The Burrow

I'm getting a little bit tired ...ok, a lot tired..... of the process stories surrounding health care. There are serious issues being discussed behind closed doors, and while I know that we only hear what they want us to hear, and that the media is manipulated by planted leaks and back stories, I'm looking for the investigative journalists who will present a reasoned, well thought out analysis of what's being proposed and who's against it and why.

Instead, we are overwhelmed with Rep. Joe Wilson and "You lie!" Parsing the phrase has become a national sport; he didn't actually call the President of the United States a liar, he was only referencing the statement. Sure. Any kid on the playground knows there's really not much of a difference. Of course, that child also knows that you don't call out in the middle of an assembly. It's just not done.

And that's where I start and finish with Representative Wilson's behavior. It was "down-right rude", as Miss McCarthy, my gym teacher at School #1 used to say. I always wondered if that was a different kind of bad behavior than regular rudeness would be, but this incident has clarified the distinction. This was more than a burp at the dinner table. The man was an invited speaker in your house. Though his cadence was often reminiscent of call-and-reponse church services, the venue was not a chapel nor a rally. It was Congress.

There are certain behaviors which are appropriate in certain settings. "Good manners make the world run smoothly" is a phrase the Cuters heard on a regular basis. Standing in a crowded elevator in the Sutter/Stockton Garage, the Big Cuter worried how we'd all get out. "Watch what happens," said I, as the doors opened and the gentleman in front of us got out and held the door for the two elderly ladies to his left, whose path was cleared by the young men stepping out of their way. Then the mom with the stroller, then me-and-my-kid, then the rest of the crowd. No one pushed. No one hurried. We went "in order" and everything was fine.

Mr. 6 is learning about keeping quiet even when he really really really needs to tell Will something right now. First Grade does that to a person. The freedom to interrupt and demand attention is severely curtailed as one progresses from kindergarten to the grades to the real world. Even though 184,583 people voted for Representative Wilson in 2008, there was no concomitant dispensation from the rules of common courtesy. Somebody should have sent him to the principal's office when he was 8.

And it's just getting worse as time goes on. Instead of accepting his punishment and using it as a teachable moment, he whines that he's already apologized once and I feel like I'm in a desk with an inkwell watching a classmate try to wriggle out of detention. It's embarrassing. He's a grown-up and an elected official. He should be somebody's hero. Parents should be able to point to him and tell their children he's a man to be emulated. Unfortunately, that just doesn't seem to be happening.

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As for the "real issue", we are already paying for health care for the undocumented and uninsured amongst us. Our society has not devolved to the point where we let people die on the sidewalk. The truly ill are receiving care as you read this post. The cost of that care is shifted to those of us with health insurance and to those of us who pay taxes. The process is hidden within the hearts and minds of hospital CFO's and their ilk. It's a dirty little secret that no one wants to talk about. But, the money is being spent and it has to come from somewhere. That anyone could make an argument denying people the opportunity to fulfill their obligations as responsible adults by contributing to the costs of the services they receive remains a mystery to me.

I'll save my rant on the value of a guest worker policy for another post.....