Dumb, And Dumber

The Republicans and conservatives don’t like education, educated people think. They want mindless automatons, they don’t like science because it gives them a headache from thinking too much.

Science vs. ‘wokeism’: The growing tensions between the doctors’ lobby and the GOP
The discord threatens gridlock on bills affecting how doctors practice and how much they are paid.
Politico
By Daniel Payne
September 30, 2023

America’s most influential doctors’ group once marched in lock-step with Republicans, joining forces to try to keep government out of medicine.

But now, as public health gets sucked into the culture wars, the American Medical Association has become a leading voice opposing GOP policies on everything from abortion and transgender care to gun rights and climate change. And Republicans are firing back with charges that the 176-year-old physicians’ organization is practicing “wokeism.”

The rift over social issues is threatening to undercut the AMA’s clout on the bread-and-butter health care issues it typically lobbies on — such as how much doctors should get paid by Medicare, which the GOP-led House is planning to debate this fall. And it’s tainting the AMA’s relationship with one group it’s long been able to rely on as a staunch ally: Republican lawmakers who are doctors.

“They do have some issues and some credibility to regain with those who practice,” said Rep. Greg Murphy, (R-N.C.), a urologist who co-chairs the GOP Doctors Caucus, citing disagreements over the AMA’s “social justice and equity agenda.”

The caucus tried to clear the air with their AMA colleagues at a January meeting in which they discussed the group’s credibility among Republicans, but concerns remain.

I know nothing! Nothing!

“Social justice and equity agenda” first of all medical facts are not social justice. AIDS, STDs, STIs, aew not political no matter how much the right-wingers want to make it so. Sex education is not political!

At the AMA’s annual meeting in Chicago in June, AMA delegates adopted a resolution condemning the war on drugs. In his farewell address as the organization’s president, Jack Resneck, a dermatologist, decried divisive political rhetoric and policy on abortion and transgender adolescents — and called for gun control, an issue many U.S. doctors have raised as a public health concern.

Illicit use of drugs is not a criminal issues but a medical issue. Ever since Nixon the war on drugs has been a flop. All it does is fill our prisons with minorities. Treat it as a medical problems and crime goes down.

I asked Google’s Bard “When nation decriminalize drugs how does it affect crime?”

The effects of drug decriminalization on crime are complex and vary depending on the specific policy and context. However, there is some evidence to suggest that decriminalization can lead to a reduction in crime.

One reason for this is that decriminalization can reduce the stigma associated with drug use. This can make it easier for people to seek help for their addiction, which can reduce crime rates. For example, a study in Portugal found that drug-related crime rates decreased by 23% after the country decriminalized all drugs in 2001.

Another reason why decriminalization may lead to a reduction in crime is that it can reduce the black market for drugs. This is because people are less likely to commit crimes to support their drug habit if they can access drugs legally or through harm reduction programs. For example, a study in the Netherlands found that drug-related crime rates decreased by 30% after the country decriminalized the possession of small amounts of drugs in 1976.

Of course, there are also some potential negative consequences of decriminalization. For example, some people worry that decriminalization could lead to an increase in drug use. However, there is no evidence to suggest that this is the case. In fact, some studies have shown that decriminalization can lead to a decrease in drug use among certain populations.

Overall, the evidence suggests that decriminalization can have a positive impact on crime rates. However, it is important to note that the effects of decriminalization vary depending on the specific policy and context.

Here are some specific examples of how decriminalization has affected crime rates in different countries:

• Portugal: After decriminalizing all drugs in 2001, Portugal saw a 23% decrease in drug-related crime rates.
• Netherlands: After decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of drugs in 1976, the Netherlands saw a 30% decrease in drug-related crime rates.
• Colorado: After legalizing cannabis in 2012, Colorado saw a 10% decrease in overall crime rates.
• Oregon: After decriminalizing all drugs in 2020, Oregon saw a 14% decrease in drug-related property crime rates.

It is important to note that these are just a few examples, and more research is needed to fully understand the impact of decriminalization on crime rates. However, the available evidence suggests that decriminalization can be a promising approach to reducing crime.

But the Republicans don’t want to hear that… “Lock em up” is their rallying cry of the conservatives.

The AMA goes against their “Lock em up” philosophy and recognizing LGBTQ+ as part of natural part of nature gives them a headache.

Lobbyists who work on Capitol Hill on behalf of doctors, and the congressional staffers who meet with them, said those positions — as well as the AMA’s support for abortion rights, transgender care, gun control and action to combat climate change — haven’t gone over well with Republicans.

In Republican minds you are either for us or against us. For them the AMA is all about “fake news.”

“Their credibility is so diminished that it’s a liability,” the lobbyist said, adding that Republicans on the Hill often ask: “What the hell is with the AMA?”

The truth hurts.

The Republicans are Luddites, new ideas send shivers up their spines.

The group opposed the creation of Medicare in 1965 and gave the majority of its campaign contributions to Republicans until 2006.

But that began to change in the 2000s, when Democrats like then-Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts sided with doctors in their fight with health maintenance organizations over insurer interference in medical decision-making.

The AMA later embraced Obamacare, moving further from its 1960s opposition to government involvement in medicine.

The AMA hasn’t changed but the Republicans took a far right turn. It is the Republicans who are pushing the envelope by politicizing healthcare by being anti-Abortion, anti-trans, and anti-LGB with their fake snake oil medicine. Their one track mind can't focus on the needs of the VA but instead they are hung up on us.

But at a recent House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing on what kinds of procedures should be reserved for medical doctors in the VA system, Republican Derrick Van Orden wasn’t focused on that.

“Can a biological male become a biological female?” the Wisconsin representative asked Ehrenfeld.

When Ehrenfeld balked at the question, Van Orden responded: “You are not a subject matter expert in the medical field — or you’re exercising administrative cowardice.”