The stigma of McCarthyism that wreaked havoc and in some cases destroyed the lives of motion picture and television industry workers is still alive. As a throwback to the '40s and '50s, we are still dealing with the strong-arm, back-room power politics that seek to justify a campaign of servitude and compliance to an ideology based not on an allegiance to right wing American principals -- but instead based on the idolatrous worship of studio kings and their agendas.
It's McCarthyism in reverse, and it is happening under our collective noses. Instead of a fist-pounding corpulent senator whose reckless accusations of treason without proper regard for evidence caused many good Americans to knuckle under and pledge an empty allegiance out of fear, we now have our own State of California government dancing to the tune played by Hollywood moguls while they ask "How high?" to commands of "Jump."
As we approach the second anniversary of receiving "the letter" that announced the impending closure of the Motion Picture Home's Long Term Care facility, I'm reminded of my own conversation that followed almost immediately with Eric Stone, who at that time was a supervisor at the California Dept. of Health Facilities Inspection Division.
With the letter in hand, I noted to Mr. Stone that there was no facility described in the letter that advised the residents and their families on how to lodge a protest of the decision. Mr. Stone agreed that "the MPTF was deficient in its notice,” but resigned himself to the fact that he was allowing the closure to proceed as they had “met other requirements.”
Thankfully, there were family members and members of the industry who would not resign themselves as did Mr. Stone, and mounted a campaign that has, to this day, kept the nursing home doors open. As our protest not only took to the street, but to the halls of the Screen Actors Guild and the Teamsters, we became aware that this was not the only instance where the celebrity and millionaire-heavy MPTF board room seemed to have played power politics with the State of California.
I attended a meeting of resident families and the head of the State of California's Dept. of Health Facilities Inspection Division, Dr. James L. Lawson, who claimed in no uncertain terms that his department had blinders on when it came to the likes of the star power of the MPTF board, and only worked on behalf of the betterment of services to the elderly. He enthused vociferously on the departmentt's commitment to the elderly and invited us to communicate directly with him if necessary.
True to his word, a quick reply by Dr. Lawson to an April 24, 2010, e-mail that I sent kicked into gear an investigation into two specific complaints of mine regarding the religious persecution and denial of rights to worship of the LTC residents (they were denied a proper Passover seder), and the denial of easy return access to the LTC because of over-the-top security restrictions on weekends (like a bizarro world Roach Motel, you could “check out but you couldn't check back in”).
