Criminals and Accountability
Mike Hashimoto, in The Dallas Morning News Opinion blog, finds irony in a convicted killer seeking and welcoming the death penalty. In an interview with the AP, the killer says, "At some point in our lives, you have to have some sort of accountability. I can't see how people in my situation deny that."
Hashimoto doesn't explain why this news is ironic. Personally, I fail to see how granting a killer's preference for the death penalty over life in prison helps make the case for the death penalty. Maybe the irony is that Hashimoto and other supporters of the death penalty, thinking they are carrying out the ultimate penalty, sometimes play right into the killers' hands, giving them exactly what they seek.
Til Death Do Us Part...Or Until You Lose Insurance
Joanna England, in The Dallas Morning News Opinion blog, cites a New York Times story about the growing number of Americans who are staying married solely to preserve access to the spouse's health insurance. Or who are divorcing solely to qualify for Medicaid without impoverishing the spouse.
Joanna England considers this "a pretty blaring indicator that our health care system is broken." Well, sure it is. It's long past time to recognize that our health insurance system is broken and time to start fixing it. There's no reason why one's marital status should influence the kind of health care one gets.
P.S. I submitted a comment to The Dallas Morning News blog, but it appears to have been rejected. Trey Garrison challenged the notion that the government should pay anything towards health care. He operates on the notion that if we aren't forced to do something, we ought not to do it. He asks, "Why should we do anything to make sure that more people don't go without?" I replied we do something not because we are obligated to but because we are a generous and caring nation. The notion is foreign to libertarians, but not to most Americans, which may be why libertarians have such trouble achieving electoral success.
6 comments:
Another sure sign of thje DMN's continuing decline is that they are publishing more and more of Garrison's narcissistic garbage.
Trey Garrison is a libertarian, a totally impractical political philosophy with little chance of ever gaining electoral success. Their contribution to society is providing an example of how things could be worse than under either conservatives or liberals.
I don't know why Trey Garrison is showing up more and more in TDMN. He was at Dallas Blog and then D Magazine. He's still connected to the latter, somehow. I don't know whether to feel good that no one seems willing to give him a full-time job or feel bad that his freelancing means he might show up anywhere.
I'm just a freelancer in high demand, Ed. Going regular with a column in the DMN, still an editor for D, and expanding from there.
I'll always remember you as my first fan. :)
Seriously, you should get in on the peak oil discussion over at http://bookclubblog.dallasnews.com/
Best,
Trey
Hey, "trey", I'm glad you saw my comment here. It was censored on TDMN site. Go figure.
I'd like to participate in the peak oil discussion on the book club blog. Except I didn't read the book and I hate it when readers offer uninformed opinions without having bothered to RTFA. I didn't want to be one of them.
Come anyway. It's not just about the book but about peak oil theory, alternative energy, the future, etc.
And if the "trey" was because you're not sure if it's me, I'll establish my bonafides with reminding you I was the one who put a link to your blog on the Frontburner, and I once sent you a note from DallasBlog days thanking you for being such a gadfly and keeping me honest.
Best,
Trey
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