Who remembers this?

[Royal P.I.T.A.]

Thank you to Unruely35 for finding this link:

http://gawow.com/lastories/1998/980501_side.html

In one of the most graphic and bizarre events ever to unfold on a Los Angeles freeway, a man with a gripe against HMOs parked his pickup truck on a busy freeway intersection Thursday afternoon, set it ablaze and then committed suicide--on live television--creating a nightmarish, miles-long traffic jam during the evening commute.

The story had guns, traffic jams, cellular phones, swarms of news helicopters, desperate self-promotion--and a sudden, tragic, cinematic conclusion. And all of it caught on live television

He then calmly walked out onto the empty freeway and unfurled a large, square banner with white hand-lettering that read: "HMO's are in it for the money!! Live free, love safe or die." He made a few obscene gestures before nonchalantly returning to his truck, occasionally petting his dog and sipping from a can.
SWAT team negotiators were about to try to persuade him to give up when a violent, graphic series of events quickly unfolded, ending in a startling suicide.

Now, who remembers this? April 30th 1998... Tell me, who was running this circus then?

Now, JUST NOW, I watched one of Hilary's ads about health care reform and (If I could find a link to it, I'd post it) she says something along the lines that the health care industry has had 7 years of a President who fights for them, but I tell you now... if the past is ANY indication of the future... if she takes office, we haven't seen anything in the way of piss poor health care. Maybe she's hoping most people have forgotten, maybe she has or never knew. But it's a pretty damn sad insight when people go THIS far because of poor health care.

[KINGS17]

Evil Republicans prevented her from implementing the ideal health care system.

[Royal P.I.T.A.]

Originally Posted by KINGS17

Evil Republicans prevented her from implementing the ideal health care system.

LMAO... now I'm not trying to draw a line in the sand on this one, but B.S. is B.S. and this woman is full of it on this.

[Maddogg420]

Originally Posted by KINGS17

Evil Republicans prevented her from implementing the ideal health care system.

Well, minus the evil part... Isn't this the case? And really PITA. You usually make more sense then this. Blaming this man's suicide on Hillary? Do you blame soldiers deaths on George?
And a guy unfurls a sign saying HMO's are wicked, then offs himself on a jammed up freeway, on live television, choppers swirling overhead, and it's because of the health care system? No. This man was likely nuts, extremely lonely, depressed, or high(he was swigging off a can), or some combination of the above when he blew himself away.

[irisher]

Um, what? Lemme get this straight: You're blaming Hillary Clinton for the United States Health Care system in the late 1990s?

Kings17 joked about it, but it's actually true: Bill Clinton's health care plan was shot down by Republican opposition in 1993, and any further efforts were stymied by the emergent Republican majorities of 1994 who in 1998 were trying to impeach a twice democratically elected President for lying about getting a blowjob from a fat chick.

Where were you? These were actually pretty large stories at the time. I mean, even bigger stories than a president repeatedly lying in order to get us in war that needlessly killed thousands of American soliders while enriching his campaign donors by transferring taxpayer dollars into their corporate coffers.

Further, logically if you blame Hillary Clinton for system health care failures, I'm sure you give her all the credit for the massive peacetime expansion of the economy, right?

Dude, I know it's campaign season, but get a grip.

[OddManRush]

Are you saying Laura Bush killed Heath Ledger?

[bjones62]

Originally Posted by irisher

Um, what? Lemme get this straight: You're blaming Hillary Clinton for the United States Health Care system in the late 1990s?

Kings17 joked about it, but it's actually true: Bill Clinton's health care plan was shot down by Republican opposition in 1993, and any further efforts were stymied by the emergent Republican majorities of 1994 who in 1998 were trying to impeach a twice democratically elected President for lying about getting a blowjob from a fat chick.

Where were you? These were actually pretty large stories at the time. I mean, even bigger stories than a president repeatedly lying in order to get us in war that needlessly killed thousands of American soliders while enriching his campaign donors by transferring taxpayer dollars into their corporate coffers.

Further, logically if you blame Hillary Clinton for system health care failures, I'm sure you give her all the credit for the massive peacetime expansion of the economy, right?

I watched as he blew his head off and the ensuing rush for information. If I remember correctly, the guy was dying of some disease (AIDS, I think) and the HMO would not provide the medications he needed in order to at least dull the pain he was going through.

irisher, your memory is being clouded by partisanship on this one. NO ONE, not even the Democrats wanted any part of Clinton's heallth care system. The Democrats controlled Congress when she tried to push this through, not the Republicans. If they had supported the reform, it probably would have passed.

The rest of your post is just drivel. Take your own advice.

Dude, I know it's campaign season, but get a grip.

[Semper-Fi]

LOL - are you blaming Hillary Clinton for HMOs, P.I.T.A? Dude... hate to break it to you but the HMOs are totally Nixonian.

Originally Posted by OddManRush

Are you saying Laura Bush killed Heath Ledger?

We should look into that. But she definatly killed her 17yr old boyfriend 40 some odd years ago when her bitch ass ran that Stop sign. Typical Republican, thinking the law doesn't apply to them.

Insert homersimps Ted Kennedy reference in 3...2....

[irisher]

Originally Posted by bjones62

The rest of your post is just drivel

Of course, you offer not a single, substantive refutation of anything I posted. Par for the course with you, considering your ideology is bankrupt. Remember when you told me that the privatized rebuilding of New Orleans was the best, most efficient course of action for the citizens there. How'd that work out?

How's that war your supported (as long as other people fight it) working out for you. It's no surpise to see you all but disappear from this forum lately. I'd be embarassed too. I have to think Milton Friedman has by now made it to the 7th circle of hell for the havoc he and his disciples have wreaked on this planet.

And I see you worked in the classic straw man. Never did I say Clinton's plan would've been the be-all, end-all, only that PITA blaming the first lady for some nut going Kurt Cobain on himself and then holding her accountable for the health care failure in this country is patently absurd.

[Semper-Fi]

Originally Posted by irisher

Of course, you offer not a single, substantive refutation of anything I posted.

It's because he's lazy, Irisher. bjones62 is the Fred Thompson of LGK.

[mcsorleyminute]

Originally Posted by Royal P.I.T.A.

LMAO... now I'm not trying to draw a line in the sand on this one, but B.S. is B.S. and this woman is full of it on this.

Politicians, regardless of gender, are full of it.

I am finding the gender bias unconsciously bubbling up from even my most liberal "live and let live" bleeding heart pacifist friends.
The next woman that runs will be slightly less scrutinized and maybe more appreciated for her political abilities(read: full of BS-ness) and for that she will, hopefully, thank Hillary Clinton.

Carry on. I think you guys are all very smart and I enjoy reading the threads in this forum alot.

[Royal P.I.T.A.]

Since there's an issue with the multi quote button, I'll try to hit it all in one shot. Also, forgive the brevity, I'm having a difficult time articulating a proper response.

To start with I want to make it perfectly clear that it has nothing to do with Hilary's sex, nor her party affiliation. This particular individual who is campaigning to be the next President just strikes me as more full of it than others. Another woman, democrat or otherwise... if she's good I'll vote for her. My boss is a woman, as is hers and the Marine above her. Ask any of them if I have a problem with women with authority.

I was a bit worked up when I saw that commercial last night and as she was speaking this incident came into my head. Obviously you can't put the blame for another humans actions on the shoulders of one person, let alone someone who has never known them. However, it was a perfect insight of the times on many levels, not the least of which was the state of medical care at the time. Her husband was in office and it was a Democrat controlled Congess. There's no reason the Clinton's healthcare plans shouldn't have been implememented if it was worth a damn.

Maddogg420, it may shock you to read this, but inherently, the President IS responsible for the deaths of any troops that lose their lives in a war he sends them to. No President that has ever sent troops into war is excluded from that.

Besides, I wouldn't be the first person to blame him for it, and what I'm saying about Hilary isn't the same as it's an issue that you and I, and every other person in this country will have to deal with on a personal level. Note I did NOT say citizen, because rest assured you won't need to be a citizen of this country to get health care/insurance.

Irisher... at the time I was 21, working my ass off at California Steel Industries in Fontucky, and outside of that I didn't spend much time worrying about anything having to do with the government. Foolish as it may have been, that's just the reality. However, an adult would have had to have been a deaf and dumb pig to not realize the healthcare industry was screwy.

The man may have been bat **** crazy, but he had found a growth on his neck that was cancerous, AND was HIV positive, and wasn't getting any medical help for it in the slightest. If I remember correctly, his mother had recently passed as well due to complications with her HMO... how sane would you be? And how does that take away from how dire the situation had become? Not just for him and for hundreds of thousands of people.

Semper-Fi...

I'm not really happy you're back man, I'm really not. In any case, no I'm not blaming her for HMO's... I'm blaming the Clinton administration for a medical system that was so far out of whack ONE man decided he'd be better off killing himself, and I can garauntee many others felt the same way.

Oh, and Irisher... I didn't care that he got a bj in the oval office and got caught... I'm sure he's not the first, nor the last... JFK had an all but open affair with Marilyn Monroe, and he's celebrated as one of the best President's we've ever had. Me... I've got no problem with a man getting a knobber.

All in all, I really hoped we wouldn't need to bring the current administration into this, because it's irrelevant. No need to mention it at all. A few more months and he's gone... and we'll have another target. As hard a pill as it may be to swallow for some, Bill Clinton did some good things in office, so you haven't got me there either.

It just seems to me, that this isn't the platform for her. Canada's health care system will look wonderful compared to ours if she gets her way. That's my point.

Now as far as Laura Bush and Heath Ledger...

Would you be shocked if some religious nut job off'd him and made it look like a suicide becuase of his role on Mountain? I wouldn't...

[Kings Provisional]

I remember when that happened, and to go slightly off topic.....


It was brutal. I seem to recall that after it aired the networks were freaking out that they did not cut away soon enough and showed him offing himself. People were outraged "How can they show that!", and network bigwigs were promsing to re-evaluate how to deal with these live events.

All the while the Spanish stations showed it over and over again, giving slo-mos and what not. And none of thier viewers got worked up or complained.

A pal of mine said, "That was nothing, the stations in Mexico show all sorts of nasty brutal things on the news."

Just sort of funny to see that an event can make one group go ape-****, while the same thing barely gets a yawn from other folks.

[Semper-Fi]

Semper-Fi...

I'm not really happy you're back man, I'm really not. In any case, no I'm not blaming her for HMO's... I'm blaming the Clinton administration for a medical system that was so far out of whack ONE man decided he'd be better off killing himself, and I can garauntee many others felt the same way.

Sounds like I'm doing my job then.

Anyway, sounds like NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED since you were a 21yr old in Fontucky. You ADMIT on one hand that the Clintons DIDN"T DO ANYTHING about the (your lack of a better term "medical system that was so far out of whack", when THEY TRIED TO AND ALL EFFORTS WERE THWARTED BY REPUBLICANS who simply say "Socialized medicine!" and people like you **** your pants. Then on the other hand you are blaming the Clintons for the same "medical system" they tried to fix. Whether or not her plan was a good one is open to debate, but to pretend the Clinton administration is somehow responsible for todays mess is absurd. This isn't even partisan, this is simply something where if you're not happy with the current healthcare industry ALL BLAME GOES TO THE REPUBLICANS. Hell, that's not even some "partisan cheapshot". Mitt Romney -- when he's not asking black people: "Who Let the Dogs out? Who? Who?"

Who let the Dogs out? Who! Who?!

Who let the Dogs out? Who! Who?!

-- says as much. Mitt Romney said, and I repeat almost verbatim "Please don't make the Pharmacutical/Insurance companies the BIG BAD GUYS". LOL! Well, if they're not, Who the **** is!? Oh, that's right: Hillary Clinton. LOL
Sorry, Broseph, but this is Republican ideology in it's purest most evil form. "Let the free market decide if you can afford healthcare! Not the Government, you socialist commy pigs!" Well if this is what the free market gives you, and you like the "Free Market", then STFU and die of cancer if you can't afford it. God Forbid we be like those Europhags, and canadian fairies up north with their "National Healthcare", longer life-spans, etc. God forbid we all be in this together, right? Blame Hillary! For what.... well, you don't even know. LOL

BTW - I hate to break it to you but things have only gotten immeasurably WORSE over the past 7yrs and HERE YOU ARE trying to blame Hillary because one unstable nutjob offed himself? Christ, he was bat$h!+ crazy and he didn't even blame the Clintons -- he blamed his HMO!

Oh, wait... I just remembered. Mitt Romney & Rudy 9uu11ani have the answer: Tort Reform! We need to stop sueing doctors, Bitches! Health Insurance cost SO MUCH because almost one half of 1 percent of doctors get sued when they **** up and kill someone! Hey! caca occurs, right?