From the N&R editorial page….
Hoggard catches a pirated copy of Michael Moore’s “Sicko.” Seems like he agrees with John Edwards.
Hoggard concludes:
As Moore points out, it’s up to you and me to demand excellent health care administered universally and effectively. In the same way we currently provide universal law enforcement, universal fire protection and universal postal services; universal health care can become a similarly effective service provided to all.
But is that a valid comparison? Yes, we travel anywhere in this country and are provided with law enforcement and fire protection, but those services are provided by a string of local government entities, not one massive federal bureaucracy. And using the Greensboro Police Department as an example, you see how even many local entities have serious administrative issues.
Then there’s Greesnsboro attorney Gerry Chapman, who (unposted) argues that the immigration bill doesn’t provide amnesty for illegal immigrants. Chapman uses Jim Crow-era segregation laws to argue against enforcing exisiting immigration laws:
As many argued during the Jim Crow era, opponents of reform assert that, “We are a nation of laws —let’s act like it!” The mere existence of a law does not justify the enforcement of that law…..
It is ironic that, 43 years later, we hear the same justification for doing nothing about our antiquated immigration system that we heard during the Civil Rights debates: This nation must enforce its laws, no matter how dysfunctional or morally repugnant they may be.”
Again, not a valid comparison because segregation laws were denying blacks their rights as American citizens.
