President Bush
shows a new level of lack of awareness of need for leadership, dealing
with health care issues with remarks about flu vaccine. Now ,
he has to turn to Canada to bail him and the United States out of
another health care crisis as the U.S. resembles a third-world country
unable to provide for its citizens, rather than the richest nation on
earth. A commentary by TodaysSeniorsNetwork.com Publisher Daniel Hines.
Before the onslaught of the French
Revolution, Marie Antoinette when told of the lack of bread to feed the
French people, responded, 'Let them eat cake.'
Now, she has been joined by George W.
Bush as an example of the failure of rulers and leaders to
comprehend the trials and needs of real people.
The revealing moment into the
simplistic mind of the President came during the third debate when in
response to a question about the unavailability of flu vaccine, Mr.
Bush's answer was to stay healthy, avoid the flu, and to not take a shot
that isn't available in the first place and to make the sacrifice
to put your health at risk so others might, just might, be fortunate
enough to find a source for a shot and be either over 65 or very young
or in some other risk category.
But, the President has a solution--he
is turning to Canada for help.
I wish that Senator Kerry had been
wired and I could have whispered in h is ear, "Join the Crowd."
A President who doesn't believe that
drugs from Canada are safe, now must rely upon our neighbors to
the north...I wonder if he will be taking a bus with the seniors against
whom he has worked so hard to prevent them the access he now seeks.
Of course, the President points out
with pride that he isn't even going to have a shot, setting the example
for millions of his 'fellow citizens' who will be put at risk.
As Michael Corleone said in
'Godfather', 'don't insult my intelligence.'
Does the President want us to believe
that he will risk his ability to govern by rolling the dice and perhaps
contracting the flu? Of course, this is a man who believes his
'service' in the Air National Guard of Texas-Alabama, spent in some
unknown place puts him on an equal stance with a proven war hero whom
his attack dogs savage as a liar, unfit and un-American.
How I wish Senator Kerry had asked the
President if his turning to Canada meant that he was saying that there
is a way to ensure the safety of drugs from Canada...does it mean that
he is saying that sometimes the FDA is wrong and its track record of the
past few months indicates that the agency is too involved in fronting
for large pharmaceutical companies to do its real task--helping ensure a
safe, fairly priced supply of prescription drugs and medical procedures
for American citizens.
On the evening TV news, one desperate
senior, who had been standing in line since 3 a.m. at a facility
dispensing flu shots only to be turned away as the supply ran out,
lamented, "This is America...this isn't supposed to be happening...how
could this happen that we can't meet the needs of our people..."
The answer is really simple...we have
a President and Administration that, in urging us to stay well, is
saying, 'let them eat cake.'
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