July 28, 2021--Let 'Em Die

It was 2008 and perennial presidential candidate Ron Paul was again running for the Republican nomination. What he was best known for was on full display during the first debate.

Paul, though a physician, as an orthodox conservative-Libertarian, was on record as being opposed to Medicare and Medicaid.

In his view, without government funding (and he was in favor of eliminating all federal subsidies) low-income people who did not have medical insurance were on their own when it came to paying for healthcare.

Incredulous, I think it was Chris Matthews, one of the moderators, pressed Paul about these radical views.

What would happen, Matthews asked, if someone without insurance was hit by a motorcycle and, though with life-threatening injuries, somehow managed to get to a hospital, seeking treatment, who would he pay for this?

Without missing a beat, Dr. Paul, said the injured person or his family and friends needed to come up with the cash to pay his bills.

What if he was about to die?

"I suppose he would die," Paul said, sounding sad. He is a doctor, after all, and pledged, as a physician, to follow the Hippocratic Oath.

"Let him die?" Matthews asked.

"Let 'em die." Paul responded.

This was a GOP debate and so there was a burst of applause from the hand-picked, well-heeled audience.

I was reminded of this yesterday when the New York Times reported--

"As coronavirus cases resurge across the country, many inoculated Americans are losing patience with vaccine holdouts who, they say, are neglecting a civic duty or clinging to conspiracy theories and misinformation even as new patients arrive in emergency rooms and the nation renews mask advisories."

Will there be confrontations between those who have been inoculated and those who have opted not to be?

To complicate matters I'm hearing from liberals when they look at the Unvacs--

"Let 'em die."