Community | August 10, 2009 | 129 comments

Uninsured conservative town hall activist hurt in fight, asks for donations to help pay medical bill

source: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_08/019423.php

Image
WakeUpPeople
..........
Yesterday, about 200 conservative activists held a protest outside the SEIU office in St. Louis. Gladney was there -- bandaged and in a wheelchair -- as a featured guest. Some of the activists held signs that read, "Don't Tread on Kenny." Reader R.D. alerted me to this tidbit in the local news account of the protest:

Gladney did not address Saturday's crowd of about 200 people. His attorney, David Brown, however, read a prepared statement Gladney wrote. "A few nights ago there was an assault on my liberty, and on yours, too." Brown read. "This should never happen in this country."

Supporters cheered. Brown finished by telling the crowd that Gladney is accepting donations toward his medical expenses. Gladney told reporters he was recently laid off and has no health insurance. [emphasis added]

Wait, the conservative opponent of health care reform, fighting (literally) to defeat a plan that would bring coverage to those who lose their jobs, lost his coverage because he got laid off?

I'm not in a position to say whether Gladney sustained genuine injuries or whether he's exaggerating for 15 minutes of Fox News fame and a lucrative out-of-court settlement.

Either way, the new right-wing cause celebre needs to take up a collection to pay for his medical bills because he doesn't have health insurance. It's a fascinating sign of the times.
  1. groups:
    Community,   US Politics,   Progressive America,   Current Democrats,   4 more
  2. tags:
    News and Politics,  Politics,  US News,  Health Care Reform
  3.     
    |

129 comments // Uninsured conservative town hall activist hurt in fight, asks for donations to help pay medical bill

  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  

    • Will President Obama (including his family) and congress be under their own Health Care bill?

      Because if it is so great...then they should be using the EXACT same health care.

    • 2 years ago
  • randallr01
    • 0
      randallr01  
    • J_Jammer:

      As I understand, this healthcare plan is a supplement to existing plans. It makes no difference if he is on this plan or not, because he is fortunate enough to be able to afford the current overpriced plans.

      Yet that's not the case with all people (I, for one, can't afford health insurance currently). Stop acting like the world as we know it will end under these SUPPLEMENTAL proposals.

      You're free to continue to pay your overpriced premiums at private companies. Don't worry.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • macfan
  • J_Jammer
  • pakazak
  • Sdizzle
    • 0
      Sdizzle  
    • J_Jammer:

      Who says some won't? This option will be available to them too.

      It isn't mandatory that you use the government plan. You can still buy high coverage plans. Most people that can't afford the private insurance at the moment will probably go with this plan though.

      The government option isn't there to kill private insurers, but to force them to reform themselves or perish in a free market solution. If this were the eighties this would be the republican counter proposal to a single payer system, much like cap and trade was THEIR counter to the environmental regulations that the democrats wanted. Then it was a way for the market to solve the problem with minimal interference, now it's liberal policy that is going to destroy business and rob your pocketbooks.

      I do have to give your side kudos for winning all the time though...even when they by all means shouldn't have any power.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  
    • J_Jammer:

      I did not speak of private anything....

      I also did not state a side.

      also if you're assuming democrats are the good side...laughable. They are both bad sides. The sooner you realize that...the less ignorant you'll be.

      The statement was simple. Why would the President and the Congress not be on the same program they are creating? Is it that horrible that they'd rather keep theirs?

    • 2 years ago
  • Sdizzle
    • 0
      Sdizzle  
    • J_Jammer:

      I hate to be the one to break this to you, but they do use a private health Insurance. They just have a congressional HMO like entity in washington.

      Did I ever say that I supported democrats? Didn't think so.I believe in direct democracy. Was it wrong for me to assume you were a republican? Yes, but I see you using similar buzzwords and tactics that have no actually basis in the actually discussion.(Here and elsewhere around the site)

      Unless you go ask everyone in congress if they plan on dropping their health insurance provider to go to the new public plan, you should stop making it seem like they wont. Even if they do keep their insurers, why would that matter?

      You make it sound like the government is busting down your door and making you buy their plan. Yes, you will have to get health insurance(just like you have to get auto insurance) but no one ever said it had to be the government plan.

      None of the bills I have read are perfect, but it wont take perfect to do better than the system we have. Yes, the most likely bills to pass will cost a lot of money. If they work though, it's like replacing your current windows with energy efficient ones. It costs a lot of money up front, but they eventually pay themselves off.

    • 2 years ago
  • ayashe
    • 0
      ayashe  

    • That's such a conservative thing to do. And even though he isn't insured he's going to get the medical attention he needs, and get his bills paid since they all act like crazy people and got attention. But other people who need coverage aren't going to get that kind of help, and those people are trying to stop it. It's disgusting.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  
    • ayashe:

      What's disgusting is the misinformation that both sides of this stupid fight are handing out.

      This is why liberals or those that agree with Obama are no better when they talk bitterly about those who find a problem with Obama's plan.

      Miscommunication with the public is what is going on. Obama can sweet talk when he gives speeches but sweet taking and damage control words are bandaids to explanations and reasons as to what is said where.

      If he set up a specific website that dealt with explaining the bill and then take REASONABLE questions and answer them then some of these people will be silenced if the answers are calming to them.

      Not only will this give him a way to state what the bill is to do it will not be interrupted by anger or frustration or assumptions. Now it also works for people to understand a bill that is so FREAKIN LONG....but then again it is written and this will bound him to another broken line of things he has said would happen.

      But at least he won't waste his time speaking about it when no one is listening...no one on either side. Those that don't want it only see him spilling lies and those that do want it only hear angelic singing.

      It's like I live in a retarded fairy tale and both sides are worse than the other.

    • 2 years ago
  • macfan
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  

    • Let us see how open minded certain people are.....

      I have low expectations.

      Why certain people have a problem with being similar to any other country that has Universal Heath Care. Canada also has a single payer system.

      Yes I understand that Obama's isn't going to be the EXACT same...that's not the point. He does nothing to quell these thoughts and his replies to statements or suggestions like this do nothing but add more crypticness to the entire thing.

      America, since its birth, has been unique in that it was not ancient and that it stood out as different. Not ruled by a King or Queen or ruled in ways that other countries were ruled. Is it better? That's like stating someone's parents are better than another set of parents. Each parent was good for their children in a different way and it was based mainly on the make up of the children themselves.

      Each country is different and good for many reasons (as well as bad for many reasons)...so none can out right be better than another. YES the health care system needs help...but these people are not in denial over that. They just don't think it needs the kind of help that Obama thinks.

      Why is that wrong? AH...yes...they are not blue and are not democrats. Gotcha....

    • 2 years ago
  • Sdizzle
    • 0
      Sdizzle  
    • J_Jammer:

      I could care less about who authors the health care bill are. I think that the republican bill hr3438 could be amended in to a pretty decent health care bill.

      I also wish people would stop comparing hr3200 with Canada and England. It is much closer to the French model, which happens to be ranked #1 by the WHO.

      Somethings are better off as socialized programs. I happen to like the government in charge of the military, police and fire departments.

    • 2 years ago
  • MilchMann
  • Sdizzle
  • stardate
    • 0
      stardate  
    • J_Jammer:

      And Canada is a hellhole. We all know that. Your argument would be reasonable if you said Somalia also have a single payer system. Except it doesn't but facts never stand in your way anyway so why not mention a country that actually suck? Canada? Hello? People are healthier there than in the US.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • rudi7
  • UrbanGypsy
    • 0
      UrbanGypsy  

    • I like the idea of a world where every man can provide for himself, but the reality is that there are many people out there who cannot afford health insurance.

      This man is just ignoring his own well being by going against the idea of a public healthcare option. That is just stupid...

    • 2 years ago
  • Timmit
  • MinneapolisMafia
  • GodsnLiberals
  • lifestudentno83
  • joseb3z
  • theultimateend
    • 0
      theultimateend  

    • You know an almost negligable tax on soda would produce enough money to pay for all the actual healthcare that would happen.

      It wouldn't pay for the doomsday scenario that'll never come but that seems to be the biggest reason we won't do it. "BUT WHAT WHEN EVERYONE WANTS TO FIX FAKE INJURIES." ... Yes...because that'll happen.

      OR! Here is a thought, stop spending billions on maintaining old and relatively worthless nuclear warheads and use that money to help uninsured people. The newer stuff is better at killing people anyways and isn't the the idea?

      I just don't see the point in arguing that this is wasteful spending when we spend far more on weapons and vehicles that have absolutely no enemy to match them. When was the last time we used an F-22 (Believe that's the name). Planes cost more than a statewide orgy and aren't nearly as satisfying.

    • 2 years ago
  • ismaelo44
  • Drach
    • 0
      Drach  

    • I pay almost $1000 a month on health insurance. Please people. We have some of the best medical care in the world, yet no one here can afford it. I look at it this way. I pay so much a month, the insurance company just takes my money and gives me nothing in return.. UNTIL I get sick or hurt. I personally think they should pay most of the money back if it's not being used for my health care. It feels as if I'm paying someone for NOTHING.

      Maybe I should go into ketoacidosis, then attempt to sue the insurance company for denying my claim..

      Please stop calling us communists. The Police Department is a SOCIAL service. The Fire Department is also... a SOCIAL service.
      How would you like it if someone robbed your house, set it on fire, then after calling the emergency services, they write you a bill or refuse to work unless you give them cash?

      Health care should be a social service. So should Ambulance rides.

      Hey, Kenny! Stop having your MOUTH write checks that your ASS can't cash!
      /end rant

    • 2 years ago
  • UrbanGypsy
    • 0
      UrbanGypsy  
    • Drach:

      The worst thing that messes everything up is that after paying the insurance companies for years, many times they refuse to pay when its their turn. They deny paying customers their share of coverage... that is pathetic, evil, and immoral.

    • 2 years ago
  • lifestudentno83
    • 0
      lifestudentno83  

    • I wonder if we can all get medical bills paid for by donations...

      I need a doctor's check up and allergy medicine. Anyone willing to pony up the dough?

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • lifestudentno83
    • 0
      lifestudentno83  
    • lifestudentno83:

      But I don't know Obama.
      How about you, Jammer? You could help out an American while say no to socialized medicine.

      Cause, you know, everything Obama does is evil. He's the Nazi Messiah Anti-Christ Communist Socialist Hypocrite, and I don't want him paying for the medical needs no one else wants to pay for.

      [sarcasm is fun]

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • jh64487
  • lifestudentno83
  • J_Jammer
  • lifestudentno83
  • J_Jammer
  • lifestudentno83
    • 0
      lifestudentno83  
    • lifestudentno83:

      No, the Obama thing to do would be to get everyone together without medical insurance and get them to chip in for each other.

      The conservative thing to do would be to have other people take responsibility for the recovery by giving money to one person.

      Do you even READ the topic articles before commenting, or does your knee-jerk reactions not allow you to do so?

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • stardate
  • J_Jammer
  • Found_Avenue
    • 0
      Found_Avenue  
    • Image

    • Oh, the delicious irony. "Grrr! Look at me! Big angry stupid man fighting for my right to get hurt and get someone else to foot the biil!" Freeloading idiot. Stop looking for that proverbial hand out. If you need health care so badly, why are you fighting to make sure you never GET any???

      But now that I think about it...

      The guy's insurance bills SHOULD be paid for by the insurance companies, because this is essentially a case of workman's comp! He's a WORKER BEE for the insurance companies. If he's like the rest of the protesters we've been seeing on the news, he is being PAID to be at this so-called spontaneous rally. Almost all of these protesters have been hired by the "Recess Rally" organization, which was created recently by a PR Firm hired by republican political action committees, as well as the insurance companies, to fight Obama's health care reform plans. They're setting up these rallies, hiring these uninformed douchebags, and literally instructing them to yell incoherently until the media turns their cameras away from the meetings and onto the protestors, all while working their hardest to convince everyone that this outpouring is entirely spontaneous. Don't believe me? Click above, and then scroll to the bottom of the screen to the sponsor banners, and do a little research on each those sponsors - you'll see who OWNS these protests...

      Or better yet, watch that Rachel Maddow clip above to see the research she's done on these sponsored rallies.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • advance1313
    • 0
      advance1313  

    • If you think this is ironic, you're missing the point. He's asking others to help, he's not FORCING others to pay his health care like the Dems will if they get their way.

      The conservative argument isn't about the fear of paying for someone else's health insurance, we're all already doing that. Currently, private companies get paid. We just don't see the reason to pay the government instead, so that they can redistribute that wealth to the have-nots, and increase the size of government.

      "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have"
      Thomas Jefferson

    • 2 years ago
  • subject_2_change
    • 0
      subject_2_change  
    • advance1313:

      "We just don't see the reason to pay the government instead, so that they can redistribute that wealth to the have-nots, and increase the size of government."

      So that we don't pay private health insurance companies that force people to pay high prices for inadequate service. Also, so that everyone is insured as opposed to the horrid state of our health care system (86 million+ Americans uninsured, the "have-nots" you're talking about). The rich shouldn't be the only ones with access to health care, especially when poorer people need it more.

    • 2 years ago
  • WakeUpPeople
    • 0
      WakeUpPeople  
    • advance1313:

      And what you seem to be missing is the fact that he's not the only one in this country asking for help. In fact there are tens of millions that are asking for help. So this ceases to be a small matter of charity and becomes a national crisis. Your quote from Jefferson would have been more impressive if access to health care were a want and not a need.

    • 2 years ago
  • WakeUpPeople
    • 0
      WakeUpPeople  
    • advance1313:

      Here's a good quote.

      "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

      I like the part about the general welfare. I keep looking for a reference to the rich welfare, but I can't find it.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • Betico
  • amazonprincess
    • 0
      amazonprincess  

    • It's obvious to those who still have a soul and a brain KNOW that the health insurance industry is behind any and all protests against the health care reform and attempts to derail it.

      The health care insurance companies are pumping millions of dollars a day in their attempt to stop a better health care plan for American people and to keep their lucrative business that has been killing American people.

      Are you ready to become another victim of the health insurance industry?

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • keviar
    • 0
      keviar  
    • amazonprincess:

      maybe it's because republicans/lobbyists or whoever thinks healthcare is bad impede the fuck out of progress because they have no other whim other then to appease the corporations that pay them to induce spin.

      Fox news has such a intangible spell on the populous, understandably. Every notion of hypocrisy is epitomized in the illusionary world of the "fox nation". It is so unfathomably true that the ideals spread by fox are to anesthetize and are alluded to their convoluted notion of American patriotism.

      You may argue Democrats/liberals effectively persuade government lucre towards similar projects. But atleast some of them have a sure-sense of what needs to be done. conservatives should flounder at the fact that they have been in control for so fucking long, and its time to let go. Progress needs to be made.
      I am angry at the fact that progress is not being made, and for me to be considered a bigot for abdicating the genuineness and credibility of an ideal that has bamboozled a demographic and commandeered the fears of the nation (who watches faux news).

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • amazonprincess
    • 0
      amazonprincess  

    • "Conservative" now has a very, very bad image problem. It now stands for a group of delusional angry white minority that has been enslaved by corporate America.

      No donation for this idiot. Let him taste his own failure.

      Health care reform is as important to American people as the fight against terrorism. It's the GREED of the health insurance industry that has caused millions of Americans too much pain and suffering. We must band together and fight against the force from the dark side: the health insurance industry!

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • bluestranger
    • 0
      bluestranger  

    • I would laugh at the absurdity of this. The only thing is the subject is too serious. Last week my girlfriend's premiums, medical copays, prescription copays, and deductibles went up. In the past her carrier has waited until they have received a raise to gouge them. I guess they got impatient because it doesn't look as if they will get a raise this year.
      Maybe the insurance companies will have mercy on Ol' Kenny boy and pay your medical bills. Since there is no profit margin in mercy, I wouldn't count on it. You have given me a thought though. The wave of the future will be rallies where we take up donations to pay for each others medical expenses. So good on you Kenny. You are truly an inspiration on several levels. The first of which would be the gullible and the second the ignorant.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • bluestranger
    • 0
      bluestranger  
    • bluestranger:

      J-Jammer, as a rule you know that I usually don't respond to you. I will make an exception on this one though. 1. It is hard to be holier than anyone if you are an atheist. 2.Why are you taking the time to respond to my comment? Did I hit a nerve? Peace on you.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • randallr01
  • pakazak
    • 0
      pakazak  
    • bluestranger:

      easy on the Jammer, please.
      he doesn't need sticking up for, don't get me wrong, but i've always found him to be grounded, principled and maybe a bit of a sniper.
      does he compromise? hard to say, but he doesn't hit you with frivolous, disconnected arguments.

      i'd rather notice the similarities than the differences.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  
    • bluestranger:

      If you do not have a strong opinion you feel weak enough to be offended by someone else's....

      Do not be upset that someone feels strongly in the opposite direction of you. You are not the marker of right. No human is...for all humans are fatally flawed. I just am all in or not for many things.

      Being half-hearted for any reason on anything is quite lame...if not just a waste of time.

      Why bother stating anything if you're not sure? Fickle and conflicted is rather fracturing to a person in many respects.

      Those who get offended so easily are the ones that tend to be the angriest people.

    • 2 years ago
  • bluestranger
    • 0
      bluestranger  
    • bluestranger:

      JJ, I have no problem with a person that has totally considered a position being strong on that position. My problem with you is that you don't evaluate and consider someone elses position or comment before making an inane remark. Get with the program. You seem to have flashes of intelligence. Please use it.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • stardate
    • 0
      stardate  
    • bluestranger:

      Feels strongly? Now therein lies the problem. You just feel. You don't think. You don't learn. Emotions what make people nuts not facts and logic.

      Someone tells me he feels strongly about this or that I know he is just another loser human.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • J_Jammer
  • pakazak
  • J_Jammer
  • mustng0sally
    • 0
      mustng0sally  
    • J_Jammer:

      Well, everyone here gets a chance to voice their opinion and have it heard (read, rather). From what I've seen of the town hall meetings, protesters are drowning out the representatives and speakers with their chants, so no one BUT them can be heard.
      The tone here may be the same, but the chance to be heard and respond is very different. That's one of the benefits of internet "discussion."

      For the record, I feel this way about all loud/obnoxious protests, whether they be right or left wing in nature. There's a civil way to discuss things, but unfortunately a lot of people get too hot under the collar to do anything but yell and scream.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • jh64487
  • J_Jammer
  • pakazak
    • 0
      pakazak  

    • i'm wondering how many in the crowd receive health insurance that was negotiated through part of a union contract or is subsidized in part by the government.
      how many showed up because they heard someone on tv or radio tell them they should be there and how many actually put a coherent thought process to work when they decided to go?
      just wonderin'

    • 2 years ago
  • subject_2_change
    • 0
      subject_2_change  

    • Gotta love the idiot with the sign "health care reform = abortion". Where does this type of stupidity come from? What forces keep this mindlessness multiplying and flourishing?

      "This is overwhelming evidence that they lost their common sense from whatever conceited views they have. Step it up, this is ridiculous, time consuming and killing people as we speak." Very, very well said.

    • 2 years ago
  • miss_yogini
  • chasingame
    • 0
      chasingame  

    • So I guess the GOP does have an alternative health care plan huh? Sue everyone and ask for donations. Sounds solid to me. ~lots of sarcasm there~ Frickin idiots!

    • 2 years ago
  • keviar
    • 0
      keviar  

    • What can you expect from a group of people whose bastion their ideals on a conflicted book written 2000 years ago? American oxymorons that impede progress are surprisingly accommodated by the culture; for they have no basic knowledge yet they can still slander and commune their ideals. This moronic irony is a cancer long overdue from the over replication of the status quo. This is overwhelming evidence that they lost their common sense from whatever concieted views they have. Then how are these people so resillient In the face of change? Perhaps it is The incompetence within the democratic will itself. The left need to up their game because how is the correct perspective being faltered and contradicted at every step by those who have absolutely nothing going for them beside the arrogance coming out of their preach. Step it up, this is ridiculous, time consuming and killing people as we speak.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  
    • keviar:

      The problem is people talking about other people in groups instead of what the problem is. THEY...THEY THEY THEY THEY THEY THEY THEY....is terrible thing to state when one is angry. It's bigot like.

    • 2 years ago
  • lord_beavis
  • MilchMann
  • stardate
    • 0
      stardate  
    • keviar:

      Nationalist Americans think there's nothing anyone can do better than Americans, while 1) they know shit about the the rest of the world 2 ) they hate about 50% of Americans and their ideas. It's the kind of hypocrisy you can find in every nationalist circle from the US to Malaysia. All of them should be put on a spaceship and kicked out of our solar system so people who think quality is more important than country could finally work without spending valuable time and energy fighting those flag waving morons.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  

    • No one is fighting health care. they are fighting how one will pay for it.

      FREE does not exist. It would if the government used our tax money correctly instead of handing it to stupid banks and car companies...but oh well that's how Presidents work...pay the big guys and ignore the little ones.

    • 2 years ago
  • lifestudentno83
  • J_Jammer
  • nkeg87
  • Sdizzle
    • 0
      Sdizzle  
    • J_Jammer:

      The only problem with your argument is this they aren't free plans. You still have to pay for it, just like any other insurance plan. Don't just listen to what people say, read the fucking bills.

    • 2 years ago
  • MilchMann
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  
    • J_Jammer:

      You mean the bills that they word so sneaky like..the bills that they don't word so that it is simple enough for those that don't have a legal degree to understand what is going on?

      Bills are just double talk.

      Just like laws.....double speak maybe more accurate. Say one thing but can be used for evil all the same.

    • 2 years ago
  • lifestudentno83
  • J_Jammer
  • bitchpleez
  • Wetdog
    • 0
      Wetdog  

    • Tell me Igor, just out of curiosity, where did that brain that you brought me come from?...............................

    • 2 years ago
  • simonl
  • J_Jammer
  • randallr01
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  
    • Image
    • simonl:

      One is red and one is blue.

      Their dislikes are similar in that they don't like red if they are blue and they don't like blue if they are red.

      It's like that episode of Star Trek...there were the black and white faces and white and black faces..and they were the same but arguing over who was better.

      Well.... NEITHER is the right answer.

      Obama is not better than Bush. Bush is not better than Obama....Donkey no better than Elephant....Elephant no better than Donkey. It's just a bitter dislike for the other for NO good REASON.

    • 2 years ago
  • iammyfathersson
  • MinneapolisMafia
12
1 - 100 of 129
more from Community:
from the community

top videos