Standing Up Against Cruelty

Dr. Rob Davidson

Every day I see and hear things I dislike.

Some things I thoroughly despise because I know the statements are said to be manipulative. They are “crafted” evil, poisonous concoctions thrown about to ignite biases, prejudices, racial hatreds, nationalism and outright violence.

Nothing is new about this. It has gone on since forever… man’s inhumanity to man.

Today’s version is the same-old-same-old story but includes a simple change of names for the perpetrator and the victims.

Perhaps you have noticed, as I have, those in power will say and do anything to remain in power at the expense of the powerless.

Here’s a for instance. Recently an Emergency Room doctor asked the Vice President of the United States why his administration is, “…taking healthcare away from millions of Americans.”

The doc lives where “the rubber meets the road”. Day-in-day-out this man witnesses desperate people in need of healthcare but can’t afford it.

So, when Vice President Pence stopped by his table in that Iowa diner, Dr. Rob Davidson demanded an answer to our government’s inhumanity to its own people. Of course he got B.S. in reply and Pence simply walked away. After all, as vice president, he has full coverage, doesn't he? Why should pain and suffering of everyday Joes and Janes be his concern?

Still, Dr. Rob Davidson stood up against our inhumane system and demanded better. He confronted the evil side of our government and said we have had enough callous disdain. It is well past time for kindness and concern for the people of the United States – even the poor, unemployed, elderly – and yes, even those people with different skin colors.

Yes, even if it doesn't feed Mr. Trump's zealot supporters' voracious appetite for cruelty toward "the others".

Dr. Rob Davidson is my hero.

Here’s the story….

E.R. doc: What I told Mike Pence about Michigan health care, oped, Detroit Free Press,21 
Feb 2020.

"Because of an unscripted, candid interaction I had a few weeks back with Vice President Mike Pence drew more than 4 million views online, I have the dubious distinction of being another target of the Trump Administration."

"This time, President Trump’s Medicare and Medicaid czar, Seema Verma – who also happened to be Pence’s Medicaid chief when he was Indiana’s governor – dismissed me as an “activist doctor.”

"Though Verma probably didn’t mean that as a compliment, I’ll happily wear the “activist doctor” label if it means standing up for my patients when policymakers threaten their healthcare."

"And when one of those senior policymakers — especially one who has the ear of the president and the loyalty of Trump’s evangelical base, as Pence does —  happens to walk into a diner where I’m finishing dinner, I will put my fork down and ask him why the administration he represents is taking healthcare away from millions of Americans."

Physicians fighting back

"On the day I ran into Pence, I’d already said plenty."

"As the executive director of the Committee to Protect Medicare, I’d been traveling to many states, standing with doctors, healthcare professionals and patient advocates. At each of these stops, from Detroit to Columbus to Houston to Des Moines, we raised awareness about the many ways the Trump Administration has been cutting Americans’ healthcare."

"We had a lot of material:"

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