The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Toeing the Line

7.9.07 @ 12:01AM

POSTAL MEDICINE
Re: Philip Klein's Dr. Fabio vs. Michael Moore:

In 1992-93 I had a crash course in socialized medicine. My daughter was born in France with a congenital heart malformation.

First, the pediatricians in the hospital where she was born saw that she had trouble gaining weight, but ran no tests.

In and out of French hospitals before her death, I heard children in medical wards cry unattended for hours (I stayed with her as she was nursing). Medical personnel instructed me just to leave (didn't happen). Hospital politics took precedence over patient care -- of course one hospital kept her instead of sending her to a specialized hospital, it continued receiving funds as long as she was there.

She didn't have the time to waste.

While my searches have never revealed statistics about the success rate correcting inverted left coronary arteries, the American public has no idea what it is to rely on people with the mentality of postal workers for their loved ones' lives.
-- Lisa O

I would just like to express my opinion that "Dr. Fabio vs. Michael Moore" by Philip Klein is possibly the single most idiotic opinion essay I have read over the course of my life. I can only hope that, in writing the piece, the author was attempting and failing at some sort of humorous diversion, rather than offering a genuine comparison of Italian health care to American health care.

A visit to the website of the World Health Organization will demonstrate that Italians live longer lives and have only half the child mortality rate of the U.S., all at a cost to the Italian public that is roughly half the cost -- measured in % of GDP -- of American health care.

Furthermore, Logic 101 requires that the following observations be made: 1) That two anecdotes cannot possibly serve as representative examples, 2) that any observation made about Italian health care has no bearing on Michael Moore's Sicko, which makes no reference to Italy. Furthermore, the author's tale of suffering, brought on by, of all things, an ingrown toenail, is almost breathtaking in its insensitivity to the genuine mortal risks endured by millions of Americans who lack basic health coverage.
-- Andrew S. Taylor

Without having seen the Michael Moore movie and without the slightest desire to defend any system of government run medicine, I do think that Mr. Klein is arguing a little too much from anecdote. I have never had occasion to consult a doctor in Italy; but I took myself and my children to doctors in Paris (some time ago) and was pleased. I have heard stories of decent and competent treatment by National Health doctors in England. More to the point, I am a legal secretary in a medical malpractice defense firm. Unfortunate outcomes are not restricted to socialized medicine systems, and not all medical malpractice lawsuits are without merit. It is not unknown to wait three hours in an American hospital emergency room. I think what we should be looking at or for is an environment in which the patients (that is, we) have the greatest control over our own health decisions and health professionals have the greatest possible incentives (including financial gain) to take excellent care of us and hope to keep us as their patients. While these conditions cannot be satisfied under a socialized medicine system, they are not always well satisfied under the highly regulated and bureaucratized third-party payer insurance system that we live with in this country. So, let's all trim our toenails (properly) and demand health savings accounts, portable insurance and posted fees.
-- Martha Francois
Portland, Oregon

TRIED METHODISM
Re: Mark Tooley's Victorian Ocean Grove's New Groove:

With all respect to Mark Tooley, I think that anyone who's somehow "missed" that Ocean Grove was in fact founded by a Methodist Camp Meeting Association needs to have his or her head examined. The impressive wooden architecture of the camp Tabernacle (where they run pop concerts in the summer on Saturday nights, mainly oldies-type shows, and much of the charm lies in the sport-coated and tied older gentlemen of the Camp Meeting Association who take seriously and courteously their duties as ushers) is virtually impossible to miss from practically any point in town. And even the streets are named after old Methodist worthies and bishops. So to claim one did not realize Ocean Grove had a religious history is the nadir of obliviousness.

I remember when residents of Ocean Grove could not drive there on Sunday, and the lawsuit that "opened" the town up, which was brought by someone who had a paper delivery service and thus wished to deliver newspapers by automobile. And I also note the continuing squalor and drug trafficking and related violence of Asbury Park (itself named after a Methodist bishop) and Neptune Township right outside the gates of Ocean Grove. Considering the town's low crime rate, there is something to be said for such a faith-oriented enclave, however much its policy on nuptial rites in its "public" buildings may inconveniences engaged lesbians.
-- Richard Szathmary
Clifton, New Jersey

To all those who scoff at the idea that homosexual rights advocates will not target churches or people opposed to their agenda through the use of ordinances designed to sanction same-sex unions, this incident should dispel those doubts. Anyone who believes that hate crimes legislation which includes provisions for sexual orientation won't be used against people of faith is living in a fantasy world. The message to any religious believer who might hold a traditional understanding of marriage should be crystal clear. Either acknowledge same sex nuptials as the equivalent of traditional marriage or be confronted with litigation. Either abandon thousands of years of the moral teaching of your religion or face the coercive power of the government seeking to force compliance to the demands of a persistent minority.

In the past, government never interjected itself into disputes over things like the definition of marriage because there was virtually no disagreement over what constituted this relationship. Despite howls of protest from a very vocal and politically astute special interest group, there still isn't much disagreement on this issue. Referendums presented to the people in various states supporting the traditional understanding of marriage all have been affirmed with one exception, usually by overwhelming majorities. What has changed is our concept of moral authority and where it comes from. Instead of reliance upon moral principles that transcend the individual, some now seek unfettered personal autonomy enforced by government fiat.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Education, Trade, Health Care, Business, Religion, Islam, Environment, Global Warming, Constitution, Law, Supreme Court, Founding Fathers, Military, Iraq, Iran, Israel, NATO, Immigration, Energy, Unions, Medicare