I received this letter in an email from an acquaintance who suggested that I pass it on. It speaks for itself.
AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
By Lou Pritchett
Dear President Obama:
You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.
You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.
You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.
You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.
You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.
You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.
You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.
You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.
You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America' crowd and deliver this message abroad.
You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.
You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.
You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.
You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.
You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.
You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.
You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.
You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.
You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.
You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.
You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.
Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.
Lou Pritchett
Note: Lou Pritchett is a former vice president of Procter & Gamble whose career at that company spanned 36 years before his retirement in 1989, and he is the author of the 1995 business book, Stop Paddling & Start Rocking the Boat. Mr. Pritchett confirmed that he was indeed the author of the much-circulated "open letter." “I did write the 'you scare me' letter. I sent it to the NY Times but they never acknowledged or published it. However, it hit the internet and according to the ‘experts’ has had over 500,000 hits
About Me
- Carolyn
- St. Louis, MO, United States
- What the name sez, Christian, conservative, 2nd amendment supporter. Physician, wife, daughter and loving mother.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Good Nurses Make Good Doctors
While surfing the internet for sites with medical flavor, I was pleased to find a great site for nurses. SCRUBS is a refreshing and bright ezine where the needs of today's nurse are addressed. When I was a medical student and later a resident in obstetrics and gynecology, medicine was different th an it is practiced today. There was less technology and lots more hands on interaction with the patients. Some of the most valuable bedside lessons that I learned, however, did not happen at the hands of my professors, but rather from the nurses who spent hours at the patient's bedside. Old school nurses taught me to "read" the patient's body language as it changed in the course of their illness or labor, to talk with them in general conversation to find out more about their attitudes and personalities, and to individualize my care to the patient and try to define ways to make them compliant under hardship.
Today it is a different world in the field of health care and, in certain ways, the change has not been for the better. The role of the physician and the nurse are modified in ways that we could hardly have predicted 30 years ago. The nurse and the physician have new rules to abide by in terms of patient length of stay and appropriate testing. Much more is required of both physicians and nurses in our litiginous society. Technology has enabled both physicians and nurses to be impersonal with telemetry at the nursing station and the EMR, with its cookie cutter phrases and check marked boxes, replacing carefully written notes.
Scrubs provides information for all aspects of the nurse's life. There are health, money, humor and lifestyle features, inspirational stories and even a sassy doctor/nurse point/ counterpoint column in which a doctor and a nurse address a specific topic so that you can get inside the other's head and see where they are coming from! With Showtime's Nurse Jackie being promoted heavily in print and even on billboards, there are also an entertainment area. To check the pulse of the readership, polls are sprinkled over the site. For the nurse who is stretched too thin due to "staffing for census" or fatiqued from 12 hour shifts, this site is an oasis for rejuvenation and a reminder of why we chose the medical field in the first place.
Scrubs
Today it is a different world in the field of health care and, in certain ways, the change has not been for the better. The role of the physician and the nurse are modified in ways that we could hardly have predicted 30 years ago. The nurse and the physician have new rules to abide by in terms of patient length of stay and appropriate testing. Much more is required of both physicians and nurses in our litiginous society. Technology has enabled both physicians and nurses to be impersonal with telemetry at the nursing station and the EMR, with its cookie cutter phrases and check marked boxes, replacing carefully written notes.
Scrubs provides information for all aspects of the nurse's life. There are health, money, humor and lifestyle features, inspirational stories and even a sassy doctor/nurse point/ counterpoint column in which a doctor and a nurse address a specific topic so that you can get inside the other's head and see where they are coming from! With Showtime's Nurse Jackie being promoted heavily in print and even on billboards, there are also an entertainment area. To check the pulse of the readership, polls are sprinkled over the site. For the nurse who is stretched too thin due to "staffing for census" or fatiqued from 12 hour shifts, this site is an oasis for rejuvenation and a reminder of why we chose the medical field in the first place.
Scrubs
Monday, June 1, 2009
License Bureau, Post Office...Healthcare???
As Barack Obama rolls out his ambitious agenda for the USSA and continues to spend our way to oblivion, some have questioned whether he will have to put some of his projects on the back burner as public sentiment and buyer's remorse starts to set in. Some have said that Cap and Trade may have to go on the back burner for the time being, but that health care may be "fixed" this year.
The issue of health care in the USSA has been a topic of great debate for literally decades. My father passed away in 1989 and years before that, in the early years of my career in medicine, he gave me a bumper sticker that said "If You Like the Post Office You Will Love National Health care." The issue of health care and what is wrong with it is complicated, crosses multiple sectors of the economy and I don't have the solution. What I do have is a caution.
Friday, 4/17/09, Red State's Jeff Emanuel had a post entitled, "Who Should have the Final Say About Your Medical Care: Your Doctor, or Government Bureaucrats?" In the article a young woman in Georgia who was severely disabled from birth and required intensive home care had her benefits cut by 15% over the objections of her physician. These benefits were from federal and state medicaid. The suit has been in the courts for several years and has worked its way to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals where the ruling was overturned and the courts ruled that the physician and not the bureaucratic machine should determine the patient's care.
Is this a glimpse of what government health care would look like? Those who are heavy weight on the system are cut back and left to wither and die?
Many hospitals today are employing ethicists. These ethicists are doctors who are employed to "help" families faced with end-of-life issues work through the emotional mine field of decision making . While at times, these decisions may seem clear, they become muddled when the ethicist is called in on behalf of the hospital to meet with the families because the patient's care has become long and costly...those high ticket patients whose hospitalizations have languished over long times, without an end in sight....these are patients who have become respirator dependent after a catastrophic event like a heart attack or stroke, who have had multiple complications after emergency major surgery or who have multiple comorbid conditions complicating what otherwise would have been a much simpler procedure. Many of these patients have Medicare or Medicaid and the reimbursement for their care is low. Many of these patients are patients for whom the hospital will have to eat large amounts of the bill. The growing use of the ethicist physician is in some ways a disturbing trend that could become more widely used in a government health system where rationing of resources must, by default, be used. What better group to ration but the "big ticket" patient who is burning through resources without an end in sight. The ethicist can be used to gently "help" the family see the folly of continuing the fight for an unworthy life and justify withholding of supportive measures. Where the line is to be drawn is anyone's guess, but it could well be a line that moves depending on the number of people to be served and the amount of resources available. Is a preemie's stay in the NICU justified? How about a 60 year old patient who needs coronary artery surgery? What if that same patient also is obese? What if that patient also has Type II diabetes? Where is the line drawn when a patient has a hip fracture or needs a hip replacement? What about a 300 pound woman who needs knee replacement due to wear and tear from chronic obesity? And where do organ transplants fall in the rationing plan? What about infertility treatments?
We have the best health care system in the world and we serve people from many countries who come here to have their medical care because they can't get it in a timely manner in their own countries. This has to say volumes about the present state of health care in America. Fixing it, like we have just "fixed" Chrysler and GM, will put government bureaucrats in charge of what you can get, where you can get it and when you will be able to get care. What will government single payer health care do to the access to drugs? Will we be regimented to a strict formulary where one medication fits all? As a resident, I trained in the City and County Hospitals where there was a government formulary and the number of medications available for our patients was severely limited. For example, there was one hormonal replacement medication. There was one brand of birth control pills available to patients. There were charcoal pills for post-op gas relief. If they worked, it was fine, but if not, too bad.
I hardly think that this kind of regimentation will be acceptable to the vast majority of American consumers who are accustomed to individualized treatment for most conditions and are accustomed to rapid access to expensive technology and diagnostic tests, but unless we wake up and smell the coffee, this could be your lot in life in the not too distant future.
The issue of health care in the USSA has been a topic of great debate for literally decades. My father passed away in 1989 and years before that, in the early years of my career in medicine, he gave me a bumper sticker that said "If You Like the Post Office You Will Love National Health care." The issue of health care and what is wrong with it is complicated, crosses multiple sectors of the economy and I don't have the solution. What I do have is a caution.
Friday, 4/17/09, Red State's Jeff Emanuel had a post entitled, "Who Should have the Final Say About Your Medical Care: Your Doctor, or Government Bureaucrats?" In the article a young woman in Georgia who was severely disabled from birth and required intensive home care had her benefits cut by 15% over the objections of her physician. These benefits were from federal and state medicaid. The suit has been in the courts for several years and has worked its way to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals where the ruling was overturned and the courts ruled that the physician and not the bureaucratic machine should determine the patient's care.
Rhonda Meadows, commissioner of Georgia’s Department of Community Health,
immediately appealed the ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of the Peach State. Her argument was that state officials, not doctors, should have final say in what treatments and care patients within their purview require. Florida and Alabama, which fall under the 11th Circuit’s jurisdiction and will have to abide by its ruling, filed an amicus brief with the Atlanta-based court.
Is this a glimpse of what government health care would look like? Those who are heavy weight on the system are cut back and left to wither and die?
Many hospitals today are employing ethicists. These ethicists are doctors who are employed to "help" families faced with end-of-life issues work through the emotional mine field of decision making . While at times, these decisions may seem clear, they become muddled when the ethicist is called in on behalf of the hospital to meet with the families because the patient's care has become long and costly...those high ticket patients whose hospitalizations have languished over long times, without an end in sight....these are patients who have become respirator dependent after a catastrophic event like a heart attack or stroke, who have had multiple complications after emergency major surgery or who have multiple comorbid conditions complicating what otherwise would have been a much simpler procedure. Many of these patients have Medicare or Medicaid and the reimbursement for their care is low. Many of these patients are patients for whom the hospital will have to eat large amounts of the bill. The growing use of the ethicist physician is in some ways a disturbing trend that could become more widely used in a government health system where rationing of resources must, by default, be used. What better group to ration but the "big ticket" patient who is burning through resources without an end in sight. The ethicist can be used to gently "help" the family see the folly of continuing the fight for an unworthy life and justify withholding of supportive measures. Where the line is to be drawn is anyone's guess, but it could well be a line that moves depending on the number of people to be served and the amount of resources available. Is a preemie's stay in the NICU justified? How about a 60 year old patient who needs coronary artery surgery? What if that same patient also is obese? What if that patient also has Type II diabetes? Where is the line drawn when a patient has a hip fracture or needs a hip replacement? What about a 300 pound woman who needs knee replacement due to wear and tear from chronic obesity? And where do organ transplants fall in the rationing plan? What about infertility treatments?
We have the best health care system in the world and we serve people from many countries who come here to have their medical care because they can't get it in a timely manner in their own countries. This has to say volumes about the present state of health care in America. Fixing it, like we have just "fixed" Chrysler and GM, will put government bureaucrats in charge of what you can get, where you can get it and when you will be able to get care. What will government single payer health care do to the access to drugs? Will we be regimented to a strict formulary where one medication fits all? As a resident, I trained in the City and County Hospitals where there was a government formulary and the number of medications available for our patients was severely limited. For example, there was one hormonal replacement medication. There was one brand of birth control pills available to patients. There were charcoal pills for post-op gas relief. If they worked, it was fine, but if not, too bad.
I hardly think that this kind of regimentation will be acceptable to the vast majority of American consumers who are accustomed to individualized treatment for most conditions and are accustomed to rapid access to expensive technology and diagnostic tests, but unless we wake up and smell the coffee, this could be your lot in life in the not too distant future.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Requiem for George Tiller
I came home from church today to the news of the killing of Dr. George Tiller. I am still reeling, tonight, from this news. This violent act is to be stongly condemned. There are absolutely no circumstances under which this act can be condoned. The chasm between the pro-life and pro-abortion camps will never be narrowed by acts such as this. While I do not mourn his death, I also cannot condone his murder.
There are so many lenses through which this act can be viewed, but none shed a good light on it. It is ironic that Dr. Tiller was killed in his church during a time when he was participating in services there. It is ironic that Dr. Tiller died in a violent manner, just as countless fetuses were violently killed in his clinic with no one to stand up for them. It is sad that Dr. Tiller left this life unrepentant for the life he chose to live and the acts he chose to commit. It is reprehensible that his life ended in this way. It matters not that my views are completely opposite to his, taking of his life does nothing to further the cause of either side of this highly charged argument.
It is a sad day when violence is used to further or justify any cause.
There are so many lenses through which this act can be viewed, but none shed a good light on it. It is ironic that Dr. Tiller was killed in his church during a time when he was participating in services there. It is ironic that Dr. Tiller died in a violent manner, just as countless fetuses were violently killed in his clinic with no one to stand up for them. It is sad that Dr. Tiller left this life unrepentant for the life he chose to live and the acts he chose to commit. It is reprehensible that his life ended in this way. It matters not that my views are completely opposite to his, taking of his life does nothing to further the cause of either side of this highly charged argument.
It is a sad day when violence is used to further or justify any cause.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Will The Real Barack Obama Please Stand Up?
The President addressed the 2009 graduating class of Notre Dame University amidst a swirl of controversy over the appropriateness of a blatantly pro-abortion President receiving an honorary degree and then addressing the graduating class. Demonstrators arrived on the campus and were summarily arrested for trespassing on the university grounds. Students and parents boycotted their graduation and attended prayer services held on the college grounds. Graduates used their mortar boards to voice support for the President or for the Pro-life cause.
Then the POTUS took the podium, and in his inimitable suave style, delivered a speech that served absolution to American Catholics who turned their backs on the sanctity of life when they voted for candidate Obama. Then he gave a shameless plug for his own book.
But contrast this speech with Candidate Obama who, less than one year ago, glibly and arrogantly proclaimed his support for the Pro-abortion cause in a speech to Planned Parenthood.
This is the same man who "doesn't want his daughters punished with a baby." This is the same man who during the campaign gave his "Just Words" speech in which he plagiarized Deval Patrick, but regardless of whose "words" they were, they underscored the use of words, the power of mere words, and ultimately we know that talk can be cheap.
So which "words" reflect the real position of Barack Obama?? He can talk the talk, but will he/ can he walk the walk? I am reminded of a Department Chairman in years past whose business style was to engage everyone in giving input about subjects, but then he did what he wanted to do. The only thing he gained was cover for him to hide behind when people challenged him on why he did things that no one wanted.
Can you name ONE thing that President Obama has done in the name of reducing abortion in this nation???
Answer: He took some incendiary language regarding abortion off of his website.
So, while we heard flowery prose on Sunday afternoon, actions speak louder than words and Mr. Obama's actions seem to relegate those "words" to just that...."just words".
Then the POTUS took the podium, and in his inimitable suave style, delivered a speech that served absolution to American Catholics who turned their backs on the sanctity of life when they voted for candidate Obama. Then he gave a shameless plug for his own book.
But contrast this speech with Candidate Obama who, less than one year ago, glibly and arrogantly proclaimed his support for the Pro-abortion cause in a speech to Planned Parenthood.
This is the same man who "doesn't want his daughters punished with a baby." This is the same man who during the campaign gave his "Just Words" speech in which he plagiarized Deval Patrick, but regardless of whose "words" they were, they underscored the use of words, the power of mere words, and ultimately we know that talk can be cheap.
So which "words" reflect the real position of Barack Obama?? He can talk the talk, but will he/ can he walk the walk? I am reminded of a Department Chairman in years past whose business style was to engage everyone in giving input about subjects, but then he did what he wanted to do. The only thing he gained was cover for him to hide behind when people challenged him on why he did things that no one wanted.
Can you name ONE thing that President Obama has done in the name of reducing abortion in this nation???
Answer: He took some incendiary language regarding abortion off of his website.
So, while we heard flowery prose on Sunday afternoon, actions speak louder than words and Mr. Obama's actions seem to relegate those "words" to just that...."just words".
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Worm has Turned
This morning, Senator Arlen Specter of PA, showed the true colors that we already knew him for and announced that he is switching from the Republican Party to the Democratic party and will seek re-election as a Democrat.
Showing himself as a cowardly, spineless RINO during the vote for the economic Stimulus package, he now has looked his political mortality in the face as those actions have spurred conservative candidate Pat Toomey to challenge him in the 2010Republican primary for his Senate seat. Toomey has already showed himself to be a strong candidate that would make Arlen run hard just to win the primary. Now he has chosen the easy way out and will run as a Democrat, dodging a primary bullet (unless a real Democrat mounts a challenge to him and makes him work for a spot in he election). Knowing just how much his defection will hurt the Republican's tenuous position in the Senate, Specter took the lowest of the low roads and turned on them when they were at their most vulnerable.
President Obama was given a note containing the Specter information during a news conference this morning. He indicated that he was pleased to have the turncoat on his side---(as he fits well with the rest of the political thugs in his administration)---and will give Arlen his full support. And of course, MO Senator Claire McCaskill, says the Republicans have no one to blame but themselves when they make a moderate Republican a vanishing species.
My perspective is more that this leaves the road open in at least one 2010 race for a real conservative who can likely beat Specter no matter what coat he wears when he runs.
Et tu Brute?
Showing himself as a cowardly, spineless RINO during the vote for the economic Stimulus package, he now has looked his political mortality in the face as those actions have spurred conservative candidate Pat Toomey to challenge him in the 2010Republican primary for his Senate seat. Toomey has already showed himself to be a strong candidate that would make Arlen run hard just to win the primary. Now he has chosen the easy way out and will run as a Democrat, dodging a primary bullet (unless a real Democrat mounts a challenge to him and makes him work for a spot in he election). Knowing just how much his defection will hurt the Republican's tenuous position in the Senate, Specter took the lowest of the low roads and turned on them when they were at their most vulnerable.
President Obama was given a note containing the Specter information during a news conference this morning. He indicated that he was pleased to have the turncoat on his side---(as he fits well with the rest of the political thugs in his administration)---and will give Arlen his full support. And of course, MO Senator Claire McCaskill, says the Republicans have no one to blame but themselves when they make a moderate Republican a vanishing species.
My perspective is more that this leaves the road open in at least one 2010 race for a real conservative who can likely beat Specter no matter what coat he wears when he runs.
Et tu Brute?
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Real American Heroes--Far Too Few
Over a decade ago, my daughter was applying to colleges and the mandatory essay was a sore subject in our home. The topic of "A LIVING American Hero" was required by one of the colleges and finding one was giving her fits. First the criteria of "Living" honed the list considerably. Then "American" took away the contenders from other countries. My suggestions were rebuffed as being unfamiliar, old or in some other way inappropriate for a pithy (not to mention cool) college essay...all of which was OK with me, but when turned back on her with suggestions of contemporary cultural icons, entertainers, sports figures and other more familiar individuals, she also had reasons why they were unsuited to be considered heroes. This debate went on for days with the deadline looming and finally in desperation, I suggested that if there were no REAL American Heroes in her perspective of what this entailed, then why not write the essay and entitle it "Today there are NO Real American Heroes." And then defend this position and let her opinions fly. After all, the essay is really all about your written communication skills, how you defend your position and not so much who you choose. And that was the essay she wrote! I found the essay quite revealing and apparently so did the college for which it was written as it was one of the ones who accepted her and offered her financial incentives to attend.
Today, the world has changed significantly. 9-11 gave us stories of people who literally laid down their lives to save others in the Twin Towers. All of us know, at least peripherally, young men and women who have joined the military for the cause of freedom and some of them have given mightily with their blood or their lives for that cause. But bubbling to the surface in the past months are the names of two more ordinary Americans who, I feel, are true role models for all Americans. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and Captain Richard Phillips, ordinary people, who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances and who responded in courageous and altruistic ways.
If you don't know who these remarkable men are, you must be living under a rock or watching too much MTV, but "Sully" Sullenberger was the captain of US Airways Flight 1549 who crash landed his plane in the Hudson River, saving the lives of all aboard his plane. Captain Sullenberger was the last to leave the plane, walking it twice to make certain that there were no other passengers left behind and later worrying that a library book was in his possession on the plane and was lost. His clear head, bravery, clarity under duress saved the lives of 151 passengers. His quiet humility was impressive after the fact. His peers, however, acknowledged that this was the sort of thing that they would have expected from a true leader like Sully.
And last week on Easter Sunday, Captain Richard Phillips from the Maersk Alabama was rescued by US Navy Seal snipers from Somali pirates who had held him for 5 days. He allowed himself to be taken hostage so that the ship and the rest of his crew could go free. When he returned from his captivity, he said that the real heroes were the US Navy Seals who pulled off the dramatic rescue. Again, he was humble and dignified and displayed grace under fire. His crew, when interviewed, again praised the Captain and freely indicated that this was the kind of leader that he was.
These are the true American heroes that walk among us every day. They are the unknown and unsung heroes until serendipity places them in a place where bravery, courage and dignity simply happen because something needs to be done. They are the heroes who don't see themselves as doing something extraordinary, but rather as folks who are just doing their jobs.
Politically, conservatives are looking for a real American hero who will rise up and take the political reins. Right now there is a great deal of searching among the known commodities and nothing is coming to the forefront. Perhaps the real hero will be someone who rises from the ranks of the common man and is "just doing his job."
Today, the world has changed significantly. 9-11 gave us stories of people who literally laid down their lives to save others in the Twin Towers. All of us know, at least peripherally, young men and women who have joined the military for the cause of freedom and some of them have given mightily with their blood or their lives for that cause. But bubbling to the surface in the past months are the names of two more ordinary Americans who, I feel, are true role models for all Americans. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and Captain Richard Phillips, ordinary people, who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances and who responded in courageous and altruistic ways.
If you don't know who these remarkable men are, you must be living under a rock or watching too much MTV, but "Sully" Sullenberger was the captain of US Airways Flight 1549 who crash landed his plane in the Hudson River, saving the lives of all aboard his plane. Captain Sullenberger was the last to leave the plane, walking it twice to make certain that there were no other passengers left behind and later worrying that a library book was in his possession on the plane and was lost. His clear head, bravery, clarity under duress saved the lives of 151 passengers. His quiet humility was impressive after the fact. His peers, however, acknowledged that this was the sort of thing that they would have expected from a true leader like Sully.
And last week on Easter Sunday, Captain Richard Phillips from the Maersk Alabama was rescued by US Navy Seal snipers from Somali pirates who had held him for 5 days. He allowed himself to be taken hostage so that the ship and the rest of his crew could go free. When he returned from his captivity, he said that the real heroes were the US Navy Seals who pulled off the dramatic rescue. Again, he was humble and dignified and displayed grace under fire. His crew, when interviewed, again praised the Captain and freely indicated that this was the kind of leader that he was.
These are the true American heroes that walk among us every day. They are the unknown and unsung heroes until serendipity places them in a place where bravery, courage and dignity simply happen because something needs to be done. They are the heroes who don't see themselves as doing something extraordinary, but rather as folks who are just doing their jobs.
Politically, conservatives are looking for a real American hero who will rise up and take the political reins. Right now there is a great deal of searching among the known commodities and nothing is coming to the forefront. Perhaps the real hero will be someone who rises from the ranks of the common man and is "just doing his job."
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