The New Debate

by digby

I just saw one of the most disgusting stories on CNN that I have ever seen: they are actually debating whether or not we should let illegal immigrants die now.

They tell the story of a young man who was brought here by his parents at age 14 and has been working ever since then. He has kidney failure and needs dialysis, which he has been getting as a charity case up until recently. Now they are cutting him off and unless he can find a private clinic that will take him he’s in big, big trouble.

The reporter asked him why he should get treatment since he isn’t a citizen, (at which point I’m screaming “because he is a human being!“) and he showed her his pay stubs going back to when he was 15 — which showed that he’s been paying taxes just like the higher orders.

Then the reporter calmly said, “he has about eleven days and then he’ll die.” Wolf Blitzer asked the reporter to keep us posted on what happens, so that’s good.

It appears that it’s now perfectly acceptable to debate whether or not people should die for lack of care in the richest country in the world. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Once a society accepts torture, it’s only a matter of time before it drops this pretense about every person being precious entirely. Now we can get down to the nitty gritty and start talking openly and honestly about which people deserve to live and which ones don’t.

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