Too many questions have accumulated in my in-box, and so it’s time for fall cleaning.
Q:Should Rep. Alan Grayson, a Florida Democrat, apologize for saying on the House floor that the Republican health care plan is “don’t get sick” and “the Republicans want you to die quickly if you do get sick”?
A: Yes, he owes the GOP an apology, because the Republicans do not want you to die quickly.
The evidence comes from the case of Terri Schiavo, who was in a persistent vegetative state. In 2003, the Florida legislature (both houses controlled by Republicans) passed a special law allowing Gov. Jeb Bush, a Republican, to intervene to keep her feeding tube from being removed.
He intervened, but the state Supreme Court found the law unconstitutional. So then the U.S. Congress, with both houses under Republican control in 2005, passed a law transferring jurisdiction to the federal courts. President George W. Bush, a Republican, interrupted his vacation at his Texas ranch to fly back to Washington, and sign the bill.
But the federal courts refused to intervene, and Schiavo died on March 31, 2005, after 15 years on life support.
Thus it is obvious that Republicans do not want you to die quickly, but instead to lie comatose without realistic hope of recovery as long as there’s political mileage to be gained by revving up the base, and Grayson should amend his remarks accordingly.
Q. Do you plan to read Sarah Palin’s upcoming book, “Going Rogue: An American Life”?
A. No. If she’s truthful about life in a small town in the backwaters of America, I don’t need to read it because I already know all about such a life. If she’s not truthful, why waste my time reading it?
Q. It appears there may be a Democratic primary contest between Michael Bennet, appointed to fill out Ken Salazar’s U.S. Senate term, and Andrew Romanoff, former speaker of the state House of Representatives. Which one do you support?
A. I’ve never met Bennet, but he appears to be doing a good job and hasn’t done anything terrible like supporting torture.
I have met Romanoff several times. He’s smart, practical and hard-working, and I’d sure like to have him looking out for our interests from some public office. So I’ll vote for him if it comes to that.
But ideally, President Barack Obama, who on Sept. 17 announced his support of Bennet, would appoint Gov. Bill Ritter to some federal office (Czar of All the Blue Ribbon Commissions, perhaps), and then Romanoff would run for governor and win.
Q. What about ACORN?
A. It’s like Bill Clinton. He knew he had political opponents who were looking for something to use against him, and yet he gave them an opening with his failure to keep his pants zipped. ACORN certainly knew it had political opposition — and yet did not strive to keep its own house in order.
But I hope those who are so up in arms about alleged misuse of money from government contracts will also summon some investigative zeal about Halliburton and Xe, the company formerly known as Blackwater.
Q. I love my country and want to express my patriotism. What’s the best way to do that?
A. As nearly as I can tell after some research on patriotic websites, you should fly a Confederate battle flag, propose the repeal of every provision of the Bill of Rights except for the Second Amendment, and refuse to pay federal taxes. Then everyone will know how much you love America.
And on an entirely different note, happy birthday to Martha, my partner for 40 years.
Ed Quillen (ekquillen@gmail.com) of Salida is a freelance writer and history buff, and a frequent contributor to The Post.
