Naivete

Week's end. Can't be here soon enough for me. I fear the world is coming to an end. Why? Well, it seems even the usually supportive libs in the media are turning on old pal Michael Moore. Seems the crockumentary maker is being held accountable this time around. You know when Wolf Blitzer and USA Today are critical of "Sicko" something must be afoot.

Seriously, what is wrong with him? How did he go from a pampered childhood in suburban Michigan to an adult singing the praises of Cuban health care? What is the fascination on the left for Cuba?

Moore exploits 9/11 workers and their health problems by taking them down to Cuba to get free health care, as I understand the story to go. He does the standard liberal swipe at Camp Gitmo by parading past the gate demanding the same health care for the 9/11 workers that the military get there. He seems to defeat his own argument that the prisoners are being mistreated there since he acknowledges the good medical treatment available.

I think the far left show an utter naivete about communist agendas. Did Moore really think the average Cuban was receiving good health care, better than what is practiced here? People from all over the world come here for treatment. Our country has the world's best health care. There are problems with non-insured folks but very few end up being excluded from treatment due to economic status or insurance coverage. It is the exception, not the rule.

Instead of coming back from Cuba and speaking out against the conditions in that country, Moore does the opposite. It's always America is bad for his exploitive purposes. Our system isn't perfect but it's still the best around. In socialized medicine scenarios, procedures and testing are frequently done in a less than timely fashion. If the procedure isn't an absolute emergency, a patient will wait months for it. And, if you are not considered a good risk, forget it.

When our son was born, we were without health insurance. We did it the old fashioned way. We priced hospitals and went with the best at the cheaper price. My doctor took payments as well as the hospital. I was admitted into the hospital on a Friday afternoon, my son was born just before noon Saturday and by Sunday morning I was back home. All on a holiday weekend. Yeah, Labor Day weekend. You saw that coming, didn't you? From birth my son has done things within his own time frame. He came into the world after 22 hours of labor, even after the labor was induced. And, I did it without an epidural.

My point is, it may not be easy but it can be done in this country. The truly poor and even the illegal population in this country use the emergency room as a doctor's office. It is a terrible stress on the system but they are, in fact, treated.

A member of our immediate family went to Cuba a couple of years ago with his wife. They were so rebellious, don't you know, going to Cuba even though there is a travel restriction for American citizens. They went in from Mexico. They were so proud of their plans before the trip, they were going to stick it to our government. How dare the politicians in Washington tell them where they can travel. Especially with George Bush in office?

Well, they came back and during a phone call to us, the male family member was telling me he was so shocked that the family they stayed with were not allowed to have their family Bible out in the open. He was shocked at the religious persecution in Cuba.

He was shocked at the poverty. He said most people were welcoming but everyone was guarded in their speech and actions.

I asked him why he was shocked. I asked him if he thought all this time that his country was lying to him about the life of the average Cuban. Did he think our government was exaggerating how barbaric life under Castro was? Just plain naive. He's educated, well traveled for purposes of restful vacations, a creative artistic fellow. He went to explore the music scene. He's a 'progressive' who thinks NPR is way too conservative to be heard in his house. Just plain naive.

So, let the celebs and filmmakers go there and preen about with Castro. Finally some glimmer of hope is coming out. Eventually even CNN will have to remove its blinders.

It's easy to bash our system. The answers aren't so easy. And socialized medicine? The last thing we need is more restrictions and higher taxes.