Michelle Malkin followed up on a story Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof reported in the New York Times as evidence of the urgent need for universal health care and she found some things the Pulitzer Prize winner didn't find. It appears he didn't find them because he didn't bother to look for them.
Today, I did something that Pulitzer Prize-winning NYTimes columnist Nick Kristof apparently didn't do: I talked to a spokesman at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon.I called them up after OHSU's Dr. Johnny Delashaw left a comment about Kristof's piece spotlighting the horrible plight of John Brodniak, an Oregon man with a neurological condition that he says no one would treat.
Kristof used Brodniak's plight to argue for universal health care, decry Brodniak's deadly lack of insurance (even though he got Medicaid coverage in August), and lambaste doctors for refusing to treat Brodniak due to low reimbursements.
Well, OHSU confirmed for me two things:
1) OHSU is a safety-net hospital not far from where Brodniak lives. The hospital accepts all Medicaid patients and would not turn Brodniak away.
Okay, are you ready for Number 2?
2) Brodniak is a patient at OHSU -- and has been a patient there for the past three weeks.
What amazes me (and Michelle makes this point in her piece as well) is that Kristof reported that Brodniak had gotten Medicaid coverage, but then cited the situation Mr. Brodniak was in as proof of the need for universal health care. Huh? So this man who Kristof said could not get adequate health care was a recipient of a government health care program. That is typical of liberals though. Any failure by a government program is not seen as proof that some things are better handled by the private sector, but that the government program is simply not big or far reaching enough. Read Michelle's full post. It is a jaw dropper.
Update: More from Bookworm.
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Comments (13)
Facts, we don't need no sti... (Below threshold)1. Posted by SillyPuddy | December 3, 2009 3:59 AM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Facts, we don't need no stinking facts.
1. Posted by SillyPuddy | December 3, 2009 3:59 AM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on December 3, 2009 03:59
2. Posted by Upset Old Guy | December 3, 2009 6:15 AM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Here endeth the lesson. Too bad our friends from the left side of the aisle seem to have slept through it.
2. Posted by Upset Old Guy | December 3, 2009 6:15 AM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on December 3, 2009 06:15
3. Posted by Not jp2 | December 3, 2009 8:23 AM | Score: -5 (9 votes cast)
OMG!
Malkin is stalking Brodniak!
3. Posted by Not jp2 | December 3, 2009 8:23 AM |
Score: -5 (9 votes cast)
Posted on December 3, 2009 08:23
4. Posted by Fderfler | December 3, 2009 9:03 AM | Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
OBVIOUSLY, The NYT and other Lame-Stream Media need tax breaks and government subsidies so they can do a better job of getting it right.
You folks just do not understand the good that government can do!
4. Posted by Fderfler | December 3, 2009 9:03 AM |
Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Posted on December 3, 2009 09:03
5. Posted by recovered liberal democrat | December 3, 2009 10:04 AM | Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
The country is learning that all you have to do when a liberal comes up with an idea that sounds so wonderful, is to just look at the facts. We are all entitled to our own opinions. We are not entitled to our own facts. Liberals will try to hide them because they can't argue very well with them. The biggest example now is the way AGW and "climate change" are falling apart. Obamacare is beginning to fall apart. Facts are really kicking this "hopey changey" thing's butt.
5. Posted by recovered liberal democrat | December 3, 2009 10:04 AM |
Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Posted on December 3, 2009 10:04
6. Posted by Michael Laprarie | December 3, 2009 10:08 AM | Score: 6 (10 votes cast)
Of course the NYT story was intended as nothing more than a shameless plug for Obamacare.
Which makes this comment highlighted by Ms. Malkin even more stinging:
6. Posted by Michael Laprarie | December 3, 2009 10:08 AM |
Score: 6 (10 votes cast)
Posted on December 3, 2009 10:08
7. Posted by JustRuss IT1(SW) USN [retired] | December 3, 2009 10:10 AM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Using individual examples does nothing but ilicit an emotional response anyway which is exactly why they do it. Instead why aren't they reporting on the "millions" dead in the streets from lack of Govt services?
Bueller? Bueller?
7. Posted by JustRuss IT1(SW) USN [retired] | December 3, 2009 10:10 AM |
Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Posted on December 3, 2009 10:10
8. Posted by 914 | December 3, 2009 10:40 AM | Score: 4 (6 votes cast)
It seems apparent that leftists are more concerned with how they can extort more tax dollars from us than in any concern for our health.
Witness Obamacare. Obama cares about Obama, thats it.
8. Posted by 914 | December 3, 2009 10:40 AM |
Score: 4 (6 votes cast)
Posted on December 3, 2009 10:40
9. Posted by GarandFan | December 3, 2009 10:43 AM | Score: 5 (9 votes cast)
"Pulitzer Prize winner" Nicholas Kristof appears to have taken a page from the Climate "Research" people. "Just make shit up." Somewhere Joseph Goebbels is smiling.
9. Posted by GarandFan | December 3, 2009 10:43 AM |
Score: 5 (9 votes cast)
Posted on December 3, 2009 10:43
10. Posted by Jeff Blogworthy | December 3, 2009 10:50 AM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. This is no time for moderation. AmSpec reminds:
I am sick to death of the lies. I'm ready to storm some limousines.
10. Posted by Jeff Blogworthy | December 3, 2009 10:50 AM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on December 3, 2009 10:50
11. Posted by Gayle Miller | December 3, 2009 12:00 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
I have private health insurance (not Medicare despite the fact that I am 67 years old) and, in April, I suffered a mild stroke. No impairment, no residual signs remain. When I was in the hospital for the stroke, they opined that I needed the inoculation to prevent pneumonia due to my age. They gave me the shot. I got double pneumonia. The hospital swears there is no connection. My opinion on that is highly inflammatory and lurid. Meanwhile, after 2 MRIs, it was determined that both my carotid arteries were partially blocked, thus the stroke. In August I had one roto-rootered, in September, the second one was done. I am now feeling quite good and my risk levels are considerably lower. I'm 67 years old and cannot help thinking that - under Obamacare - I might be on the verge of death - having been rationed into the waiting line for the grim reaper. So thank you - no!
11. Posted by Gayle Miller | December 3, 2009 12:00 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on December 3, 2009 12:00
12. Posted by _Mike_ | December 3, 2009 12:18 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
'Global Warming' wasn't about the environment - hence facts don't matter.
'Obamacare' isn't about healthcare - hence facts don't matter.
The one thing that two two have in common is that they're based on desire for control - nothing more.
12. Posted by _Mike_ | December 3, 2009 12:18 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on December 3, 2009 12:18
13. Posted by epador | December 3, 2009 7:06 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
FYI Gayle:
The shot you got was for pneumococcal pneumonia prevention. If you got pneumonia in the hospital, it was likely not pneumococcal pneumonia. "Double Pneumonia" is not a medical term, so I can't discern what this means, though usually this colloquialism refers to getting a bacterial pneumonia on top of a viral pneumonia. It generally takes a minimum of 2 and an average of 6 weeks for an immunization to reach full effectiveness.
If you got a pneumonia shortly after a stroke, it could have been from aspiration do to trouble swallowing that can occur with some strokes. You can't always tell yourself when this is happening. The pneumococcal immunization would not necessarily help there.
13. Posted by epador | December 3, 2009 7:06 PM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on December 3, 2009 19:06