This is part 2 of 2, following yesterday’s post…
Finally, Watson thinks Castro set up quite a good healthcare system in Cuba, and she wants to go ahead with the Castro-ation of America’s system, too. Here we get a treat in “my enemy’s enemy is my friend”: based on her recent gaff, an aspirant to her seat in Congress has published a criticism. Though a liberal seeking universal health care himself, he at least sees the horror that is Cuban health care:
Most Americans’ familiarity with the Cuban healthcare system is limited to the Michael Moore documentary “Sicko,” but to the residents of Cuba the reality of their access to healthcare is quite different than what Cuba allowed Mr. Moore to film for his movie.
Did you ever notice how easily leftists fool other leftists with their propaganda? Do you think Michael Moore ever even thought in advance that Castro might have staged the show for him a bit? No, Big Mike just ate it up like Mike-and-Ike. Newell explains the rest of the story,
“Universal healthcare” in Cuba is in reality a two-tiered system where, on the one hand, the elite members of the ruling Communist party and wealthy tourists willing to pay have access to relatively high end health care in Havana, and, on the other hand, the rest of the country is forced to seek healthcare in dangerously understaffed and archaic hospitals and clinics.
Many others have noted the unjust system of two tiers, where only government officials and cash-paying tourists get decent care. The care for the toiling masses is bad, in some cases roaches-and-feces-on-the-floor bad. One article written already in 2005 (and thus divorced from the current debates) called the Cuban system “Medical Apartheid,” another called it simply “Bad Medicine.” He should have called it “No Medicine,” for that is what most people get:
Earlier in the day, a Cuban had stopped me on the street, pulled out his asthmatic child’s puffer, and asked for help in getting it refilled. He could not get the drug, he explained, but I, as a tourist, could. Begging for medicines is common in Havana—next to begging for money to feed children, it is the most common plea—because the government won’t use its scarce foreign exchange to import basic drugs that the populace needs. Doctors won’t even prescribe drugs for the poor that aren’t available in the local pharmacies—the state frowns upon that—but many will write the name of the drug that’s needed on a scrap of paper.
“This is what you need,” the doctors will tell desperate patients, in effect sending them out into the streets on a mission of what can amount to life or death for themselves or their children. Cubans with access to dollars—typically those in the tourist industry who receive tips in dollars—can obtain the drugs they need. Others have relatives in the United States who can ship them. The rest—middle class Cubans included—must resort to begging, the black market or, increasingly, to prostitution.
Again, I agree with Watson: “you need to go down there and see what Fidel Castro put in place.” Indeed. See the masses that waste away in common hospitals without even aspirin while the political leaders succeed at their expense. See the emaciated poor whom that demonic political system has vomited out upon rusty sick beds in rooms you wouldn’t let your dog live in. You can see them, because John Stossell published some of the smuggled-out pictures during his smack-down with Michael Moore (see them at 1:41 to 2:05 here, though you should watch the whole 5 minute clip).
No, Cuba couldn’t care less about the health care of her average population. In fact, she currently has a deal with Venezuelan socialist dictator Hugo Chavez to receive 100,000 barrels of oil per day in exchange for 30,000 medical professionals. So the elite can gas up their cars while the people must do with drastically less access to doctors. Brilliant.
In summary, Watson thinks our president is our commander in chief. The Constitution says otherwise. Of course, since when have liberals cared about Constitutional constraints? But when representatives think like dictators, then the balance of political fear has swung in the wrong direction. The government should fear the people, not people fear the government, let alone have leaders who hope for powerful commander over all. Watson thinks it noteworthy that Castro is brilliant. It’s irrelevant except as far it increased his capacity for evil. The same goes for all leaders. I want faithful to the Constitution first, brilliant second. Watson approves of Che’s revolution and getting rid of the wealthy. Meanwhile she runs for office in a campaign funded by multi-millionaires. What she really believes in, like all leftists, is confiscation of wealth for her own purposes. Castro believed in wealth, too, for him. Watson thinks there is merit in the Cuban system. Don’t knock it till you’ve seen it, she argues. But all she’s seen is the sanitized, staged, top-tier of Cubacare for wealthy tourists. The same stage they fooled Michael Moore and his drones with. Now you’ve seen more than they have. She thinks we could imitate Cuba. Yes, we could. We could implement socialized universal health care and watch our care fail, our lines grow, and open a black market and watch asthmatics beg in the streets. We could. Meanwhile, Cubans risk life and limb to escape to America. They’d rather die at sea than live in Cuba.
I say, if Watson loves it so much, I’ll personally buy her a one-way ticket. Michael Moore, too (even if he requires two seats).
Joel McDurmon, M.Div., Reformed Episcopal Theological Seminary, is the Director of Research for American Vision. He has authored four books and also serves as a lecturer and regular contributor to the American Vision website. He joined American Vision's staff in the June of 2008. Joel and his wife and three sons live in Dallas, Georgia. 
