Negligent ER, Immigration Debate, Attorney-Gate Resurfaces, Raw Politics, Iraq News, Paris Crap, And Miles Levin (Wednesday's First Hour)
Hi everyone. I think Anderson Cooper may have skipped town on us because we've got John King holding things down again tonight. We begin with a Ted Rowlands piece on a horrible situation that went down at Martin Luther King Jr. Harbor Hospital in Los Angeles. Edith Rodriguez collapsed on the ER floor while waiting for treatment, but no one from the hospital would help her. Edith's boyfriend ended up calling 911 and begging for help, but still got nothing. Even another individual in the ER called 911 and she was treated rudely by the operator. Unfortunately, no help came and Edith died on the floor of a facility that could have (should have) saved her life. It was later determined she had a perforated bowel. The chief medical officer and a nurse have been fired and there's an investigation into how the dispatchers handled the calls, but Edith's very preventable death remains permanent.
Next up we're joined by Jeffrey Toobin and Art Caplan, director of the Center For Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. Toobin thinks this case is the very definition of negligence and he believes there will be a civil suit, though a criminal suit is not as likely. Art says there is no excuse whatsoever for how the hospital treated the patient. John then brings up the dispatchers and Jeffrey notes they did a lousy job, but nothing criminal. "...the legal system rarely makes the failure to act a crime," says Toobin. Tell that to Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer. Just saying. Art thinks the problem here more has to do with overflowing ERs than what the dispatchers did or didn't do. Word to that. After my car accident no one had time to look at me for about three hours and I was taken there by ambulance. BTW, it's fun to be strapped to a backboard and pushed up against a random wall for that long. I guess I'm lucky I didn't have internal bleeding. John tells us the hospital has had problems before and is sometimes referred to as "the killer king." Hmm. That doesn't sound promising. Toobin seems to disagree a bit with Art because he thinks this case is about human failure and not political failure. Art then agrees with that too. Everybody agrees!
On now to some immigration talk. First up, we're joined by Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist. John begins by noting the millions of illegal immigrants already here and wonders if it's better to compromise than do nothing at all. Jim here seems to think deporting 12 million people is totally doable and if we don't try, we're just a bunch of defeatists. Jim is also slightly out of touch with reality. Dude, we can't even get the FEMA trailers figured out; no way we're deporting 12 million people. John asks if he would rather round people up or focus on border security. Jim wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wants everything (and apparently thinks we're made of money and not hemorrhaging cash everyday in an unjust war). To be fair, he does rationally propose increasing the budget of ICE. John then talks a bit about amnesty and Jim informs us that the immigration bill should be named "the amnesty and colonization act of 2007." The Mexicans are coming! The Mexicans are coming!
For the flip side of the debate we're next joined by Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza. John wants to know why we can't do border security first and then deal with the people here. Janet says we've been doing that for years and enforcement is not enough. John points out that something must be going wrong then because illegal immigration continues to rise. Janet agrees with that, but she's not into a fence. Instead, she thinks the money should be put into other security technology. That sounds reasonable. Because that fence is just such a waste. John then reads us a Lou Dobbs quote. Because when immigration is mentioned on CNN there must always (always!) be a reference to Lou Dobbs. It's in his contract, people. Janet does not agree with how Lou characterizes illegal immigrants as demanding citizenship. She thinks the reform bill is an earned path to citizenship. And...the two sides will never agree.
Next up, attorney-gate is back! Well okay, it never actually went away, but 360's not so big on the updates unless it's big big news (or convenient for them to cover). Today we have big news. Top Karl Rove aide Sarah Taylor and sycophantic b-day card giver (and declarer of Bush as bestest governor evah!) Harriet Miers were subpoenaed! You hopefully remember that Miers was Bush's former legal adviser and brief nominee to the supreme court. We've got Toobin back for the legal lowdown and he notes that even though the scandal is months old we still don't know who did the firing and why. Now new emails suggest that the White House is even more involved than previously thought. Shocking! John brings up the subject of executive privilage. Toobin explains that during the Clinton years there were subpoenas, but usually some kind of compromise. However, this White House is a bit more stubborn. Again, shocking! Toobin tells us that if the democrats don't get what they want they could vote to hold the witnesses in contempt. Oooh. John points out that the democrats are putting up Taylor first because they want to see if they can get the big fish: Rove. As I've said before, that little turd blossom needs to go down for something. However, Toobin notes that we're a long way away from that and there's not that much time left in the Bush presidency and...he's totally bumming me out. Except for that not much time left in the Bush presidency thing. That I liked.
On now to some "Raw Politics" with Tom Foreman. First up, Kucinich is on a mission to impeach the VP. Because that will work. Well, at least he's going about it the right way. All you impeach Bush people? Hello! Look what's underneath! Next up we've got a flip flop fight (and fun with alliteration) between McCain and Romney on abortion. I hope somewhere John Kerry is having a chuckle. Tom also tells us Harry Reid is going to call for votes again on Iraq funding. This is visually told to us in the form of bigfoot Harry Reid scaring the Capitol. The 360 graphics people have gotten into the liquor cabinet. We also learn that even though most people think Bush sucks, he can still find people to give him money. Must be that "have mores" crowd. Also, the graphics people apparently aren't the only ones sipping the cider tonight. Tom shows us his Fred Thompson puppet and its moves, "Look, he's in. He's out. He's in. He's out. He's in. He's out," he says. I see what's happening here. The anchor goes on vacation and the kids threw a party.
Unfortunately, it's time to sober up because the Golden Dome Mosque in Samarra was hit today. Again. Unbelievable. John Burns joins us on the phone and John King notes it might have been an inside job. Burns tells us there's been an expectation over the past few weeks that a big al Qaeda attack was coming. King asks if we're about to see another escalation in violence like after the last time. Burns says they'll have to watch, but so far reprisals have been limited compared to 2006. King then points out that Maliki is being all optimistic about everything and wonders what's the real case. Burns tells us things still suck and if there continues to be no progress the Americans might start looking for another partner. Honestly, I didn't think Maliki would last this long. He's like Gonzales! (Except much more likely to have a shortened life.)
Next up we've got some Paris Hilton crap that I'm not blogging, but I am amused at how John can barely intro it without cracking up. Then we make what is possibly the biggest transition ever, to a Carol Costello piece on Miles Levin, the teen blogger dying of cancer. Miles was profiled on the show before and now we get a sort of good update. I say "sort of" because he's still dying of cancer, but he made it to his prom and graduation, where he even got to speak. Good for him. The Shot tonight comes from a Kansas City, MO, dashcam. An officer pulls over a car that was reported stolen and gets 30 rounds fired his way. Man. He got hit in the leg, but he's going to be okay. Craziness. The show was good. B+
Next up we're joined by Jeffrey Toobin and Art Caplan, director of the Center For Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. Toobin thinks this case is the very definition of negligence and he believes there will be a civil suit, though a criminal suit is not as likely. Art says there is no excuse whatsoever for how the hospital treated the patient. John then brings up the dispatchers and Jeffrey notes they did a lousy job, but nothing criminal. "...the legal system rarely makes the failure to act a crime," says Toobin. Tell that to Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer. Just saying. Art thinks the problem here more has to do with overflowing ERs than what the dispatchers did or didn't do. Word to that. After my car accident no one had time to look at me for about three hours and I was taken there by ambulance. BTW, it's fun to be strapped to a backboard and pushed up against a random wall for that long. I guess I'm lucky I didn't have internal bleeding. John tells us the hospital has had problems before and is sometimes referred to as "the killer king." Hmm. That doesn't sound promising. Toobin seems to disagree a bit with Art because he thinks this case is about human failure and not political failure. Art then agrees with that too. Everybody agrees!
On now to some immigration talk. First up, we're joined by Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist. John begins by noting the millions of illegal immigrants already here and wonders if it's better to compromise than do nothing at all. Jim here seems to think deporting 12 million people is totally doable and if we don't try, we're just a bunch of defeatists. Jim is also slightly out of touch with reality. Dude, we can't even get the FEMA trailers figured out; no way we're deporting 12 million people. John asks if he would rather round people up or focus on border security. Jim wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wants everything (and apparently thinks we're made of money and not hemorrhaging cash everyday in an unjust war). To be fair, he does rationally propose increasing the budget of ICE. John then talks a bit about amnesty and Jim informs us that the immigration bill should be named "the amnesty and colonization act of 2007." The Mexicans are coming! The Mexicans are coming!
For the flip side of the debate we're next joined by Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza. John wants to know why we can't do border security first and then deal with the people here. Janet says we've been doing that for years and enforcement is not enough. John points out that something must be going wrong then because illegal immigration continues to rise. Janet agrees with that, but she's not into a fence. Instead, she thinks the money should be put into other security technology. That sounds reasonable. Because that fence is just such a waste. John then reads us a Lou Dobbs quote. Because when immigration is mentioned on CNN there must always (always!) be a reference to Lou Dobbs. It's in his contract, people. Janet does not agree with how Lou characterizes illegal immigrants as demanding citizenship. She thinks the reform bill is an earned path to citizenship. And...the two sides will never agree.
Next up, attorney-gate is back! Well okay, it never actually went away, but 360's not so big on the updates unless it's big big news (or convenient for them to cover). Today we have big news. Top Karl Rove aide Sarah Taylor and sycophantic b-day card giver (and declarer of Bush as bestest governor evah!) Harriet Miers were subpoenaed! You hopefully remember that Miers was Bush's former legal adviser and brief nominee to the supreme court. We've got Toobin back for the legal lowdown and he notes that even though the scandal is months old we still don't know who did the firing and why. Now new emails suggest that the White House is even more involved than previously thought. Shocking! John brings up the subject of executive privilage. Toobin explains that during the Clinton years there were subpoenas, but usually some kind of compromise. However, this White House is a bit more stubborn. Again, shocking! Toobin tells us that if the democrats don't get what they want they could vote to hold the witnesses in contempt. Oooh. John points out that the democrats are putting up Taylor first because they want to see if they can get the big fish: Rove. As I've said before, that little turd blossom needs to go down for something. However, Toobin notes that we're a long way away from that and there's not that much time left in the Bush presidency and...he's totally bumming me out. Except for that not much time left in the Bush presidency thing. That I liked.
On now to some "Raw Politics" with Tom Foreman. First up, Kucinich is on a mission to impeach the VP. Because that will work. Well, at least he's going about it the right way. All you impeach Bush people? Hello! Look what's underneath! Next up we've got a flip flop fight (and fun with alliteration) between McCain and Romney on abortion. I hope somewhere John Kerry is having a chuckle. Tom also tells us Harry Reid is going to call for votes again on Iraq funding. This is visually told to us in the form of bigfoot Harry Reid scaring the Capitol. The 360 graphics people have gotten into the liquor cabinet. We also learn that even though most people think Bush sucks, he can still find people to give him money. Must be that "have mores" crowd. Also, the graphics people apparently aren't the only ones sipping the cider tonight. Tom shows us his Fred Thompson puppet and its moves, "Look, he's in. He's out. He's in. He's out. He's in. He's out," he says. I see what's happening here. The anchor goes on vacation and the kids threw a party.
Unfortunately, it's time to sober up because the Golden Dome Mosque in Samarra was hit today. Again. Unbelievable. John Burns joins us on the phone and John King notes it might have been an inside job. Burns tells us there's been an expectation over the past few weeks that a big al Qaeda attack was coming. King asks if we're about to see another escalation in violence like after the last time. Burns says they'll have to watch, but so far reprisals have been limited compared to 2006. King then points out that Maliki is being all optimistic about everything and wonders what's the real case. Burns tells us things still suck and if there continues to be no progress the Americans might start looking for another partner. Honestly, I didn't think Maliki would last this long. He's like Gonzales! (Except much more likely to have a shortened life.)
Next up we've got some Paris Hilton crap that I'm not blogging, but I am amused at how John can barely intro it without cracking up. Then we make what is possibly the biggest transition ever, to a Carol Costello piece on Miles Levin, the teen blogger dying of cancer. Miles was profiled on the show before and now we get a sort of good update. I say "sort of" because he's still dying of cancer, but he made it to his prom and graduation, where he even got to speak. Good for him. The Shot tonight comes from a Kansas City, MO, dashcam. An officer pulls over a car that was reported stolen and gets 30 rounds fired his way. Man. He got hit in the leg, but he's going to be okay. Craziness. The show was good. B+
posted by eliza at 1:24 AM
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