Defund Walter Reed? Are Liberals Nuts?
By Robert Charles
Those desperate for power, as well as those unable to separate reason from emotion, often make fools of themselves - thinking they are at once smarter, possess "unique" experiences (unlike the rest of us), are ideologically pure, and just better at living life. We call those people liberals.
A liberal who calls herself a conservative is, well, a less smart liberal. The notion is that she gets credit for conservative compass, allowing her to bash the compass; people who bash their compass often end up on the rocks, or at least miserably lost. They are not good to follow.
Enter Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, who bills herself "conservative." The paper - which routinely omits conservative thought, as too religious, historical, traditional, patriotic, militaristic, capitalistic, individualistic, liberty-centric, anti-government, and (worst of all) liable to convince people - just ran a Rubin rant that would make George McGovern blush.
Obviously ignorant of Edmund Burke, Russell Kirk, and Ronald Reagan, she claims doctors allowing President Trump to return home should lose their licenses, and Walter Reed Medical Center be shut down - for allowing the President to return home.
Lunatic tendencies seem on the march. First, she calls President Trump "a menace to everyone around" him for going home - without symptoms. Now, pause for a material fact. This will shock liberals, but facts can be interesting. The CDC reports the nation's "overall cumulative COVID-19 hospitalization rate was 178.2 per 100,000" last week, and "481.5 per 100,000" for those over 65. Using logic, a conservative vice, this means 99,518.5 Americans in every 100,000 COVID-positive are back home, not hospitalized.
By reference to another conservative trick, called math, this means President Trump is among the 99.5 percent of COVID-positive Americans quarantining at home, not at a hospital. Applying Rubin's analysis - these Americans must all be "menaces" or Trump is not one.
Next, she attacks "any" doctor who would allow a COVID-positive patient to go home. As thousands have done this, she libels them all: "Any MD who publicly endorses this insanity needs to lose his/her license. Period." Says the Washington Post, a pox on their houses, where patients continue getting well. If Biden wins, watch out.
The most startling departure from reason is her recommendation, that "Congress might want to defund Walter Reed," as "it is a public health hazard." Gosh, that idea escaped most Americans. Then again, liberals are smarter.
Now the astute reader will notice several things. Walter Reed was not built for Trump. It serves those who selflessly defend our country and are wounded in the process. This "defunding" thing may have jumped the leash. Unable to topple or burn Walter Reed, Democrats will defund it.
Note the arrogance. The hospital treats more than one million military beneficiaries annually. It is "the world's largest joint military medical center," hundreds of beds for thousands of vets, and 7,100 professional staff. As one veteran noted in disbelief - but then he was not a smart liberal - this is beyond crazy. "Great idea - let's punish soldiers, physicians, nurses, and staff for the president's decision to return home ...."
The paper was not done. They called "the rest of Walter Reed," presumably those 7,099 staff not the doctor himself, "remarkable cowards." They have no idea the people they demean. I am former Navy and know this hospital well. There are no cowards within those walls. "Period."
Finally, as if this liberal had not done enough spitting, she said if you "are a staunch defender of the rule of law," oppose "systematic racism," favor "legal immigration," you do not "fit in" with today's Republicans. I beg to differ. Who has been working to end riots in Democrat cities, offered police reform in the Senate (drafted by Black Republican Senator Tim Scott) that got dismissed by Democrats, and strives to distinguish legal from illegal immigration?
As the election nears, liberals are losing it. Maybe they see the election sliding away. In any event, those desperate for power, or unable to separate reason from emotion, make fools of themselves. That appears to be happening more often these days.
Robert Charles is a former assistant secretary of state for President George W. Bush, former naval intelligence officer and litigator. He served in the Reagan and Bush 41 White Houses, as congressional counsel for five years, and wrote "Narcotics and Terrorism" (2003) and "Eagles and Evergreens" (2018), the latter on WWII vets in a Maine town.
