Thursday, March 01, 2007

Wow

I don't really know where or whether I should start with this, but a 12 year old child died Sunday from an infection that spread from an abscess in his in his tooth that spread to his brain. His parents didn't have dental coverage, and were concentrating on getting his brother to a dentist because his brother had SIX rotting teeth.

I feel that there is a lot that could be said about this on many sides (which the article takes full advantage of), but the more central issue is that someone out there lost their little boy very unexpectedly, and I don't really think that we should be using their personal tragedy as healthcare debate fodder unless and until they are ready to do so.

I've watched a lot of news this week because nothing else has been on, and I've noticed that maaaaybe twenty-four hours is too long to cover the news. This article isn't just a report of the event, it's trying valiantly to set the stage for a Medicaid expose' later on. The news doesn' t just cover the news; it covers Britney, and she could really use a little less [media] coverage right now. They even ran a video of baby tigers and orangutans today with the caption "Cheap Ratings Ploy!" rolling across the bottom of the screen. At least that was honest.

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