Robert A Letcher who was treated by a couple of Tea Party protesters as a bum and a beggar apparently graduated from Cornell University with a doctorate in nuclear engineering.

Parkinson’s patient gains national attention from health-care rally confrontation

Dispatch video of encounter widely circulates on the Internet

Friday,  March 19, 2010 2:53 AM

By Catherine Candisky

A demonstrator at a Columbus health-care rally who was chided for looking for a handout “on the wrong end of town” actually is a former nuclear engineer with a doctorate from Cornell University.

Robert A. Letcher, 60, had no way of knowing that attending the rally would make him a flashpoint in the raging national health-care debate.

But the treatment of Letcher, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, by two opponents of health-care legislation instantly became the topic of Internet chatter and bloggers and was given a prime spot on cable-news programs in the past two days.

[snip]

Letcher, a Steubenville native, said he has helped design nuclear-power plants, worked as a community organizer and taught at the college level. He has been politically active most of his adult life, usually on the “progressive-leftist” side.

He went on disability five years ago. Letcher is insured through the tax-funded Medicaid program but wants others to have health insurance, too.

REST OF ARTICLE

‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:40

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:2

COLUMBUS – In a scene reminiscent of non-violent civil rights confrontations from the 1960s, Ohio Tea Partiers quickly turned ugly when facing off with health care advocates in front of Ohio Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy’s office Tuesday.

In shocking video taken by a Columbus Dispatch reporter Doral Chenowith yesterday, Tea Party protestors mock a seated counter-protestor with a sign indicating he has Parkinson’s disease. They then proceed to hurl wadded up bills at him shouting, “I’ll decide when to give you money!”

On March 17th outside of Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy’s (D-OH15) district office teabaggers mocked and scorned a man who had a sign stating that he had Parkinson’s. They told him “he’s in the wrong end of town to ask for handouts”, called him a communist and threw dollar bills at him to “pay for his health care”.

SOURCE

Well, the good news for the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts is that probably more women know when the Super Bowl is this year than in decades … who would have dreamed that the hottest topic in the women’s health community would be a television ad to run in prime time during the biggest football game of the year?

By now, you’ve probably heard all about the ad that Focus on the Family, the ultimate far-right political group, is spending millions to run during the game. It apparently will feature college football player Tim Tebow and his mom talking about a deeply personal medical decision she made years ago: she decided to carry her high-risk pregnancy to term against medical advice, resulting in the birth of her Heisman Trophy-winning son, Tim.

People have been asking us at Planned Parenthood what we think about the ad and about Mrs. Tebow’s decision. Though I haven’t seen the ad, based on what we’ve heard, our answer is simple. Planned Parenthood respects the right of every woman to make medical decisions for herself.

[snip]
A couple of great friends of Planned Parenthood — two terrific athletes — have something to say about sports, families, and the importance of personal decision making. Take a look HERE as former college and professional football player Sean James and Olympic gold medalist Al Joyner respond to the Tebow Super Bowl ad.

SOURCE

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Al Franken has taken the unusual step of shutting down Sen. Joe Lieberman on the Senate floor.

Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, currently is the target of liberal wrath over his opposition to a government-run insurance plan in the health care bill.

Franken was presiding over the Senate Thursday afternoon as Lieberman spoke about amendments he planned to offer to the bill. Lieberman asked for an additional 30 seconds to finish — a routine request — but Franken refused to grant the time.

Lieberman, appearing taken aback, said he’d submit the rest of his statement in writing. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona came to his friend Lieberman’s defense and criticized Franken’s behavior as inappropriate.

SOURCE

“It’s crazy, life has just turned upside down. We’re absolutely over the moon. I never really expected it,” she said when interviewed by CNN. “Since then we’ve been recognized everywhere. I was in the doctor’s and people were coming up to me, and at the supermarket and even when I went to fill up with petrol. It’s absolutely wonderful.” That is from Paddy Jones. Who is Paddy Jones? And why is the web abuzz with Paddy Jones? She is 75 years old and is the newest sensation on the internet and YouTube after her acrobatic display of salsa that won for her and her partner Nico the Spanish equivalent of Britain’s Got Talent. She was amazing! (Watch the video below.)