Max Cleland

[Mermaid]

:shock: holy moly.

You can say that again. I've never seen such rigidity of opinion as I do on this forum. Coupled with a fierce desire to have the last word (I hardly know which is worse). Duel to the death and to heck with what the original question or idea of the post is. "My way or the highway" is what seems to rule in more instances than not and this post, I am sad to say, is particularly illustrative of that.

Where's the easy give and take of ideas? Where's the acknowledgement that while someone's opinion may not the same as yours, there could still be merit in at least a few points? I am baffled by this insistence that if someone doesn't follow your ideology completely then whatever they say is inconsequential. How can anyone broaden their scope if they don't listen and try to figure out why someone is saying what they are?

I don't see the point of dismissing another's opinion just because they're left and you're right or you're right and they're left. Dismiss an opinion because intellectually it doesn't seem sound to you, not because it's not your opinion! Otherwise, when you come down to it, you're only talking to yourself (because everyone else has left the building--I mean, who likes a bore, and yes, I'm talking about you).

It makes me sad that every now and then I open a post hoping to learn something about a subject I have only a passing knowledge of, and it's impossible because the conversation quickly disintigrates into a "You're wrong and I'm right" volley of hurled retorts. No insight in that and no progress either in furthering my Current Events I.Q. What a waste when there's so many interesting things to say otherwise!

 

[Iris]

Obviously you are a secretary or an admin assistant commonly known in the military as a comma momma. I used to write more on this site but the normally less educated comma momma's had nothing to do with their time but make grammatical and spelling corrections, therefore diluting individuals comments and thoughts by belittling them for their typo and minor grammatical errors.

I will have more to say about Max, but will save it for tomorrow.....after I hear all of your complaints about my comments on all of the Comma Mamma's.

I can't believe no one caught my typo.....comma momma vs comma mamma! Shame on you or should I say I am proud of you..

 

[jensieblue]

I am truly amazed. I made a short post telling folks that Max Cleland had been interviewed on NPR and release a book and ...well wow. There is an atomic level of frustration built up and looks to me like a lot of it has to do with health care. I think we all need to open a window take some deep breathes and calm ourselves. That is before you contact your congressmen and tell them to do something. Our polital process has grown so burdened with polls, money from various groups you don't want to irritate, and special interests it appears unable to act, what they were elected to do. Bye, the way, over all a good discussion. Now if the ones with the power will just DO SOMETHING.

 

[jensieblue]

southern

not a southern woman, no. thats a first for me though. mam, ive learned so much about health reform its not funny. trust me on this one, expand your mind for just one week. and im not saying i dont listen NPR at all anymore, its just very limited mainly for music these days. there is no comparison on health coverage, absolutely no comparison. just looking out for you thats all i promise. its all about the educational value of it all, not party line worship.

I could tell. Let me refer you to an expert on southern language and humor, Roy Blount, of New York and formerly of Georgia. His book Dispatches from Up South is not only hysterically funny but also highly informative for anyone not raised in the South or who otherwise never learned to speak the language. You really should know how to communicate with the natives.

 

[jensieblue]

so many things to discuss

your right, but tax money is still used regardless. thats just wrong. that said, ive written checks during those drives. its been a long time, but i believe it was just before 911 when i last contributed. like i said, im not talking out of my butt. ive travled both roads and ones much more educational and thats what im after. playing the political game doesnt teach anyone anything.

and dont get me started on coulter. you cant argue with her, but shes a big mouth. and no she didnt lie about his record. again, thats the effect of a irresponsible news network that spewed that. ive heard her taken out of context a million times, but they wont invite her back after they smear her. thats what mslsd prides themselves on these days.

when your running for office, the gloves come off on both sides and sometimes against eachother. just look at bush vs mccain in my home state of NH. thats politics. in the end they are one party-period.

its unfortunate you have such hatred for rove. and its no doubt driven by bias news like mslsd. driven by aggenda driven outlets and outlets that spew hate like mslsd. notice how i single them out. you would do yourself a service by actually listening to his words for more than a edited segment. theres always something to learn by listening to all voices...

Everytime I hear Coulter's name I think of the line from Wizard of Oz..you know the scarecrow's "If I only had a brain" Don't know it just comes to me and I can't get it out of my head. You just flipped the switch. Oh and FYI folks from our area REALLY don't like it when people advise us to admire or "do things" like they do up north. It is you who must adapt to our mores and traditions. If we wanted to act as northerns do, we would move up north. My brother lives in Fairhope and that beautiful town has lots of northern transplants. They also have tee shirts, sold locally, that read "We don't care how you do it up North!!!"

 

[LuciferSam]

Obviously you are a secretary or an admin assistant commonly known in the military as a comma momma. I used to write more on this site but the normally less educated comma momma's had nothing to do with their time but make grammatical and spelling corrections, therefore diluting individuals comments and thoughts by belittling them for their typo and minor grammatical errors.

I will have more to say about Max, but will save it for tomorrow.....after I hear all of your complaints about my comments on all of the Comma Mamma's.

Trust me that's not my only problem with his mindless ramblings.

 

[Geo]

and yet another respectful leftist being so respectful. got nothing to contribute to the debate so you use personal smears. speaks volumes and is exactly what modern day liberalism is all about. enjoy not knowing what you could know. nuff said

No, it really doesn't/isn't...

One person (whaddyasay) jabbed you because you don't like NPR. This really says nothing about what liberalism is all about. I consider myself liberal (gasp). If one conservative tells me I am a moron because I don't like to watch Glenn Beck does this speak volumes about conservatism???

 

[LuciferSam]

Obviously you are a secretary or an admin assistant commonly known in the military as a comma momma. I used to write more on this site but the normally less educated comma momma's had nothing to do with their time but make grammatical and spelling corrections, therefore diluting individuals comments and thoughts by belittling them for their typo and minor grammatical errors.

I will have more to say about Max, but will save it for tomorrow.....after I hear all of your complaints about my comments on all of the Comma Mamma's.

I'm none of those things you mention. Rather obnoxious of you to take the time to diss a profession though with your elitist jibber jabber.

 

[jensieblue]

Medicare

It is terrible - that's what I think. I don't think you brought being sick on yourself.

I always thought that if your provider accepts Medicare you would never owe more than the "allowable amount." So, if Medicare denied the entire thing (no amount allowed) and your other insurance doesn't cover anything not allowed under Medicare, you are off the hook. Obviously, I know very little about insurance and how it works.

If you are having this much trouble with Medicare, I would think you would really be opposed to a public option for the rest of us!

We need reform without a public option! I hope that is what we get.

Here's the slick part. Medicare never actually has denied one of my claims, they simply don't pay them. the MD, lab, etc bills and after a long period of time they get a letter from Medicare saying they need some more things to process the billing. Thus begins a back and forth between Medicare and my provider. The other day when I went in for my initial radiation assessment. I med with the woman who bills their medicare first. She was a wonderful, funny woman who remined me of retired military, a woman who takes care of things. I described my experience to her and she laughed and said she knew exactly what I was talking about, before telling me not to worry that she would get the money. She told me she had fought with Medicare for a long time before convincing the clinis( I go to Bruno's Cancer Clinic in Bham) to hire a collection agency experienced with Medicare. She told me she gives Medicare a 30 day turn around for billing. If she has not recieved payment in 30 days the bill is turned over to an attorney. She evidently had medicare lawyers in court on so many cases she got their attention and now bills are paid within 30 days. I loved it she was a hoot.

 

[AlphaCrab]

Anybody listening to the interview with Max Cleland on NPR. I just bought his book Heart of a Patriot: How I Survived Vietnam, Walter Reed and Karl Rove. He is on Fresh Air with Terry Gross and it is a very interesting interview.

A-hem! Getting back to the subject--thanks, once again, so much for the original posting jensieblue--Max Clelan epitomizes a real American patriot to me personally. It really was just a wonderful interview on NPR, no matter what anyone else here on SoWal sthinks! Bravo!