January 13, 2024 at 8:00 AM

Propaganda is powerful stuff

@drbastiat

To read this bio, please join Ricochet.

Bureaucracy in medicine. (vchal/Shutterstock)

The President of the American Medical Association, Jesse M. Ehrenfeld M.D., recently gave a speech at the National Press Club in Washington DC. He highlighted the difficulties in running a medical practice in this environment, detailed how many practices have been closed, or absorbed by larger organizations. He then proposed some solutions, and what the government could do to help. Stop giggling. He was serious. He wanted the government to help.

Anyway, he made five suggestions, some of which made sense. Improve reimbursement so docs don't have to see so many patients so fast, reduce administrative burdens, streamline regulatory compliance, etc. Then I got to his fourth bullet point: "Stop criminalizing health care that is widely recognized as safe, and that is backed by science and many years of evidence." After all the discussions of financial and regulatory difficulties, I was confused. What on earth was he talking about? He explained:

Ehrenfeld called out the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade for "radically" changing American health care. Currently 14 states have outright bans on abortion and seven have partial bans. Meanwhile, 22 states have laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors, Ehrenfeld said. These actions force government into personal health care decisions and cause confusion for patients, he said.

I'm not in the mood to dissect this nonsense point by point. Feel free in the comments, if you like.

By my point is that anyone who suggests that one of the five major reasons for our physician shortage is that some states don't allow sex change operations for children or abortions - well, that person is not well. If you encounter him at a party and he says this type of thing, you give him a frozen smile and back away at 35mph. If he believes what he's saying, he's lost his mind. He needs help.

But this isn't some drunk at a party, spouting off whatever pops into his head. This is the President of the AMA, giving prepared remarks at a fancy meeting in DC.

I like to think that he doesn't honestly believe what he's saying. I like to think that he's just lying.

But I don't know. Propaganda is powerful stuff. As my barber explained to me yesterday.

I went to see the Ukrainian Butcher for my haircut yesterday. I always leave our visits with some new insights into communism (which I enjoy), and a bad haircut (which I don't care about). Anyway, I asked her how Ukraine was hanging on for this long against Russia. I thought Putin would stomp on them fast and hard.

She said that growing up in Ukraine, she was taught that Russia was the most powerful country in the world. She learned only after she left that Russia had significant weaknesses. But as a child, she learned that they were the only super power. In fact, she learned that Russia won World War II, against the rest of the world, all by itself.

I chuckled, and she said, "My grandfather served in WWII. Highly decorated. Lots of medals. He was such a hero in the war that he was named mayor of our town when he got home. Anyway, he believed that Russia had single-handedly won WWII. When he was an old man, his grandson told him that England and America and lots of other western countries helped a lot too, and that they were in an alliance with Russia. My grandfather laughed at him. His grandson had to show him videos on his iPad to convince him. I can't tell you how crushed my grandfather was. He was over 80 years old, and his entire world crashed around him, sitting on the couch with an iPad. Propaganda is powerful stuff."

So maybe the President of the AMA really believes that physician burnout and our physician shortage could be fixed if only the federal government mandated sex changes on children. Maybe he really believes that, like the old Russian soldier really believed that Russia won WWII by itself. Propaganda is powerful stuff.

That's why I fear our media and our educational establishment, more than I fear Russia or China.

Propaganda is powerful stuff.

This post was promoted to the Main Feed at the recommendation of Ricochet's members.

Banned Member@DrewInWisconsin2y

This is somewhat related:

W.H.O. Picks Trans Activists to Set Global Child-Rearing Rules — Less than Half of Panel Has Medical Background

The United Nations healthcare agency — the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) — has given transgender activists a majority of the seats in a panel that is drafting healthcare policies for children.
One of the supposed experts displays a “Be Gay, Do Crimes” tattoo.
Eleven members of the W.H.O.’s 21-member panel have no formal medical training, seven are transgender, and just ten have a medical background, according to a report by Daily Mail.
One of them is reportedly a controversial Canadian trans activist who has a strong influence on the Chinese app TikTok and says puberty blockers should be prescribed to all children, regardless of their gender identity, so they can “choose” their gender rather than being assigned one by society.
Another of the W.H.O.’s committee members says that transitioning causes no health problems and claims the only “actual side effects” of getting a sex change are a “significantly improved quality of life … and trans joy.”
The rest of the panel members are a mixture of activists, social justice advocates, human rights lawyers, STD researchers, and policy advisers, Daily Mail reports.
Another committee member, Ashley — a biological male who identifies as female and goes by the pronouns “they/them that bitch” — has a tattoo that reads, “Be Gay, Do Crimes.”
Ashley, who has co-written a study that claims puberty blockers and hormone therapies “ought to be treated as the default option” for children with gender dysphoria, has a significant following on TikTok where he calls for mental health checks on trans children to be scrapped before they are given puberty blockers and hormone drugs.
“Is there any reason to ask people to go through a lengthy and complex gender assessment in order to access gender-affirming care, or is that useless and should the time best be put in supporting decision-making,” Ashley reportedly said.
“And what our article concludes is that there’s really no evidence that gender assessments work — it’s just a lengthier process for no real reason,” he added. “Gender assessments are really an unnecessary form of gatekeeping that trans communities have been opposing for a while.”
Meanwhile, W.H.O. spokesperson Tarik Jašarević insists the guidelines on trans issues would focus on “adults only” and not the use of hormones, suppressants and surgeries on children.
“WHO guidelines are always based on balancing of available evidence, human rights principles, consideration of harms and benefits and inputs of end users and beneficiaries,” Jašarević said.
Nonetheless, some W.H.O. committee members are vocal about their support for letting children — some as young as 13 — undergo such medical procedures.

Discussion (28)

Banned Member@DrewInWisconsin2y
Dr. Bastiat (View Post):
What on earth was he talking about? He explained:
Ehrenfeld called out the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade for “radically” changing American health care.
Currently 14 states have outright bans on abortion and seven have partial bans. Meanwhile, 22 states have laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors, Ehrenfeld said. These actions force government into personal health care decisions and cause confusion for patients, he said.
He's talking about MONEY.
There's big money to be made in transing your kids. And the cool part is that these poor children will be experiencing physical (and psychological) ailments for the rest of their lives. Which is to say "repeat customer!"
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
kedavis@kedavis2y
ReplyingtoDrewInWisconsin, Lower Order Oaf
DrewInWisconsin, Lower Order O… (View Comment):
Dr. Bastiat (View Post):
What on earth was he talking about? He explained:
Ehrenfeld called out the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade for “radically” changing American health care.
Currently 14 states have outright bans on abortion and seven have partial bans. Meanwhile, 22 states have laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors, Ehrenfeld said. These actions force government into personal health care decisions and cause confusion for patients, he said.
He’s talking about MONEY.
There’s big money to be made in transing your kids. And the cool part is that these poor children will be experiencing physical (and psychological) ailments for the rest of their lives. Which is to say “repeat customer!”
At least until they off themselves, which might happen even more frequently AFTER the "affirming care."
Banned Member@DrewInWisconsin2y
This is somewhat related:
W.H.O. Picks Trans Activists to Set Global Child-Rearing Rules — Less than Half of Panel Has Medical Background
The United Nations healthcare agency — the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) — has given transgender activists a majority of the seats in a panel that is drafting healthcare policies for children.
One of the supposed experts displays a “Be Gay, Do Crimes” tattoo.
Eleven members of the W.H.O.’s 21-member panel have no formal medical training, seven are transgender, and just ten have a medical background, according to a report by Daily Mail.
One of them is reportedly a controversial Canadian trans activist who has a strong influence on the Chinese app TikTok and says puberty blockers should be prescribed to all children, regardless of their gender identity, so they can “choose” their gender rather than being assigned one by society.
Another of the W.H.O.’s committee members says that transitioning causes no health problems and claims the only “actual side effects” of getting a sex change are a “significantly improved quality of life … and trans joy.”
The rest of the panel members are a mixture of activists, social justice advocates, human rights lawyers, STD researchers, and policy advisers, Daily Mail reports.
Another committee member, Ashley — a biological male who identifies as female and goes by the pronouns “they/them that bitch” — has a tattoo that reads, “Be Gay, Do Crimes.”
Ashley, who has co-written a study that claims puberty blockers and hormone therapies “ought to be treated as the default option” for children with gender dysphoria, has a significant following on TikTok where he calls for mental health checks on trans children to be scrapped before they are given puberty blockers and hormone drugs.
“Is there any reason to ask people to go through a lengthy and complex gender assessment in order to access gender-affirming care, or is that useless and should the time best be put in supporting decision-making,” Ashley reportedly said.
“And what our article concludes is that there’s really no evidence that gender assessments work — it’s just a lengthier process for no real reason,” he added. “Gender assessments are really an unnecessary form of gatekeeping that trans communities have been opposing for a while.”
Meanwhile, W.H.O. spokesperson Tarik Jašarević insists the guidelines on trans issues would focus on “adults only” and not the use of hormones, suppressants and surgeries on children.
“WHO guidelines are always based on balancing of available evidence, human rights principles, consideration of harms and benefits and inputs of end users and beneficiaries,” Jašarević said.
Nonetheless, some W.H.O. committee members are vocal about their support for letting children — some as young as 13 — undergo such medical procedures.
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
navyjag@navyjag2y
Another good one Doc. For all the legitimate commotion about how government has screwed up medical services (Obama care, etc.), which by the way was the 1963 high school debate topic, the idea that the trans fad is keeping internist docs from checking my vitals (still ok today) is laughable. Only thing more bizarre is the med school DEI crap. But so far hearing the docs in my new landing spot in Colorado are pretty good. Will ask Western C. to verify.
CHARTER MEMBER
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
EDISONPARKS@user_547422y
It is possible the AMA President knows his target audience, the Leftist (D) dominated Government, along with their propagandist helper monkeys in the MSM/BigTech, like to hear Leftist orthodoxies (ie: AMA suggestion#4) enumerated as an AMA priority before the Government would even consider handing over AMA priority's 1, 2, 3, & 5

Scroll for later comments

+23 more comments

Join the conversation

You're seeing five of 28 comments. Sign in, or join for just $5 per month, to read them all and add your own.