October 6, 2009

Obama's photo-op with the doctors gets reported as... a photo-op with doctors.

A sea of health-care-reform-supporting doctors was assembled to be photographed listening to Obama tell them what a sea of health-care-reform-supporting doctors they are, and they were supposed to all be wearing white lab coats — so they'd look like a sea of health-care-reform-supporting doctors.

But some of them — despite getting the memo to wear their lab coats — came dressed, well, appropriately. They wore business suits/dresses for their audience with a President.  Oh, no!

White House staff had to scramble to get a bunch of lab coats, and the photo-op of the staffers passing out lab coats to the doctors was much more amusing than the a sea of health-care-reform-supporting doctors the White House wanted.

Come on, people! Obama's in trouble. You need to help.

76 comments:

save_the_rustbelt said...

This is how most physicians define health care reform:

1) eliminate my insurance hassles
2) pay for everything I order
3) if I am a specialist, do not mess with my very large income
4) throw some crumbs to primary care, they need it

So when you hear "doctors support health care reform," they have a much different concept of reform than Obama or even the Republicans.

AllenS said...

We're totally screwed.

traditionalguy said...

The Nationalization of Health Care requires that President Obama lies, and then lies, and then lies. The only way to help him is to become committed to lies as the method to lubricate the re-distribution of resources planned by Obama and Pelossi to look like a tea party instead of a robbery. So smile and wear your white coats, all you thieves and robbers, and those clingers to their earned private property will lay down and enjoy being robbed.

miller said...

Well, at least the White House can organize getting white coats for doctors.

AllenS said...

Since the start of this administration, we went from doctors without borders to doctors without lab coats. This administration refuses to be embarassed by anything. They could care less.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

From WAPO.

American officials told Tibetan representatives (see previous post) that "this president is not interested in symbolism or photo ops but in deliverables," the Asian diplomat said. "He wants something to come out of his efforts over Tibet, rather than just checking a box."

some photo ops are photo ops photo ops.

Beta Conservative said...

When the Trial Lawyers visit will they hand out douche bags?

rhhardin said...

I'm surprised Obama didn't mention forgiving doctors' student loans.

Mark O said...

So, is there a costume czar? Does the First Lady have that Little Bo Peep ensemble?

Michael Haz said...

The doctors in lab coats were being followed by lawyers with briefcases. Those who called for tort reform were promptly sued.

Jason (the commenter) said...

This press conference was just an excuse for these doctors, from Obama's political organization, to be interviewed by local papers and say pro-Obama things.

I wonder what happens when other doctors write letters to the editor in opposition to the views expressed. Was this really thought out?

KCFleming said...

save_the_rustbelt said...
"how most physicians define health care reform:"

Blah blah blah
meaning 'doctors are bad peoplez and greedy too'.

Milton Friedman:
"Is there some society we know that doesn’t run on greed? What is greed? Of course none of us are greedy; it's only the other fellow who's greedy.

"The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests. The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus. Einstein didn't construct his theory under order from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford didn't revolutionize the auto industry that way.

“In the only cases in which the masses have escaped from the kind of grinding poverty you're talking about, they have had capitalism and largely free trade.

“If you want to know where the masses are worst off, it's exactly in the kinds of societies that depart from that. The record of history is absolutely crystal clear: that there is no alternative way so far discovered of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system.
"

Anonymous said...

When the Trial Lawyers visit will they hand out douche bags?

I find this comment offensive.

As the President of Douche Bags For America, I order you to refrain from using our good name in the same sentence with the term:

lawyer

alan markus said...

I followed the links (New York Post), and from the article checked out the photos. The last one in the series is priceless: President Obama is doing a good-bye wave to the assembled group of doctors as he exits from the Rose Garden, and you can make out maybe 2 doctors noticing. Really, that one should be embedded in the post - a good visual representation of how goofy and disconnected this guy can be at times.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/politics/obama_health_care_photo_op_KOV0zdZCzeTSczGWcTVsyK?photo_num=6

John Richardson said...

I need to help as in giving an anvil to a drowning man? OK, I'm there.

Jason (the commenter) said...

150 doctors now feel obligated to speak out in favor of Obamacare, every doctor with doubts now feels obligated to speak out against it.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Or some photo ops are more photo uppeti ;)

RJ said...

How lame, and how appropriate for this administration. One of the oldest tricks in advertising is to use a picture of a generic doctor in a white lab coat to push questionable medical products. That's a great description of what Obama and Congress are trying to do.

Mom said...

I'm not a doctor, but I play one in the Rose Garden.

garage mahal said...

Free Tibet!

AllenS said...

garage, your humor is priceless.

Hoosier Daddy said...

You know, I'm actually enjoying this Obama presidency. I mean I was a bit young to have really appreciate the bumbling fool that Carter was. Thus I feel privledged to now fully experience what its like to be a grown up with a buffoon running the country.

I wonder if he was passing out rubber gloves too.

KCFleming said...

The lab coat costumes reminds me of the styrofoam Greek pillars.

The Obama administration's Potemkin village approach has achieved a quality level usually only reached by high school plays.

Michelle: I know! let's put on a government!
Barry: Yeah! You can make the costumes, and we can use my dad's barn!

Hoosier Daddy said...

Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard.

Woooowoooowooo! Nyuk nyuk nyuk!

The only thing missing from the photo op was the theme music.

Anonymous said...

Worst.President.Ever

Shanna said...

Well, at least the White House can organize getting white coats for doctors.

But they can’t get them all to wear them in the first place. And they can’t avoid a bad photo-op of them passing them out. I’m surprised they didn’t tell them to wear scrubs and a stethoscope. How else would people get the point?

AllenS said...

Anybody wanna bet that not all of them are doctors?

WV: claper

Cheap version of the Clapper.

DrGooch said...

"Nero fiddled while Rome burned" anyone?

Obama reminds me of a high school sophomore class president. I just about cannot stand any more of this crap. I weep for my once-great-Nation...

Hoosier Daddy said...

garage, your humor is priceless.


Well look at it from garage's standpoint. Watching this trainwreck of an administration bumbling along, humor is about all one has.

Its like when garage told me the only reason health care reform can't get passed is because a 'handful' of Democrats are beholden to the insurance companies.

Heh...a 'handful'. Evidently garage's idea of a handful is a lot bigger than mine.

Peter V. Bella said...

Any doctor, with their own practice- you know a small BUSINESS PERSON- would have to be insane to favor a government sponsored or run health plan.

I can help the new Messiah though. All he has to do is tell the people that they will get the same exact health care plan that the Congress and Senate have- the Rolls Royce of health care.

Better, the people should demand that the Senate and Congress be subject to the same exact death care plan they want to impose on the rest of us. They are the servants of the people. It seems very wrong that the servants get the Rolls and the people get a bus pass.

exhelodrvr1 said...

YOu might feel a little discomfort ...

Larry J said...

Any doctor, with their own practice- you know a small BUSINESS PERSON- would have to be insane to favor a government sponsored or run health plan.

Which begs the question, how many of those doctors in the photo op actually have a medical practice as opposed to, say, professors in medical schools. Many government programs are more popular in academia than in the real world.

Clyde said...

Why am I flashing on this as Obama's version of a Robert Palmer video? Instead of black dresses and stockings and red lipstick, he's got the backup eye candy in white lab coats as he sings, "Simply Irresistible," now that we've all tired of his 2008 hits "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On" and "Addicted To 'Bam."

And like the women in the Robert Palmer videos, Obama wants the folks behind him to keep their mouths shut.

Tanstaafl said...

Pathetic. I think he got all 150 doctors that support him, and I'll bet most of them don't do patient care. Doctors have pointy-haired boss types too.

Tim said...

It's worth noting the physicians were not "rich" (upper middle-class to be sure, but not rich) until the government created the third-party payer system to bypass wage freezes imposed during World War Two.

WV: mesiv

A missive garbled; see "Obama"

John Theotonio said...

I think The One cannot walk across water - so let him sink on his own.

Robert Cook said...

None of the reporting I've seen (so far) in the mainstream press has discussed the protest by advocates for single payer--which Obama and the doctors he corralled for his pony show definitely are not--which took place outside the White House simultaneously with this event, and where many were arrested.

WV: torts (no lie!)

Jeff with one 'f' said...

No doubt this will come under as much scrutiny and ridicule as GW's "plastic turkey" photo op with the troops... right?

Leland said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dust Bunny Queen said...

Too bad my doctor wasn't invited. He wouldn't be wearing a white coat or even a suit.

I would have loved to see him show up in his standard work fare in the clinic: Carhart tee shirt topped by a plaid long sleeve shirt, jeans and Nike's.

How about Plumbers of America waving a sea of plungers? That would be an appropriate visual.

Of course neither my Dr. or the Plumbers would be invited since they spit on Obama.

Greg said...

One reason some of the doctors may not have had a lab coat is because they aren't supposed to wear them anymore. Real doctors know that lab coats are full of germs. That's why they wear their street clothes, or put on scrubs if need be.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

One of the oldest tricks in advertising is to use a picture of a generic doctor in a white lab coat to push questionable medical products.

Maybe they needed the new "blogger disclaimer" rule to be in effect.

"I'm not a doctor in real life, but I play one on the White House lawn"

Hoosier Daddy said...

Hey Cookie, let us know if the DC Geheime Stattspolizei used any military sound cannons or tazers on those single payor advocates.

We dissidents of this repressive police state demand to know!

Hoosier Daddy said...

One of the oldest tricks in advertising is to use a picture of a generic doctor in a white lab coat to push questionable medical products

Wait, are you telling me that the dude in the white lab coat promoting that penis enlarger contraption isn't a doctor?

Sonofabitch!!!

KCFleming said...

Mostly what the single payer advocates and health planners are doing is trying to figure out how to avoid seeing you at all.

National health care is the ultimate Potemkin village. Doctors in lab coats will pretend to see patients, and the government will pretend to pay them.

"Sorry, that's not my job, but someone will be with you shortly." will be the new slogan for health care.

Robert Cook said...

"'Sorry, that's not my job, but someone will be with you shortly.' will be the new slogan for health care."

Can you show any examples from countries with universal health care where this is a typical situation?

I thought not.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Can you show any examples from countries with universal health care where this is a typical situation?

Hell try the UK for starters.

But Cookie you might be shocked and dismayed to know that universal health care as you envision it, isn't quite universal in that EUtopia which is oh so much more progressive than we are.

Indeedy, the Frogs and Krauts use private insurance to supplement the government funded....opps I mean taxpayer funded part of health care. In fact, the Frog systems is almost a mirror of Medicare here where 80% of the costs of grandma's motor scooter is paid for by the taxpayer and the remaining 20% is paid for by her private supplement insurance. Germany has a similar set up.

Robert Cook said...

"Hey Cookie, let us know if the DC Geheime Stattspolizei used any military sound cannons or tazers on those single payor advocates.

We dissidents of this repressive police state demand to know!"


No, there were not...simply many heavily armed and armored police.

But you misrepresent yourself; you're not a dissident of the repressive police state, but a happy member of it.

Robert Cook said...

Your example provides no, uh, examples.

Michael Haz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
KCFleming said...

No, all is well in Utopia.
There are no lines.
There is no waiting.
Technology is up-to-date.
Treatments are the most modern.
The elderly do not get rationed.
Politics plays no role in health care decisions.
There are no strikes.
The proles are happy with their share.
The quality is highest in the world.

All is well in Utopia.
All is well.
All is well.

Hoosier Daddy said...

No, there were not...simply many heavily armed and armored police.

Was it full plate mail or the more manuverable chain mail?

But you misrepresent yourself; you're not a dissident of the repressive police state, but a happy member of it.

Actually I am not. I am quite upset, truth be told. In fact, I just went out on the corner to get a venti decafe tripple mocha latte with a pumperknickle sprinkles and at the top of my voice screamed OBAMA SUCKS! DOWN WITH THE CAPITALIST POLICE STATE!! OSWALD WAS FRAMED!! GIVE ME FREE HEALTH CARE!!! WHO SHOT ROGER RABBIT!??

Not a single member of the Indianapolis Gestapo swooped down to arrest me, taze me or blow out my eardrums with a military sound cannon. Then again I grew up listening to metal bands so they're probably fucked anyway.

What the hell kind of police state is this anyway? What do I have to do? Chuck some rocks into Subway's windows? Cookie are you sure you're not in North Korea?

alan markus said...

Physicians in white lab coats to make a point - check this out:

http://www.guzer.com/videos/doctors_smoke.php

"... were asked, what cigarette do you smoke, doctor? Once again, the brand named most was CAMEL"

Scott M said...

This so-called administration needs to be less worried about health care and cap-and-trade at this point and far more fixated on what's going to happen with the BRIC countries or the OPEC states decide they're going to dump the dollar as their reserve and trading currency.

We're talking about a cascade of really, really, really, really, really, bad things happening if that does occur.

They need to be spending 2/3 of their time on this with job creation and the military taking up the other 1/3.

The environment is just going to have to take one in the ass in the meantime. Sorry, Algore.

RebeccaH said...

I do intend to help our esteemed president... right out of office in 2012.

Worst. President. Ever.

AlphaLiberal said...

Public support for health care reform, including the public option, has actually increased since the Town Hall temper tantrums.

Outside the conservative deludobubble it's a whole different world. Americans know that our health care system is a mess, that it hurts jobs, that people are denied care everyday.

But Republicans will fight to the the death (someone else's death, sure) to defend the stale rotten and corrupt status quo in health care.

For shame!

Scott M said...

@Alpha

If if you were right about everything you've ever said about health care, now is simply not the time. If the dollar spins in burning, we'll have a helluva lot more to worry about.

These people need to be concentrating the economy full-throttle. Frankly, I don't buy the line that fixing health care fixes the economy.

I'd really like milk to stay under $10 a gallon. How about you? Milk's pretty healthy...

Scott M said...

D'oh...supposed to read "Even if"

Hoosier Daddy said...

But Republicans will fight to the the death (someone else's death, sure) to defend the stale rotten and corrupt status quo in health care.

And Democrats will fight to the last dollar (those that actually produce something in this country) to pay for the non-productive and 15 million illegal aliens.

Democrats. Great spenders of other people's money.

The Drill SGT said...

save_the_rustbelt said...
This is how most physicians define health care reform:

adds
- Tort Reform

/Fixed :)

Chip Ahoy said...

Eh. Did he give a speech and all the doctors nod approvingly in the right places with outbursts of applause?

I'll wait for O to assemble the nation's clowns with a memo instructing them all to make sure they're wearing their big shoes and all come climbing out of the same compact car.

Scott M said...

Something just happened that’s in the same ballpark of ridiculousness as this “doctored” photo op. The post office just delivered a stack of the new Yellow Pages.

Jim Treacher said...

Just like when they handed out cameras to the troops.

http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2009/04/14/staged-military-photo-ops-suddenly-awesome/

"Plastic turkey" is 100% projection.

David said...

Hey, Obama's taking charge now. He's firing the White House lawyer in charge of the Gitmo closing. Reason: lawyer not able to execute Obama's irrational and impossible order to close Gitmo by the end of the year.

Unknown said...

I believed Obama when he said the doctors were bad guys who took out tonsils for the money, who cut off people's limbs for a few bucks. Now we should acquiesce to Obamacare because these white coat monsters supported it?

David said...

In other news, today's Boston Globe points out that Obama has cut off funding to the Iran Human Rights Documentation Project out of a desire to avoid offending the Iranian government. It seems that funding to other similar organizations is also being removed.

President Pipsqueak.

David said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mtrobertsattorney said...

"Nero fiddled while Rome burned"?

Here's the difference: BO doesn't know Rome is burning and he doesn"t know he's fiddling.

Beaverdam said...

Turn your head and cough.

Anonymous said...

So... were the doctors actually doctors, or were they social work students like at that town hall meeting in Texas?

Ritmo Re-Animated said...

Mayo Clinic has ended the practice of wearing white coats, and in light of the finding that they harbor bacteria and promote infection, more institutions and practices should follow suit.

On one hand, it's a good idea for clinicians to wear distinctive dress and emphasize visually the sense of responsibility and compassion that should emanate from their end of the patient-doctor divide. On the other hand, wardrobe shouldn't detract from the importance of demeanor.

I've run across physicians with horrendous bedside manner who were just as content to flaunt their God complex in a suit and tie.

Perhaps visual uniformity isn't always a bad thing when it can be used to indicate an expectation of decent behavior.

JAL said...

OK.

I just lost a complete comment due to a Conflicting Edit

Hitting the BACK arrow (PC) does NOT give me back my comment.

I am mad.

Synova said...

I always hit the "reload current page"... the refresh button...

That seems to work.

Synova said...

I mean... when I get the conflicting edits message... I hit the refresh button without doing *anything* else first.

That works for me.

JAL said...

Grumble grumble

2 points --

1. What kind of docs were they and were they in private practice? Or did they work for non-profits in some form? Were they Obama campaign donors?

2. Just said goodbye to some Brit friends who were traveling through.

She is a nurse who works for the NHS with kids with disabilities.

They didn't necessarily agree with a recent WSJ op-ed on the NHS problems. (The office she works in is clean.)

But guess what!? They do have waiting lists for procedures when they aren't life/death necessary.

You know what? That constitutes almost all procedures. Good news though! The waiting lists aren't as long nowadays! (People dying off? Giving up? Or lines moving faster?) Wow. Cool. Lousy.

The surprise was her mention of the Post Code Lottery.

"Funds are limited, of course" my friend said. So of the funds assigned (by post [zip] codes) some codes have funds for some procedures, but not all. If you need a procedure not available in your area, guess what?

You're screwed.

So that'ws why it's called the Post Code Lottery. I clarified that it wasn't that there was a lottery for the procedures ... it means some people with some conditions "win" their lottery and others don't, based on post (zip) codes.

Rationing by any other name is -- rationing.

Warms my heart. How about you?

Unknown said...

Alphaliberal sayss support actually increased since town hall...

So every single poll which says most poeple are against do not count? Unless it was the vast majority were against it before the summer, now only the majority are against it?

What polls are you suing to support the most americas support comment????????????