I'm curious to see how Perry's pushback against cheering for uninsured people dying will go over with primary voters. Enthusiasm for letting impoverished sick people die seems like a bad sentiment for a Republican presidential candidate to be tied to in a general election, but I'm not sure distancing himself from that moment is going to do Perry any favors with the base (as it is currently constituted).

RE: "I wasn't crazy about the cheers"

Neither was I - solely because it gives the smacks on the left something to natter on about.

It was nothing but a celebration of choice and freedom. I look at said 30 year old dude in the example no differently than I would look at some moron that puts his mortgage money on the roulette wheel or how I viewed that Steve Fossett dude as he flew all manner of aircraft all over the place pretty much begging for something bad happen.

Go go gadget freedom! It is to be celebrated.

We're a long way from a society with no compassion for starving sick children. The average "poor" person in the US has a car, air conditioning, cell phone, cable TV, etc. The federal government spends about $20,000 per poor person (per person, not per family) on social welfare programs, so it's not a money problem.
We do have a federal spending problem and a personal responsibility problem, either of which could lead to societal collapse. How do you think poor sick children will fare "after America?" (Mark Steyn plug)

First you attack the culture and systems that makes unsupported children a financial/welfare asset.

As a last ditch solution, orphanages exist for a reason.

$20,000 per poor person? Sorry, but where do you get your facts? People that are poor are on a scale of poverty. Some are too "rich" to be on welfare, but too "poor" to pay the rent. In our society, some things that would be considered commodities are necessities. A car, for instance. As a young single mother 25 years ago, I struggled to make car payments because the alternative was to risk rape or worse traveling to and from work and school after dark. I was astounded when I heard some pundit stating that 99.6% of poor people own refrigerators. Salmonella Death Panels, anyone? A family of 4 may qualify for $300 in food stamps a month if their income is less than $20,000, but they won't qualify for welfare. The biggest thing is wages. I remember growing up that our school janitor made enough money to have a nice home, a good car, raise 6 kids and have a stay-at-home wife. A janitor today works for minimum wage. When did this happen? My father told me that in his day, all honest, hard work was paid it's due. Nowadays, people say you "earn" your wealth. Excuse me, but I worked harder as a dishwasher than I ever worked as an RN. But, somewhere along the way, a garbage collector working all day in 100+ degree heat no longer is a hard worker or deserving of a respectable income. Conservatives consider him one of life's failures even though he performs an incredibly vital service.

People have the right to be morons. They have the right to drink and/or smoke themselves to death. They have the right to get fat and lose their legs. They have the right to not clean their air conditioner filter and have their throats close up when they fire it up in the spring.

I'm not responsible for any of it. Like I said, not a fan of the outburst, but I am a fan of what was behind it.

Funny part is, I imagine a lot of similar things were shouted at the TV in response to Blitzer's obvious ploy to demonize conservatism and, yes, freedom, itself.

You are not permitted to change the example any which way you choose.

Not that it matters much to me, anyway, as even your sad, adjusted hypothetical is nothing but an example of the basic fact that, in life, [Stuff] Happens. I am not responsible for [stuff] that happens to other people unless I choose to be. My freedom is at least as important as theirs was and is.

While we're being ludicrous, why not make your 30 year old single father a convicted and registered sex offender who collects firearms and refuses to sort his garbage for recyclables? Would that make you feel better about giving him the freedom to enjoy the fruits or consequences of his life decisions?

"Your characterization of the choice to [put your mortgage money on the roulette wheel] seems to overstate the obvious foolishness of that decision..."

...says the dude who bet on black and hit.

Did FedEx make payroll at its onset by doing that? Genius maneuver, that, right? Results being the part that matters, that is.

I took at $50,000 hit when I was under-insured for a WHOLE THREE WEEKS and my boy contracted a disease that 40 people or so a YEAR get (in the U.S.). Sixteen days in a childrens' hospital. Surgery with the doctors in moon suits. Months of antibiotics. Poor decision on my part, that was, taking substandard insurance while consulting in between jobs (insurance company got soaked good, though). Meh. I worked it out. The government didn't spare a thing except the normal tax deductions.

I felt the same way before that happened as I did as it happened as I do, now, even still. [Stuff] Happens. You are free to be ready for it or not - either way, it's not my problem. Make sure you keep good with your family and your church in case you're not prepared.

RE: "I have nothing good to say about anyone who hooted and clapped when your kid went to the hospital."

No, they hooted and clapped when I handled the situation like a man.

In fact, now that I'm thinking back, my father-in-law and me turned a corner with that whole incident. We were always good, but during and since, we have been golden. He didn't contribute a dime, but what he did give was invaluable.

I'm a computer geek. Sometimes stuff breaks. I have to say, though, that when something "breaks" and I, later, find out that things are working exactly as designed, I get a touch of joy and a ton of relief. "I can't get into X" - ::research:: "Oh, you're not supposed to be able to get into X". Whew! Systems normal. Now, as to whether some adjustments have to be made and whatnot - change the way stuff works - that's fine...that's up for discussion. However, things are working exactly as they should, at the moment.

People failing - for whatever reason - is going to happen. Subsidizing that failure is certainly not a valid means of discouraging it. This much is proven by virtue of the existence of the discussion, at all.

You can call it whatever you want. People enjoying the benefits of their good decisions and, yes, paying the price for bad decisions is a sign of freedom. I enjoy freedom in all of its forms.

There is no logical disconnect in the example that was given - the dude chose poorly. The taxpayers (in the example) were not on the hook for it. YAY!

It's not like the dude had the audacity to go to law school and, then, visit an island inhabited by genetically engineered dinosaurs. People cheered at that dude's bloody demise, which made no sense, at all - logically or otherwise.