Adler says I’m beating Trigger when musing about AM talk radio’s disingenuous intrusion into issues of grave importance. His point is taken. Instead of harping on the obvious, he recommends asking this question: Why do journalists replant their straw men on turf that was once reserved for reasoned analysis? That is the 64,000 peso question. I don’t think I’m goosing hyperbole to say that forty years ago Brother Theodore would have sued Glenn Beck for plagiarism, and yet Beck’s hillbilly homage to macabre performance art has seeped into what should be serious conversations about how best to deliver affordable, inclusive health-care. It does seem strange that Hitler’s ghost is haunting town hall shout-ins. Who knew that Obama’s hidden agenda included the murder of ailing seniors and babies with Down syndrome? No wonder theocrats are packing heat. Although Thomas Jefferson is dead and unable to join Dick Armey’s guerrilla war against tyranny, I gather that assault rifle enthusiasts believe the very late Virginian would join them in screaming “Death before universal health-care!”; nothing says “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” like faceless private insurance bureaucrats denying coverage because of a pre-existing condition. I’m tempted to call Blue Cross of Siciliy and demand that they extort more money from my offshore account: If paying an extra thousand bucks will stop the Black Panther strain of National Socialism from building tiny electric cars, count me in.
Who over the age of 50 doesn’t have a pre-existing condition? Years of extreme Table Rock tubing has turned my body into knots of gnarly cartilage. The few working internal organs I have left are what Dr. Benway calls “museum pieces”. Stretching the grape’s cardiovascular benefits way out of proportion, my liver is currently overseas…traveling with a French passport. Alas, a playful slap on the butt would send me to John McCain’s version of universal health-care -- otherwise known as the emergency room. Did I mention that my bad cholesterol is batting .329?
Because of head injuries suffered during family reunions, I’ve lost my tricycle of thought. When this happens, I assume a secret identity and fling comments to the Globe’s online landfill. Risking impertinence, I think Little Bo Peep has lost more than sheep. Man, that Dr. John Cox has some nerve to insert facts into his op-ed! Since when are physicians allowed to opine about health-care? I thought Allen Shirley was the official expert, trudging up from his basement/laboratory every now and then to sell provincials the straight dope. If the paper’s not careful, a real economist could accidentally expose the dated sentimentality that drips through Richard LaNear’s macro-fiction. It simply won’t do to have scattered bits of substance ruin Joe Schmoe’s four hour morning constitutional. Subscribers aren’t cool with reporters asking ‘gotcha’ questions. We wouldn’t want Roy Blunt admitting that older Canadians do have access to hip replacement surgery. The socialists at The St. Louis Post-Dispatch crossed the line and researched Blunt’s claim, forcing the perennial politician to apologize and promise never to repeat the lie north of Nixa. The Post-Dispatch staff needs to take a cue from southwest Missouri journalism and limit their queries to Blunt’s eye brow grooming techniques.
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I’ve enjoyed Duane Graham and Jessica Schreindl's conversation concerning the nuances between libertarians and garden-variety Republicans. My advice to young libertarians with a crush on Ron Paul is this: Put down “Atlas Shrugged” and slowly back away.
Juan Don
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