Hope I Die Before I Get Old

Did you read this?

Why is every aspect of our health care system an utter disgrace? What a blessing and a curse modern medicine is. We live longer than ever, but with constant worry about how we will care for ourselves. And trying to maintain a sense of dignity along the way? Forget it.

I had lunch with a former colleague today. He's a smart guy: BS and MBA from top schools. Professionally accomplished. Nice family. Not a wingnut. Sensitive. Amiable. Kind.

And clueless.

We talked about the sub-prime mortgage situation for a few minutes. He expects a recession later this year. I told him that I would not welcome it, for obvious reasons, but that a recession (on top of everything else) ought to rid us of Republicans for the foreseeable future.

"But who will the Democrats put up?" he said. We discussed the pros and cons of the usual suspects and he said, "They want national health care? Take a look at Walter Reed. That's national healthcare."

Like I said: my former colleague is a smart guy. But after all this time, he still doesn't get it. The Republicans hate government. They don't think government should be in the business of paving roads let alone providing health care. Of course Walter Reed is a debacle. If you don't think you should be in that business, one way to get out of it is to royally fuck it up, howl that it's an insurmountable problem that government has no business addressing, and then give up.

Walter Reed wasn't an accident. Walter Reed was the natural outgrowth of a philosophy that says, "You're on your own pal."

Read the article. These people are on their own, too. I don't know if the Democrats can craft a national health care policy that makes everyone happy; but I'm willing to bet they can do better than what the poor people in this article are dealing with. And I know they can do better than Walter Reed.