the attitude with arnie arnesen the wed. edition noon to 1pm Nov19

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Arnie Arnesen

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Nov 18, 2025, 8:36:58 PMNov 18
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The Attitude with arnie arnesen
opening thoughts: poem by Ferlinghetti 
producers: Dave Scott and Stephanie Collins
Chloé LaCasse (the best of the attitude)
streaming live at wnhnfm.org noon&7pm EST on the dial-94.7FM Concord NH
opening thoughts   
Pity the nation whose people are sheep, and whose shepherds mislead them.
Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced,
and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice,
except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero and aims to rule the world with force and by torture.
Pity the nation that knows no other language but its own and no other culture but its own.
Pity the nation whose breath is money and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed.
Pity the nation — oh, pity the people who allow their rights to erode
and their freedoms to be washed away.
My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty.
By Lawrence Ferlinghetti, "Pity the nation"
(Ferlinghetti's Greatest Poems https://amzn.to/47I4piF)
opening thoughts part two..I repeat the story you heard yesterday Dan Barlow discussed his article I will now read it: Scott Adams is dying. The creator of Dilbert has prostate cancer, and this week he used his last bit of fame and political pull to get the attention of President Trump. Adams said his insurer approved a cutting-edge treatment called Pluvicto but wasn’t scheduling it fast enough. So he went public, pleaded for help, and Trump responded, “On it!” Within hours, the White House was apparently moving to clear the way for the treatment to proceed.

I wish Adams the best. I hope he gets his medicine and more time in this world. But I also hope every single American sees this story for what it is — a perfect, sickening snapshot of our healthcare system at its most corrupt and unequal. One man gets to leap the line because he’s a public Trump supporter. The rest of us are told to wait, to argue with the insurance company, to die quietly.

That’s not a healthcare system. That’s a loyalty program.

This is what happens when power and access replace fairness and policy. The same administration that can summon a miracle for a famous cartoonist spent the last year hacking away at the very programs that keep ordinary people alive.

Trump’s budget plans would cut hundreds of billions from Medicaid — about one-third of total federal support — at a time when more than 80 million Americans depend on it. The National Institutes of Health has seen billions in research funding eliminated or stalled under this government. Those dollars are not abstractions; they are the difference between future cures and empty hospital beds. You can’t brag about saving one man’s life while defunding the science that might save millions.

And let’s be clear: the cracks are showing everywhere. Here in Vermont, where I run a free clinic, health insurance premiums are exploding. If federal subsidies under the Affordable Care Act vanish, a family of four could see their monthly premiums jump from around $900 to more than $3,600 next year. That’s not an outlier — that’s the trajectory of a system that treats healthcare as a speculative market, not a human right.

People come to my clinic with infections they’ve ignored, cancers they couldn’t afford to monitor, diabetes they can’t afford to treat. They ration pills, skip appointments, and hope nothing bad happens until the next paycheck. They are no less deserving of care than Scott Adams. They just lack a platform and a President’s phone number.

That’s the moral obscenity of the American political system. It rewards fame and obedience, and punishes poverty and silence. It’s not just broken — it’s rigged. And while Trump parades his “compassion” for one of his supporters, his policies are choking the rest of the system dry.

We don’t need presidential favors - We need a healthcare system that doesn’t require them. Every person in this country should have access to the same drugs, the same treatments, the same chance to live — without begging on social media or pledging allegiance to a politician.

That’s what a single-payer system would do. It would cover everyone. It would drive down costs through public negotiation and end the grotesque spectacle of healthcare by favoritism.

So yes, I hope Scott Adams gets well. I hope Pluvicto buys him time. But I also hope the rest of us remember how obscene it is that one man’s plea gets the President’s attention while millions of others suffer in silence.

The President shouldn’t be “on it” for one man. He should be on it for everyone. 

part one:
Dr. Jamie Rowen is an associate professor of Legal Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the founding director of UMass' Center for Justice, Law, and Societies. Her work focuses on both domestic and international criminal law. Her book, Worthy of Justice: The Politics of Veterans Treatment Courts in Practice, is forthcoming with Stanford University Press in December 2025.
topics: Epstein presser and vote ...changes the conversation
a series of related headlines about ICE, blue cities and violence

White nationalism fuels tolerance for political violence nationwide https://theconversation.com/white-nationalism-fuels-tolerance-for-political-violence-nationwide-268480

Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Hits a Battleground State The Charlotte raids pose a new political test of a top Trump priority. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/us/politics/trump-ice-bovino-charlotte.html


As ICE Street Raids Ramp Up, New Yorkers Stock Up On Whistles
Taking a cue from Chicago, community groups have distributed thousands of whistles in recent weeks — a grassroots system people in other cities have adopted to help neighbors sound the alarm. https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/17/ice-whistles-immigration-nyc-chicago-dhs/
Woodburn residents say Oregon's largest Hispanic community under attack from ICE https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/politics/2025/11/16/woodburn-oregon-traumatized-by-ice-raids/87201709007/
Chicago’s response to ICE raids has other cities asking, ‘How can we do this too?’ https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2025/11/chicagos-response-to-ice-raids-has-other-cities-asking-how-can-we-do-this-too.html
part two: Epstein Presser and vote changes the conversation
Thomas Neuburger is a long-time professional writer, author of stories, poems, essays and non-fiction books. My work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Common Dreams, Alternet, Naked Capitalism, DownWithTyranny! and many other venues. I’ve written political analysis under my own name and the byline “Gaius Publius” since 2003.
Cities Panic Over Having to Release Mass Surveillance Recordings Flock's 'licence plate readers' read much more than license plates. A judge says what they record must be released. https://neuburger.substack.com/p/cities-panic-over-having-to-release


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KEEPING THE POT STIRRED SO SCUM DOESN'T RISE TO THE TOP -  Anonymous 

D. ARNIE ARNESEN
15 Rumford Street
Concord NH 03301
nha...@gmail.com
(C) 603-321-7654

Host of "The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen"
Award Winning Public Affairs Show (NHAB 2018)
airs noon to 1pm and 7pm EST M-F at 94.7FM (concord nh)
Home Station - wnhnfm.org
Part of the Pacifica Network
go to wnhnfm.org for streaming live 

Arnie on the Air
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