Lucky for all those mentioned, they have health coverage.
Cancer's universal, why isn't our health coverage.
Posted by Sharon at March 27, 2007 08:13 AMIt is doubtful if working in the White House under the Bush administration would aid Snow in dealing with his situation. The last thing that Snow needs is the stress that accompanies trying to cover up for the lies that he has to somehow explain away during a press conference.
Posted by Erroll at March 27, 2007 08:34 AMMy heart goes out to Mr. Snow. He has much less time and much less chance than Elizabeth Edwards. Liver mets are common in colon cancer, and the cancer itself is one of those for which we have few really good treatment options. I wish for him the best that he determines his life has to offer.
I would, however, like to mention that this debate about what one does when diagnosed with metastatic cancer is at a level that really does not apply to most Americans.
What most Americans do when faced with an obviously limited lifespan, whether from cancer, heart disease or disability, is just more of the same. They haven't the monetary resources to have choices. The just keep on keeping on, bread winning or housekeeping or whatever the daily grind is, until they can do no more. Then the choice is hospital or hospice.
What employer do you know that allows unlimited unscheduled sick time? Very few. Fewer have the comprehensive health care plans that are available to government employees these days. In that sense only, Mr. Snow is lucky. He will have the resources to use his time as he wishes and to buy the treatments that will give him all of it that medicine allows. [Unless, of course, it's stem cell research related, but I assume he's okay with that.]
We all know that all the money and all the power in the world do not buy good health and long life. but they do allow more choices when health is compromised and dependency unavoidable.
Posted by clio at March 27, 2007 08:38 AM"Snow's Cancer Has Returned"
Too bad.
Posted by Alex at March 27, 2007 08:41 AMAs much as I disagree with Tony Snow, I am terribly sorry to read of his misfortune. He is, by his lights, doing what he thinks is right and the fact that I disagree with him does not mean that I dislike him or wish him ill. I hope he returns to the podium soon and remains there in good health.
Posted by Jayhawk at March 27, 2007 08:47 AMI'm sure the Katie Courics and Rush Limbaughs will be sobbing all over themselves today and tomorrow.
Odd how neither felt the same compassion was deserved for John and Elizabeth Edwards.
Posted by Christopher at March 27, 2007 09:05 AMYour heart goes out to him? Why? The man is a viper in freedom's grass, who has tried his best to injure tens of millions of Americans and the curb their rights. I no more feel sorry for him than I would a mean dog that kept trying to bite my kids. Good riddance.
Posted by Ivor the Engine Driver at March 27, 2007 09:10 AMAh, Ivor.
Why?
I know how he will die.
Cancer is not partisan. It does not care if you are a man or woman, black, white, yellow, red, young or old. It is probably the least finicky of all diseases, and one of the most lethal.
I cannot believe that anyone could be judgmental of someone with cancer, or make light of the situation. "Some people" have no souls whatsoever.
Something's gonna kill each and every one of us. Most just prefer that it be later rather than sooner. Tony Snow just found out his is going to be sooner. So I feel for him. More so for his family.
As far as stating he 'has tried his best to injure tens of millions of Americans and the curb their rights, I'm thinking he probably sees it a bit differently than that.
But hey, if not then you're not much different than he is in the lack of compassion department are you Ivor?
Posted by snark at March 27, 2007 09:39 AMWhat most Americans do when faced with an obviously limited lifespan, whether from cancer, heart disease or disability, is just more of the same. They haven't the monetary resources to have choices. The just keep on keeping on, bread winning or housekeeping or whatever the daily grind is, until they can do no more.
That's the truth. My husband had a co-worker who was diagnosed suddenly with stage 4 lung cancer--no symptoms except a lump in his neck. He was given about 6 months to live. At first I was surprised to hear he was continuing to work, but as my husband pointed out, what could he do? He needed the medical insurance through work, and his family needed the income. He ended up living 18 months.
Posted by CG at March 27, 2007 10:23 AMWhat CG is describing is essentially becoming a way of life for many diagnosed cancer patients. Doctors are becoming more averse to demanding that their patients quit work if they don't want to. For some people, work is a tonic. Bored people who aren't ready to retire or quit make lousy patients and their survival statistics show a marked decrease. These people feel like their will to live is gone with their jobs.
However, a number of other people, even if they would like to make a leave of absence or stop working, simply cannot do so because their living costs go through the roof and they're completely dependent on their insurance for survival.
Posted by idiosynchronic at March 27, 2007 10:35 AMI know I should feel sorry for Tony, I cannot, and I feel guilty about that. (the sense of guilt ingrained in me forcibly by Catholic nuns that is missing from the mindset of GW Bush or Dick Cheney et. al.) I will say I feel sorry for his family.
But he is a propagandist for a terrible administration whose policies he believes in and defends. These policies have caused significant suffering and death worldwide. So though I feel bad about admitting it, I cannot feel sorry for him.
As clio notes, he has time left to him... what will he do with that time? Perhaps he will consider that it is not noble to defend lies and insane foreign policies that damage everyone. Or perhaps he will have a deathbed conversion like Lee Atwood, too late to do any good for the nation and the world.
In any case, my thoughts and sympathy to his family. The diagnosis is grim.
Posted by leftymn at March 27, 2007 10:37 AMCompassion for Tony Snow? No, not a drop of it for that scumbag. I save my compassion for those who deserve it, such as the Iraq dead and maimed, and any other victims of Tony Snow et al.
Posted by Ivor the Engine Driver at March 27, 2007 11:01 AM"I know I should feel sorry for Tony, I cannot, and I feel guilty about that. (the sense of guilt ingrained in me forcibly by Catholic nuns that is missing from the mindset of GW Bush or Dick Cheney et. al.)"
I don't feel sorry and I don't feel guilty.
And if this was Georgey, I doubt that many people would feel sorry either.
I save my compassion and empathy for people that deserve it.
Posted by Alex at March 27, 2007 11:09 AMI save my compassion and empathy for people that deserve it.
Just like Republicans with tax cuts and services.
Posted by snark at March 27, 2007 11:27 AMTony Snow has a long and storied career as one of the worst rightwing, propaganda merchants at FOX Noise and later, for George Bush and Dick Cheney at the White House.
He's just reaping now what he so brilliantly sowed over the years. Deal with it.
Posted by Christopher at March 27, 2007 11:42 AMReturning cancer does not remove moral warts.
Posted by TIKI AL at March 27, 2007 11:52 AMSome of you motherfuckers are as ruthless and rotten as Rxush Limpdick.
Grow the fuck up.
Posted by God Of War at March 27, 2007 12:06 PM"Just like Republicans with tax cuts and services."
Not all Republicans are bad. They're usually the ones you never hear about though. Same thing as with Democrats and other political persuasions.
Bush, Cheney, and crew are not Republicans. They're extremists wrapping themselves up in the flag, the bible, and calling themselves "Republicans". They're our generation's Benedict Arnold. They don't get my sympathy. Same as Reagan didn't.
Posted by Alex at March 27, 2007 12:12 PMNot all Republicans are bad.
I didn't say they were bad. Did I?
Posted by snark at March 27, 2007 12:16 PMI'll take a guess (based on a previous thread) and say there is probably some people posting on The Left Coaster with multiple ids (sometimes in the same thread).
I guess for those when one personality's not enough eh?
Posted by Alex at March 27, 2007 12:19 PMThey're our generation's Benedict Arnold.
LOL!
You could get a gig on FOX with tripe like that.
Posted by snark at March 27, 2007 01:01 PMLiver cancer? Shit, I thought the rot that filled Snow's brain would have eaten it's way through his skull causing his cervical vertebrae to weaken, breaking his fucking neck.
For all the vileness you spew, Tony, I say "Get well soon!" And I hope your hospital costs banckrupt you and your family -as they would most Americans- ruining your retirement and making it so your kids can't go to college. I hope you lose your home, all of your savings, and your friends who are only around you for your prosperity. I hope you live many many more years, you enabling cocksucker. And I hope all of those years are bad and filled with remembrances of your neo-con stupidity and hauntings from the ghosts you helped to create.
Did I say "Get well soon, Tony"? If not, "Get well soon!"
Posted by phidipides at March 27, 2007 03:00 PMWhy not show Tony Snow some compassion? Whatever he is, he's not Cheney, for God's sake!
And he was gracious in his comments last week to Elizabeth Edwards as a fellow cancer patient. Certainly the favor should be returned. It seems to me it's courting bad karma to rejoice in the illness of an adversary when this misfortune could befall any of us.
Katie Couric is another matter. She, of all people, should know better.
Posted by Delia at March 27, 2007 03:02 PMSome of you motherfuckers are as ruthless and rotten as Rxush Limpdick.
Grow the fuck up.
Posted by God Of War at March 27, 2007 12:06 PM
Please tell me this is a joke, right?
Posted by TIKI AL at March 27, 2007 04:25 PMTought shit.
Posted by Parallax at March 27, 2007 06:22 PMWhy not show Tony Snow some compassion?
K. Sorry about your problem, Tony. I honestly hope it gets better, unK?
Tony Snow is still an asswipe. He is a liar and neo-con fuck toy. Any dickwad who can condescendingly equate banning gay marriage with preserving civil rights is not only ignorant, but a complete fucking tool. If there is a God, Tony will burn in hell slowly roasting over a fire of cordwood composed of Ray-Gun, Nix-On and every republi-con who preceeds him in death. He is a complete waste of human genetic material.
Ah yeah, and for your ilk calling us traitors, enablers of terrorism, anti-American, and any number of slurs and invectives you people tossed our way, you can summarily go fuck yourself, Tony Snow. Stop selling your cancer for pity, fuckstick. The pandering press releases from your underlings are sickening and beneath even you. Have some fucking dignity for once in your life.
Posted by phidipides at March 27, 2007 07:08 PMMy gag reflex is tested everyday by watching the egotistical talking heads on cable, but when they started talking about cancer and their phony concern for each other I retreated to the back yard and started to un-thatch the TIKI HUT.
Posted by TIKI AL at March 27, 2007 08:16 PMColon cancer spread to the liver gives him about a 50-50 chance. It's significantly worse if they can't take it out surgically or he opts for chemo and/or radiation only, about a 20% survival rate for no surgery. With surgery, his chance of surviving might be as high as 70%, maybe less. Any way you slice it, he's fucked, even if he survives his health will never be the same and his life expectancy will be significantly decreased. This is about the worst thing that colon cancer can do, and often does, spread to the liver.
I don't have it in me to take joy in a man's dying fling insults at a dying man, but I surely appreciate those of you who do. Keep up the fine work. I just don't have the stomach for it nor the proper sense of righteousnes required.
Posted by Brian Bell at March 27, 2007 09:10 PMTweety is an ass. He said he has diabetes on the air the other day.
OK, so now Tweety is an ass with diabetes.
Someones illness has no effect whatsoever on my opinion of them.
Posted by TIKI AL at March 27, 2007 09:53 PMWell said Brian.
I would add that I feel no compulsion to revel in the ill health of those whose views I disagree with. I prefer to rely on the superiority of my viewpoint rather than the superiority of my health.
I hope he makes a full recovery.
Posted by snark at March 28, 2007 06:00 AMSomeones illness has no effect whatsoever on my opinion of them.
Well said.
Posted by phidipides at March 28, 2007 08:48 AM