutionary ideals and notions that originally founded this country – as opposed to what defines “the common good” now.

I cannot imagine we will have significant health care reform in the near future. It is just as likely as our fixing the budget and trade deficits for the futures of our children.

As Chuck and Dr Johnson urge, the politicos should at the very least read the bills they are about to vote on. Fat Chance!

I have contacted my Congressman 5 times to pledge to personally read any bill prior to voting on it. A very simple request – and guess what? Never replies to this question. I just get letter about how they appreciate my contacting them and their standard letter for the subject du jour. Refuses to say a yes or no. That is how we get bills written by lobbyists who work with congressional staff – and both parties do it. Very, very sad!

“Yes, I know the audiences were marshaled and recruited to shout down the speakers. ”

Oh really? You KNOW that? Every single attendee of these forums was a malleable schmuck?

Professor, I can assure you I’m not “rabid”. I’ve more-than-paid my dues on the front lines of medicine (and I’ve not gotten “rich” doing it). I can tell you that there’s a whole lot wrong that no one is even talking about fixing.

I want reform. But I want REAL reform. I want reform that does not turn me into a patsy and my collegues into indentured servants – reduced to practicing from cookbooks. I want reform that gets the lawyers out of the exam room. I want reform that protects medical whistle-blowers. I want reform that fixes and standardizes medical peer review. I want reform that holds healthcare executives & hospitals (especially “non-profit” ones) just as accountable for their decisions as doctors. I want reform that holds patients responsible for their lifestyle decisions and medical choices.

I want reform that does not force the productive/responsible segment of the population (the one that has always paid the bills that kill) to suck up the cost of “universal care” for those who have not acted responsibly. I’d like to see reform where the government can acutally manage it’s way out of a wet paper bag – and effectively oversee the programs it already has (before we dump a whole lot more on the system).

I’d love for the politicos to get down to the nitty-gritty. I’d dearly love for them to have an appreciation for the details that, if ignored, can put we ordinary folk in court for years (if we can afford it) trying to discern what the law really meant. And OBTW it would be real nice if these lawmakers could conjure up some inkling of the unintended consequences of their actions.

I’d like for my President to get off TV and get in the conference room and start extending his hand to those who are brave enough to tell him what he doesn’t want to hear.

And I’m still waiting.

It’s not “irrational” to expect or ask for these things – and it’s not “fear-mongering” to challenge the current mindset amongst those currently in power – who are, at the moment, choosing to lecture, pontificate and scold citizens who care enought to make a stand.

It’s not too late, but as Yogi Berra once opined, “It gets late mighty early around here.”