What's Wrong With This Picture?

(Photo courtesy of Fox News)

Let me count the ways this picture is screwed up. 150 doctors were present at a White House press conference on healthcare reform this week. All in attendance clapped wildly at everything the President said. Red flags were flying in my mind, how about yours?

For starters...let's look at the obvious: All 150 are sitting happily in the audience wearing their white coats. Have you ever seen a doctor wearing a white coat anywhere other than the hospital or clinic? I mean, most of the doctors I know would wear a suit given the opportunity to conference with the President of the United States. There are actually pictures of White House staff handing out white coats to the doctors who forgot theirs, which only makes this even funnier to me. This is the equivalent of holding an auto workers' union press conference in the Rose Garden and smudging grease on the faces of the attendees prior to the photo op. How stupid do they really think Americans are? Are they just hoping they can hoodwink a large enough percentage that the support for their government healthcare program looks reasonable, no matter how misled the supporters are?

(Photo courtesy of LA Times)

"Wow, look at this picture! If doctors are supporting Obama's healthcare plans, they must be good." Let's take a look at the facts before jumping to the conclusion Obama is hoping we will jump to with his propaganda staging here.

Some of Obama's words at the "press conference" were especially troubling to me:

"...all the distractions that are out there, I think what's most telling is that some of the people who are most supportive of reform are the very medical professionals who know the health care system best -- the doctors and nurses of America."

This is so misleading. Particularly if you go back to the idea that Obama's camp claims "reform" is his plan and anything else is anti-reform. Doctors (and many nurses) are NOT for Obama's plan. Doctors want deregulation, tort reform, portability of insurance plans, and a number of other viable reforms that are not even on the table. The AMA supports Obamacare. Most people don't realize that the AMA has a very small membership made up of doctors.

"But, what about the doctors in this idyllic photograph?" There are answers for you. The invitation-only audience of doctors drew heavily from an organization called Doctors for America, formerly known as Doctors for Obama. Hmmmm.

Just for entertainment value, I found the picture I referred to above. I'm shocked they didn't have some stethoscopes to hand out as well. Maybe stage a doctor stopping to look in someone's mouth with a tongue depressor on his way to sit down...

(Photo courtesy of New York Post)

*If you are really interested in what doctors are saying, check out these survey results from Sermo, an actual non-partisan group of physicians.