is unclear if the Olbermann clinics had any influence on Mary Landrieux (D-LA) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), the final two holdouts for the 60 senate votes necessary to move the debate forward, but it sure seems safe to say it sure didn’t hurt. Senator Lincoln said today, “I’m thinking about the 450,000 Arkansans who have no health insurance. I’m not thinking about my re-election, the legacy of a president or whether Democrats or Republicans are going to be able to claim victory in winning this debate.
m here because I fucked up in life,” he said. “I’m trying to change it.” Mr. Shabazz walked around the venue hall soliciting people to autograph his fire engine red C.A. R. E. volunteer T-shirt. “I plan to send this to Keith Olbermann to show him all the people that were here.” While the doors to the clinic are scheduled to close at 7:00 p.m., it is anticipated that hundreds of patients will receive care after that time. “We are who we are,” Lamoreaux said. “If you’re here, or if you show up a few minutes late with an appointment, we’re going to see you.” After today, the National Association of Free Clinics heads
nt to help with Dr. Oz in Houston with NACF and met Nicole Lamoureaux, and we talked about possibly doing something here in New Orleans. And once Keith Olbermann made his statement on healthcare reform, we knew we had to act on it. Some people felt it couldn’t be done here — and wouldn’t run smoothly, but it went fine. I’m very excited to see this happening here.
munities Are Responding Everyday (CARE) at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, which was made possible in part because of calls for donations by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. A wide variety of medical services, including physicals and screenings for such conditions as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, were provided at the clinic.
ore than one thousand people showed up for a free healthcare clinic in New Orleans. The idea for holding the clinic came about after a push by Keith Olbermann on his “Countdown” show on MSNBC, as a wakeup call for U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu of Lousiana. The good Senator has taken a stand against health insurance reform even though 22 percent of her constituents have no health insurance
er objections to the Stupak amendment (so named for Representative Bart Stupak, Democrat of Michigan) indicate, much of her work these days involves the Democratic health care overhaul. Ms. Maddow, Mr. Olbermann and Ed Schultz, the channel’s 6 p.m. host, formerly of Air America, have all exhorted Democrats to keep the public option. Mr. Schultz started a broadca
e idea of focusing frustration about the pace of reform and focusing the anger against the Bart Stupaks and the Mary Landrieus of this world into something positive, that was the brainstorm of one of our COUNTDOWN senior producers Rich Stockwell, a brainstorm that wound up raising $1,700,000 and so far has gotten free health care to just over 1,000 of our neighbors. With free clinic number two set for this Saturday in Little Rock, did it put political pressure on anybody, on Senator Landrieu? As Rich found out when he went to New Orleans to represent us, it damn well better put pressure on everybody even those of us who already consider ourselves ardently pro-reform. He wrote a compelling first person essay for the COUNTDOWN Web site. With his permission, I’m going to read it in full because he’s right and because I could not attend because I was here with my father.
w is a career decision that might not even result in Dobbs’s winding up under the Fox umbrella (though that result is still the odds-on favorite) Worst Person-worthy? After reading Dobbs’s press statement in his trademark ’spooky voice,’ Olbermann justified it thusly: “you’ve just denied me that impression? How dare you, sir!” Olbermann also passed on the rumors that for the time being, CNN would do two hours of their 8pmET show (that would be Campbell Brown), and that Dobbs would be poached by Telemundo. Broadcasting at 8pm
Lt. Governor Bill Halter held a press conference this morning to release more details on the free medical clinic that will be held at the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock on Saturday, Nov. 21. The clinic is sponsored by the National Association of Free Clinics (NAFC). Funds for the clinic were raised mostly due to the efforts of MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, who solicited donations on his nightly news program “Countdown
