Hillary Clinton gave a great speech in New York last night, after winning the South Dakota primary. She asked people to write to her, on her website of course, and tell her what they thought she should do now. Since she has fought for universal health care for many years, and taken a stupendous amount of very personal grief for it, I felt compelled to respond.

I did this even though I wish she would not run for president and put us all through the torment of watching the Republicans eat her for breakfast. I address her as “Mrs. Clinton” because the belittling use of her first name by said Republicans, and the rest of the news media, makes me nauseous.

One of my readers asked me where I’m going with this blog. For those of you who are time challenged, the bullet points in this letter are my main arguments.

Dear Mrs. Clinton:

This is in bullet points because I know your time is valuable. 

  • Whatever you decide, please devote your considerable personal capital to achieving universal health care
  • Insurance assumes that the thing insured against will not happen to some people
  • Everybody gets sick and everybody dies, so in fact insurance does not work for health care
  • Insurance functions by denying care to people who need it
  • Denying health care to people who need it is morally unacceptable
  • Insurers have gotten the control they have because we are afraid to face the fact that we will get sick and die
  • Insurers keep their power by using this fear and telling us that the people who do get sick and die are somehow to blame for that
  • A huge amount of money and energy is going into this blame campaign so insurers can survive the upcoming old age and death of 70 million Boomers
  • This blaming of the old and sick is also morally unacceptable.
  • We need to look to our religious traditions, our ethical and philosophical traditions, and our common humanity and accept the fact that we all will get sick and die
  • In light of our common humanity and common fate, we need to care for everyone
  • Good luck, whatever you decide.

Love,

Nora