War of Attrition by Michael Bennett
Rather than launching an all out as-
sault, conducting war by using a slow, incremental wearing down of personnel and resources, military leaders through- out the ages have often used war of attrition as an effective method to defeat an enemy. Embargos, isolation, freezing of assets, periodic bombardment of strategic areas are some of the tactics that are used in this military strategy. During World War II, General Doug-
las MacArthur employed these tactics against the island fortress of Rabaul, where the combined forces of Imperial Japan had amassed huge quantities of armaments, war planes and supplies. It was a strategy that proved successful in defeating an enemy of far superior
numerical and material strength. The history, strategy and tactics of the
tort “reform” movement are strikingly similar to a classic war of attrition. On the heals of the Vietnam War and
its associated widespread violent pro- tests, the Civil Rights Movement, the Pill, Valium, and the Iranian hostage crisis, America was ripe for a rightward swing of the political pendulum. In 1980, Ronald Regan was elected
president, in part, by promoting a concept of personal responsibility. The concept could not be easily dismissed as mere rhetoric or partisan political propaganda. Accountability is a funda- mental individual and societal concept to most Americans. And after all, it was
20 years. 150 experts. 30,000 cases.
Aquatics
Aquatics, environmental health and safety experts and facility operators, accident reconstruction experts; Certifi ed by National Swimming Pool Foundation, National Recreation & Park Association
• Reconstruction of drownings, diving injuries, falls
• Facility construction, design, and operation
• Lifeguard actions and oversight
• Analysis of chemical handling, disease transmission, and
indoor air quality • Regulatory compliance
JFK who said “Ask not what your coun- try can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” With George (Bush) the 1st,
and
Vice President Dan Quayle leading the charge, the personal responsibility slogan morphed into the “tort reform” movement and became a major plank of the Republican Party’s platform. Seeing the obvious, big insurance,
big Pharma, big tobacco and big medi- cine lost no time and spared no effort in supporting the Republican agenda. A number of individuals seized the opportunity to further their already long-time financial interests by forming grass-roots groups, receiving significant support from these massive corpora- tions. The axis had thus been formed, and the war against victims and plaintiff attorneys was clearly underway. Like most wars, the strategy of the
tort “reform” movement began with the identification and subsequent demoniz- ing of the enemy. Victims of malpractice were drawn into caricatures of corrupt, hapless and lazy people looking to un- justly blame someone for their troubles, while aiming to get rich from the deep- pockets of the lifesaving pharmaceutical and innocent insurance companies. Supposedly, masses of opportunistic
Engineers, Architects, Scientists & Fire Investigators 800-813-6736
www.robsonforensic.com (Continued on page 50) 48 Trial Reporter Fall 2007
loafers were lining-up to get undeserved compensation for contrived injuries through a system that was being hugely exploited by trial lawyers, wrecking the entire medico-economic system and creating a crisis of access to medical care. Although the campaign to portray victims of medical negligence in such an odious light continued, the tort “reformers” understood that only so much mileage could be gained from this tactic. The public, to a large extent,
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60