Politics Plus

Many of you are aware that “The View’s” Joy Behar (who I generally like) and her sidekick Michelle Collins are having trouble speaking due to their feet being firmly planted in their mouths for mocking Kelly Johnson, a valedictorian RN and Miss Colorado.  Nurse Johnson chose, as her talent in last Sunday’s Miss America contest, to give a passionate monologue about her caring for a patient with Alzheimer’s while dressed in her purple scrubs with a stethoscope draped over her neck.

Michelle Collins explained: “She came out in a nurse's uniform and basically read her emails out loud and shockingly did not win."

And very unwisely, Joy Behar elected to incredulously add: “Why does she have a doctor’s stethoscope on?”

(As a physician who has routinely and repeatedly relied on the training, experience, wisdom and professionalism of countless nurses – it gives me the heebie-jeebies to even type that.)

Well, the reaction from both nurses and the rest of us (and that means EVERY ONE OF US) who rely on nurses was swift and fierce.  I think the statement by the American Nurses Association President, Pamela F. Cipriano, addresses the issue the best:

Each and every day, the nation’s 3.4 million registered nurses provide expert, high-quality and compassionate care, as well as dedicated leadership from the bedside to the boardroom.  We are the frontline caregivers, 24 hours, 7 days a week, who are with individuals from birth, throughout their lifespan and at the end of life.…  That's why it was disturbing when Joy Behar used her national platform and influence to mock Miss America contestant Kelley Johnson for wearing a “doctor's stethoscope” while performing a dramatic monologue about her experience as a registered nurse during the pageant's talent competition, as if Johnson were wearing a costume.

Nurses don't wear costumes, they save lives.

Nurse Cipriano is much more gracious than I am:

To her credit, Joy Behar did offer a sincere apology:

BEHAR: I was looking at a Miss America tape, and there’s a woman wearing an outfit with a stethoscope, and I’m thinking is she in a costume?  It's not like I was trying to be funny. It was just stupid and inattentive. I didn't know what the hell I was talking about.

Probably like you, I’m looking forward to TC sharing his thoughts on nurses.

By now, most of us are familiar with the plight of Ahmed Mohamed and his "BOMB" that was masquerading as a Clock that got him arrested, handcuffed, fingerprinted and suspended.

NOTE to the Irving school authorities and police who were repeatedly told by Ahmed that it was just a CLOCK – but dedmanded getting a "broader explanation" from the Muslim teen:

If you're told the item is a clock …

If it ticks like a clock …

If it tells time like a clock …

Then it's probably a clock!

BUT if your name is Mohamed …

AND you're brown-skinned

Then, of course, it's a BOMB!

And two extremely important questions for the Irving school authorities and police:

If you thought it was a bomb, why didn't you evacuate the high school?

What "broader explanation" than "It's a clock" do you think was available?

For our Jewish friends observing Rosh Hashanah:

 L'shanah tovah tikatevu  

(May you be inscribed for a good year)

It's SoINeedAName posting.

I just thought the 9/3/15 "Personal Update" post was getting a bit unwieldy to manage and navigate for information with so many Comments, so I decided I'd try my hand at putting up two new posts:

[1] Dated Open Thread and

[2] Updates, Questions, Concerns WRT TC

This is my first try at WordPres – so I have no idea if it will even post.  If you think it's a bad idea, just ignore it, because I doubt that I can unpublish it.  It will NOT hurt my feelings one bit.