THE CHRONICLE report on Representative Sheila Jackson Lee's Tuesday town hall meeting said:
One supporter, Dr. Roxana Mayer, a physician who does not live in Jackson Lee's district, praised the reform plan for overhauling a broken system.
"I don't know what there is in the bill that creates such panic," she said.
The speaker was further identified in the cutline of a Chronicle photo -- showing a beaming Ms. Mayer hugging Ms. Jackson Lee -- as "a pediatric primary care physician."
(Cindy Horswell, "Jackson Lee says she wasn't trying to keep away health plan foes," Houston Chronicle, August 12, 2009)
Patterico's Pontifications, a widely read conservative blog, tracked down the alleged Dr. Mayer.
Turns out she's a University of Houston grad student, apparently in social work, and not a pediatric primary care physician.
The exchange of emails between Patterico and Ms. Mayer ("If I go to another one . . . then maybe I'll play a plumber") is priceless, as are the comments, the Facebook photo of not-a-Dr. Mayer, and Patterico's headline: "Roxana Mayer: I'm not a doctor but I play one at town hall meetings."
So far the Chronicle has not run a correction.
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This was also the town hall meeting made famous by the YouTube video of Ms. Jackson Lee rudely talking on her cell phone while being asked a question. The Chronicle's Ms. Horswell reported the incident high in her story.
. . . and other jeers when she talked on her cell phone when a constituent posed a question to her.
"In Congress, we have to multi-task," she explained.
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Go here for a nice report on the Jackson Lee event by David Jennings at lonestartimes.com.
Update: Meanwhile Matt Bramati at lonestartimes.com independently strips the medical license from Ms. Mayer's wall. For a bonus, he also outs candidate Barack Obama's famous local campaign office manager with the Enesto Guevera poster as not-a-doctor Mayer's seatmate at the Jackson Lee event.
Said Mr. Bramati: "When you need two plants, try to pick people smarter than actual plants."
Job well done, Mr. B. Sorry I didn't see it earlier.
Meanwhile, blogHouston does a nice wrap-up on the whole affair, including news that the Chronicle has whitewashed the original story and cutline without the bother of issuing a correction.
The story went national Thursday afternoon, appearing on the Blog at weeklystandard.com and Ed Morrissey at hotair.com. Mr. Morrissey, crediting Allahpundit, pointed out that Ms. Mayer was also a big cheese, in Houston at least, for the Obama campaign's Organizing For America. Many local blogs also picked up the story.
Oh, and thanks for the link from blogHouston and Lose an Eye.
UPDATE: What are the odds that you'll one day be negotiating your hip replacement surgery with Ms. Mayer, Houston office administrator for Obamacare?
I'll probably be found to be too old and decrepit for such surgery and will be given a morphine overdose instead.
UNCA D: Don't worry. You're a spring chicken. You've probably got another four or five good years left.
Posted by: Rorschach | August 13, 2009 at 04:42 PM