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blue bits. red rocks.
Tuesday 25 August 2009

People are falling sick and dying all around us and when, and if, we go to the hospital most of us hope we don’t, from lack of care, die there. How bizarre it is that President Obama, this thoughtful, kind, smart being we’ve at long last been graced with as a leader, has to spend so much energy trying to get Americans to accept what we so desperately need: a system of health care that means we don’t have to be terrorized by the thought of getting sick. We would laugh, except it’s really sad. And self-defeating. Even the well-heeled people who hate this man will benefit from the sense of security real health care reform will provide. Their children, though well provided for through wills and trust funds and who knows, overseas stashes of cash, may yet fall on hard times and need care. They will not be happy to realize what most of us have always known: that being sick in America, without insurance or a substantial amount of money, brings one at last to the level of all the other “minorities.” People in pain. People with a grievance. This could be an enlightening experience, of course, and that would be wonderful. But it could be sordid and dark and horrid, with nothing but suffering and despair to recommend it. Alice Walker

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