Joe Klein?s latest TIME column offers more evidence that he?ll never understand the political philosophy that values individual liberty and personal responsibility and fears an overly powerful government.
In criticizing those who believe Obamacare would lead to ?death panels? to decide who?s worthy of taxpayer-funded health care, Klein relates a personal story about a conversation with his dad:
It wasn’t easy. My dad is very proud and independent. He didn’t really want to talk about what came next. He was pretty sure, but not certain, that he’d signed a living will. He was very reluctant to sign an enduring power of attorney to empower me, or my brother, to make decisions about his care and my mom’s if he were incapacitated. I tried to convince him that it was important to make some plans, but I didn’t have the strategic experience that a professional would have ? and, in his eyes, I didn’t have the standing. I may be a grandfather myself, but I’m still just a kid in my dad’s mind. Clearly, an independent, professional authority figure was needed. And this is what the “death panels” are all about: making end-of-life counseling free and available through Medicare. (I’d make it mandatory, based on recent experience, but hey, I’m not entirely clearheaded on the subject right now.)
In other words, Klein would rather avoid a tough and uncomfortable conversation and leave his dad?s decisions about the future in the hands of a government bureaucrat, one with ?strategic experience.?
I?ve discovered that I have at least one thing in common with Joe Klein?s 89-year-old dad: Neither one of us wants Joe to have any kind of power over our lives.
