What are the colors of humanity?

How wonderful it must be to be blissfully clueless. My son was hospitalized this week due to a severe asthma attack. I live in a city where we are lucky enough to have high quality hospitals and medical care. We recently built a new hospital dedicated to the care of children. Our previous medical facility for this purpose was a bit outdated and structurally unsound. This was my first visit to the new facility.

When I pulled up to the emergency entrance at 12 midnight, the neatly dressed valet greeted us at our vehicle wearing his bright red jacket and a smile. We were efficiently escorted from our vehicle and into the building. We entered the building through brand new doors and were stunned by a visual experience that would make the Vatican green with envy. The floors are literally paved in gold and gemstones. The tile glitters and the walls are adorned with mosaic art. There was a spiral staircase that seemed to be endless swirling it's way past beautiful windows that gazed out upon the beauty of our city. There are bilious murals that guide you down hallways that are wide enough to accommodate vehicle traffic. Gracing every corner is a kiosk designed to direct you wherever you need to go through a system of color coding with "fruit" as the identifying color. Located conveniently near each kiosk is a security booth and mac machine. Everything is clearly labeled and there is always someone to provide assistance, if necessary.

We were efficiently registered and waited no longer than 5 minutes for a nurse to escort us to the emergency room. The nurses are all dressed in playfully bright scrubs and stuffed toys dangle from the stethoscopes. The room where my son was treated was instantly packed with several nurses and two physicians. I gazed around the room, amazed by the efficiency and the technology that swirled around me. Within minutes, my son was stabilized and comfortable. No one seemed rushed or panicked and the atmosphere was that of just carrying on business as usual.

Now that my son is stable and sleeping, I require coffee. I ask the nurse where I can locate the cafeteria. She provides efficient directions, but asks me if I would like her to get it for me. I declined the offer, being as I needed to take a walk. I am adorned with a visitors pass, and exit the ER. I traveled through this hospital expecting to find the typical cafeteria, lacking any luster and comfort. I was wrong. The cafeteria is a secured area. It requires a pass to open the door. I assume that this is additional security to keep our children safe from the outside threats that can present themselves in a crowded environment. I entered a nauseatingly cheerful scene. There are dried foods that decorate the counters, a vast selection of child friendly foods and snacks, and endless counters with dozens of choices in foods. The seating area overlooks a courtyard with chaise lounge chairs and brightly trimmed window panes. The landscaping is simple as to not distract from the beautiful paving of the enormous patio, complete with tables, chairs and umbrellas. That too, is a secure door. The art on the walls is that of children's shadow boxes. The frames are hand-painted and the boxes contain the imagination of a child free of illness. The light fixtures are soft and comforting, not the harsh fluorescent bulbs of the past.

After several hours, my son is transferred to the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit. If you think that this place is over the top, you haven't seen anything yet. Upon entering the NICU, the family waiting room is located just to your left and prior to the security desk that you must visit in order for the nurse to open the locked door to the unit. Once identified as the child's family member, access is granted. One thing that impacted me immediately was silence. There was no beeping of monitors, no loud proclamations over a loud speaker, just silence and smiling faces. I wondered how it was so quiet. Then I realized why. Each room within the NICU has a sound proof glass sliding door. There is no more of the cheap wooden doors, or curtains separating patients from each other. Every room in the NICU is a private one. When I walked through the door to my son's room, I couldn't believe my eyes. I have stayed at 4 star hotels with less amenities than this room had. He had a desk in the corner, (in case he wants to start that novel that he has been putting off), there is a couch that opens into a full size bed, a coffee table, a private bathroom, a 32" flatscreen TV, a mobile data center for the nurses, all monitoring equipment is suspended from the ceiling, so as not to be obtrusive or garish. This small child lays in a bed that is fit for a king. He looked so lost in the oversized comfort of his new bed. We close the door behind us, and slide over the bright curtain that provides privacy from passers by.

Located outside of each room in the NICU is another monitor by which the nurses can watch the child's vitals without ever having to enter the room and "disturb them". Below the monitor is another desk complete with a 42" computer screen for them to do their charting and ordering meds from the on site pharmacy. This was sensory overload, for me. I decided that since my son was asleep, that I would venture out to the cafeteria once more. On this trip, I passed the gift shop. I felt as though I had located the local mall. It was enormous and carried everything imaginable. Disney would be proud.

This was when I stopped dead in my tracks, and while staring at the bronze statue of the entire cast of the Wizard Of Oz, remembered a trip to the older Children's Hospital several years prior.

Yes, my son was hospitalized previously at the older facility. It was, again, his asthma. He was admitted to that hospital and spent 4 days total there. It was a fight on the fourth day to get my son released. I had never experienced this before, and was confused by it. From what I understood of hospitals, they were always in a rush to "get the bed emptied". My son had been off of all medication for over 6 hours, at this point. He was spunky, and playing video games on the portable game unit that the nurses had wheeled into his room days prior. I requested that physician release him to go home. This took hours of pleading after multiple excuses as to why they "hadn't processed the paperwork yet". I was beginning to become irritated. Then, the unimaginable happened. Another young boy around 8 years of age was wheeled into my son's room. This child had recently had surgery on his spine and brain stem. He was fastened into one of those horrible head halos that bolt to the child's shoulders. He was moaning in pain when they wheeled him in. There was only a curtain to separate us, so I was privy to all discussions on the other side of that curtain. After approximately an hour, the nurse entered the room to speak with that child's parents. She informed them that they were discharging their son. Both parents were upset and questioned why. They were told, in no uncertain terms, that their child's insurance would not pay for any longer stay in the hospital, and if they wanted him to stay, they had to sign a form stating that they would be financially responsible for the medical bills.

Read that one more time, and let it sink in. I want you to realize that this child was no more than 4 hours out of major surgery and they were discharging him, moaning in pain. His mother was in tears and pleading for another option. the nurse told her that if she wanted to, she could take the child home for 24 hours, and then return and the insurance would pay for another 48 hours total. They were out of options, and had no choice but to begin to pack their son's things to return home. By the way, they wouldn't even validate their parking because they did not enter the hospital via the ER.

At this point, I am enraged and appalled. My son has been NOT receiving treatment for over 7 hours, yet my insurance is being billed ONLY because they are willing to pay. This little boy is being booted out on his backside because his insurance will not pay any further. I stated to the nurse that she could just bill my insurance for that kid because they are defrauding my insurance company anyway by keeping my son there. I then asked her to give the video game console to the other boy so that at least he had something to keep his mind off the pain. She callously stated simply, "no."

So, I look around at this monstrosity of a hospital, and even though I am so very thankful that it is here, I can't help but ask myself a question. What do these beautiful walls have to hide? Does it really matter if the walls and floor are paved with gold, when young children are suffering because their parents cannot afford a stay at a 5 star resort? This thought saddens me, and makes me see this building as Pandora's box. I return to the NICU floor, and as I walk past the family waiting area, I see a grandmother with tears streaming down her face. I see another younger woman sobbing and her mascara rolling down her cheeks. That is the real colors of a child's hospital, people. They are the colors of human suffering and pain. That woman's son will never leave that palace. He will take his last breaths in a brightly colored room full of all the comforts of modern medical technology. How easily we forget how lucky we are. My son will leave there, and remember his stay there as one of fun and safety. But there are others who will never leave, and even more who will never even get the chance to see it.

So, to the administrators, architects, interior designers, and consultants, I make you an offer. I am willing to forego the glittered tile, remove the desk from my son's room, tone down the paint and decorations, and then take that money and donate it to the care of children who cannot afford what my son is lucky enough to have, HEALTH CARE! Goddamnit! You are a hospital. Where the hell have your priorities gone? Do you really think that your lavender paint and big screen tv give any comfort to the families of dead children? Do you think that your beautiful window dressings give comfort to those who cannot afford the thousands of dollars that a one night stay and some antibiotics will cost them? I cannot be bought with a pretty book cover, ladies and gentlemen, because I have seen the pages, and I have read your book. You may have fooled the blissfully clueless, but honestly, do you really care about the health and well being of your community, or just your bottom line? Prove it. Make THAT your priority, and see the colors of humanity for a change. They are more beautiful than your walls can ever hope to be.

I have a better idea...

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A month of harsh words between Rep. Patrick Kennedy and a strident critic, Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin, escalated Sunday when the bishop acknowledged asking Kennedy not to receive Holy Communion because of the Democratic lawmaker's support for abortion rights.

The bishop's attempt to publicly shame Kennedy on his abortion stance comes just a few months after the death of his father, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. Tobin told The Associated Press that the younger Kennedy, who has been in and out of treatment for substance abuse, has been acting "erratically."

Their dispute began in October when Kennedy criticized the nation's Catholic bishops for threatening to oppose an overhaul of the nation's health care system unless lawmakers included tighter restrictions on abortion, which have since been added to the House version of the bill. Tobin said he felt Kennedy made an unprovoked attack on the church and demanded an apology.

"The point is, because of his obstinate ... public support of abortion, which is clearly contrary to an essential teaching of the church of a matter of critical morality ... he is then not properly prepared to receive Holy Communion," Tobin said in an interview Sunday. "No one has a right to receive Holy Communion."

The feud escalated after Kennedy told The Providence Journal in a story published Sunday that Tobin instructed him not to receive Communion. Kennedy also claimed the bishop had told diocesan priests not to give him communion, an allegation that Tobin denied.

Kennedy and his spokeswoman did not return repeated calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Tobin said he wrote Kennedy in February 2007 and asked him not to receive Communion because of his voting record supporting abortion rights.

The bishop said his letter was prompted by a statement two months earlier from the nation's Catholic bishops. They said that believers who knowingly and consistently break with church teachings on moral issues such as abortion should refrain from Communion, the focus of Roman Catholic worship.

Abortion is a major concern for the Catholic bishops because opposition to the procedure is based on the church's earliest teachings on preserving human life, which have not changed. By comparison, church teaching on the death penalty is not as definitive and has changed over time, making it difficult for church leaders to demand that Catholic lawmakers agree.

Only a few U.S. bishops have said they would outright deny Holy Communion to a Catholic lawmaker who supports policies that violate church teaching. A larger number of prelates have publicly asked a Catholic politician to voluntarily abstain from the sacrament.

For example, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the Diocese of Kansas City in Kansas had repeatedly said publicly that former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic Democrat who supports abortion rights, should stop taking Communion until she changes her stance. Sebelius is now President Barack Obama's secretary of Health and Human Services.

Other Catholic politicians have wrestled with the same issue Kennedy faces.

In 1984, former Democratic New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, a Catholic who supported abortion rights and was at the time a potential presidential candidate, delivered a speech at the University of Notre Dame explaining that Catholic lawmakers shouldn't be pressured by church leaders to work for anti-abortion legislation. He said Sunday it's dangerous for the church to pressure politicians because of the potential for unintended consequences.

"If you're required (by the church) to make everybody follow your Catholic role, then nobody would vote for Catholics because it's clear that when you get the authority, you're going to be guided by your faith," the former governor told The Associated Press.

Cuomo said there are two positions a politician can take: They can oppose church doctrine outright or, as he did, accept church teachings personally but refuse to carry them into the public arena where they would affect people of every faith.

"Don't ask me to make everybody live by it because they are not members of the church," Cuomo said. "If that were the operative rule, how could you get any Catholic politician in office? And would that be better for the Catholic church?"

Catholics seemed divided Sunday by the feud between Kennedy and Tobin.

Nancy Sieger, 49, who attended a celebration Sunday for her old parish church in East Providence, questioned whether Kennedy was being treated more harshly than his father, who also supported abortion rights but was given a funeral Mass presided over by Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston.

She said most Americans support a separation of church and state.

"I think that the Church really needs to stay out of it," she said.

Anne Mitchell, 74, said she supported Tobin's attempts to keep strong limits on publicly financed abortion.

"Abortion is wrong. It's always wrong," she said. "Keep abortion out of the bills."





I have a better idea. How about you keep your religion out of MY government! Listen up, Mr. Tobin, you are making a very poor business decision here. Your bosses are not going to like it. You are going to cost them membership with your shenanigans, you hypocritical fruitloop! I am guessing that the "Big Kahuna" is not thrilled with you either.

Allow me to isolate and make clear how incredibly assinine you are. You stated the following, "The point is, because of his obstinate ... public support of abortion, which is clearly contrary to an essential teaching of the church of a matter of critical morality ... he is then not properly prepared to receive Holy Communion," Tobin said in an interview Sunday. "No one has a right to receive Holy Communion."

Read that again, Bishop Flunkie. You do NOT have the right to determine who is and who is not fit to receive communion. That would be up to your god, would it not? You seem to have lost touch with your own teachings, and yet you feel empowered enough to make your little pissing contest with Mr. Kennedy part of your faith. Interesting strategy, however lacking it is in logic. As it stands right now, your faith and the teachings thereof do NOT hold political influence. However, you aparently feel that if you bully Mr. Kennedy long enough, you will somehow rise to the surface of superior morality? WRONG! You are correct about one thing, though. No one DOES have a RIGHT to communion. No one also has the right to impose their religious views upon another by means of political influence. That IS what you are doing, here, correct? You have deduced that if you publically shame Mr. Kennedy and his stand on abortion rights, that you will somehow influence him through religiously indoctrinated guilt to change his stand on this issue, or no longer receive communion.

I have a better idea for Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy, go online and order communion wafers. You CAN do that, you know. Then take them to any ordained idiot whose parish could use a extra couple of bucks *wink wink* and have them blessed. The devour the whole freakin lot of them. Do you feel "closer to god" now? I didn't think so. Heaven forbid, we aknowledge what a scam the humans who run your faith are really perpetrating. Mr. Kennedy, hold on to your faith. Believe in your god. The act of receiving communion is simply ritualistic in nature, and is enforced and manipulated by human beings. Bishop Fuckhead has NO right to tell you whether or not you are "fit to receive communion". He seems to have allowed his "power" to go to his head. You probably should not attend church and drink the wine either, in light of your "substance abuse" issues. My guess is that Bishop Assclown hasn't quite made that connection yet.

Hey Bishop Cornhole, when you assholes pay taxes, you can have an opinion in our politics. Until then, please shove your self righteous religious bullshit straight where your obession lies...your asshole. You are a piss poor representative of people of faith. You have NO RIGHT to impose your views upon another man simply because you do not like his political stand. Now, Mr. Kennedy has a choice. He can abide by your nonsense, and change his stand, or he can continue to practice his faith and tell you to go fuck yourself. Here is the funny part. Let's see how well your bullshit holds up against his career and his income. Much like the organization that YOU work for, his is also driven by popular opinion and the almighty dollar. The difference is, his pays him and yours takes his money. Gee, I wonder who will win. Fuckhead. You don't even know the rules of your own game. Go back to school, son. Daddy is gonna be PISSED!

As for you, 74 year old Anne Mitchell, you are correct about one thing, you just seem to have missed a few words. Let me help you. It should read as follows, "Keep religiously influenced opinion about abortion out of the bills." There, isn't that better now? Listen up, Anne. I have always heard the phrase, "respect your elders". That has never made much sense to me. I can understand respect of your fellow humans, but I refuse to give you more because you have lived longer. You get from me exactly what you deserve, and that is a good swift kick in your shriveled up judgemental ass. If you think that just because you are an old bitter, judgemental, bible beating shrew that I am going to let you off of the hook for such blatent ignorance, you are mistaken. Let me explain it in terms you can understand. Let not the ignorant of the herd become the shepherd. For through his own greed and desires, he will inflict upon the loyal undue and unjust judgement, for only I can cast the hand of righteousness.

You caught me, I made that up. I bet you still googled it, didn't you? Sounds real enough to pass for the same bullshit that you fools have been spewing for hundreds of years. So, without years of translation and transcription, I will tell you what it means. According to YOUR rules, you cannot judge another. Only your god can do that. Uh oh, looks like Annie won't be receiving communion. After all, you are to be spreading the word of your god, not passing judgment or compromising with the enemy.

Don't sweat it though, Annie. Hopefully they will rewrite and change those rules before you croak. One can only have faith. Good luck.

Going, Going...Aren't you gone yet?????

"Going Rogue", huh? Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, are you EVER going to learn? Now, don't get me wrong, I do love the irony of that title. I mean who would expect a nasty, attention seeking, stupid hypocrite to write a book about how she was treated unfairly, and made the victim. Ok, so there isn't really all that much irony, after all, you are "The Maverick". There is nothing more "rogue" or "maverick like" than writing a book trashing everyone and anyone in the hopes of advancing your career, or bank account, whatever your intention is. Sarah, it has been done a million times over. You aren't "rogue". You are hopeless.

It is incredible that you still have not grasped that there is a bigger world outside of Wasilla. Sarah, I know that many people have tried to explain to you how things work in the real world, but for some reason you are resistant to education. I am going to do my best to speak your language and see if maybe, just maybe, you can grasp what I am saying here.

You weren't running for Homecoming Queen. Senator McCain was. Do you understand what that means? That means that you were just hair and make-up behind the scenes. You were just there to make him look good. If McCain had WON, you would be second runner up to the queen. You know what that means, right? That means unless McCain is unable to fulfill his duties as queen, you simply wait around smiling and hoping that he gets caught having made a tasteful spread in Playboy. THEN, you can step in and wear the crown. Unfortunately, you pushed the queen down the steps BEFORE she was elected. It was a good plan in that Lifetime movie that you watched, but not really a good plan in reality, Sarah. You are supposed to push her when no one is looking, NOT when the cameras are rolling. Cameras record more than just crowns and smiles, sweetie. Here, in the real world, we expect more than just a cheap smile and a cutsie wink. We expect knowledge of the issues, in other words, the "interview" portion of the pageant is more important than the swimmsuit portion. I know that is different than what you are used to, but this isn't a Wasilla popularity contest. This was an election for the Presidency of The United States. It isn't just like the pageants you entered when you were young, just on a bigger scale. You should have watched the end of that movie, Sarah. I saw it too. The bitchy cheerleader that pushed the popular girl down the steps DID NOT win anything. She was disqualified and shunned from all social circles in her school. Do you know who ended up winning that crown, Sarah? It was the girl that no one expected to, the one who really wanted and deserved the crown because she didn't participate in the catty in fighting of the other contestants. "Her" name was Barack Obama.

Now Sarah, you have written a book. That very statement makes me chuckle. YOU writing a book conjures up a visual that makes me laugh out loud. I can just see you now, hair all perfectly in place, prop glasses on, legs crossed, and hunkered over a keyboard with your two index fingers poised above the keys, tongue protruding from the corner of your mouth, and a strained expression on your face trying to remember the "i" before "e" rule. You didn't really write this book, honey. You bitched and moaned the same old crap into a device that records your idiocy, and then someone with punctuation and grammar skills wrote it for you.

Sarah, do you really think that anyone gives a shit about what catfights you had with whom in the McCain camp? No honey, we still don't care. The only people who will read, and care about what is contained within your book are the people who voted for McCain and defended you. They are just looking for ANY reason to justify the brain fart that made them think you were, in any way, qualified and competent to do this job. They can read all about how you were manipulated and duped by everyone who you came in contact with. Now pay attention here, Sarah. If you are THAT easily swayed and manipulated, do you REALLY think that you are capable of dealing on an international level? I want you to think about that. You can't just bake warm cookies and send them to the Middle East wrapped in pink cellophane. Kim Jong Il doesn't care that your kid has Down Syndrome. As a matter of fact, he would tell you that you should have killed him and eaten him for dinner. He isn't very nice, Sarah. He is like Simon Cowell on American Idol. He will make you cry. I don't think you are ready for that yet.

Katie Couric is really a thorn in your backside, isn't she? Don't you just hate those smart girls that run the school newspaper? They are so irritating with all of their nosy questions. They spend way too much time in the school library and not nearly enough time behind the bleachers to really understand what you are all about. Sarah, she doesn't want to be your friend. She knows that you will just marry the quarterback of the football team, move into a trailer and breed. She is looking for a career, and using you to accomplish that. You should stay away from girls like her, she reads books. Here is what you should do, instead of writing about how she was so mean to you. You should start an "I hate Katie" page on Facebook. That way, every time you think about how much you hate her, you can just post your thoughts there. Other people who hate Katie, like Kate Gosselin, the Octomom, and Ann Coulter can join your page and comment too. This way, trees don't have to die so that your snarky nonsense can be published.

Oh, Levi. This is what we like to call a "political liability", Sarah. I am glad to see that you left him out of the book. I just couldn't handle hearing him go on to Katie Couric about your late night toking on the bong, or the swing in your bedroom. I have a feeling that is about all Levi can come up with in regard to "dirt" on you. The sad thing is you actually fear him! Do you really think that good ol' Levi grasped ANY part of the political goings on around him? Of all the people that you have pissed off and pissed on throughout your "career", LEVI is the one you fear? This really reflects your own understanding of what is and is not important to the American People outside of Wasilla. You paraded this kid around like a deer trapped in headlights, claiming that he was going to be a responsible father. Now he is posing for Playgirl and has dumped your daughter. This is not a good refection on your decision making skills, Sarah. It is not Levi, himself, that is the liability here. It is YOUR handling of the situation. It is time to grow up, and accept responsibility for your own actions, honey.

Sarah, we all have family members that would make us cringe if we put them in front of a camera. Just ask Bill Clinton. He will explain it to you, in a way that you can understand. He speaks "ignorant hick". The difference is, most people who succeed do so by NOT claiming that their family is anything better than anyone else's. The difference is, they actually mean it. They don't try to do things like, make drinking and driving legal because Uncle John has a drinking problem. Do you understand what I am saying? Bill will explain it to you, assuming he will take your calls. Tell him you are considering taking an internship, then he may pick up.

Now here it comes. It is time for some tough love. Sarah, you are not special. You are not smart. You are pretty "for your age". You have a limited future in local politics. You could probably win queen of a state fair somewhere in the deep south. Other than that, you are finished, Sarah. It is time to go home, pay attention to those kids you claim to live and die for, and get out of the national spotlight. You have embarrassed yourself, and everyone who has supported you. No, I am not jealous, Sarah. I am smart. I am kind of like Katie, only without a camera. I DO have a voter registration card though. It is time for me to tell you that you are more likely to see monkeys fly out of my ass, than for me to EVER vote for you for ANYTHING, let alone President of The United States. I am not alone, Sarah. We are like the pod people in that late night movie you watched the other night. We are many, and we keep multiplying. We are the smart people who are tired of the daytime drama that politics has become. You are symbolic of everything we hate about the political arena, Sarah. Oh, how do I say it so that you can understand?

You would have sold more DVD's titled "Doing Rogue" than you are going to sell of your book "Going Rogue". That is all you are, my dear. You came in last in America's popularity contest, but you still have a shot in porn. Give it a try honey. I think you can still reach your full potential.

Hey Obama, this has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

Palin 2012