Busyness

Now that all the officially-approved shouting about the magical have status and the mastery of destiny has died down (if only momentarily), it might be useful to consider the actual state of health care.

I was going to write a post about the scandalous state of health care. But there isn't much that one can add to the reporting already done by CBC: htttp://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2009/03/30/surgery-urology.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/09/12/or-crunch.html
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/03/27/doctor-recruitment.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2009/03/25/wiseman-dialysis.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2009/03/24/aids-doctor.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2009/03/24/eastern-health-radiologist.html

The point isn't that there is a crisis in health care. Of course there is. The point is that there is a crisis at the top of the Department of Health.

As we noted last week, Gomphus clavatus seems to have forgotten how to deal with the local media: http://orwellianspin.blogspot.com/2009/03/wisecrack.html

Now he seems to have forgotten how to keep an appointment. According to the Tely: "Health Minister Ross Wiseman didn’t show up for a morning address to a major conference in St. John’s on the development of an electronic health records system. Instead, parliamentary secretary for health, MHA Terry French stood in. Wiseman’s spokeswoman said he had a last minute meeting that kept him away." http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=237642&sc=79

Here is the original news release:http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2009/health/0330n11.htm

There are two logical explanations:
1) He is so very, very busy that he cannot keep his appointments or deal with the press.
2) He is so very, very incompetent that he cannot keep his appointments or deal with the press.

What's the difference between the two? Nothing. Any competent minister has good enough skills with managing media relations -- and managing his/her own schedule -- that it's not necessary to use the utterly lame excuse of being too busy.

Dangovt is certainly a busyness-friendly administration.