Kids' Books?

MSNBC has an acute case of PDS (Palin Derangement Syndrome). You can't watch a single program on that network without at some point being subjected to a segment in which the whole point is to ridicule Sarah Palin. It reminds me of the two minutes hate in Orwell's 1984 where all party members in Oceania stop their work for two minutes while their country's enemies are shown on a television screen. For two minutes the party members work themselves into a frenzy, shouting their hate and loathing for the despised enemies on the screen. Then it's all over and they go back to work.

I don't know what the reason for the hatred of Palin is. She hasn't yet declared herself a candidate for President, but the left certainly seems to be as afraid of her as the Oceania apparatchiks were afraid of Emanuel Goldstein in 1984.

A humorous example of this occured on a recent edition of Hardball with Chris Matthews, who never passes up an opportunity to laugh at Palin's intellect but who should himself be much more humble in such matters. His guest, one Richard Wolffe, scoffs at Palin's claim to derive inspiration from C.S. Lewis. The relevant portion starts at the two minute mark:

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All Wolffe knows about C.S. Lewis is that he's the "author of a series of kid's books"? He's never heard of Abolition of Man, On Miracles, The Problem of Pain, Mere Christianity, Pilgrim's Regress, The Great Divorce, Surprised by Joy, A Grief Observed, The Screwtape Letters, The Four Loves, the space trilogy, the Oxford debates, and so much more? And this uninformed man is chuckling at Sarah Palin for finding inspiration in Lewis? Does he not realize that millions of people have found inspiration in Lewis?

It gets worse as Matthews, who obviously doesn't understand how a guide works on a hunting trip, derides Palin for having people around her as she shoots a caribou (it wasn't a moose as Aaron Sorkin, who apparently can't tell the difference, mistakenly claims as he calls Palin a "witless bully").

These people would like everyone to think they're endowed with wisdom, erudition, and sophistication superior to that of the rest of us, but in their adolescent attempts to make Palin look foolish they instead make themselves look like a clique of unpopular middle school girls sneering at the attractive new girl of whom they're profoundly jealous.

Atta Boy

Here's some news to dampen your yuletide spirit. Investors Business Daily had conducted a poll of physicians last year that showed that almost half of them would leave the profession if Obamacare were enacted. Now another poll has come up with similar results. According to the more recent survey 40% of physicians are planning to leave the profession because of concerns over Obamacare. IBD comments:

When we said nearly half of U.S. doctors might close their practices or retire early rather than live under the Democrats' health overhaul, we were heavily criticized. The critics, though, were wrong.

Four in nine doctors responding to an IBD/TIPP poll sent out in August 2009 said they "would consider leaving their practice or taking an early retirement" if Congress passed what has become known as ObamaCare. That means as many as 360,000 physicians have plans to be doing something other than treating the growing number of patients in this country.

The doctors also told us — 67% to 22%, with 11% not responding — that they expected fewer students to apply for medical school in the future if the plan became law.

Given these views, it's no surprise that 71% were doubtful that the government would be able to cover the 47 million uninsured Americans with better care at lower costs, which ObamaCare supporters have promised.

Other findings from our poll of 1,376 doctors included: six in 10 agreeing that the Democrats' plan would strip drug companies of the incentives they need to make lifesaving pharmaceuticals, and 65% believing that a government overhaul would lead to lower-quality care for seniors.

The critics said our poll was not credible, was "shabby" and "garbage." They accused IBD of being partisan, pursuing an agenda, trying to sway gullible readers with shameless journalism.

Now a Merritt Hawkins survey of 2,379 doctors for the Physicians Foundation completed in August has vindicated our poll. It found that 40% of doctors said they would "retire, seek a nonclinical job in health care, or seek a job or business unrelated to health care" over the next three years as the overhaul is phased in.

Of those who said they planned to retire, 28% are 55 or younger and nearly half (49%) are 60 or younger.

There's a lot more on this at the link. As you read you might want to send a big mental "atta boy" to Barack, Harry, Nancy and the gang. They're doing a heck of a job. It can't be easy to destroy the best health care system in the world with a single piece of legislation, but they seem to have managed it unless the Republicans pull us back from the brink of disaster by repealing it next year.

Thanks to Hot Air for the tip.