In December I posted an account of a day in the life of my work as a family doctor. It was well-received here, as it was when an earlier version was posted on Talking Points Memo.
This weekend, thinking about a discussion I had held among a group of patients and colleagues at the end of the year, I thought it might be nice to engage others in the dialogue... so I posted a modestly edited version on RedState.com
The posting survived less than ten minutes before it was removed and I was banned from the site. Fortunately, in these few minutes several comments managed to survive which shed an interesting light on the concept of free speech as seen by the right....
Here is the first response, by Moe Lane, who seems to have been the one who had the power to remove my posting and ban me:
[This was, I'm sure, a fascinating diary.]
Posted by doctoraaron (Profile)
Saturday, January 24th at 12:38PM EST
[And I'm sure that when you posted it on dKos on 12/7/2007
http://www.dailykos.com/...
...and TPM earlier it was well received. Alas, we're not here for Lefty agitprop, particularly when the author of it doesn't have the guts to admit it. Sorry, bub: but you actually aren't smart enough to slide this stuff in without us noticing it. - Moe Lane]
As it turns out, RedState is set up to directly email comments made to the author of a posting so I was able to email Mr. Lane with the following response:
I have no interest in using your rankings to push a story. Instead, I was hoping to engage a group of people whose perspective is likely different from my own in an interesting discussion of an important issue.
My failure to indicate prior publication at The Daily Kos was not subterfuge but an attempt to avoid putting readers off from reading or considering my story. I know that any who had an interest in doing so could readily discover the prior publication through a simple Google search.
It was an act of cowardice and speaks to a lack of interest in truly engaging on the issue that the posting was removed from the site. I challenge you to reinstate it and see what kind of discussion it generates.
Interestingly, this led to an edit of his initial comment (which was itself removed) attached to his removal of my posting:
Saturday, January 24th at 12:38PM EST
[Dr. Roland, proud dKos diarist, tacitly admits the reach and importance of RedState by trying to slip in Lefty agitprop here. - ML]
There were other comments offered by readers who managed either to read my posting before it was removed, or who responded to Mr. Lane's comments. Some were critical, but thoughtful and appropriate:
You ask where the reluctance for single payer insurance comes from.....
Brian Hibbert Saturday, January 24th at 1:03PM EST (link)
It comes from looking at the example of other countries where it’s been tried. The health care system in England is a disaster.
Canada judges the success of their system by the number of people who die while on the waiting list.
The hopes you have for single payer sound nice, but they turn into a nightmare when they are actually implemented.
Socialism doesn’t work. It looks nice on paper, but it’s been tried and it’s failed miserably every time (usually accompanied by widespread death and suffering).
Proud member of the V.R.W.C.
Join the RedState Strike Force
Some seemed truly engaged yet confused by the truth within the stories I tell and seemed to feel a need to march in lockstep with a Limbaughesque "ditto":
Actually, his description of his practice was very fascinating
civil_truth Saturday, January 24th at 1:26PM EST (link)
He detailed well the ill-effects of employer-based insurance. That part was worth reading
The fatal problem was when he plumped for single-payer as the solution, ignoring private market alternatives.
Though, I did find myself surprised at his raptures of Medicare/MediCal given what I’ve been reading for years about the cutbacks in payments and delays and arbitrary reductions. Or perhaps there is such a glut of health care providers in the Bay Area that he can find specialists who will work of peanuts.
Overall, a good decision on your part to delete - his dislike of the current situation has led him to pursue fantasy - sort of like many Obama voters, whom I’m sure he voted for. We don’t need to promote such fantasy thinking at RS - we’ve got hard work coming up if we want a country we still recognize in four years.
And Rightly So!
One questioned my existence, seemed to be inviting an investigation into my ethics, and found evil conniving on my part in my convoluted efforts to help reduce my patient's costs as I struggle with the private insurance bureaucracy:
Thank you for reminding me about that
civil_truth Saturday, January 24th at 1:40PM EST (link)
It also sounded like he told the labs which patients were covered by insurance and which werent’, so that the labs could charge more to the insurance companies. His lab antics are probably prosecutable, and I suspect that a little Google work could identify a family practice group in Burlingame that is comprised of one male and the rest females, especially if Aaron was a legitimate first or last name.
And Rightly So!
I am not sure what to make of this misadventure into the land of the red. But there has to be a lesson (or several) in it. I invite your comments.