The Occasional Perspective - 8/14/23

Opinions and Reflections 

The Importance of Democracy Over Personal Aggrandizement – This short narrative has nothing to do with personal health care but everything to do with the health of the nation! It’s fair to say that there are many political perspectives at play across the USA. It holds some similarities to the social trials of the 1960s when the Vietnam War was a rampant virus on the American public. At that time, the correspondent covering the war for CBS was Dan Rather who subsequently served as the lead for the evening news following Walter Cronkite’s retirement. I’ve always been a fan of Rather’s because I thought he presented the news with a neutrality based on the facts. His news analysis got me through the Vietnam War and so many other tragedies and celebrations that occurred as part of American life over the last half century. So, I was quite taken by his two most recent missives, Our Fragile Freedom and Why Am I (Still) Speaking Out both done with his long-time collaborator, Eliot Kirschner. In essence, he called out the machinations over the last couple of weeks surrounding the Trump indictment. It’s clear that we all need to take a very hard look at the FACTS regardless of our political perspective. I encourage you to read his thoughts as well as the entire Trump indictment. It’s a long but very complete read on the reasons for the indictment.

In my mind, Jack Smith, Special Counsel for the US Department of Justice – who holds an impeccable record of unbiased pursuit of justice – has completed a very apolitical job of filtering through the facts related to the 2020 Presidential Election. The indictment presented by Smith clearly shows substantial evidence in support of three major findings. They include: 

1. A conspiracy to defraud the United States by using dishonesty, fraud, and deceit to impair, obstruct, and defeat the lawful federal government function by which the results of the presidential election are collected, counted, and certified by the federal government, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371;
2. A conspiracy to corruptly obstruct and impede the January 6 congressional proceeding at which the collected results of the presidential election are counted and certified ("the certification proceeding"), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(k); and,
3. A conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one's vote counted, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 241.

I implore all of my readers on both sides of the aisle – regardless of your political perspective – to read all 45 pages of the 3-Part Indictment of Donald J. Trump. It is REQUIRED READING FOR EVERY AMERICAN CITIZEN in my book regardless of our political persuasions. It’s compelling. If you haven’t read it, please don’t send comments chastising me. If you have read it and have extracted a different perspective than mine – please follow through and share your thoughts but please do with so with “facts” in mind. The health of the nation depends on resolving the Trump indictment in a peaceful manner that bespeaks the history of American justice for everyone regardless of who they are…

So, why does the health of the nation depend on it? Because we have so many issues in need of our attention which have all to be placed “on hold” due to the political infighting occurring across the nation. Health care is not a Democratic or Republican issue. It is a non-partisan issue that requires a consensus by everyone at the table. The list of issues in the health care arena includes – just for starters: the federal deficit’s impact on health care financing, the growing demand for support from both Medicare due to an aging population, the stress on Medicaid due to the state-level budget deficits, the use of AI/ML in health care delivery, the insufficient supply of health care professionals, how to manage the hospital-at-home movement, disease globalization, caring for immigrants and the uninsured, and, the list goes on and on… I’m sure that other industries need attention as well. So, let’s stick to the facts, resolve the politics, allow justice to prevail, and move on…