The facts of her injury are that the EMTs arrived on the scene stat, but when they arrived to transport her to the hospital, she refused such transportation, insisting that she was fine.  As reported in an MSNBC news report:

“Yves Coderre, director of operations at the emergency services company that sent paramedics to the Mont Tremblant resort, told The Globe and Mail newspaper that he reviewed the dispatch records and the first 911 call came at 12:43 p.m. Monday.

Coderre said medics arrived at the hill 17 minutes later. But the actress refused medical attention, he said, so ambulance staffers turned and left after spotting a sled taking the still-conscious actress away to the resort’s on-site clinic.

At 3 p.m., a second 911 call was made — this time from Richardson’s luxury hotel room — as her condition deteriorated. An ambulance arrived nine minutes later.

“She was conscious and they could talk to her,” Coderre said. “But she showed instability.”  She was transported immediately to a hospital where she later died.  You can read the entire article here, which, if only the first half of the article is read, one could come to the conclusion that she had not received appropriate medical attention.  Not the case.  She refused initial treatment.

Next on our agenda is the issue of socialized medicine.  People, our government is not headed towards socialized medicine but, if you sit and think about this a bit (which, unfortunately, seems to be the location of some brains out there and which is apparently causing a good deal of pressure, albeit loss of consciousness or clear thinking), we are not unfamiliar with the benefits of such a platform, i.e., welfare, state disability, Medicaid and Medicare.  Regardless, the health care option the President is proposing is not socialized medicine.  It’s an OPTION.  Does anyone know what an option is?  It’s like when you go to a restaurant and you look at a menu and you see all of the options.  Or you go to Home Depot to look for a color to paint your living room and you realize suddenly that you never knew there were so many options for BLUE.  I mean, all you wanted was BLUE but there are 800+ variations and now you don’t know what the hell to do and so you go home to get a swatch from your couch which you also thought was just blue but find out later it is cornflower.  But then when you go back to Home Depot, you find out that cornflower is not one of their options.  So now what?  You go somewhere else and look at their paint.  Because you are an American.  With many options.

Yes, today’s word is, if you are still sitting on your brains, OPTIONS.  If you don’t want that health care plan, go buy something else.  You can find all kinds of healthcare options here.   Then you can compare those options with the option the government has.  It’s that easy.  It’s that quick.

See you soon for our next swashbuckling escapade, i.e., yet another hysteria campaign the right is throwing out there:  SENIOR DEATH WARRANTS!!!  Let me tell you, if you’re 60+, you’d better hang it up.  Keep a stash of cyanide by your bedside because otherwise, the government is going to give it to you on their terms, when you least expect it.  At least have the option of when you’re going to be killed, for crying out loud!  Stay tuned.

In April 2009, Specter switched parties citing that he was at odds with Republican philosophy.  Since then, he has been a staunch supporter of the Obama presidency and his quest for healthcare reform.  Healthcare reform has been at the forefront of at least the last 3 administrations.  But no one seems able to get it in place.  Until now.  And, right when we are on the eve of making history and getting affordable healthcare for all Americans, the Republicans are freaking out.  Why? (you may ask).  Because, you silly person who apparently has been locked in a closet for the last two decades, the Republicans and their entourage of supporters like Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh and others just like them, suit up everyday for action packed drama filled with fear mongering, hysteria and lies.

Senator Spector saw through this quagmire and got out STAT and took a huge, eye-popping stance.  Not only did he come to the “other side,” but he did it during a controversial time when SHRIEK!  the American people elected an African American to run their country.  This move spoke volumes and right wingers should take notice.  The Republican party is a mess and their piles and piles of dirty laundry stink.

Amongst the rumors that Specter recently tried to disspell are the ravings of lunatics insisting that grandmothers will be left to die with no care, and abortions will be forced (are you kidding me?).  What is even more surprising than these hysteria-laden comments is that people are actually believing these lies.  Don’t listen to what your President promises.  Don’t listen to what your Mr. Specter says.  Don’t even read the plan that has been outlined in writing for all of us to freely have access to which we can print out and paste over our desks if we need to (just in case you forget when you read yet another internet lie).    And for those of you who can’t read or are just too lazy to do so, you can also watch the videos.

As for Senator Specter, it takes a strong man to cross over and side with a group he once opposed.  A man who has been in Congress for more than 20 years.  And don’t get going on the fact that he switched parties because he knew he’d be defeated by what’s-his-face who remains in the Republican camp.  If that were true, I doubt he’d be working as hard as he is for the Democratic  party and for our President simply because he wanted to remain in office.  I’m not a huge fan of Specter.  But I am a fan of what he is trying to do for health care.  Which is sorely needed by so many Americans.

As a final note, and to reiterate the points of healthcare reform:  If your grandmother didn’t have health insurance, do you think she’d get proper care?  This plan provides an opportunity for your grandmother to afford health care.  As the President has already stated, if you already have health care, you keep it.  But what about those who are on COBRA and it runs out?  Here is another option.  And remember, people, it’s an OPTION.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  What it isn’t is some living breathing virus that’s going to come in the middle of the night and replace your current health plan and force you to have an abortion or leave you lying in a hospital bed, with no care, to die.  Alone.  With no family or friends around.  Just the aliens who will be doing experimental surgery on your meager little mind.

Along comes former President Bill Clinton, on his white horse a/k/a plane allegedly owned by Shangri la Entertainment.  Honestly, who cares who owns the plane as long as it’s not carrying drug cargo, prostitutes or the Reverend Al Sharpton.  But Fox News, always ready to stir the pot, had to put that out there.  Can you just see them sitting around their little “war room” discussing how to present this perceived valiant rescue in a way to make it look bad?

“OK, Hal, whaddya got?”

“Well, not much.  It’s obviously been a tight-lipped operation founded basically upon affecting the release of these women.  All I found was….” [long pause as everyone leans in] “the plane that Clinton flew over on is owned by a company by the name of Shangri la Entertainment.”  [Hal glances around the table as everyone leans back, gauging whether he done good or not].

“Are you kidding me?  He actually flew over on a plane owned by a company named Shangri-la Entertainment?  What’ve you got on it?  Is it an escort service for the rich and famous?  A production company for x-rated movies?  WHAT?”

“Unfortunately, the company smacks of good stuff.  The owner, Steve Bing, is a left wing liberal, though, who has apparently worked with Brad Pitt in funding a 150-home redevelopment down in the hurricane ravaged areas of New Orleans.  Maybe we can take a stab at him being a self-promoting sycophant trying to garner money and support for his next movie?”

“Better to just leave it up to the imagination of the American people, Hal, most of whom don’t research information for themselves anyway.  Let’s just throw it out there – Shangri la Entertainment.  And whoever is going to present this story, make sure there’s a look of surprise or disbelief on their face.  Body language speaks volumes.”

Fade to more Fox News on this historical rescue and, after it appeared that the Shangri-la mention didn’t make waves (not even a light ripple), they threw another theory out there:  We gave something up.  Something BIG in order to gain the release of these two women.  America has been compromised.  North Korea has gotten way more than we did in this deal.  Obama was wrong in sending an envoy over to talk to this crazed lunatic.  After all, it’s only a couple of women.  They are expendable.  We are a patriarchal society!  To go in there and barter for the release of women from a nation where furniture is better respected, is flat out wrong.  After all, 12 years is only 144 months, for crying out loud.  What if we have to go in there again to negotiate something of far more importance?  Where does this leave us now?  Will North Korea still respect us in the morning?

And they went on….all pontificating on what it might be that we gave up for this pardon.  A promise that Hillary would never set foot in their country?  A promise that Bill would provide the sordid details of his relationship with Monica Lewinksy?  Did Fox News somehow forget that the guy Bill was dealing with has mental issues?  For all we know, Clinton may have simply promised him a copy of Volumes 1 and 2 of Kill Bill autographed by none other than Lucy Liu. Or, he may not have promised anything.

We may never know the details of the conversation between Bill Clinton and Kim Jong-il.  Sometimes good things just happen.  And no one has to be compromised.  No one has to sleep with the enemy.  Sometimes things just work out.

Now we finally have a President ready to take the bull by the horns (or the donkey by its ass, or the elephant by its trunk) and right wingers are shrieking SOCIALISM.  This is analogous to Orson Welles’ reading of the War of the Worlds broadcast over radio on October 30, 1938.  People are spewing all kinds of false rhetoric and, sadly, Americans are listening.  The real scoop on the healthcare plan is nothing like some hysteria-laden manifesto created to make people run and lock their doors and perform their own lobotomies and castrations.  The truth is that real medical doctors will still be available to do this for you.  All covered by insurance.

What the proposed plan wants to accomplish is to simply provide health care opportunities for those who currently have none and who can’t afford what is being offered by commercial insurance companies.  Obama never said we were going to turn to socialist medicine.  He never said that anyone who currently has healthcare would lose it. What he did say is that if you don’t have healthcare, this is an affordable way to get it.  It’s not free healthcare or socialist medicine.  It’s not Medicare.  It is simply something put in place by the government to allow everyone to be able to buy their own healthcare.  Which is what this country has been stomping their feet for for years now.  And, as Obama has repeatedly stated, it is not meant to replace your current health insurance.  If you are employed and your employer provides health insurance, this isn’t for you.  If you are someone who already purchases independent health insurance and you are happy with it, this isn’t for you.

Americans, where did your intelligence go?  After being loathed by the world due to the misgivings of the previous administration, we are currently in a position to turn this sentiment around and Obama has been doing just that.  But, as the richest and most powerful nation in the world (at least formerly) we are in a fishbowl for the world to observe. And the water stinks.  Take for example, one of America’s current pop culture icons taking on this argument on the Daily Show, the recap of which can be read at this link.  His point was that if the military has excellent healthcare and it’s run by the government, what’s the issue?  If our senators have healthcare paid for by the government – healthcare that many would offer up their firstborn in exchange for such a plan, then what are you bellyaching over?

As Lincoln once said, “If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.” Some people are never satisfied and are always screaming for what they don’t have.  ”Gimme, gimme, gimme…”  But then when the “Gimme” is almost gotten, they don’t want it.  They spit on it and say that this is not what they asked for and send it back.  We are an embarrassment to other nations.  We are gluttonous and fickle. And as health care reform is on the cusp of becoming reality and the impoverished have an opportunity to afford medication and health care, we say we don’t want it.  Until the next election.

In August 2008, attorney Philip Berg filed a lawsuit in US District Court challenging Obama’s qualifications for President of the United States – on the grounds of his birthplace.  However, the Presidential nominee had already released a valid copy of his birth certificate in mid-2008 and the case was ultimately thrown out.  Can I get a witness here on another waste of taxpayer’s money?

If you want to get riled up about whether a Presidential nominee was born in the US, let’s look at John McCain.  McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone, not in the United States.  And while McCain supporters would shriek blood here and say this is an unfair call because his parents were US citizens serving in the military, the law is ambiguous in that the differences between “citizen” and “natural-born citizen” leave open a gray area, or a small can of worms.  Of interest here is whether the current law related to military births outside the US could be retro’ed to the time of McCain’s birth since McCain clearly was born prior to this legal passage.  There currently exists no legal precedent in this regard.  Whether McCain would succeed in prevailing in a suit filed against him if he were our President is up for debate.  Can I get a witness?

Our country is in a downward spiral.  After being the most revered country in the world, we have fallen to the point of being loathed and, as we swim in our fishbowl for the world to eye, it isn’t getting any better.  Rather than putting our energy into our healthcare system, jobs and education, we are on a witch hunt to expend money, time and energy on proving our President is unfit to serve.  Where were you during the last Presidency when the world was waiting for us to drop kick our President into outerspace for his idiotic decisions?  Now that the world is warming up to the US again and people are extending an olive branch to this new President, we are embarrassing ourselves and insulting the last piece of intelligence in our apparently little peanut brains by focusing on things that will only waste your time, money and brain cells.  Can I get a witness?

Recent polls show Americans disapproving of the job our current President is doing.  Comments like “nothing has changed,” “things are getting worse,” “we’re spending more money now than ever before” are bouncing around the televisions, internet and radios like an out of control pinball. And the people lamenting this are not five year olds or those in diapers who want their bottle.  It’s people between the ages of 35 and 50 who just can’t wait for their daily overdose of gluttony.

To make matters worse in this already difficult situation (thanks, in huge part, to our former President), all kinds of people are getting a shot at the spotlight and are pontificating as if they are experts and, SHRIEK!! people are listening to them.  Where did our education go, America?  Where did our research abilities, our common sense go?  I guess it’s easier to assume somebody else did his homework and to just agree and get riled up over half-truths than to check out the reality. And please, feel free to check out the facts I am proffering here as well.  I did some homework before stepping up to the podium.

As an illustration, Detroit’s car companies have been at the forefront of recent news because they are a prime example of a country gone awry with spending and not thinking of the consequences of our actions.  But somehow, Ford Motor Company has managed to stay afloat.  Indeed, it hasn’t been easy for this car company.  In fact, the decline of Ford began over a decade ago and it has taken many changes, some painful, in order for it to remain intact. In a 2002 Fortune magazine article, grandson and Ford CEO William Clay Ford Jr. stated, “We’ve come back from adversity many times in our history.  We’re going to do it again…the stage is set for a dramatic return to greatness. We started the job, now let’s finish it.”

In 2004, despite a falling market share, Ford invested in new products, including a new Mustang and Escape hybrid. But Ford acknowledged that getting the company back on the right track would take many more years due to mismanagement and company gluttony (there, I said it again) which had finally been turned around and set on a path back to success.

Like Ford, our country can’t turn around in 180 days, which is how long our current President has been in office. But some of you seem to be languishing in your toddler years, thinking that, come Friday, daddy is going to take everyone out for ice cream, buy you a nice big toy, and tickets for umpteen rides on the ferris wheel.  What some of you aren’t getting is that daddy was laid off by a former CEO who spent money wildly and recklessly, and now the new CEO has to come in and clean up the mess, investing in the right things, which yes, takes some money.  AND TIME. Money out of your whiney little mouth until daddy can be rehired to a better job, a better place and, hopefully, with better standing. And time to do things right which, to some, is a brand new novel idea.

While I could try to be clever here, the old saying, “GROW UP” really says it best.  Are you really serious when you join those lamenting the fact that nothing has changed yet and it’s been all of, sheesh, 6 months!  ”He should have created a whole new universe by now!!” you scream and stomp your feet because things are not happening fast enough.

Perhaps this is just what our country (and the world needs).  A return to hard work, learning the virtue of patience, and understanding that things don’t happen overnight.  Unless, of course, you’re Paris Hilton and daddy can and will set her on that diamond studded ferris wheel for as long as she wants.  Or until he runs out of money.