Jack’s Winning Words 3/11/21

“If you’re late, your name will be mud.”  (My mother’s words)  Newscaster Roger Mudd died this week.  He was related to Dr Samuel Mudd who treated John Wilkes Booth  after he had assassinated President Lincoln.  After that, Mudd became a derogatory name, hence the expression: “Your name will be Mudd.”   This commentary also raises the question: “Should a physician treat a patient as a human being regardless of the circumstances?    ;-/ Jack

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  WHAT?!? who would make that judgment call... the doctor himself? or some board designed for that purpose?  “nope. he is a trump supporter.”  you are provocative, as always===JACK:  You are the provocative one...mentioning the name of Truimp.

FRO WILLMAR REV:  Certainly the noted “Great Physician” and personal friend of mine felt that way...If my memory serves me correctly, He even placed some “mud” on someone’s eyes as a healing balm that restored his sight! 0;-) ===JACK:  The Great Physician is also the Great Judge...knowing the right thing to do at the right time.  For us...It is never wrong to do the right thing.  Dr Mudd is one of my heroes.

FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL:  just how misguided some people can get when acting on a foundation of lies and distortions. ===JACK:  The Mudd story is one of those "true" ones that sometimes gets lost over time.  I thought that it was worth resurrecting in the light of RFoger Mudd's death.

FROM JU IN NC:  Not only a physician but anyone of us should be able to.  Jesus touched a leper.  A display of the most absolute clean ministering to the most unclean.===JACK:  Have you ever worn one of those bracelets with WWJD inscribed on it?  I guess that they're a good reminded to "do" the Jesus thing.

FRO LBP:  you’re on time, you’re late” one of the band leaders in my HS marching band. It wasn’t good enough to be present, you had to be ready. I can get to the church parking lot at 10:30, but I’m still walking in after the processional. Late! ===JACK:  A great example of..."Your name will be Mudd."  My reference today just wanted to give some of the background to a common idiom.

FROM NORM'S BLOG:  It is quite common to hear someone using the phrase “the new normal” these days and that brings the question of what “normal” is to mind, whether new or old.===JACK:  In Samuel Mudd's day, the normal seemed to be..."Don't treat John Wilkes Booth."  Since Mudd was abnormal, his name has endured.  "Your name will be Mudd."

 FROM RS IN TEXAS:  In my opinion, yes, the physician should treat all as human beings.  Justice is a separate issue.===JACK:  I wonder what medics did in time of War?  Did you see anything like that in Viet Nam?===RS:  From what I saw it was a case of priorities  -  Americans first, South Vietnamese (military or civilians), Canadians, Aussies, etc, second,  and occasionally a Viet Cong or North Vietnamese would get treatment.  The doctors were much more likely to treat the bad guys (if they had the time) than the field medics.  For me it was disturbing to see how many civilians...many of them children.... were injured or killed.  The problem was that you didn't know if that civilian by day was a Viet Cong by night.  

 FROM MY LAWYER:  That’s what the Hippocratic Oath requires. ===JACK:  Therefore, Benjamin Mudd should be honored.  "You name will ne Mudd" ought to be a sign of pridde.

FROM HUNGRY HOWIE:  It’s not a physicians decision to treat or not treat a patient with a life threatening emergency the physician must treat without judgement or choice  A physician may choose to limit the type of patients seen. Practice limited to doses of of the __________. Then Must accept all without discrimination based on anything other than the type of medical problem.   I don’t believe it is ethical to refuse to treat someone who you view as immoral or criminal. That is not for you to imdivually decide===JACK:  Have you ever turned down a patient (refused to treast him/her?)

FROM SHALOM JAN:  Yes!  Lots of physicians on the battlefields during the Civil War treated soldiers of both sides.  They took ridicule and worse for it, but remembered their vow to "do no harm" and leaving any man untreated would have been "harm" in their way of thinking.===JACK:"  I suppose chaplains did the same thing.  I've never met a chaplain who sereved during wartime.  Have you? ===JAN:  My best friend served on the US Iwo Jima in both Desert Storm battles and in the Mediterranean.  I just helped edit a chapter of his for a memoir being put together by/about Black Navy chaplains.  When you need a doctor or a pastor I don't think much counts about denomination, color, gender or anything else! ====]JACK:  In at least two instances I have told people that they would be better served by changing their membership to another congregation.  Subsequently, they also changed churches again.

FROM DAZ (CIVIL WAR EXPERT):  Dr Mudd was pardoned after he helped in the saving of lives at the Dry Tortugas prison during an\ epidemic. in 1869. Some of his descendants tried to get his conviction overturned ( complicated story) one of whom spoke to our Civil War Round Table in Detroit. The speaker was a Dr at a GM plant . One of the many interesting and complex CW stories.===JACK:  "Your will be Mudd" sahould be a badge of honor."  Thanks for "the rest of the story."