Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you Ms. Michelle Griffin. As reported by the Washington Post’s Michael Shear, Ms. Griffin got her 3.5 minutes of fame today as she heckled Mitt into a conversation about healthcare as he visited Manchester’s Red Arrow diner.



There is much debate in this country about the state of the nation’s healthcare system. Ms. Griffin brought up several points that most Americans have to deal with every day. Health Insurance premiums, doctor visit and prescription co-pay amounts, and the various other minutia all add up. Some health plans are better than others. Some aren’t worth the amount of ink it takes to print their forms. Everybody thinks the health care system can be made better.

Most politicians, including every single one of the presidential candidates (both Democratic and Republican) have some plan or grandiose idea on how to effect change in the health care system. Its not a small system. It only makes up 1/7th of the US economy. Some of these politicians – especially Hillary Clinton – have been on the heath care warpath for many years.

That said, only one politician has actually done something to improve the health care system of the people he was elected to serve. That politician is Mitt Romney – former Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If you’ve clicked on the video above you know that Mitt tried to explain this system to Ms. Griffin – several times.

Ms. Griffin wasn’t interested in the health care plan Mitt put in place in the Bay State. What she wanted was someone to come in and tell her all her medical bills would be taken care of by the government – and she wouldn’t have to pay a cent.

Well, as one of the tax-payers who would have to foot the bill to make Ms. Griffin happy, this kinda irks me. So I have a memo for Ms. Griffin:

Stop Whining. Now would be a good time. I feel for the pain caused by your family’s medical situation. Really. I do. How can I say this? Because I have a family of my own with our own medical bills to pay. I work hard for my money and, with all due respect, I’m not sure I can afford to pay for your health care in addition to my own. That is, after all, what you are asking. Government money doesn’t come from some magical printing press in Washington, DC. It comes from guys like me who think we send far too much of our hard earned cash to that city.

You don’t like your health care plan? Do something about it. Yes, I know that might involve doing something other than waiting tables at the Red Arrow. Stop expecting government to solve your problems. Do you really want an organization that pays $700 for a toilet seat deciding what health care benefits you qualify for? Every politician coming through that door is trying to sell you something. You just might want to put more stock in the guy who’s already done something about the issue rather than putting your faith in the nebulous idea of socialized medicine. Socialized Medicine is just Canadian for “Colossal Failure”.
So, Michelle, you’ve got a lot to think about. You can either stop your whining and do something for yourself (and your family), or you can wait for someone like Hillary Clinton to do something to you. Either way, please stop whining. End Memo.

As for Mr. Shear, I don’t think his reporting could have been more slanted if he had actually tried – which I’m sure he did. Memo to Michael Shear: Its August. I’m sure you don’t get out of your air-conditioned DC office very much, but I’m pretty sure you know that August in New Hampshire is anything but cool. I’ve watched the video you put up, and forgive me for being so blunt (its what I do), but the one thing I didn’t see Mitt do was sweat. At all. This is a guy who has put together billion-dollar deals using only his wits, intelligence, and guts. He knows his stuff. No diner waitress is going to find a chink in his armor – despite all your wishes to the contrary. End Memo.

The MSM silliness factor is increasing exponentially. This is a race for the Oval Office. When are they going to get serious? Are they capable of being serious? Methinks not.

Labels: bias, healthcare, New Hampshire, washingont post

You know you've come of age when the DNC aims all its guns at you; when moderate republicans have you in your cites and when your enemies in the press will do ANYTHING to drag you down in the dumps.

The later episode was on full display over the last two days as the Miami Herald reports on a supposed faux pas that Gov. Romney supposedly committed in front of a Cuban-American audience by quoting a Castro phrase at the end of his speech.

There's only one problem. He was using the phrase to bash Castro.

Capn' Ed and others at CQ are on top of the story.

Here' how the Miami Herald reports the "blunder":

People chuckled when presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a Mormon raised in Michigan and elected in Massachusetts, bungled the names of Cuban-American politicians during a recent speech in Miami.

But when he mistakenly associated Fidel Castro's trademark speech-ending slogan -- Patria o muerte, venceremos! -- with a free Cuba, listeners didn't laugh. They winced.

Castro has closed his speeches with the phrase -- in English, ''Fatherland or death, we shall overcome'' -- for decades.

Here's what Romney ACTUALLY said:

Romney: “I said at the outset that the threat in Latin America is unprecedented. I say that because the Castros have a second tyrant and he has great wealth, from oil. We must stand just as firm against caudillos like Hugo Chavez, tutored by Fidel Castro. Chavez and Castro are brothers in blood, intent on personal gratification at the expense of their people. Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro have stolen the phrase – 'Patria o muerte, venceremos.’ This phrase should not be used by dictators, but by liberators.

“There are two spheres of influence in the Western Hemisphere. One is dark, bellicose and spreads misery by denying people basic freedoms; the other shines like a powerful light, is peaceful and wants only for its people to live in liberty and prosper."

It's absurd that the Miami Herald had to stoop to this level. But we can't say we're surprised

Labels: bias, castro, press