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Politics

Tonight on The Independents: Health Care on Life Support, Featuring Dr. Ron Paul, Dr. Jeffrey Singer, Dr. Keith Smith, and Stories About My Wife the Drug Mule!

Matt Welch | 1.24.2014 3:54 PM

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Friday night's theme episode of Fox Business Network's The Independents (9 pm ET, 6 pm PT, repeats at midnight) is an attempt to sketch out what American health care will look like in 2014 and beyond. Kicking off the show is a fascinating interview with Dr. Ron Paul, who describes why he got into medicine (hint: to avoid killing people!), how government intervention has altered the health-care market, what parts of your body you should be able to sell, and whether he'd do it all again. You won't want to miss it.

Speaking of Ron Paul, here he is on Tuesday's Independents, talking NSA and Edward Snowden:

Also on the program will be a couple of doctors familiar to Reason readers. First is Jeffrey A. Singer, the good doctor for liberty, talking about themes he explored in a classic 2013 magazine piece, "How Government Killed the Medical Profession: As health care gets more bureaucratic, will doctors go Galt?" Then Keith Smith, subject of Reason.tv's 2012 feature "Oklahoma Doctors vs. Obamacare," will explain how his insurance-free, transparently priced clinic works in Obamacare America.

Tonight's Party Panel wears lab coats: Dermatologist Elizabeth Rosenthal and Cardiologist Steven Reisman talk about their similar experiences with—but different conclusions about—the Affordable Care Act. Another Mr. MD, Cedars-Sinai liver/pancreas specialist Nick Nissen, explains how the molecular revolution and advances in surgical techniques are ushering forth a more promising future in treating the worst cancers.

Finally, there will be some personal segments about how the co-hosts' various brushes with the health care industry have informed their weird opinions about it. A certain French lady is implicated.

Speaking of inappropriate personal comments, here is the "Two Minutes Hate" segment from Wednesday's show: 

Yes, that will be a regular feature, so keep 'em coming, both in the comments thread and on Twitter @IndependentsFBN.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

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NEXT: Family Suing to Have Pregnant Texas Woman Taken Off Life Support

Matt Welch is an editor at large at Reason.

PoliticsThe IndependentsReasontvScience & TechnologyEconomicsPolicyRon PaulHealth CareObamacare
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  1. Hyperion   11 years ago

    Wait a minute... what is this? We haven't had PM links yet and we're talking about the independents already?

    What is this unprecedented violation of sacred protocol?

    Are you trying to confuse us, Welch?

    1. Matt Welch   11 years ago

      We pre-tape the Friday show, and sometimes it's good for people to get a heads-up before they leave work.

      1. Hyperion   11 years ago

        Ok, it's just that we've been using the Independents thread for our late nite links that we've always been deprived of, like poor orphan children that Santa never cared about.

        Now you've gone and ruined late nite links for tonight, (;

        1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

          That is an off label use.

          1. Hyperion   11 years ago

            If you're sayin we're still getting out late nite links thread, then my sad has brightened just a little...

    2. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   11 years ago

      It's Friday so I assume he dumps this now and has an (I assume unpaid) intern repost it around 6 when the show starts.

      That way he can take the rest of the afternoon off to go to do cosmo-y things in Brooklyn.

      1. Hyperion   11 years ago

        Cocktail par-tayz, amirite?

      2. Lady Bertrum   11 years ago

        He's leaving early to stop at Whole Foods to pick up some artisanal mayo.

        1. Almanian (yeah, I said it)   11 years ago

          I thought he got that from the hipster co-op down the street from his rent-controlled apartment?

          1. Matt Welch   11 years ago

            Not rent controlled!

        2. Matt Welch   11 years ago

          This is dangerously close to the truth. Union Market, though. And nothing poncey.

  2. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

    I've got to actually watch this sometime. I'm terrible about not watching programming during its first run. Can you guys get in the Amazon Instant Video queue?

    1. Hyperion   11 years ago

      I've watched it one time.

      I'm just in such a habit of NOT getting my news from the teevee, that it's now hard to do so. I watch very, very little teevee.

      1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

        That's part of my problem. We got a DVR finally when we switched to FiOS, so my sin is all the greater.

        1. Hyperion   11 years ago

          It's not that I don't want to be support the whole libertarians are now the hip and happening thing and that we've went mainstream, or anything like that. It's just that my posting time here is about all of the free time I have, and that's not been much lately.

          1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

            I've got a wife and more kids than I can easily count. Plus a gaming habit. And I read a lot.

  3. Huh?   11 years ago

    I love the Two Minutes of Hate. Keep that coming!

    1. Huh?   11 years ago

      Maybe that sounds bad. I love the rest of the show too.

    2. BakedPenguin   11 years ago

      I actually like the show (most of the time), but now I'm going to try to think up nasty things to say just for the chance to see my reason handle on TV.

      You jerks! You know economics. You should know how incentives work!

      1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

        I would like them to quote me saying a FCC-permitted version of "No, fuck you, cut spending."

        Can you say "Screw you" on network programming?

        1. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   11 years ago

          They could just bleep it out like they did last time with one Reason comment.

          1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

            That's fine with me. If they don't like that one, they can quote this: "Will no one rid me of this turbulent government?" Or, if that's too confusing, the following variation works, too: "Will no one rid me of this troublesome government?"

        2. Almanian (yeah, I said it)   11 years ago

          I'd just go with the "NFYCS and see how much makes it on TEEVEE...

      2. jester   11 years ago

        Why not? Epi was featured.

        1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

          I'm surprised the FCC didn't object right then and there. I believe he's been ruled as inherently obscene.

          1. Episiarch   11 years ago

            I slipped through the cracks. Just like I do with your mom.

          2. Hyperion   11 years ago

            I think that rule is known as 'The Warty Rule'.

            1. Pro Libertate   11 years ago

              Warty transcends human "rules."

      3. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

        The Independents is by far the worst show on Fox Biz. Bring back the car auction. Also, the Indy panel can eat a bowl of dicks.

      4. Matt Welch   11 years ago

        We also post Tweets throughout the show. And they're usually not Hate-Tweets (AFAIK).

  4. Almanian (yeah, I said it)   11 years ago

    My claim to fame for live tweeting is getting on Fast N Loud four times, and once on Street Outlaws.

    Maybe I'll watch independenets and give that a whirl - see if my skeelz translate from hotrod to politics....LET'S SCRATCH 'EM OFF!

  5. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   11 years ago

    I think I speak on behalf of every libertarian when I say that the only way to make the "Ask A Communist" segment work is if at the end of it you ritualistically sacrifice Myerson on a dollar sign-shaped alter in the name of the Lord of Light, Ayn Rand (Free Markets Be Upon Her).

    But if that isn't in the budget you can simply lock the studio doors and have him fight Kmele in a trial by combat. We'll even chip in to buy Kmele an authentic Bat'leth.

  6. GILMORE   11 years ago

    By the way, I think the guy they got to do the "2 Minute Hate" readings did an excellent job and really brought out the special hatey-ness in each of the various comments. I vote to keep that guy as the Official Nightly-Hate-Reader. He has talent.

  7. Francisco d Anconia   11 years ago

    INDEPENDENTS SADDLE UP!

  8. Francisco d Anconia   11 years ago

    Bets on earrings?

    None?
    Studs?
    Touching the collarbone?
    Armpits?

  9. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Holy shit, is that Trapper John?

  10. Bam!   11 years ago

    She bejeweled her smock.

  11. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Why can't the Independents have an awesome backdrop like that?

  12. Episiarch   11 years ago

    Will Kennedy interrupt Ron Paul? Stay tuned, because she went boring as hell on the earrings. I was hoping for Jacob's Ladder earrings at this point.

    1. Bam!   11 years ago

      I still think she needs to increase her earring size with each commercial break.

      1. Episiarch   11 years ago

        I prefer increased complexity. She needs to work up to a fractal pattern.

  13. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Is RoPaul going to use the phrase "healthcare queen" here?

  14. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   11 years ago

    I gotta say, it's sometimes hard to follow what Ron Paul is saying. He's like the Bon Dylan of the libertarian movement.

    1. Francisco d Anconia   11 years ago

      His downfall.

  15. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    If only the Micks had written Obamacare.

  16. Bam!   11 years ago

    4-way split screen. An independents gang bang.

  17. Episiarch   11 years ago

    They're all rapt listening to Ron. It's like they're watching Hypnotoad.

    1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

      Impressively so.

      1. Episiarch   11 years ago

        "This show's been going downhill since season three."

    2. Banjos   11 years ago

      Baby Reason is as well. It's hard not to be mesmerized by the old man.

      1. Banjos   11 years ago

        She is now waving at the TV and saying "hi" to him. She has never done this before. My babies are awesome.

        1. Episiarch   11 years ago

          It's Kennedy's earrings. They do the same to me.

  18. Francisco d Anconia   11 years ago

    I love that old man.

  19. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Paul's aura is fuschia.

    1. GILMORE   11 years ago

      Jesus, selling organs? Can we TRY and stick to the idea of "less regulated" without the whole "Kidney Stealing Racket" of mine you're trying to weasel in on..

      1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

        I'm in the market for a kidney.

        1. Francisco d Anconia   11 years ago

          I'll more than likely need a liver.

        2. BigT   11 years ago

          Are you one of those elites who demands a HUMAN kidney? I could get you a slightly used horse kidney from one of NY's finest carriage pullers.

        3. SIV   11 years ago

          I saw a TV doc on "the illegal organ trade" with happy poor Filipino donors. Whether they started a business, built a new house or blew it all on booze and hookers they were all very happy with their $1200. Except for one with kidney disease, but he had a thriving small business so I'm sure his family was better off.

          1. SIV   11 years ago

            The TV acted like it was a bad thing but their footage and interviews contradicted that. Good luck.

            1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

              The TV acted like it was a bad thing...

              It wasn't that Dan Rather thing, was it? I saw some of that one and he was making sure I was appalled at being able to pay for a kidney.

          2. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

            Not interested. My manservant is a Filipino and I've seen his kidneys. Not for me.

  20. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Ron Paul wouldn't join any government club that would have him as a member.

  21. BigT   11 years ago

    Liver for sale! Best offer! No credit turned down.

    1. BigT   11 years ago

      small print: liver has processed over 250,000 liters of alcohol, and tons of other pharmaceuticals

  22. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Did Dr. Paul just admit to being a gigolo in medical school?

    1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

      The same wavelength, we're on it.

      1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

        ARE YOU COMING ON TO ME?

        1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

          Eh, I'm not that big on Asians.

          1. Episiarch   11 years ago

            He's not hearing a no!

            1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

              I'm not going to dismiss him sight unseen. I'm just hedging at this point.

              1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

                I am a gigolo, so get your checkbook ready.

  23. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

    He sold his body. Segue to discussion of prostitution.

  24. Episiarch   11 years ago

    Oh...oh...almost an interruption from Kennedy, but she restrained herself. Do you have a shock collar on her when Ron comes on, Matt? Is that what the hoop earrings actually are?

  25. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   11 years ago

    Wow, Kennedy wanted to interrupt Paul for a good minute while he was speaking.

  26. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Independents need to concise-ify

  27. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    "Political tit for tat." What is tat and where do I go to exchange it for the other thing?

  28. GILMORE   11 years ago

    I really dont think the State Medicine advocates learned anything there. "Why can't a rich country make medicine free like England and the Swedens? I still dont know and that old man scares me."

    That said, at least the commercial is not an old naked man in a hot tub

  29. Bam!   11 years ago

    Why does Carbonite target its product at whipped married males?

    1. GILMORE   11 years ago

      I thought he was a man-whore for middle-aged women? CHEAP HOTELS LADIES

  30. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Bonesaw is reaaaaaaaaaaaaaady.

  31. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Oh, come the fuck on, do they need Lab Coats?.

    1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

      It's a trust thing.

    2. BigT   11 years ago

      There could be blood!! Or cum.

    3. Matt Welch   11 years ago

      It's great because we didn't even ask them to!

  32. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Pimple Popper, MD, is onboard.

  33. Bam!   11 years ago

    Well then, Pimple Popper, why is health care so expensive?

  34. Episiarch   11 years ago

    Do zombie doctors need health insurance? Where do they get these people?

  35. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Did they vet lady doctor here?

    1. Bam!   11 years ago

      She's wearing a button that reads, "Medicare for All." She doesn't hide it.

  36. Banjos   11 years ago

    Profit!!! Evil, evil profit!

  37. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Who invited Doctor Evil Profit to the table?

  38. BigT   11 years ago

    My wife and I both lost our ins (we have separate policies) and had to go back to the ins cos. Mine increased 37% with a high deductible, hers stayed about the same (she had a pre-existing)

  39. Episiarch   11 years ago

    The government passed Obamacare, but Obamacare's failure isn't the fault of the government. Got it, lady. Where's your degree from, Hollywood Upstairs Medical College?

    1. Banjos   11 years ago

      Why it's Mr. McGreg, with a leg for an arm and an arm for a leg!

  40. Banjos   11 years ago

    Replace the expense insurance adds with the expense of a government bureaucracy! Problem solved.

  41. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Soon it will be the libertarian industrial complex.

    1. kibby   11 years ago

      & it will be amazing.

      1. BigT   11 years ago

        Can we opt out?

        1. kibby   11 years ago

          If you like your current industrial complex, you can keep it!

  42. BigT   11 years ago

    "medical-industrial complex" for sure. It's not the ins companies, though. it's the AMA and the govt

  43. Francisco d Anconia   11 years ago

    These guests are agreeing with each other...

    What kind of teevee is that?

    1. Episiarch   11 years ago

      They should just put on an hour of Ron Paul. He seems to capture eyeballs a lot better if the rest of the panel is any indication.

      1. Bam!   11 years ago

        It'll never work. He doesn't have a lab coat anymore.

    2. Banjos   11 years ago

      I want blooooood!!!

    3. BigT   11 years ago

      Saw your comment over in Raw Story (the Peter Schiff story) That is a very delusional and violent crowd.

      1. Francisco d Anconia   11 years ago

        I considered engaging, but didn't feel up to it. Would have tied up the whole afternoon. I had like 9 downvotes when I Xed it out.

        1. BigT   11 years ago

          Me too. I put up about 5 comments (bigterguy), all were 8-10 down.

    4. Byte Me   11 years ago

      I was waiting for the token socialist weasel for the night, and it showed up in that lady doctor.

  44. GILMORE   11 years ago

    What we need is more ads telling us NY state is 'business friendly' while Cuomo and DeBlasio announce their various extortion schemes to make private industry pay for their pet projects.

  45. SIV   11 years ago

    Got a link to a feed?

    1. BigT   11 years ago

      I get it over on Watch Fox Business News

      1. SIV   11 years ago

        Bill Gates at Davos ;(

    2. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

      http://video.foxnews.com/v/125.....watch-live

      1. SIV   11 years ago

        requires log-in

        1. Trials and Trippelations   11 years ago

          Try this http://aajnetworks.com/v2/fox-business/

          Sorry I didn't hit reply to your post the first time

  46. Trials and Trippelations   11 years ago

    Do you mean this?

    1. SIV   11 years ago

      No workee

      1. Trials and Trippelations   11 years ago

        Oops, choose stream 2

        1. SIV   11 years ago

          Thanks! Flow Design!

  47. Episiarch   11 years ago

    Matt wanted to make sure everyone knows he's all for killing zygotes.

  48. Banjos   11 years ago

    So before the advent of birth control all women were being denied rights because it didn't exist yet?

    1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

      Universal access to crocodile shit!

  49. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    When Welch said Bob McDonnell he made a jerkoff motion.

  50. GILMORE   11 years ago

    "Medicare for all" lady DOES think that 'what you need' is the governments decision, not yours.

  51. Episiarch   11 years ago

    "We're all in it together."

    Fuck you, cunt. If the panel doesn't eat her alive I'll continue watching.

    1. kibby   11 years ago

      Seriously. She can go fuck herself with a cactus.

  52. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Eat a bag of what?

  53. Bam!   11 years ago

    Panel isn't amused by Kennedy's antics.

    1. kibby   11 years ago

      Shocking that morons have zero sense of humor.

  54. Francisco d Anconia   11 years ago

    What do ya say folks? Are we all in it together?

    I'm not getting laid, why am I paying for your fucking?

  55. BigT   11 years ago

    We're all in it together! Spread the cost around!

    Was she talking about vacations in Cozumel? Condos in Vail? Lady-boys in Phuket?

  56. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Why does "we're all in it together" justify one thing, and not the government paying for my Weight Reduction surgery, or sex change, or paying for my Diet Program = anything that may be justified as my 'betterment'?

  57. Episiarch   11 years ago

    Birth control is available only by prescription so scumbag doctors like the ones on the show can force women to go in (and pay) for an office visit. But remember, we're all in it together.

    1. Banjos   11 years ago

      HOW DARE YOU THINK WOMEN CAN MAKE DECISIONS WITHOUT A DOCTOR!!!!!!

      1. Episiarch   11 years ago

        Well, you can pick out shoes...

        1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

          But think about how long that takes and how prices are driven up.

  58. Banjos   11 years ago

    As fun as it is to be a part of this live commenting, I miss being able to fast forward through commercials.

    1. Episiarch   11 years ago

      What, you don't want Alyssa Milano hectoring you for 50 cents a day? You'd think she'd have saved some of her money from Who's the Boss.

      1. SIV   11 years ago

        Or Teen Steam

    2. Bam!   11 years ago

      You don't want to see dying African children who are in need of your quarters?

    3. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

      I just get a blank screen whenever a commercial break happens. The silence gives me unwanted time with my thoughts.

  59. Byte Me   11 years ago

    NANCY "wicked witch of the west" PELOSI had to pass the bill in order to find out what was in it.

    1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

      She still doesn't know.

      1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

        (Other than a cure for her Speakership.)

  60. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Why can't the Independents ever distill the point to the guests = "When you want the 'government' to pay for something (because 'we're all in it together' or whatever nonsense), then you're allowing the government to CHOOSE THINGS for you?" They can't have their cake and eat it too. Nobody ever seems to drop it on guests like that.

    1. BigT   11 years ago

      They cut the sections too short - should come back for some follow-up. It's not easy to respond that quickly and clearly.

    2. The Knarf Yenrab   11 years ago

      Since it's a new show, I don't think they're in the market to hector and confront guests for fear of getting a reputation and limiting their choices for the future.

  61. Bam!   11 years ago

    If you don't have a lab coat, Doc, we can't hear you.

  62. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    It means there will be a glut of doctors in Galt's Gulch.

    1. kibby   11 years ago

      But will they let me have as much birth control as I want?

    2. Banjos   11 years ago

      Groovus is already there. I miss that man.

      1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

        He's in a gulag somewhere?

      2. Francisco d Anconia   11 years ago

        Wasn't your hubby keeping in touch with him on teh emailz?

        1. Banjos   11 years ago

          He was, then Groovus stopped responding. The last email sloopy received said he was going to take a break from Reason for awhile. No idea why.

          1. Francisco d Anconia   11 years ago

            Very suspicious. Maybe he really did run into issues?

          2. BigT   11 years ago

            Speaking of Sloopy, I miss his frequent links to the most awesome nutpunches. Cops behaving badly!

            1. Banjos   11 years ago

              Sloopy is online half as much as he use to be due to his new job. And when he is online, he is trolling Huffpo. No idea why he does it. He actually thinks he is reaching the morons.

              1. BigT   11 years ago

                If he's reaching those morons he needs to go on TV - the best televangelibertarian ever!

              2. SIV   11 years ago

                EVERYBODY commenting on HuffPo is a moron.

                1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

                  Ouch for Sloopy.

    3. SIV   11 years ago

      You can trade a couple of cans of corned beef and a box of .223 for a new kidney

  63. Episiarch   11 years ago

    If you won't take insurance, Doc, well...they'll just make you. Welcome to the future!

  64. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    THERE WAS AN EDIT. I saw it, right before Kmele's question.

    1. kibby   11 years ago

      You win the prize!

  65. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Dr. Jeff has a problem with authority.

  66. Episiarch   11 years ago

    Oh Matt, your shit-eating grin is the shit-eating-est.

    1. GILMORE   11 years ago

      Suderman can out Shit-Eat him anyday.

      1. Episiarch   11 years ago

        DON'T TALK SHIT ABOUT MATT'S SHIT-EATING YOU SHITHEAD

    2. Banjos   11 years ago

      I thought Commander Ryker had the shit-eating-est grin?

      1. Episiarch   11 years ago

        No, Lore.

      2. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   11 years ago

        *Riker

        And BBC America was showing that episode where they have to remove the Indians from a Cardassian planet.

        So much heavy-handedness both in the obvious allegory and in the way they portrayed the Native Americans' spiritual beliefs.

  67. GILMORE   11 years ago

    I find it discouraging that when the guy describes "private care" = i.e. "Paying directly for a service" - it has to be *explained* because its such a fucking disorienting and foreign concept for most people.

  68. Episiarch   11 years ago

    Kennedy: interrupting with love and compliments.

  69. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    They should interview those doctors who gave that guy a colonoscopy looking for drugs.

  70. Byte Me   11 years ago

    Three cheers for competitive veterinary care! (as I suspect is the next segment)

    1. Byte Me   11 years ago

      I propose the edit "Three cheers for competitive elective surgery care!"

  71. Bam!   11 years ago

    Kennedy's voice over recorded with a can-and-string.

    1. Byte Me   11 years ago

      ...and auto-tunes

  72. Derpetologist   11 years ago

    I think whenever they have leftist guests, there should be a logical fallacy bingo board on the screen that slowly fills up as they talk. Then everyone can shout BINGO!

    1. Episiarch   11 years ago

      This is actually a great idea.

      1. Derpetologist   11 years ago

        Or perhaps hangman, but with a scarecrow instead of a stick figure for all the straw man arguments.

  73. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

    Pft, our work comp patients who pay nothing out of pocket and get reimbursed for almost 4 hours of time per visit at their regular pay don't like waiting in the waiting room.

  74. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    I have the sound down. Is Kennedy filming her appointment for an earringectomy?

    1. Episiarch   11 years ago

      That could be dangerous. Does she have insurance?

  75. Episiarch   11 years ago

    This guy's weird southern accent is distracting me.

    1. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

      Sounds like he's from the same area as RP.

      1. SIV   11 years ago

        RP is from PA(originally). This guy's an Okie. Neither of those places are "the South".

        1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

          He was a yinzer, which is why he was never going to be president.

          1. SIV   11 years ago

            http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....59834.html

            1. Francisco d Anconia   11 years ago

              Wow. On so many levels. Was the 18yo having sex with the 13yo?

              1. SIV   11 years ago

                No, he just laughed. I assume these are typical yinzers?

            2. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

              Leave it to The Smoking Gun's commenters to figure this story out in one pun.

              Teen LaQueefa?

              1. SIV   11 years ago

                lol!

  76. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Death panel! Say it!

  77. kibby   11 years ago

    Tonight's show is profoundly depressing. Something fun in the next couple of segments, please?

    1. Bam!   11 years ago

      Puppets demonstrating where the government hurt Kennedy.

    2. Episiarch   11 years ago

      Never! If it's fun, it isn't The Independents! Right Matt?

    3. GILMORE   11 years ago

      I keep telling them, Communist torture could make ratings skyrocket, but Noooooooo they can only find *one*, and he's so boring that its not even amusing...

    4. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

      The Smarties maggots Foster planted in his nose the other night finally come to fruition.

      1. kibby   11 years ago

        THIS.

  78. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Pancreatic Cancer mortality is really what the show needed to get the momentum going.

    1. Episiarch   11 years ago

      It's exactly the kind of pick-me-up that kibby was looking for.

      1. kibby   11 years ago

        Seriously. I'm snoring here...no amount of gin can save tonight.

        1. Episiarch   11 years ago

          I suggest getting high, like me.

          1. kibby   11 years ago

            If I wanted to have a panic attack & die, that would be on my list.

          2. BigT   11 years ago

            Lucky man, you. It's still illegal here. And the wife isn't down with it.

            1. SIV   11 years ago

              It's illegal everywhere I've ever been. Fuck the law.

              1. BigT   11 years ago

                You need to get out more. Denver, Seattle, Amsterdam are calling

  79. Derpetologist   11 years ago

    I would like to see a debate between Thomas Friedman and Thomas Sowell. Call it the Battle of the Thomases.

    1. Byte Me   11 years ago

      Sowell for the win.

  80. Francisco d Anconia   11 years ago

    Yay. Liver transplants.

    That reminds me, I need to check the bloodtype of my orphans.

  81. Episiarch   11 years ago

    This surgeon would be a lot more interesting if he went off on a Malice-style rant about how he's God. Where's Alec Baldwin when you need him?

    1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

      Always be curing. Cocksucker.

      1. Episiarch   11 years ago

        COFFEE IS FOR CURERS.

  82. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    NOT WITH AN ATTITUDE LIKE THAT YOU'RE NOT GOING TO CURE CANCER.

  83. Bam!   11 years ago

    Drug mule stories might just turn it around.

    1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

      No wonder Welch didn't bump this post up to the top of Hit and/or Run.

  84. GILMORE   11 years ago

    ITS NOT A TOOMAH

    This is really wrapping up on a light note. I'm going to go drown in a bottle of whiskey now.

  85. kibby   11 years ago

    The enthusiastic air-drumming before breaks is probably what's keeping me watching at this point.

  86. Bam!   11 years ago

    Adorable puppies in pain commercial. Oh boy.

    1. Episiarch   11 years ago

      Hey, at least it's lighter than the show's subject matter.

  87. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   11 years ago

    Donate to the ASPCA or we will kill these animals.

  88. SIV   11 years ago

    Show dogs in a Chinese meat market!

  89. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   11 years ago

    Welch's wife is a drug mule!

    1. Episiarch   11 years ago

      Call the DEA!

      1. The Rt. Hon. Serious Man, Visc   11 years ago

        They might consider sending their kid away. You know, because jackbooted state thugs kicking down the door at 2am and hauling their parents off in the night is the kind of thing that could traumatize a 5 year old.

  90. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

    Should she be outing Welch's wife as a prescription drug mule?

  91. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Sounds like a certain Frenchy is about to have a run-in with the TSA.

  92. jesse.in.mb   11 years ago

    Likes French healthcare?

    COSMOTARIAN!

  93. Episiarch   11 years ago

    Give me enough of the right pills and I'd be down with it too.

  94. BigT   11 years ago

    Matt admits to being a socialist healthcare lover! NO WONDER this was soft-pedaled on H&R

  95. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    AH! Lou Dobbs.

  96. Derpetologist   11 years ago

    Each show could end with a Remy song to lighten things up.

    1. Derpetologist   11 years ago

      And cushion your system for Lou Dobbs.

    2. Byte Me   11 years ago

      And the Reason takeover of FNC/FBN begins...

    3. kibby   11 years ago

      This is my favorite idea of the night.

  97. Episiarch   11 years ago

    AIGGHHH LOU DOBBS

  98. Byte Me   11 years ago

    Kennedy's pill problem is interesting given that there is a new "T" (testosterone) pill that warns against anyone who is not a middle aged man touching it, for there is tremendous risk.
    Come to think of it, every new drug commercial seems more and more like a parody from the movie "Joe Somebody".

  99. BigT   11 years ago

    Lou Dobbs and Dinesh D.Souzaphone. Oh no.

    1. BigT   11 years ago

      But James O'Keefe --- KEEP Watching for him

    2. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

      SEXY SAX...and SOUSAPHONE!

  100. kibby   11 years ago

    Well, that put me in a terrible mood to go finish my homework.

  101. Francisco d Anconia   11 years ago

    This show was worse than watching old people fuck.

    (Put that on your 2 minutes of hate.)

    1. Corning   11 years ago

      Brad Pitt and Kennedy are both pushing 50...

      I think I could fap to that.

  102. Banjos   11 years ago

    No hate mail?! I demand bloooood!

  103. Banjos   11 years ago

    No hate mail?! I demand bloooood!

    1. Sevo   11 years ago

      Hate mail minus fixing what the mail was about means it's still a talk show.
      Oprah without tears.

  104. Derpetologist   11 years ago

    Larken Rose made this interesting video explaining how tax regulations are different from the statutes.

    It was dumb of him to use the 861 argument when it had been shot down before. That said, he makes a compelling case that most domestic income is not taxable according to the statutes.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg1nYbch4TQ

    1. Bam!   11 years ago

      An hour and a half? You don't really expect us to watch that, do you?

      1. Derpetologist   11 years ago

        You just spent an hour watching Kennedy contribute to the eventual heat death of the universe.

        1. Bam!   11 years ago

          And I learnt something from "The Independents": Life is short.

  105. RishJoMo   11 years ago

    Just roll with it dude, Roll with it.

    http://www.AnonWork.tk

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