Morning Widdershins: That Was the Week That Was

TW3

Back in 1962, the BBC launched “That Was the Week That Was”, a lampooning comedy hosted by David Frost. TW3, as it was known, pulled no punches and had no compunctions about tackling politicians, or any other facet of society. An American version ran briefly a few years later. It was hilarious.

The first week of November, 2009, was our week that was. However, it was anything but funny. Yet, it also assaulted politicians and American society. On Monday, a prominent local attorney and fundraiser was indicted for crimes ranging from influence peddling to public corruption. Sadly, there has been quite a herd of public officials ranging from school board members to county commissioners indicted of late, along with a prominent ophthalmologist. Broward County is no stranger to any of this, but some of the people involved were borderline shocking.

Tuesday’s limited elections found the Democrats blown out in Virginia, losing a close race in New Jersey, and bagging a New York Congressional seat that they lost well over 100 years ago. The race for New York mayor was far closer than anyone could have foreseen. Both political parties spent the next several days rejoicing in their wins, while explaining away their losses. Few noticed, or admitted that they noticed, the anti-incumbent mood afoot. Explanations and rationalization continued non-stop on every news channel on Wednesday.

Thursday, all such chatter became insignificant. Major Malik Hasan put on his uniform, loaded his weapons and proceeded to the Ft. Hood Processing Center. Witnesses state that he then jumped up onto a table, shouted “Allahu Akhbar,” and proceeded to fire over 100 rounds into the crowded building. When the shooting stopped, there were 12 dead, 30 injured – plus Major Hasan, who was significantly wounded by a civilian female contract police officer.

Not much of the investigation has been publicized, but we have learned that he was educated by the Army and owed six years service in return. During his residency in Psychiatry at Walter Reed, problems were noted and his fitness report was indicative of some ongoing issues. Nevertheless, he was retained and served a Fellowship in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Some people with whom he served have been quoted as saying that Major Hasan made frequent comments regarding the immorality and illegality of the current wars, and went so far as to hire an attorney to attain discharge. Despite all of this, he was promoted to Major, and detailed to Ft. Hood for deployment to Iraq. He won’t be going, and neither will many of the soldiers in the Processing Center, either. Now, having worked for many years in a public hospital, I understand how a bureaucracy works. If you have a problem employee, try to transfer them elsewhere, anywhere. I don’t attempt to project myself as an expert in military affairs, but some of these signs were not particularly subtle: one co-worker at Walter Reed related to a reporter that Maj. Hasan was assigned to discuss water purification, but instead delivered a Power Point presentation on the immorality of the conflict.

Friday afternoon, Jason Rodriguez drove over to the Orlando offices of Reynolds, Smith, and Hills. He had been terminated for performance issues in 2007, and had run through his unemployment, lost his wife and son through divorce, his home through foreclosure, and declared bankruptcy. His family told reporters that he had a history of schizophrenia, and was off/not taking/out of his psychotropic agents. In and of itself, this is unsurprising. As little money as there is for health care, it is not as bad as it is for mental health care.

When he arrived at Reynolds, Smith and Hill, Mr. Rodriguez opened fire on the employees. One died, six were injured. Mr. Rodriguez then drove to his mother’s house and waited. The police arrived, and called out for him to come out with his hands up. Mr. Rodriguez complied.

Then came Saturday, and the passage of the Bestest Health Care Bill Evah. Except of course, for the niggling little detail that it doesn’t really cover women’s reproductive care. No abortions, no birth control pills, no pelvic exams, no nada. Oddly, it does cover Pap Smears, and I have to believe that some idiot has concluded that there must be a way to obtain a Pap Smear without a pelvic exam. Transdermal? Through your ear? Maybe Nancy would like to explain what they’ve got in mind.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and families of Thursday and Friday’s disasters. My deepest fears go out to the young women of America because of Saturday’s.

This is an open thread.