Ugh

From Digby:

I just saw one of the most disgusting stories on CNN that I have ever seen: they are actually debating whether or not we should let illegal immigrants die now.

They tell the story of a young man who was brought here by his parents at age 14 and has been working ever since then. He has kidney failure and needs dialysis, which he has been getting as a charity case up until recently. Now they are cutting him off and unless he can find a private clinic that will take him he's in big, big trouble.

The reporter asked him why he should get treatment since he isn't a citizen, (at which point I'm screaming "because he is a human being!") and he showed her his pay stubs going back to when he was 15 --- which showed that he's been paying taxes just like the higher orders.

Then the reporter calmly said, "he has about eleven days and then he'll die." Wolf Blitzer asked the reporter to keep us posted on what happens, so that's good.

It appears that it's now perfectly acceptable to debate whether or not people should die for lack of care in the richest country in the world. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Once a society accepts torture, it's only a matter of time before it drops this pretense about every person being precious entirely. Now we can get down to the nitty gritty and start talking openly and honestly about which people deserve to live and which ones don't.

This shouldn't surprise Wolf Blitzer, of course. Wolf just hosted a roundtable with, among others, Alan Grayson, who was telling him unapologetically that this is precisely the Republican Plan. And Blitzer, of course was outraged.

Not outraged that the plan is to let people die, mind you. He was outraged that an honorable member of the Great American House of Histrionics would say something as outrageous, as inflammatory, and as insulting as Grayson did. It's the truth, of course, but what shall it profit a man to tell the truth, only to lose his couth in the process?

Grayson Tells It Like It Is

Alan Grayson talks about how 45,000 Americans die every year from lack of health insurance. The Republican mindlessly repeats his bullshit about how tort reform and portability will be enough. And Wolf Blitzer just wants to talk about whether or not Grayson's House presentation was insulting.

45,000 people a year. Who the hell cares if it's insulting?



Update: Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who don't understand the issue, and but who can relate to the soap opera of insults and counter-insults. And the mainstream media is only too happy to indulge them, because it's good for ratings, and because they have a vested interest in the status quo. And if everyone is busy arguing over who insulted whom, the one thing that is not going to change is the status quo.

Ladies and Gentleman, 21st century journalism!