Obama’s Political eGFR…Calling Dr. Dean…

As most people know (or should know), there are all sorts of numbers that are indicators of a person’s health status. For example, as an indicator of cardiac health, if you have a cholesterol reading of 200-239 you are “borderline high” and may need treatment. Blood pressure has equally clear numbers in terms of what’s normal or what needs treatment.

But when it comes to the kidneys, things get murky, especially for general practitioners who look at the numbers and miss what’s really going on. In fact, kidney organizations have now raised a warning about how certain numbers which appear normal in routine blood tests, specifically serum creatinine levels, can mask a loss of 50% of kidney function!

In the last few years, a new number has appeared on basic blood test reports. It’s a computed figure based on other test results which turns out to give a very good estimate of kidney function. It’s called the eGFR (estimated Glomular Filtration Rate).

It turns out that many general and internal medicine practitioners don’t understand eGFR numbers. A level of 50 mL/min, which is only 10 units below the low end of the normal range level of 60 mL/min, is NOT OK. It’s not a “slight” difference, as one of my doctors commented to me. A level of 50 mL/min means that one’s kidneys are working at 50%…which translates into moderate kidney failure and needs watching and measures to be taken to preserve the function that is still left. Without proper care and diet modifications, a person with this level of function could wind up on dialysis or waiting for a kidney transplant as the percentage of kidney function drops.

How does this relate to Obama? Well, on the surface he looks in fine shape in terms of delegates pledged. He’s got the DNC helping him out by refusing to count the votes in FL and MI. He’s got lots of big names coming out to endorse him every time he loses a primary or flubs a debate. He certainly has the Mainstream Media pushing him along since they are loaded with pundits speaking out against Clinton and, and the same time, refusing to delve into Obama’s experience and relationships with any real seriousness. On the surface, it looks like his political serum creatinine is safely in the healthy range.

But all this masks what is really going on. Under the surface there is damage.

Call the DNC TOLL-FREE–They Are Taking Comments…Here’s What I Told Them…

I just got off the line with the DNC. A very sweet woman named Lisa Burgess took my comments…I could hear her typing in the background. (The number is at the end of this post.)

Several times during my polite, but very intense tirade on the DNC and this primary season, she told me that she could “really understand.” I think she must be “really understanding” a lot these days…

I first took apart the DNC for their handling of MI and FL and explained that I believed Obama was being “enabled.” I said he was a big boy and had taken his name of the MI ballot by his own decision and that he had held a press event and had ads spilling into FL–it was HE that BROKE THE RULES. I said that the party was disenfranchising voters to fix things for HIM!

I told her that that the party was at fault for not vetting him, but that he was ALSO at fault for not following his own statement about how he wasn’t going to run. I faulted him on his EGO that allowed himself to be “massaged” into running (I was being kind).

I told her that this seemed to be a personal vendetta against the Clintons. I told her I was a woman pushing 60 who had lived through it all and was being INSULTED by Obama and the media’s misogyny…Obama’s snide looks and his wife’s snotty comments about the Clinton marriage were ticking me off. I said I had never heard Obama call off his supporters holding sexist signs at the recent JJ Dinner in NC. Where was his leadership on that? I asked where the party was on statements made by the media that were sexist?

I said that Kerry’s influence on all this was a giveaway–the man who wouldn’t fight for the votes in OH in 2004 and left Edwards out there hanging. I said that I had been an Edwards supporter and that I knew the party had gone corporate and that Clinton and Obama were on that page…and it was sad that Edwards was drummed out of the race.

Then I got to the subject of a “unity” ticket. I said Obama didn’t deserve to be on the ticket if Clinton were the nominee because he would drag her down! His associations with Wright and Ayers would be the lightning rod of the campaign…FOX and YouTube were already doing their thing…

I also told her that the party was OUT-OF-TOUCH and if they shoved this guy at me, I WOULD NOT VOTE FOR HIM. This would be the first time I would not vote because 1) I was sick of enabling the party’s stupidity especially if it failed to seat MI and FL as is (no “splitting votes” to further enable Obama) and 2) it was my way of protesting and I didn’t feel compelled to vote for a machine that had insulted my intelligence.

Then I said that the “enabling” of Obama via endorsement by delegates every time he got in trouble was the stupidest thing I had ever seen, that I thought these people were INSANE and inept.

I told her, that in contrast, I was REALITY-BASED!

My final salvo was that I was about to “de-register” from the party and that there was no more money coming from me. Dean et al had proven to be a huge disappointment and the Democratic Party was no longer “my party.”

*****

The very pleasant Lisa sighed one more time, muttered she “really understood” and wished me a good day.

I wished her a good day, too.

And fingers crossed that it WILL be a good day in IN and NC for the me and the “reality based” among us!

PS–HERE’S THE TOLL-FREE NUMBER TO THE DNC!

1-877-336-7200

Is FOX Drifting into MSM Spin and Beginning to Bash Clinton???

Yesterday I commented on Kondracke and Barnes’ discussion on FOX about the primary situation for Hillary which sounded an awful lot like the Mainstream Media spin….

This afternoon I happened to go into the kitchen where my mother was listening to Hannity on the radio. He was talking about the “nuclear option” involving Clinton’s team pushing to count the MI and FL primary votes.

My mother thought Hannity was “quoting” someone…but I’m pretty sure that by the time I heard what Hannity was saying, he was not longer quoting. I got the distinct impression that he was trying to paint Clinton as trying to “steal” the nomination. He was talking about breaking the famous RULES…

Now, sometimes Hannity does one thing on the radio and another on TV. Contradictory approaches (like today’s radio bit versus a segment on the TV show about William Ayers stomping on an American flag) at the very least causes a lot of confusion. But after a lot of negative stuff on Obama, injecting a bit of misleading negative coverage about Clinton just before tomorrow’s primaries makes me suspicious.

We know that we can’t trust anyone connected with FOX and I’m speculating that now, just before the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, it’s time for this crew to support their guy Obama again. Clinton has been doing well (although the Gallup tracking poll shows a bit of bump for Obama lately). Would it surprise you if they wanted to help any trend to Obama to continue in these two states, who must have plenty of listeners who are Democrats? Nothing like bringing up “stealing” a nomination again…even though the facts about Obama’s own actions re: FL and MI suggest HE is the one the party is HELPING by ignoring those votes so far. Hannity didn’t mention THAT part of the story…

FOX folks must be salivating over the prospect of Obama being the nominee. They’re also revving up their derision toward the Democratic Party (much of it deserved) and waiting to pounce.

Frankly, I don’t think they can wait for Obama to get the nomination. Slinging a bit of mud at Clinton on the radio at this moment may be part of the FOX plan. Let’s face it, how can they possibly let all that Rev. Wright video go to waste??

Of Root Canal, “Delegate Drift” and Tuesday, May 6

Well, I’m on heavy antibiotics until I go for a root canal procedure on Tuesday afternoon. I unwittingly delivered the final insult when I took off my nightguard at 5 AM and neglected to put it back in my mouth. By the time a re-awoke at 6:30, the teeth-grinding damage was done, for once and for all. The swelling started and off to the dentist I went for the bad news.

Which reminds me of the primary season. Is Obama facing root canal in the upcoming primaries?

Every time he says something inane or insulting to half the population or loses a primary, the poobahs come out to ENDORSE him to try to divert attention from the damage he’s caused. For awhile it works, but then something else comes up. The nightguard is left off for awhile and OUCH…more damage is done.

Now we are waiting for Indiana and North Carolina. I happened across FOX last night and caught Fred Barnes and Mort Kondracke sounding very MSM. Oh, Obama would probably win the nomination…Hillary must win Indiana BIG and lose NC SMALL and MAYBE that will stop the “delegrate drift” toward Obama; of course, if she wins BOTH, well, that MIGHT shake things up and freeze the movement of delegates.

Lately, “drifting delegates” seem to be mystically tied to saving Obama’s butt. Clinton has picked up some, too, but you don’t hear about them much. Maybe it’s a good thing, because poor Gov. Mike Easley in NC, a high-profiler if there ever was one at this particular moment, endorsed Clinton and was booed at the JJ Dinner a couple of nights ago. Obama supporters again showed their lack of class or is it just a large display of immaturity?

FOX has been cautiously praised for their campaign coverage lately because it seems “fairer and more balanced” than other media outlets…But Kondracke and Barnes pulled the same old stuff during their discussion, notably when they talked about Joe Edward, former DNC Chair, and even showed a clip of his statement in which he switched to Obama. Did they mention the long list of former DNC Chairs who endorsed Clinton? Nope, they didn’t. I will give them credit, however, for showing a picture of Andrew with his glasses on, in which he looks a great deal like Mr. Limpet. And how appropriate THAT image is!!

Well, it must be fate that root canal is scheduled for the same day as the IN and NC primaries…nothing like cramming in all the suffering into one big package! On the other hand, if I’m drugged with painkillers, maybe I can get through election night with relative ease…