Monday night saw rain in Southern California, me getting my @ss handed to me by my daughter at Monopoly but more importantly, it also saw the return of Jimmy Kimmel from his paternity leave. Last week, we discussed Jimmy’s emotional monologue about his newborn son’s health scare. During his week off, all his fill-in hosts made the appeal to viewers to support Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, which apparently resulted in a great deal of donations. Upon his return, Jimmy wanted to let the world know that his son was doing really well and to thank everyone for their generosity towards CHLA. He also wanted to address the amount of negative comments he received from making his appeal to look again at national healthcare. We already mentioned former congressman Joe Walsh’s comments about Jimmy but many others weighed in and, unfortunately not surprisingly, some saw Jimmy’s comments as not only manipulative but irresponsible and offensive.
During his first show back from paternity leave, Jimmy Kimmel fired back at a few politicians (namely, Newt Gingrich) regarding his emotional monologue about his newborn son Billy‘s open heart surgery and the GOP’s recent healthcare repeal.
The father of four thanked his fans and supporters and was particularly moved by the donations made to the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in the last week. “What a humbling outpouring of support. So many people made donations to CHLA and my wife and I are very grateful for them,” Kimmel said. “Our plan is to send a card to everyone who made a donation and there were a lot, so you might be getting those at Christmas time.”
But Kimmel also made mention of some negative comments he received, zeroing in on the former Speaker of the House.
“I’d like to apologize for saying that children in America should have health care,” Kimmel said sarcastically. “It was insensitive. It was offensive, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
Responding to comments Gingrich made during an interview with Fox News on Sunday where Gingrich said that hospitals would never turn away a sick baby in an emergency, Kimmel fired back saying, “Yes, it is true that if you have an emergency they will do an operation, and that’s terrific if your baby’s health problems are all solved during that one visit. The only problem is that never ever happens.”
He continued, “We’ve had a dozen doctor’s appointments since our son had surgery. You have a cardiologist, a pediatrician, the surgeons, some kids need an ambulance to transport them – and that doesn’t even count parents who have to miss work for all this stuff.
Fortunately, others were listening to Jimmy and taking a much more sensible approach. Later in his monologue, Jimmy showed Senator Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, discussing this country’s health care needs and said that he will now hold any plan to the “Jimmy Kimmel Test,” which he defines as, “Would the child born with a congenital heart disease be able to get everything she or he would need in that first year of life … even if they go over a certain amount?” Of all the things I wish I could get named after me, I think a test would be at the top. I can’t even begin to think what they would be testing for, though.
I stated my position for Jimmy in the last two posts. My feelings about single payer health care changed dramatically after I watched my college roommate, who suffers from Crohn’s Disease, struggle so hard to secure insurance for herself and her daughter. Every time she went into the hospital she worried that if she died, her daughter would be uninsured when all she should have had to worry about is: was she going to die.
Here is Jimmy’s Monday night monologue. It’s funny, as always, but I think his discussion with Senator Cassidy is good. Cassidy spells his viewpoint out clearly and seems to be a little more committed to a bipartisan bill than I have heard from most.
And just for fun because I need to laugh this week as if my life depended on it – Jimmy’s Mother Day bit from last year of having his staff read actual text messages from their moms:
Sexiest shot ever taken of my husband: Carrying my breast pump through the halls of Children's Hospital. pic.twitter.com/lK9sz1MKPf
— Molly McNearney (@mollymcnearney) May 8, 2017
Photo credit: Getty Images, WENN Photos, Twitter and Instagram
The negative reaction to Jimmy’s story is indicative of the heartlessness of the modern GOP. I do hope guys like Cassidy can bring some bipartisanship to the situation. It’s sorely needed.
Bbbbut they’re pro-life, sanctity of life, life, liiife..liii.taaax..tax cuts for the rich.
They’re only “pro-life” until the fetus is outside the womb. After that, you’re on your own and better have been smart enough to be born to rich, white parents.
Too bad it’s just for the first year of life. Although it’s better than nothing, ever. Which appears to be the Republican plan.
People need health care. For our entire lives. We are the only so-called civilized country that can afford it but just DGAF.
Agreed. My resentment and hatred of the GOP is at an all time high.
Yep they hold fetuses in higher regard than an actual living baby!
If nothing else, I hope more people start talking in public about how negatively this bill is going to affect them. Maybe if more people took their heads out of their asses and realize that they are hurting other people, then some of them will actually grow a conscious. They cannot ignore it if it or, as they so eloquently put it, “shoved down their throats” if it is constantly in their faces. Not the rabid ones who only want to hurt liberals, but the silent ones who are standing behind and saying nothing, letting the rabid ones control the narrative.
I personally think Cassidy was stunting to not appear crazy. He has voted along party lines for almost everything else this administration has put up, especially voting for Tom Price for HHS secretary. Price has been going around selling that turd for weeks. He is like Graham and McCain pretending that they really want to investigate Trump’s connection to Russia.
I missed saying this in the last post but I think it should always be said: Joe Walsh needs to get off the internet, get a job, and pay his child support.
Newt G. is the same man who actually said that poor kids should basically become janitors to help pay for their basic needs. Newt G. is a live evil troll who needs to crawl back under a bridge.
Kimmel is trying to bring common sense into the discussion. I watch the old Andy Griffith in Mayberry shows and see something grotesque has happened to America since that era. The neighborly community where everyone cares for one another and the deputy’s gun with the bullets in his pocket is now a fully loaded AK47 for every Tom, Dick and Harry/Harriet. And health care … well, the best is available but most can’t afford it and it sure as heck is nobody’s “right” to have it.
I try to view these things through the lens of the country that’s dealing with it. I try to see the value of the current healthcare system in the U.S. I try to see what in their history has brought them to this point and if the reasoning is sound, I try to accept that my view is simply shaped by a different culture and upbringing and I have to respect that.
In this case … no. I will never agree or respect that in a wealthy, stable democracy (although that stability can be debated as we see every day), affordable healthcare for every single citizens is something to be debated. It’s not. We can debate how to get there, sure. Our system (Germany) isn’t perfect, no system ever is. But – and I will repeat this until I’m blue in the face – nobody here loses their job or home because they get sick.
To me, a society that treats their sick like this, is simply not civilized.
Yes.
But here there is a socialist mix
Education ans healthcare are considered basic privilege for a long time
I don’t think it was ever so in USA
I don’t think so either but times change. At some point, shouldn’t it be obvious that a society can only be strong when everybody’s most basic needs are covered? It’s not like the money isn’t there. Other systems are far cheaper with more people having good coverage. So what is it? My money is on greed.
To paraphrase what Drew Magary (Deadspin) said, JESUS THE MAN’S INFANT CHILD HAD HEART SURGERY WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE.
I needed heart surgery as a baby, and I see the bills. Just one of them was for 34,000. That was back in the day.
Need I say more…
IA, teehee.
A friend in college had multiple heart surgeries as an infant and requires a couple of drugs to keep his heart in order. He was always pretty moderate politically, but the debate over the health care in 2010 pushed him (and his family) permanently into the Democrats column. His family is financially comfortable, but they would be bankrupt but for good insurance.
My brother has Crohn’s disease and my 2 year old son was diagnosed with it at 10 months. It is truly a terrible disease. We are lucky my partner’s employee insurance covered my son’s 40 day hospital stay and $200,000 medical flight to another hospital but I am terrified for the future.
I hope your brother and son are doing better. Sending good vibes to you!
Let’s hope and pray the Senate shows some sense now. If your partner ever changes employers, or they change their insurance plan, your son now has a pre-existing condition that can be denied coverage. Healthcare shouldn’t be tied to an employer or income level.
“Would the child born with a congenital heart disease be able to get everything she or he would need in that first year of life … even if they go over a certain amount?”
I get the point of this statement, but I can’t help thinking…what about *after* that first year of life?
Do people who aren’t children, elderly, veterans, or mothers/parents matter at all? I understand the whole thing of fighting for the vulnerable, but some of us single-no-kids, middle-aged, non-veteran adults have congenital health problems, too. Aren’t we worth fighting for? Is compassion only for babies and their parents, elderly, and soldiers?
Just had to let that out. Oh, and Newt Gingrich—the ’90s are calling…they have a big rock that you need to ooze back under.
I’ve not had healthcare most of my adult life, however, my health is a priority for me. I exercise, eat healthy food (vegan), monitor myself through walk in blood labs, and focus on alternative health methods. Doctors are all about the money these days. The insurance business is a major scam. Jimmy is kind for speaking out but he needs to understand that we live in a society of the haves and have nots. And that’s not going to change anytime soon.
You are very fortunate. I’ve not had health care for most of my adult life, and as a result, have developed health issues which wouldn’t be as bad as they are now, had I been able to afford earlier treatment. I’m just lucky it wasn’t the Big C. And that, by the time my health deteriorated, I was able to obtain care through the ACA. (Thanks, Obama!) I’m also 50, so there are issues that come along with aging, no matter how healthy someone is in their youth.
It’s ridiculous that there was even a backlash to this, but we’re definitely seeing more and more with incidents like this how thin-skinned Trump supporters really are and how eager they are to censor and silence dissent. Love his sarcastic non-apology: “I’d like to apologize for saying that children in America should have health care. It was insensitive. It was offensive, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
I’m on the train on my way home from work and I watched the mom texts video … I’m laughing so hard I’m crying. People are looking at me like I’m insane
I laughed until I cried as well. The Mister walked in the office and said, “what the hell are you doing?” I couldn’t even answer.
I wish my mom knew how to text. It would provide an endless source of comedy for me.