Well, the idea is that those in the medical field are affected by changes in policy and that is what is driving them to run for office.
There have also been many changes in how the military is run over the last thirty years. Obama’s administration has made many sweeping changes to how the military is run. Sooner or later, somebody is going to want to offset those changes.

It use to be that it was difficult to get elected to office without having served in some manner, no matter what your political affiliation. But in this bread and circus environment, comedians can be elected --like Al Franken.

It would be a bonus to have one engineer to figure out where the cornerstone of the Capital building was placed, but somehow we managed to get by all this time without knowing. :)

“Then don’t vote I replied”
I wish that sentiment would catch on.
I admire your principle but you are no match for Pelosi running around giving addresses to park benches.

I would say the bible belt and certainly South Carolina home of the Southern Baptist provide and have provided more new recruits per family then anywhere in the nation. Those numbers have probably have flipped in recent years because of Obama’s pushed to quietly change the face of the new recruit.

Exclllent thoughts about potential avenues for him to explore.

Surgeon General would be a great position for him.

I still hope he speaks out since he can reach a certain demographic that sorely needs to hear other perspectives. I would like to see him as an adviser of some sort. He could make a worthy Surgeon General... Far superior to what has been recently nominated.

Quite right. More in depth analysis is required. I am not sure he has thought these things through, or has the proper philosophical base. One may excuse him temporarily since he is not seeking office, but he should endeavor to dig deeper and establish proper foundation if he does.

the whole thing is a huge mess built on original bad policy issues of state by state insurance regulations, prescription drug debacles with other countries, prescription drug debacles born of the very first HMO policies-which the government pushed as a way to hasten the demise of semi-private system, Medicare and Medicaid which fixed prices for itself, and finally our legal system which had med-mal spinning out of control. so many things to dismantle and unravel. I think the cash systems are a good alternative. HOwever, it's near impossible to get a hospital on board with that. kinda makes you wish for the days of private pool insurance.

I understand the opinions and sentiments here. I actually work in the medical field and have worked with hundreds of physicians. I have met the ones like you have described. I can say that unless they inherited the money, 100% of doctors like the ones you describe are getting all of that money from side deals with pharma or medical equipment companies. Many doctors are in "the business" of healthcare. They work as consultants and medical directors which pays a whole lot more than actually seeing patients. Many doctors are part of the whole healthcare spending problem as the bad ones realize that keeping people sick is the best way to boost their revenue. Just like in any profession, there are good ones and bad ones. I'm not asking anyone to "feel badly" for doctors, my point was simply to state that I have seen many move to a cash for service (at a discount) as a way to circumvent Obamacare and the whole insurance company bureaucracy.

He has come to that viewpoint not from pressure, but from a thinking perspective. I would not trust his words if he had simply back pedaled because of political pressure. He gave this some serious consideration, and came to this conclusion because it rationally is correct. And he admits what his views on guns were, before having considered all of the pertinent ramifications of having a certain segment of the populace disarmed. I respect that, more than an illogical about face that has not thought behind it except as a strategic move politically.

I saw an interview he gave on Monday morning, and he unequivocally stated that he has no political aspirations unless there are no viable conservative candidates anywhere. Which is currently, at least so it seems, not the case.

Hence, you have an aversion to politicians/political aspirations? ;-)

Mimi.... Ever notice how few engineers are in that 'scene'?

Maybe it's their propensity for logical thought and their aversion to bullshit arguments...

and yes, I have a degree in engineering... :)

Yeah, I keep wasting my time trying to open minds that are shut tighter than a beartrap. So what else is news?

News flash, you should have been more worried about martial law in 2004, there were actually candidates that mentioned invoking it, and they effectively DID, via USA/PATRIOT and the DHS reorganization.

Doubt it, there are veterans who are in politics, but they're generally either A) Exceptional in that they don't mention it much or B) in SERIOUSLY connected families, like the McCains and Kerreys. The problem is there's a small bloc that's openly hostile to veterans and a large bloc that's covertly hostile to veterans. The small bloc is the SERIOUS peace activists, which can't really do much, but can make some embarrasing stunts, the large bloc is the christian conservatives that don't want kids leaving the churches for military service at just the time when they're most impressionable (cf Mormons and the military, they CAN substitute military service for their compulsory missions, they just rarely actually DO). EVERY veteran watched the "swift-boating" incident with shock as a weekend warrior was considered braver than an actual combat vet: not many veterans are going to wish that upon their worst enemies, much less themselves

A military background is OK as long as they don't have a military mind set.

The Pauls are indeed unique and their draw on youth is amazing.

Yes, it is for a doctor. But in politics, that excuse has been used so often, with such sincerity, to lead to so many atrocities.

If you care for me, give me freedom.

Yes. Most definitely. But in his own words, he does not aspire to high office.