None So Blind.....
Hey you! Yeah you! Driving that SUV or Van filled with soccer kids. And you, yeah you! Driving that pickup with the Nascar and yellow ' Support our troops ' ribbons intermeshed. On your way to the next match or Nascar event, stop and get yourselves a copy of the March 9-11 USA Today. Front page, far right headline: " Kids Face cutbacks in health coverage.... Money running out in 14 states." Federal funding shortfalls are now threatening the nationally funded Children's Health Insurance Program ( CHIP) in almost all of our 50 states. Since one must assume that you Soccer Moms and Nascar Dads are not ( yet) poor enough to be on Medicaid, this program is for your kids. Why is this happening?
Democrats in Congress want to add $ 745 million to a bill funding the Iraq ( I say ' occupation', they say ...) war, to take care of this year's shortfalls. Whoa! Let's go over that again, for you Soccer and Nascar folks who may have been preoccupied with the kids and the races. They wish to add $ 745 million to a supplemental spending bill for this Iraq debacle- a mess that has already cost we taxpayers upwards of $ 400 billion! So, in essence, things are so out of whack in this country, that a thing as precious as health care for our children is being held hostage with a phony war. The only way to get some relief is to tie it in with more wasteful spending on the most terrible foreign policy decision since Vietnam.
OK. So, as you drop the kids off at the field, and park at the Speedway, you still say ' Its worth it. We are fighting them there so they don't come here.' Do you really, in your heart of hearts, still believe that dribble? Have you asked yourselves why, if that is the urgent case, how come the Bush twins ( 20 something and very healthy ) are not volunteering to go over to Iraq? Nascar Dad, if you yourself are 30 something, or even 40 something, why not enlist? Soccer Mom, honestly, if that son or daughter of yours, so vibrant and full of energy and innocence, were 18 instead of 11 or 12, would you urge he or she to enlist? All the yellow ribbons and flags in the world do not factor in for one lost child.
So, here we have it. Approaching four bitter years, and over 3000 American dead. Lancet, the highly respected British journal of medicine, estimates that perhaps 500,000 to 600,000 Iraqi civilians are dead due to the invasion and occupation. No yellow ribbons for them. We have over 14 permanent military bases in Iraq- never a sign of a nation intending to leave. More troops are being sent over- the hatred level against America is breaking records, and gasoline prices creep higher and higher for those SUVs , Vans and Pickup trucks. Our economy is being held together by smoke and mirrors. Perhaps when Soccer Mom and Nascar Dad lose more than just their kid's health coverage, blind faith and obedience will cease.
..... " as he who will not see."
(philip a farruggio is a small businessman, columnist and activist leader.
