[Dennis] Miller Time?

[abu afak]

Miller Time?
Now that they've got the Governator, are Californians ready for Sen. Dennis Miller?
by Bill Whalen
10/28/2003 12:00:00 AM


IS CALIFORNIA READY for Dennis Miller as its next United States senator? Laugh if you like, but some Republican strategists (including a few who just sent a certain movie star to Sacramento) see Miller, the sardonic comedian whose late-night talk show lasted just a little longer than Wesley Clark's Iowa campaign, as wholly capable of defeating incumbent Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer next year.

Yes, that's the same Dennis Miller who does commentary Friday nights on Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes"--and also has a recurring role on Fox's "Boston Public." The same Dennis Miller who was unceremoniously drop-kicked from ABC's Monday Night Football. The same comedian and author whose "Dennis Miller Live" ran for nine years on HBO, following a turn on "Saturday Night Live" as the Weekend Update anchor.

It's also the same Dennis Miller who emerged earlier this year as the loudest pro-Bush/pro-war voice in Hollywood--and, during recall, was one of Arnold's biggest boosters in the entertainment community. So supportive of the Governator was Miller that he took part in post-debate spin following the infamous Arnold-Arianna insultfest.

"There's a lot of us who'd like to see him campaign," Rob Stutzman, the governor-elect's communications director, told the Los Angeles Times in late September. "Dennis Miller is at the cutting edge of biting political commentary."

That, in fact, seems to be Miller's strongest allure--the Santa Barbara Republican's bite is as bad as his bark.


CONSIDER THIS MILLER OBSERVATION from a June "Hannity & Colmes appearance: "Folks, it has hit the fan in California, but luckily there will probably be no power later this summer in California to run the fan with. And you know something else? The California-Mexico border is now leakier than Mark Geragos on a diuretic drip. I remember thinking that the other day as I observed a traffic jam in the illegal alien lane of the San Diego freeway.

And there's this, from a "Tonight Show" appearance back in February: "I say we invade Iraq and then invade Chirac. You run a pipe--you run a pipe from the oil field right over this Eiffel Tower, shoot it up and have the world's biggest oil derrick. . . . Yeah. Listen, I would call the French scum bags, but that, of course, would be a disservice to bags filled with scum."

Miller also told Jay Leno: "You know, Jay, I used to be a liberal. You look at what happens in the state of California with untethered liberalism. Everybody in this state in charge now is a Democrat. It's no longer the San Andreas Fault, it's Gray Davis's fault. This is what happens when you elect lawyers. Shakespeare said: 'First, kill all the lawyers.' I've been doing some thinking, I think we could get away with it because if you kill all of them, at our murder trial, we wouldn't have adequate representation."


IF YOU THINK these diatribes get under the left's skin, you're right. Earlier this month, at Andre Agassi's children's fund-raiser in Las Vegas, Miller once again called the French les bags du scum. That prompted this reply from Sir Elton John: "It's not an occasion to air your political dirty laundry. When people say, 'Why do they hate us so much?' Dennis Miller."

Which is exactly the sort of righteous leftist indignation that could make California Republicans fall in love with Miller in a hurry, depending on which course the party chooses in 2004. Do California Republicans look for a Senate candidate with a record of public service and campaign experience? Or do they go the Arnold route and hitch a ride on a star? (In addition to Miller, "Frasier's" Kelsey Grammer has indicated that he'd like to run for the Senate one day.)

Regardless, Barbara Boxer is a vulnerable incumbent ....":

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/305achnu.asp

[andak01]

Right, a democrat who is to the right of Clarence Thomas without the stigma of being associated with the far right. How clever. Pretty soon we'll have to put up Pat Buchanan as the liberal candidate to balance things out.

[abu afak]

Originally posted by andak01
Right, a democrat who is to the right of Clarence Thomas without the stigma of being associated with the far right. How clever. Pretty soon we'll have to put up Pat Buchanan as the liberal candidate to balance things out.

That's really Ridiculous.

Dennis Miller is nowhere "to the Right of Clarence Thomas"
(or Pat Buchanon).

He's probably barely even a Republican/Conservative by National Standards. Nor was Schwartzenager.
These people are social Liberals with some sense of Patriotism and Fiscal responsibility.

I suspect most people who really are on the 'Right' (like Clarence Thomas) would cringe at Dennis Miller's permissive positions.

[frizzer1]

Haven't you heard? Starting in January, I think, he is getting his own show on CNBC.
Yea!!

[andak01]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by abu afak
I suspect most people who really are on the 'Right' (like Clarence Thomas) would cringe at Dennis Miller's permissive positions./QUOTE]

You mean Mr. Pubic hair on a soda can, fan of Long Dong Silver worries about other's morals?

http://www.texasonline.net/langley/columns/thomas.htm

[abu afak]

Originally posted by andak01
[QUOTE]Originally posted by abu afak
I suspect most people who really are on the 'Right' (like Clarence Thomas) would cringe at Dennis Miller's permissive positions./QUOTE]

You mean Mr. Pubic hair on a soda can, fan of Long Dong Silver worries about other's morals?

http://www.texasonline.net/langley/columns/thomas.htm

You're really all over the place guy, and still ridiculous.

We've all heard the unproven allegations against Clarence Thomas and I am not a fan of his anyway; But calling Dennis Miller "to the Right of Clarence Thomas" was OFF.
That is what the string was about and what I responded with; also I said: "most People who are on the Right, LIKE/(similar politically) Clarence Thomas", flawed though he may be.

Perhaps you'd like to open a 'Clarence Thomas' string for your obsession?

[andak01]

I've heard Dennis Miller interviewed. He's like a mean version of Rush Limbaugh. Actually, I should say he is a born again opportunist. His conseratism never appeared when it wasn't so chic to be conservative.

[abu afak]

Originally posted by andak01
I've heard Dennis Miller interviewed. He's like a mean version of Rush Limbaugh. Actually, I should say he is a born again opportunist. His conseratism never appeared when it wasn't so chic to be conservative.

So now you are saying he Is or Isn't a Conservative?

Make up your mind.

First you say he's to the 'right of Clarence Thomas' ("..a democrat who is to the right of Clarence Thomas without the stigma of being associated with the far right...")
and THEN he's not a Real Conservative!

Which (the latter) is what I said:
"...He's probably barely even a Republican/Conservative by National Standards. Nor was Schwartzenager.
These people are social Liberals with some sense of Patriotism and Fiscal responsibility..."

[american man]

Dennis Miller could mean the end of the Republican party as it exists today, at least in California. Unlike Govenor, a Senator's view on social issues like abortion does matter. If he runs as a social conserative he loses. If he runs as a social liberal he will face a challange from the right. I do not see social conservatives in CA voting for a social liberal for Senate. If a socal liberal Dennis Miller is the GOP candiate I think you will see social conservatives split from the GOP in CA. If he runs as a social conservatives he loses big time. No social conservative can win in CA. Also whats this say about the GOP that the only candidates they can get to win are Show Business celebs? If I were running the Democratic party I'd hope Dennis would run.

[abu afak]

Originally posted by american man
Dennis Miller could mean the end of the Republican party as it exists today, at least in California. Unlike Govenor, a Senator's view on social issues like abortion does matter. If he runs as a social conserative he loses. If he runs as a social liberal he will face a challange from the right. I do not see social conservatives in CA voting for a social liberal for Senate. If a socal liberal Dennis Miller is the GOP candiate I think you will see social conservatives split from the GOP in CA. If he runs as a social conservatives he loses big time. No social conservative can win in CA. Also whats this say about the GOP that the only candidates they can get to win are Show Business celebs? If I were running the Democratic party I'd hope Dennis would run.

I disagree.

GOP social Liberals are not unusual in the Northeast (from New Jersey to Maine) and California; Republicans like Giuliani, Kristie Whitman, Collins and Snowe in Maine, Schwartzeneger, etc etc prove it.
Perhaps California a little less so than the Northeast.

and BTW.. welcome to the Board!

[american man]

Originally posted by abu afak
I disagree.

GOP social Liberals are not unusual in the Northeast (from New Jersey to Maine) and California; Republicans like Giuliani, Kristie Whitman, Collins and Snowe in Maine, Schwartzeneger, etc etc prove it.

Giuliani and Whitman were not Senators. Giuliani was not really a social liberal. At least when it came to abortion. California is different than NY, NY or Maine. GOP social liberals are rare everywhere in national politics.

[abu afak]

Schwartzenager just won! handily.

Whitman was a Governor, a Statewide office just like Senator.
That's the issue, not the office.

Both senators from Maine are Socially liberal as is Chaffee from Rhode Island.

A True (and social) conservative would nave no chance in several states. .. and perhaps be a disadvantage in ones that are liberal like NY and California, where the current Senators are
Clinton, Shumer, Boxer, Feinstein.

[red crabtree]

Are you talking about Christie Todd Whitman? Past Gov. of New Jersey right? As far as I am concerned she's a putz. I have a very specific reason for that. As a nurse one of the largest issues this country is facing is a healthcare problem. Most of the public do not understand the gathering storm over healthcare, but when they get to a hospital they sure as hell are going to feel it. It is the national nursing shortage, which is only going to get worse. From the last statistics on nursing 2002, 18% of those who hold a Registered Nurse license are no longer working in healthcare at all. The reasons for this are many, but one of the biggest reasons is the consistant use of mandatory overtime. It is pervasive and it is used in all health care system to make up for nurses who were laid off and downsized in the middle and late 90's in the quest to lower healthcare costs. For the last 3 years there has been a real push from nursing to get laws passed that would make mandatory overtime illegal. One of the first states to take up the issue was New Jersey. Their congress passed a bill and Whitman would not sign it. Mandatory overtime for nurses was made illegal in New Jersey by the Gov. that followed Whitman.
Make no mistake overworking nurses is a PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE. Currently there are only three states that have law that bans the use of mandatory overtime, and that is New Jersey, Minnisota and Washington state. The only state with minimum staffing guidelines for patient to staff ratios is California and they will not have those fully in place until 2006, but already the hospitals are trying to find ways around it by using less skilled staff. Currently in every state but those three a nurse can be FORCED to work up to 20 hours. In this country truck driver's may only drive 10 hours, pilots may fly only 14 and that is with a co-pilot. Yet a nurse who must continuously assess patients for things going wrong and who pushes and hangs drugs that can kill you if not done the right way or if the wrong dose, can be forced to work up to 20 hours. This is done by threatening not only the nurse's job if she/he refuses, but in nearly all states refusal to stay constitutes patient abandoment and you can lose you license for it.
By refusing to sign a mandatory overtime bill Whitman effectively put every patient under the care of the healthcare system at risk. According to the Institute of Medicine that studies these kinds of things, there are 98,000 deaths every year in this country that die from medical error. Do you not think that part of that is due to overworked nurses, not to mention nurses being forced to take a patient load that is too high to adequately assess regularly? Having 98,000 people die from medical error is like having Al Queda shot down a jumbo jet full of people every day. Imagine the outcry that would occasion, yet not a peep from our legislative people about it happening in healthcare.
So personally I think Christie Todd Whitman is a complete moron. The inability to see a larger picture of what is a public safety concern because of the American Hospitals Association quest for profits over people is disgusting.
By the way fiscal responsiblity does not mean trillions of dollars in debt. That should be as obvious as the nose on someone's face. The largest deficits in this country were run up under Reagan, and will be run up under Bush Jr. These people want their cake and to eat it too. It doesn't work that way. And the problem with taxes is this. If you don't have them on place they will be somewhere else that people don't notice as much. Increased gas tax, increased "sin" tax. And when tax cuts get to be so much that healthcare and eduction is affected it hurts this whole country. It is so shortsighted that it grates upon me. In Michigan the Gov. announed this week that we are still going to be $900 million in debt after many cuts already, and our constitution requires a balanced budget. So guess what? The state is going to have to cut just under $200 for each and every child in school in state aid to schools. That translates into millions of dollars for school districts around the state. More will be cut from medicare and medicaid, leaving thousands of vulnerable elderly without the means to access the healthcare system, as well as thousands of others including children. So you know what happens? They wait until they are very ill and they show up in the ER. The most expensive point of entry into the healthcare system, and non profit community hosptial is legally obligated to take care of uninsured people. The hospital is not going to get back the thousands of dollars in care provided, one cannot get blood from a turnip. So who pays? YOU DO. You pay in increased insurance premiums. You pay by having to pay more of a co-pay, you pay in increased costs for healthcare as both facilities and insurance companies attempt to spread their losses out among those who can pay.
This is a huge problem not only in Michigan, but everywhere. Trust me on this issue, I see it every day. Don't tell me that people will still be treated because they won't be. I have seen more patients than I care to count just given minimum care to get them through that should have been admitted and worked up because they had no way to be able to pay for that care. So they show up in the ER over and over. Patients discharged much sooner than they ought to be because the insurance company demands it. You can pay for decent care for everyone through taxes or you can pay for substandard care for some who show up again and again. But one way or another you are going to pay for it.
And then back to the nursing shortage, already ER's across the nation are having to turf patients across town and shut to admissions because they do not have enough nurses to handle the patient load. There are hospitals and nursing homes that have closed units for lack of nurses. Admissions sitting in ER's for hours because of not enough nurses on the floor to take another admission, and this at a time that hospitals and nursing homes across the country that have already pushed their nursing workforce to the brink with more patients per nurse than is safe to begin with. So tell me again that Whitman is a liberal social Conservative. She is a very pro business politician who didn't give enough of a damn for the health of her constituents to protect those who have to have nursing care. And 99.9% of American's will come into the healthcare system and need that care at some point in their lives. Without nurses there is no healthcare system.

[MGB8]

Yup, Healthcare is a big problem.

Unfortunately, fixing it would mean taking on the insurace industry, which politicians are loath to do. Do you know that in real terms, Med/Mal costs are the SAME as they have been the past 30 years? What has changed? Bigger profits for insurance. The Insurance industry profiteers (and employs thousands and thousands) the system, raising health care costs.

That said, there also needs to be legal reform, although I'm not for caps on damages (maybe some, but judges reduce awards on their own all the time, average damages from suits that win - I think only 20% of them win are in the 10-20K range, and according to stats only 1-2% of instances of negligence ever actually have a suit brought against the doctor...)

Also, forcing the AMA to allow more doctors to train in the US market would help, too....

Originally posted by red crabtree
Are you talking about Christie Todd Whitman? Past Gov. of New Jersey right? As far as I am concerned she's a putz. I have a very specific reason for that. As a nurse one of the largest issues this country is facing is a healthcare problem. Most of the public do not understand the gathering storm over healthcare, but when they get to a hospital they sure as hell are going to feel it. It is the national nursing shortage, which is only going to get worse. From the last statistics on nursing 2002, 18% of those who hold a Registered Nurse license are no longer working in healthcare at all. The reasons for this are many, but one of the biggest reasons is the consistant use of mandatory overtime. It is pervasive and it is used in all health care system to make up for nurses who were laid off and downsized in the middle and late 90's in the quest to lower healthcare costs. For the last 3 years there has been a real push from nursing to get laws passed that would make mandatory overtime illegal. One of the first states to take up the issue was New Jersey. Their congress passed a bill and Whitman would not sign it. Mandatory overtime for nurses was made illegal in New Jersey by the Gov. that followed Whitman.
Make no mistake overworking nurses is a PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE. Currently there are only three states that have law that bans the use of mandatory overtime, and that is New Jersey, Minnisota and Washington state. The only state with minimum staffing guidelines for patient to staff ratios is California and they will not have those fully in place until 2006, but already the hospitals are trying to find ways around it by using less skilled staff. Currently in every state but those three a nurse can be FORCED to work up to 20 hours. In this country truck driver's may only drive 10 hours, pilots may fly only 14 and that is with a co-pilot. Yet a nurse who must continuously assess patients for things going wrong and who pushes and hangs drugs that can kill you if not done the right way or if the wrong dose, can be forced to work up to 20 hours. This is done by threatening not only the nurse's job if she/he refuses, but in nearly all states refusal to stay constitutes patient abandoment and you can lose you license for it.
By refusing to sign a mandatory overtime bill Whitman effectively put every patient under the care of the healthcare system at risk. According to the Institute of Medicine that studies these kinds of things, there are 98,000 deaths every year in this country that die from medical error. Do you not think that part of that is due to overworked nurses, not to mention nurses being forced to take a patient load that is too high to adequately assess regularly? Having 98,000 people die from medical error is like having Al Queda shot down a jumbo jet full of people every day. Imagine the outcry that would occasion, yet not a peep from our legislative people about it happening in healthcare.
So personally I think Christie Todd Whitman is a complete moron. The inability to see a larger picture of what is a public safety concern because of the American Hospitals Association quest for profits over people is disgusting.
By the way fiscal responsiblity does not mean trillions of dollars in debt. That should be as obvious as the nose on someone's face. The largest deficits in this country were run up under Reagan, and will be run up under Bush Jr. These people want their cake and to eat it too. It doesn't work that way. And the problem with taxes is this. If you don't have them on place they will be somewhere else that people don't notice as much. Increased gas tax, increased "sin" tax. And when tax cuts get to be so much that healthcare and eduction is affected it hurts this whole country. It is so shortsighted that it grates upon me. In Michigan the Gov. announed this week that we are still going to be $900 million in debt after many cuts already, and our constitution requires a balanced budget. So guess what? The state is going to have to cut just under $200 for each and every child in school in state aid to schools. That translates into millions of dollars for school districts around the state. More will be cut from medicare and medicaid, leaving thousands of vulnerable elderly without the means to access the healthcare system, as well as thousands of others including children. So you know what happens? They wait until they are very ill and they show up in the ER. The most expensive point of entry into the healthcare system, and non profit community hosptial is legally obligated to take care of uninsured people. The hospital is not going to get back the thousands of dollars in care provided, one cannot get blood from a turnip. So who pays? YOU DO. You pay in increased insurance premiums. You pay by having to pay more of a co-pay, you pay in increased costs for healthcare as both facilities and insurance companies attempt to spread their losses out among those who can pay.
This is a huge problem not only in Michigan, but everywhere. Trust me on this issue, I see it every day. Don't tell me that people will still be treated because they won't be. I have seen more patients than I care to count just given minimum care to get them through that should have been admitted and worked up because they had no way to be able to pay for that care. So they show up in the ER over and over. Patients discharged much sooner than they ought to be because the insurance company demands it. You can pay for decent care for everyone through taxes or you can pay for substandard care for some who show up again and again. But one way or another you are going to pay for it.
And then back to the nursing shortage, already ER's across the nation are having to turf patients across town and shut to admissions because they do not have enough nurses to handle the patient load. There are hospitals and nursing homes that have closed units for lack of nurses. Admissions sitting in ER's for hours because of not enough nurses on the floor to take another admission, and this at a time that hospitals and nursing homes across the country that have already pushed their nursing workforce to the brink with more patients per nurse than is safe to begin with. So tell me again that Whitman is a liberal social Conservative. She is a very pro business politician who didn't give enough of a damn for the health of her constituents to protect those who have to have nursing care. And 99.9% of American's will come into the healthcare system and need that care at some point in their lives. Without nurses there is no healthcare system.