In recent months, I’ve had an unusual "up close and personal" look at the way the minds of some state-level policymakers work through my job. The issue I am tasked with supporting them as they explore is early childhood education; but follow me on the flip to see an analysis of  how we get from point A (the miserable and unconscionable situation we are in now with health care...) to point B... a more humane way of administrating health care in this country.

If I have time to follow nothing else on dkos, I read NYCeve’s diaries. It was one of her latest which forced me to take the time to give you this essay/diary.

I was for some reason surprised when I came across an Op-Ed by a the director of a European Nursing group called "Nurses for Reform" in the Boston Herald this morning. The Op-Ed, titled "Memo to Moore: UK no role model: Universal health has flaws" made me a bit nauseous.

The link to the piece is here. here Though it was published a few days ago, I searched here about it and found no mention of it.

Follow me on the flip as we take a closer look at this and at this group, "Nurses for Reform" that the writer of this piece heads up. I'd specifically like to invite the folks with "Scrubs for Sicko" and the US Nursing groups who are supporting universal health care to get in touch with "Nurses for Reform" (if they aren't already) to advance an international dialogue on the compare and contrast between the US Health care "system" and the European systems.

George Lakoff did me-- and I think, the world-- a favor, when he brought attention to the idea of "framing" in "Don’t think of an Elephant." Due in no small part to reading that book, I began to think differently about my work, about the world, and began to believe that I may have the capacity to make a difference in the world. If you haven’t read it I encourage you to do so, even though some of the "frames" put forth are certainly open to debate.

One of the most pressing issues of our time is the need for universal health care in this country. NYCEve and others point out tirelessly the reality that people are dying due to the mess on our hands. That’s reality, and it bears repeating.

The spark for this diary was people asking the question here on dkos "How can anyone be against universal health care?" I realized I really wanted to know the answer to that question, and that in terms of advancing the cause,that I feel it is imperative for us to understand the "frames" of the opposition. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but follow me on the flip as I explore....

My mother is the kind of person who lives life as an adventure. From cleaning the kitchen to exploring the neighborhood, she knows how to find meaning and joy in the everyday, and her generosity both of spirit and of the material never ceases to be inspirational.

If everyone in the world were like her, this world would be a much kinder, thoughtful, caring place. Poverty would be history, and we wouldn’t go around invading countries every day (though we might get together on occasion to trade recipes and examine the different ways we decorate our homes!)

Join me on the flip as I tell you more about her!

Part of the tremendous travesty that America does not provide health care to all our citizens—looking at it simplistically, of course—is simply attributable to the reality that, well, other countries DO provide health care to all, and have for decades.

It’s not as though we are inventing the wheel, here, folks. It has been done. If they did it, we can too. Period. Right?

As DrSteveB, I believe, points out regularly, (as well he should, it bears repeating!) the U.S. is the only industrialized country in the world that does NOT provide this service to her people. So the natural extension seems to me if this is something that "We the people" want to see happen, that among the (obvious) early steps are to look at the historical steps of how this feat was performed elsewhere. I realized I’ve seen precious little explanation of how it happened in other places, so join me on the flip as I do some homework.

Admittedly, I'm a bit masochistic. But more importantly, I believe in the power and importance of communication. Accordingly, at my day job (which is very communications-centric) I make a point to try to stay in touch with what the "opposition" is also saying. Said job is also very issue-specific. Knowing what the "other side" is talking about  is important if for no other reason than to be clear on how issues are framed in that "camp" and what other people's concerns are....so that you can adjust your communications messages accordingly, address their concerns, etc. (or simply know when to fight or "wun away!!" as Monty Python would put it....)

more on the flip....

In a recent thread there was some discussion about the need for medical advocates/medical advocacy in the US--to help people negotiate the (sometimes) nightmare that is our current medical system, to advocate for the patient, to generally assist to help make sure that the best possible outcome happens for the patient and their family.

Granted, some people would say, yes, we already have those, and they're called lawyers.

Advocacy in the "neoclassic" sense, however, is very different from what lawyers do.

I wanted to talk about the idea and see if anyone else wanted to join in, to see if this very powerful community could consider some ways of making this happen, on a larger scale.

more on the flip

I stumbled into one of those online Repub to Repub conversation for some reason the other day and one of them said that "they would maybe be able to hear the "liberals" better if 'they' could go 24 hours without calling me a 'rethug' or a 'wingnut.' I thought about it for a while, and I have a proposal. It's more fun than 'wingnut' anyway. The Fascist Poodle proposal is now on the table...