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Earlier today I wrote a diary about Mitch McConnell, his personal fight against polio, and the treatment he received at Warm Springs — a rehabilitation center set up by FDR.
I thought I had researched the story adequately, but I was wrong. Because I attributed the care he received there to government funding, when in reality it was not. The good work done by people who commented on the diary corrected this.
I’d like to apologize for my mistake. I will try even harder next time to make sure information is correct. I am leaving up a portion of this diary though, because it has the names of some of the Senators who may be able to be persuaded to vote no on the AHCA, and also because some of my remarks about McConnell are not wrong.
Again, I apologize to all of you, and agree that it is of the highest importance to make sure that incorrect information does not go into print.
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Here is an excerpt from a PBS interview, on McConnell’s experience with polio as a child:
JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally, Senator, let’s talk about this remarkable book. You write very poignantly about when you were very young, having polio. Your mother lovingly took care of you. You got through that. And you refer back to it throughout the book. How has that affected your political life and your philosophy?
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL: It’s bound to have had a huge impact.
I mean, my mother was confronted with the following situation. Her husband was in Europe fighting the Germans. She was — moved to be with her sister in a rural community in Alabama. And there was a big polio epidemic, I subsequently found out, in 1944. And I was one of them.
And it hits you like the flu, and then, when the flu went away, you could have all different kinds of outcomes, from dying to complete recovery. Happily enough, we were one hour’s drive from Warm Springs, where President Roosevelt had set up the polio treatment center.
My mother took me over there. They trained her how to do a physical therapy regimen and said, do it four times a day. The hard part was, don’t let him start trying to walk.
And can you imagine dealing with a 2-year-old and subsequently a 3-year-old, keeping him off his feet? My first memory in life was the last visit to Warm Springs, where they told my mother I was going to be OK, I wouldn’t have to wear a brace, and I would have a normal childhood.
He talks about it having a huge impact. How?
So, I think it was a — it had to have been an early lesson that tenacity and hard work and sticking to it that I learned from my mother, and I have tried — applied that over and over again throughout my life.
Apparently it didn’t teach him about compassion, or giving, or looking out for your fellow man. He is healthy, wealthy & powerful, and wants nothing more than to strip his fellow citizens of their right to affordable healthcare.
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A lot of news outlets are talking about Republicans who haven’t yet decided to vote yes. But they are pointing to Cruz, who will sell his soul (well, one of the leftover pieces) as soon as he gets a deal, and Rand Paul, who wants the health care bill to be eliminated entirely or made even worse. So please don’t stop calling, emailing, faxing, showing up, or doing whatever you can — every day until the voting is over. Even call those politicians outside your district. You may not be a voting constituent, but this bill will affect you, so their vote will affect you.
Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Bill Cassidy (LA) — and he is a physician, Jerry Moran (KS), Bob Corker (TN), Shelley Moore Capito (WV) — they have a huge opioid problem, Jeff Flake (AZ), Rob Portman (OH), Mike Lee (UT), Ron Johnson (WI) and Dean Heller (NV) are some good names to call. They are probably at home now for the weekend, so calling their local offices — and many have more than one office, so share the love — will be as good or better for the next few days than calling their D.C. offices.