Guest Post From Robert Parkhurst

Okay, Robert doesn't know he is doing a guest post, but I'm kind of busy today and I read a letter to the editor yesterday in the New Times that I thought was really well written. The New Times is our weekly "alternative" rag that usually has a leftist slant but every now and then they surprise me.

Last week they ran a commentary praising socialized medicine, and while it was well written it conveniently side-stepped any of the issues that would come along with such a program. Oddly enough, all three letters in this weeks addition slamed the writer. I say "oddly enough" because in San Luis Obispo, these kinds normally get a whole birkenstock wearing parade lining up behind them. Anyhow, here is Robert's letter.

Remember What The Road To Hell Is Paved With.
The commentary in the Nov. 8 issue asks the question "Why not socialized medicine?" The author implies that socialism evokes a knee-jerk response, and the press won't challenge the assumption that socialism is somehow evil. I have no doubt that the author and most people advocating socialized medicine have the best intentions - the road to hell is paved, nonetheless, with good intentions.

Remember the suffering of Agent Orange victims, who were so long unable to get their government to accept this as anything other than "just in your mind", or remember the soldiers that suffered with Gulf War Syndrome. "All in your mind" they said.

Recently, several Democrat congressmen have been very outspoken on TV about how the government runs its prisons and the VA hospitals. These are government-run programs that they are complaining about.

Democrats seem to be unhappy with the Bush administration. They complain constantly in the pages of this paper that Bush hates children and is responsible for everything from Hurricane Katrina to the fires in Southern California. Republicans I've talked to seem much more forgiving. A strange irony - The Republicans are reasonably happy with the government but want it to do less and be a smaller part of our lives, while the Democrats are unhappy and want it to do more. We need to remember, however, that if Hillary had done her job during the Clinton Administration (Hillary Health Care), Bush and his appointees would now be in charge of our medical care.

Robert Parkhurst
Atascadero, CA