The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Bobby Kennedy In The White House

Episode Date: March 4, 2021

It's potpourri day and lots of good "stuff" to talk about.  An amazing sculpture in the Oval Office and the story behind it.  A new set of global rankings on the fight against Covid with some surprising results.  Why a tweet can sink a career.  The five medical appointments you should not postpone.  All that and more.

Hello there, I'm Peter Mansbridge. You're just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You know, I was sitting yesterday afternoon for a few minutes, kind of flipping through the channels on television. And I settled on one of the news channels, the cable news channels. I'm not sure which one. But something grabbed my attention. Joe Biden was the guy who was talking.

He was sitting in the Oval Office and he was talking about one of the things that he talks about every day. And I can't remember whether it was the new spending bill, the rescue plan he calls it, the latest on COVID. Could have been any number of different things. But I wasn't really focused on what he was talking about. I was focused more by the sculpture that was right behind him. It's just over his left shoulder. Huge sculpture, a bust.

Easily recognizable as Robert F. Kennedy. RFK, Bobby. And I thought, okay, that wasn't there before. I never saw that during the Trump presidency. In fact, I don't remember it at all in the Oval Office. So I thought, I want to check on that because there was something about it that immediately made me think of John Turner,

the former liberal leader, the former prime minister, the man we watched pass away just at the end of last year, into his 90s, and led a distinguished life. But one of the things he used to talk to me about, and often in his final years, we'd occasionally have lunch together, and it just seemed that always the conversation at some point got around to Bobby Kennedy. Because John Turner and Bobby Kennedy were friends.

They were kind of at the same era of politics, and they had the same concerns, the same hopes and dreams. And John Turner had been to see Bobby Kennedy working on a particular speech, I think, just a couple of weeks before the assassination in 1968. So whenever the subject of Bobby Kennedy came up, John Turner, there was a mix of kind of adulation and emotion. Not losing his friend when he did.

But I was thinking of that when I was looking at that sculpture of Bobby Kennedy, I was thinking of John Turner. And I thought, I need to know a little more about that sculpture. And so I did a little research, and it's by a famous sculptor by the name of Robert Burks, and Robert Burks' work is known, especially in the Washington area, because other sculptures of his are in special places.

There's a picture, or sorry, a bust of Bobby Kennedy's brother, John Kennedy, the former president who was assassinated in November of 63. It sits in the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. There's a bust of Abraham Lincoln that Burks did that sat in President Clinton's Oval Office. Robert Burks was the person who sculpted the statue of the Albert Einstein Memorial that's in Washington as well. Robert Burks has passed away now. He died in 2011 at the age of 89. But he

did this sculpture of Bobby Kennedy not long after the assassination in 1968 and it's been a number in a number of places, including the Smithsonian. And it was there, I think, that Joe Biden saw the sculpture and thought if he ever had the opportunity, he was going to move that sculpture into the White House, into the Oval Office. Bobby Kennedy had never got there as president, had been there for many critical meetings when he was Attorney General and during his brother's administration, JFK's administration, but he never got there in the post that he desired so much, which was president and which he was running for when he was assassinated in June of 68. So where was Joe Biden in the spring of 1968?

And what was it about Bobby Kennedy that impressed him so much? Well, in the spring of 1968, Joe Biden was just graduating from, I think it was Syracuse University. Got his law degree. Syracuse. And so he must have been, as a person who was, you know, certainly interested and excited by politics, as many young people were in that year,

he must have been following the Bobby Kennedy campaign for sure, maybe even worked on it. But I can tell that it had its impact because I've of late repeatedly seen him take a quote or at least a thought from Bobby Kennedy and use it in his own speeches and his own comments, just like John Turner used to do. And that line was some form, some version of, if you believe in democracy, if you want

democracy to flourish, you have to participate that's how Bobby Kennedy got so many young people to follow him and Joe Biden was one of those young people and obviously believes in that line because he uses it

just like John Turner used to use it all the time whenever we had lunch it always came up. Ah, Peter, believe in democracy, you have to participate. He used to say it all the time. Joe Biden saying it all the time. Bobby Kennedy said it all the time in that campaign in 1968.

And so that's what I was thinking when I was sitting there looking at the television yesterday and watching Biden talk about, as I said, everything from COVID to the spending bill with that beautiful, big sculpture of Bobby Kennedy right behind him, right there in an Oval Office that now has Dr. Martin Luther King's bust is there. So are a lot of other famous Americans. Rosa Parks. You remember Rosa Parks, 1955, refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. Moved to the rear. Cesar Chavez is the labor organizer

in California for farm workers. He's also in the Oval Office. And then there's lots of artwork as well, paintings on the wall. But the dominant one, certainly yesterday, was Bobby Kennedy. And perhaps you now know part of the reason for that. All right, this is Thursday, and Thursday we have a kind of potpourri day where we talk about any number of different things that have kind of crossed my desk

but haven't made it into the program during the week but are interesting and important nonetheless so let me carry on with a few more um if joe biden had bad news this week it was the fact that one of his nominees nira tandem did not get through the Senate process. She was going to lose on a vote, and so they withdrew her nomination. And why did that happen? Because Neera Tanden is a bright, very bright person.

Smart and dedicated and a public servant. But she likes Twitter, or she used to. And her great crime, apparently, was occasionally writing a few things on Twitter that weren't very complimentary of some of her Republican opponents. Now, God forbid, I mean, who would do something like that? How about the former president? The former guy?

Who did it every day about somebody? Every day. It was usually a lie, whatever he was saying, but nevertheless, he did it every day at no consequence, none. And it was kind of accepted. A lot of people do it, but near attendance, not allowed to do it. That's why they brought her down. And they say it, but that's why they brought her down. They even lost one of the Democrats, Joe Manchin.

Same reason. Can't have that kind of behavior in a cabinet-level secretary. Okay for a president, but not for a cabinet-level secretary. But there's a lesson in this, of course, and that is, for all of us, be careful what you write on Twitter. Take a good hard look at it after you, you know, if you're tempted to say something, okay, write it out,

but before you push tweet, read it again and think, well, that might be good in the moment. How's it going to look a week from now, a month from now, two years from now? Will it still look smart and funny or will it look like something I wish I hadn't done? You know, when students ask me what's the most important part of a resume. I tell them, you know, in some cases,

your employer's not even going to look at your resume. They will look at your social media entries because that'll tell them who you are and what you're like and how responsible you are. So if you're young and just kind of starting out, you might want to clean up your social media act. And that goes for all of us. You know, man, there've been more than a few times where I've looked at something and gone, you know what? I'm not going to send that. That's stupid.

That's not worth it. It just isn't worth it. Anyway, that's our kind of lesson on the social media front for today. Okay. What's next up? You know, there have been a lot of rankings out there lately. You know, charts putting countries in different places in terms of the way they've been dealing with the

COVID situation. And, you know, depending on who you are and what arguments you're making, it's easy to find the occasional one that actually makes Canada look good and certainly the occasional one that makes Canada not look so good. And those get used all the time. I saw one this week that I hadn't seen before. And I got it in my hand here now. It was on Bloomberg.

Bloomberg.com. And it's what they call their COVID resilience ranking. And it mixes a lot of different factors in for each country to come up with an overall rating. Number of cases per 100,000 over the last month. The fatality rate for the last month. The total deaths per million of population, the P factor, the positive test rate, access to COVID vaccines, and the number of doses given so far per 100 100 residents. Okay, there are 53 countries on the list

where they've worked out these numbers on. Take a guess at us, who's number one? Take a wild guess. Who's number one in the overall Bloomberg rankings for COVID resilience? I know this is, the Bridge audience, a pretty sharp audience. They read, they listen, they watch, and they know the odds are it's probably New Zealand. And guess what?

You're right. New Zealand is at the top of the list with a resilience score of 77.2. That's the highest number. By a factor of almost five points over Australia. But here's something you probably did not know. At least this is what it says on this list, published this week. And the data is all up to february 24th so it's you know more than a week old at the moment but it's the latest overall ranking based on all these factors and

their statisticians put it all in so february 24th two o'clock Hong Kong time is when this list was given out. And the doses given is a few weeks older than that to get the right factors. But the numbers that were calculated for New Zealand, you know, there's been all this discussion, much of it appropriate, about the number of

doses that have been available in Canada, the number of doses that have been given in Canada, the number of doses that have been ordered for Canada, and where we are on that. And there are conflicting views. But here's New Zealand, number one in the world on the COVID resilience ranking. Guess how many doses, when these numbers were factored, had been given in Newfoundland, New Zealand. And I got to tell you, I went online last night

and I have yet to find a story that says their first dose has been given yet. They're still working out the protocols. Now, mind you, they have hardly any cases. But nevertheless, in New Zealand, number one in the world, in terms of COVID resilience, the rankings by Bloomberg,

they haven't given a dose yet. Not one. And number two, Australia is 0.01 doses given per 100. Singapore, which is number three, with a ranking of 71.3, they're at four and a half doses per 100. Highest numbers are in Finland and Norway. They're at four and a half doses per 100. Highest numbers are in Finland and Norway. Israel, of course, which is way up there in terms of the number of doses given,

almost 85 doses given per 100. But guess what? Israel on the ranking is number 14. They've had a lot of cases per 100,000. So on this ranking, where's Canada? Well, we're above Israel. We're number 12. Based on this latest set of figures that they have.

The United States isn't even in the top 20. They're doing extremely well, as you know, and the doses given, they're like over, what is it, they're over 80 million now? But you look at the top of this list, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Finland, Norway, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan. Japan just started giving vaccines last weekend. Just started.

Japan, our G7 companion, and we're often compared against the G7. So, I don't know. I find these very revealing. The U.S., if you're wondering, is number 24 of the 53 countries.

So there you go with another ranking, another chart to consider. Now, we have something from National Public Radio, NPR, their health news section. This is good. This is good, especially for people sort of, I'll look at myself as sort of an average age. I'm sitting at 72, so I'd say this applies to anybody 20 years younger or 20 years older, that whole span.

And the headline of Kristen Kendrick's article online at NPR is five medical appointments you should stop putting off. And I think it's fair to say that a lot of us in the last year have said, you know what, I'm not going to the doctor. I had an appointment for such and such, but I'm not going to go. Not now, not for at least a year, not until things have settled down considerably. And that's kind of understandable, right?

But this article is arguing that was understandable. It may not be so long, so much longer. Emerging evidence, the article says, tells us that the health threats from postponing some tests and exams, including those for cancer and heart disease, but other crucial appointments as well, outweigh the risk of running into the coronavirus at a doctor's visit, even if the virus is prevalent in your community. One of the doctors they talked to says a woman is more likely to die from an advanced stage of breast cancer than she is from COVID-19. And that means regular checkups, right? So what are the five?

The five medical appointments you should stop putting off. I'll just give you briefly what those five are. Cancer screenings. Overall cancer screenings. When it comes to finding and fighting cancer, timing can make the difference between life and death. People delaying their cancer screenings are being diagnosed at later, more advanced stages when treatments aren't as

successful as they are in earlier stages, says one of the doctors. The National Cancer Institute predicts more than 10,000 additional deaths from breast and colorectal cancer due to poor screening rates during the pandemic. The study forecasts a spike in deaths from those additional cancers within the next two years. Next up, prompt checkups for new red flag symptoms. What are we talking about there? Heart disease, especially critical and crucial to get on top of even a year with more

than 500 000 covid deaths in the u.s since the pandemic began heart disease is still one of the leading causes of death in the nation typically responsible for about 655000 fatalities annually. And that disparity between heart issues and COVID fatalities is just as true, in fact, more so in Canada than in the United States. Calling 911 and getting treatment in the ER should still be the response to sudden emergency symptoms like crushing chest pain and trouble breathing. But don't push aside a call and visit to the doctor if you have subtler symptoms such as occasional chest discomfort or shortness of breath that comes and goes or that stops if you sit down and rest. All right, you heard it. Don't put these things off. Number three, follow-ups for chronic disease.

Complications of diabetes, eye disease, kidney disease, nerve damage. People could be having very active disease not knowing, and this is a real concern, says another one of the doctors discussed on this or contacted you about this particular issue heart failure chronic lung and kidney diseases or diabetes illnesses that can have serious complications if they're not managed closely. This is a figure from the States too. It's worth noting that 43% of patients with diabetes surveyed by the American Diabetes Association in December said they've delayed seeking routine medical care during the pandemic, often because of the fear of COVID-19.

Number four, we've talked about this issue. It's kind of the silent issue that's been significant during the last year. Mental health management. Just as the pandemic has put extra stress on those suffering from physical ailments, it's taken a toll on people with mental health problems. Though many health care providers have expanded virtual options for getting mental health and substance abuse treatment, in the U.S. we're still seeing high rates of drug overdose

and emergency room visits for mental health cases. Don't let the pandemic lead you to postpone psychiatric appointments, including those that require in-person interactions. A special note, anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts may need prompt attention from a health care professional. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or if you don't feel confident about helping someone through a crisis, contact one of the suicide prevention hotlines.

There are lots of them, and there's probably one right in your community. Okay, what's number five? Number five, the last one in this list of top five. It's headlined sexual health maintenance. The most recent data about sexually transmitted diseases from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that even in the pre-pandemic era,

an estimated one in five Americans had an STD on any given day. Some are curable, most are at least treatable. Without treatment, several types can cause severe, life-threatening illnesses or even affect fertility down the road. So getting prompt treatment is crucial. So there are five different medical reasons for checkups. This article at NPR concludes this way.

We're in the fight of our lives against the spread of COVID-19, but other health risks haven't gone away. If anything, they've gripped us even tighter during our distraction. That means now is the time to, at a minimum, check in with your health care provider about any appointments that you might need. So that's from Kristen Kendrick in NPR, Dr. Kristen Kendrick. She's a board-certified family physician in Washington. Okay, the advice there is pretty straightforward.

It's pretty simple. It's if you've got a medical appointment that you were destined to have, you were expected to have, and you delayed it because of COVID. That's understandable. At this point now, what's not understandable is delaying it any longer. You may want to check with your doctor's office about whether or not you should be coming in now. All right, still to come.

A new study finds COVID survives three days on fabric. so there are studies all the time right coming out of various universities and there have been lots of them on the COVID story for the last year. I found this one intriguing because I've often wondered myself, you know, I'm walking around, if I pass somebody who's coughing, if you're at the grocery store or wherever you may be out and you're... Wow, that music likes itself so much that it just wanted to pop in right in the middle of the show. Stop. Wait your turn.

Anyway, how long do droplets or splashes of some kind of COVID-19? How long do they last on your clothes? So this is a new university study. It was reported by the BBC, so not surprisingly, it comes out of England. De Montfort University in Leicester tested a model coronavirus on polyester, three different materials polyester, poly cotton and 100% cotton. The results suggested polyester posed the highest risk.

Microbiologist Dr. Katie Laird, who led the study, said the materials commonly used in health care uniforms posed a transmission risk. The study saw droplets of the virus added to the fabrics. The scientists then monitored the stability of the virus on each material for 72 hours. The results showed polyester posed the highest transmission risk, with the virus still present after three days, and with the ability to transfer to other surfaces. Now, on 100% cotton, the virus lasted about 24 hours while on polycotton the virus only survived for six hours so obviously you want to get rid of all all your clothes and just keep the ones that are

polycotton when the pandemic first, there was very little understanding of how long coronavirus could survive on textiles, said one of the doctors involved. Our findings show three of the most commonly used textiles in healthcare pose a risk for transmission of the virus. If nurses and healthcare workers take their uniforms home, they could be leaving traces of the virus on other surfaces. Now here's what else they found.

Water was enough to remove the virus in all of the washing machines tested when it was added in droplets, but not when scientists soiled the fabric with an artificial saliva containing the virus. In those cases, only when detergent was used and a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius or above was the virus completely eliminated. Using temperature alone, 67 degrees Celsius was required to eliminate the virus.

The study found there was no risk of cross-contamination when clean items were washed with those that had traces of the virus on them. The study is under peer review right now, so that means you may well be hearing more about it. But some early indications of what you might expect about the transmission of COVID-19 on your clothes. I told you, it was a potpourri, and you got a lot of different stuff there today. Plus, you get this.

Tomorrow is the weekend special. I've had a lot of letters already this week on a variety of different subjects. If you want to add to that, send them in. I read them all. I don't use them all. And the ones I do use, I don't use all of the letter. But I'm happy to listen.

Remember to include your name and where you're writing from. That's an important part of the success of the weekend special. Somebody said last week, I think it was one of our listeners in Tokyo, the beauty of the weekend special is you kind of get a sense of Canada, Canadians, and where we are and what we're thinking from different parts of the country. So let's keep that up. The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com.

The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com. That's the weekend special for tomorrow. Now, later today on the SiriusXM network, it's an exclusive for SiriusXM. It's called Good Talk. It's with Chantelle Hebert and Bruce Anderson. We have an hour

to talk, well, basically to talk politics. And we got a good subject to go on today. So you want to, if you subscribe to SiriusXM, you'll find it at 5 Eastern Time, repeated noon on Sunday. Okay, 5 Eastern Time today, Thursday, or noon Eastern Time on Sunday. Now, I know that the fact that it's exclusive to Sirius means you've got to be involved with Sirius to hear it. But right now, they've got an offer that allows you to listen to it for free as a podcast.

And it gets you, you've got to go online, siriusxM.ca, and wade your way through the different offers. But there is one right now that allows you to listen to it free. And there's also a four-month subscription rate for a buck a month to get all their podcasts on Sirius. So you might want to consider it. I mean, it's great discussion. It is good talk. And Chantel and Bruce always come with lots of good things to listen to.

We had a tremendous reaction to the first episode last week of Good Talk. And hopefully we'll get some more reaction today for this one. All right. That wraps it up for this edition of The Bridge. I'm Peter Mansbridge. thanks so much for listening and of course we'll see you again in 24 hours Thank you.