Rob Barton and the Second Ammendment - Friday August 6th

Apologies for the gap in blog entries. A busy few days here.


One interesting aspect of the time I've spent here has been the opportunity to meet people from different parts of the USA. On my previous trips to the states I've visited huge multicultural cities like Chicago and New York but spent most of my time in the company of fellow Brits. Not so here. Whilst the majority of the rad techs and nurses are native Portlanders, the IR fellows and attending physicians (equivalent of UK consultants) have been recruited from throughout America and have their own regional accents and traits.

Keller and Kaufman are from Birmingham (Alabama not the midlands) and Boston respectively. My favourite though is Rob Barton, a stereotypical Texan:

Rob Barton

Time spent with Rob is particularly enjoyable because, as well as being a superb and vastly experienced interventionalist (probably the best practical interventional radiologist here as he tends to avoid academic roles in favour of hands on teaching) he also completely lacks any political correctness.

 As soon as he got wind of my (vaguely) left wing political tendencies he started to test my convictions with a few choice digs. He is a typical republican; pro Bush, anti-immigration, anti-health reform, anti-gun control etc etc. His particularly favoured political philosophy is the 'Tytler cycle' - an interesting and initially persuasive argument against democracy if you've never heard it before (which I hadn't).

A passionate defender of the second amendment  (the right to keep and bear arms) he is a fully card-carrying member of the NRA and has an extensive collection of handguns, hunting and assault rifles. He also has a license to carry a concealed handgun (which I think he brings to work with him) so I'm not tempted to push him too far in any of our heated political debates.

A nice guy - he's lent me a bunch of maps for hiking this weekend - but I'm quietly glad that he lives 4900 miles away.