Terrance Heath
Terrance Heath
| Hometown: | Chevy Chase, MD |
| Interests: | Health Care for All, Quality Education, The Big Con, Progressive Vision, gay, vegetarian |
| Honors: | 4 |
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- November 23, 2009 - 3:33pm
We'd talked about it earlier in the week, but hadn't really made a definite decision to go. Then, Sunday morning I came downstairs to find this Washington Post story on the computer monitor.
On Wednesday, Oct. 7, 6-year-old Heaven Skyler Wilson dragged herself off the school bus that dropped her in front of her home on a rural road in Jetersville, just south of Richmond. The little girl, who had never had so much as an ear infection in her life, was pale and feverish and complained of an upset stomach.
The next day, Heaven's grandmother, Pat Sparrow, took her to a nearby clinic. Heaven, usually a bright, bubbly girl with blond pigtails, dimples and effusive energy, had a sore throat and a 103-degree temperature. The doctor swabbed her for the flu, and the test was positive.
It was just something going around, Sparrow said she was told. The doctor told Sparrow to take Heaven home, give her Tylenol and chicken broth, and let her rest.
By the next morning, Heaven couldn't breathe. Sparrow called 911.
...Two weeks later, on Oct. 21, ravaged with double pneumonia and a staph infection that deprived her brain of oxygen, Heaven was disconnected from the respirator. She lived for four minutes.
At 11:18 p.m., Heaven died in the arms of her mother, Sara Wilson. "You never heard such an awful scream from someone who loved her child so much," Sparrow said, her voice shaking.
He was already packing the kids lunches at that point. So I knew that after swimming lessons, we'd be headed to the H1N1 vaccine clinic held this Sunday in Montgomery County. The end of our H1N1 saga — that is, the saga of getting the kids vaccinated — was finally in sight. And, as my husband said when he asked if I saw the article, "You just want to know you've done everything you can to protect your children."
But, until Sunday, there wasn't much we could do.
- November 20, 2009 - 12:23pmWhether the Stupak amendment ends up in the final health care reform bill or is replaced by the more moderate compromises in the Senate bill, both the passage of the amendment and the almost immediate response that women and pro-choice progressives should "take one for the team" hold a lesson and a warning for both progressives and Democrats.
- November 13, 2009 - 3:52pm
Michelle Bachman's "Superbowl of Freedom" (or "Bachmannalia") was not the first protest with such attention grabbing signage, but merely the latest. September saw Glenn Beck's 9/12 marchers descend upon Washington. Again, they brought their message-bearing signs and posters.
And their signs made their message and motivation clear.
- November 12, 2009 - 3:31pm
I've used this quote (attributed to Maya Angelou) before: "When people show you who they really are, believe them." I guess in periods of tremendous change people really reveal who they really are. I'll return to this in more detail post, but the news and debate leading up to and following the passage of health care reform in the House is at least worth a quick roundup, if only because it all comes together in a clear context.
First, let me reiterate that I'll be the first to say that the anger directed at the president, Congress, and the policy changes they're trying to make are not entirely rooted in racism, but have deep roots in the economic consequences of the last few decades for the people in some of the reddest states. That said, it's becoming impossible to ignore that a significant amount is also rooted in the racism and ethnocentrism conservatives have used to divert their constituents' attention — and rage — towards more convevient targets.
- November 9, 2009 - 10:04am
(The sixth in of a series of seven.)
Nothing in Common
If the cliché that a picture is worth a thousand words is true, then a couple of images might sum up the debate of over health care reform, and prove representative of the opposing sides.
[Via Preemptive Karma.]
[Via Wikimedia Commons.]President Obama also defined it during his speech to the joint houses of Congress: that debate over health care reform is really a debate — and a struggle, even — over the moral character of the nation. In other words, it's another part of the process of choosing what kind of country we want to be.
- November 5, 2009 - 12:07pm
House Republicans have presented a health care reform "plan" that doesn't fix our broken health care system (but might make it worse), and (according to the CBO) doesn't do much to fix the deficit conservatives say t
- November 4, 2009 - 1:58pm
First, it was Sen. Landerieu's nonsense. Now we get this from Sen. Joe Lieberman.
Enough is enough. When Democrats start parroting Republican talking points, they are showing us who they are. We need to treat accordingly. Especially when their take on health care reform is pretty much the same as the GOP's, in terms of outcome.
Published!
- November 23, 2009 - 3:33pm
We'd talked about it earlier in the week, but hadn't really made a definite decision to go. Then, Sunday morning I came downstairs to find this Washington Post story on the computer monitor.
On Wednesday, Oct. 7, 6-year-old Heaven Skyler Wilson dragged herself off the school bus that dropped her in front of her home on a rural road in Jetersville, just south of Richmond. The little girl, who had never had so much as an ear infection in her life, was pale and feverish and complained of an upset stomach.
The next day, Heaven's grandmother, Pat Sparrow, took her to a nearby clinic. Heaven, usually a bright, bubbly girl with blond pigtails, dimples and effusive energy, had a sore throat and a 103-degree temperature. The doctor swabbed her for the flu, and the test was positive.
It was just something going around, Sparrow said she was told. The doctor told Sparrow to take Heaven home, give her Tylenol and chicken broth, and let her rest.
By the next morning, Heaven couldn't breathe. Sparrow called 911.
...Two weeks later, on Oct. 21, ravaged with double pneumonia and a staph infection that deprived her brain of oxygen, Heaven was disconnected from the respirator. She lived for four minutes.
At 11:18 p.m., Heaven died in the arms of her mother, Sara Wilson. "You never heard such an awful scream from someone who loved her child so much," Sparrow said, her voice shaking.
He was already packing the kids lunches at that point. So I knew that after swimming lessons, we'd be headed to the H1N1 vaccine clinic held this Sunday in Montgomery County. The end of our H1N1 saga — that is, the saga of getting the kids vaccinated — was finally in sight. And, as my husband said when he asked if I saw the article, "You just want to know you've done everything you can to protect your children."
But, until Sunday, there wasn't much we could do.
- November 20, 2009 - 12:23pmWhether the Stupak amendment ends up in the final health care reform bill or is replaced by the more moderate compromises in the Senate bill, both the passage of the amendment and the almost immediate response that women and pro-choice progressives should "take one for the team" hold a lesson and a warning for both progressives and Democrats.
- November 13, 2009 - 3:52pm
Michelle Bachman's "Superbowl of Freedom" (or "Bachmannalia") was not the first protest with such attention grabbing signage, but merely the latest. September saw Glenn Beck's 9/12 marchers descend upon Washington. Again, they brought their message-bearing signs and posters.
And their signs made their message and motivation clear.
- November 12, 2009 - 3:31pm
I've used this quote (attributed to Maya Angelou) before: "When people show you who they really are, believe them." I guess in periods of tremendous change people really reveal who they really are. I'll return to this in more detail post, but the news and debate leading up to and following the passage of health care reform in the House is at least worth a quick roundup, if only because it all comes together in a clear context.
First, let me reiterate that I'll be the first to say that the anger directed at the president, Congress, and the policy changes they're trying to make are not entirely rooted in racism, but have deep roots in the economic consequences of the last few decades for the people in some of the reddest states. That said, it's becoming impossible to ignore that a significant amount is also rooted in the racism and ethnocentrism conservatives have used to divert their constituents' attention — and rage — towards more convevient targets.
- November 9, 2009 - 10:04am
(The sixth in of a series of seven.)
Nothing in Common
If the cliché that a picture is worth a thousand words is true, then a couple of images might sum up the debate of over health care reform, and prove representative of the opposing sides.
[Via Preemptive Karma.]
[Via Wikimedia Commons.]President Obama also defined it during his speech to the joint houses of Congress: that debate over health care reform is really a debate — and a struggle, even — over the moral character of the nation. In other words, it's another part of the process of choosing what kind of country we want to be.
- November 5, 2009 - 12:07pm
House Republicans have presented a health care reform "plan" that doesn't fix our broken health care system (but might make it worse), and (according to the CBO) doesn't do much to fix the deficit conservatives say t
- November 4, 2009 - 1:58pm
First, it was Sen. Landerieu's nonsense. Now we get this from Sen. Joe Lieberman.
Enough is enough. When Democrats start parroting Republican talking points, they are showing us who they are. We need to treat accordingly. Especially when their take on health care reform is pretty much the same as the GOP's, in terms of outcome.
Rated/Discussed
- Commented Any Guy Should Be Willing To Write This Post in a discussion on Are You a Pre-Existing Condition? (Blog entry) | October 28, 2009 - 12:23pm
- Commented Pre-pre-adolesence in a discussion on The Tyranny of the Tantrum (Blog entry) | August 24, 2009 - 3:00pm
- Commented Holding the Bag in a discussion on Obama and the Big Dogs (Progressive Opinion) | April 23, 2009 - 10:31am
- Commented Question in a discussion on Obama's Gordon Gekko Targets Union Workers (Blog entry) | March 31, 2009 - 10:20pm
- Commented A bit more cynical in a discussion on Obama's Gordon Gekko Targets Union Workers (Blog entry) | March 31, 2009 - 10:15pm
- Commented Why the Diff? in a discussion on Obama's Gordon Gekko Targets Union Workers (Blog entry) | March 31, 2009 - 9:43am
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