“You think you’ve heard these same excuses before, you’re right. When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said, slow down, it’s [...]]]> Much has been made about Harry Reid’s attempt to link opposition to heath care to opposition to slavery, woman’s rights and civil rights.

“You think you’ve heard these same excuses before, you’re right. When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said, slow down, it’s too early. Let’s wait. Things aren’t bad enough. When women spoke up for the right to speak up, they wanted to vote, some insisted slow down, there will be a better day to do that. The day isn’t quite right. When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone, regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today.”

Here are a few links to the obvious.

The Politico: GOP erupts over Reid slavery, segregation remarks
Fox News: Reid Compares Opponents of Health Care Reform to Supporters of Slavery

The obvious angles have already been taken. The left agrees with him and the right is correctly notifying him that those that opposed these actions where actually Democrats. Most will write this off as finger pointing and posturing, which of course it is. There are opposition parties and they often oppose actions by the other party. Little of this opposition rises to the level of this debate and those mentioned by Harry Reid.   Below the obvious politics lies a more important point.

All of these arguments, including Health Care, are about freedom. Freedom to live out your life as God intended and as guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. In all cases, the opposition sided with freedom and the American people and the Democrats sided with government power and the infringement of freedom.  It is this point that needs to be made and why all Americans should watch this debate with great trepidation.   Unfortunately, it is this point that the politicians and the media fail to understand.  American freedom suffers another blow because of it.

As would be expected, the left is all about taking away freedom, demanding helmet laws and ignoring personal responsibility and risk. They will compare this freak accident to other head traumas and add it [...]]]> I have heard all the tragic stories surrounding Natasha Richardson’s death but one thing is missing from every story I found.

As would be expected, the left is all about taking away freedom, demanding helmet laws and ignoring personal responsibility and risk. They will compare this freak accident to other head traumas and add it to the statistics of 50,000 deaths. But most of those are car accidents or blunt trauma to the head. If you look at skiing accidents and death, you drop to 50 or 60 a year (out of 8million+ skiers). Of those most are risk takers on black diamond runs or collisions [and they will equate this to those]. Most [I dare say no others] are a simple fall on a beginner slope. It is like comparing jumping off a swingset to jumping out of an airplane. Where are the calls for helmets and parachutes on playgrounds? Helmets and five point harnesses for all passengers in cars? There are degrees of risk and adults accept those risks when the undertake actions. It is called personal responsibility [dare I use the word Freedom or Liberty] and this country was founded on it. I hope the her family can come to grips with this freak accident and find peace in their lives without joining the media in trying to take freedom from others.

But what part of the story is missing? Let’s take a look at the timeline. Richardson had a skiing accident at a resort 80 miles outside of Montreal, Canada. Thinking nothing was wrong she was accompanied to her hotel by the instructor and a member of the ski patrol. An hour later she said she didn’t feel well. She had a headache, so we sent her to the hospital. An ambulance was called and Richardson eventually was transferred to Sacre-Coeur hospital in Montreal. Richardson was then flown to New York.

This is what I noticed. She was in Canada where heath care is the envy of the American left and she flew to New York. She did not stay in Montreal where her husband was filming. She did not fly to England, the country of her birth. She flew to New York. The capitalist home of expensive health care [Not to mention the best heath care with the best facilities and most researched doctors in the world].

This accident is truly a time to reflect and learn. Not about helmet laws but about the quality of health care in the world and the choices people make in a time of need.