(448) A VOICE OF REASON

Christopher Hitchens died at age 62–a voice of reason has been stilled. My favorite observation by Hitchens (and there have been many) is that he found Bill Clinton to be hateful in his behavior to women, pathological as a liar, and deeply suspect when it came to money and politics. He was, of course, absolutely right. He wrote a clever book about Clinton, No One Left to Lie To. He also loathed Hillary Rodham Clinton as much as I do. She sat there on 60 Minutes beside Slick Willy and lied to the world when she said that Jennifer Flowers was a liar.

When the Muslim world demanded that the Danish newspaper apologize for publishing cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, Hitchens said, “It is now demanded that such a preposterous claim be made immune from any inquiry, any critique, and any ridicule."

I already miss him.

*****

At last, one of President Obama’s promises has sort-of come true. We are, in theory, leaving Iraq. The death toll was more than 4,000 Americans, and the total wounded was over 30.000. Despite the enormous cost of the war, the real cost will be in taking care of our service women and men who have been wounded in this fiasco. Meanwhile, back in Washington, the political establishment is having a difficult time getting together on anything. The problem is that there are true believers on both sides. Thinking that they could be wrong is beyond their ken.

On one specific issue, rather than have 2,000 pages that explain Medicare, start by letting everybody deduct all of their medical expenses from their taxes. A great start and a very simple solution compared to the nonsense being foisted upon us by Washington. Also, if the money that is being generated toward Medicare is insufficient, double the rate. Private insurance carriers, when they are losing money on the premiums they charge, raise the premium to cover the cost. After the premium has been raised, pay everything and stop employing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of bureaucrats to monitor and control our health care.

Respectfully submitted,
Donald M. Heavrin,
Life in the fast lane