It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity, and it’s not the flu, it’s the stupidity.
It’s no surprise that news that a Mexican child who got sick while visiting relatives across the border in Brownsville, and was then transported to Houston Children’s Hospital – where, sadly, he became the first person to die of swine flu in Texas – provoked some ugly reactions in the seedy gutter world of comments on news stories on newspaper web sites. There’s a sizeable contingent of folks whose attitude can be summed up as “our hospitals are for people, not Mexicans.” (I do wonder how many of them consider themselves good Christians, following a saviour who walked among lepers while wondering why Mexicans can’t just cut the lawn, make the tamales, and go somewhere out of the way if they’re going to get sick and die.)
Can you image the uproar if an American child were on vacation in Canada with his family, got sick, and was turned away from a hospital because he was not Canadian?
“The child was not a United States citizen,” said Councilwoman Toni Lawrence, who hinted that the city should be involved in deciding whether a patient with an infectious disease would be cleared for transport here.
“I’m very concerned about this disease, I’m very concerned someone died from it, and I’m very concerned council wasn’t told about this. We need to be aware of this and continue to do things for Houston and not for anybody else.”
One day, perhaps Ms. Lawrence will be traveling abroad and find herself sick or injured, and find herself admitted to a local hospital and treated – even though she’s not a local citizen. Perhaps that’s what it would take for her to realize how loathesome she is today.
Houston is a city with some of the world’s finest medical facilities. It’s also a city whose citizens are, in general, marked by a generosity of spirit that makes living here a pleasure. Unfortunately, as you’d expect with any group of two million people, there are those whose reaction to their good fortune of having so much is to want to shut others out.
It’s sad that one of them is on our city council.
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“…and continue to do things for Houston and not for anybody else.”
The very flower of Christianity.
“Can you image the uproar if an American child were on vacation in Canada with his family, got sick, and was turned away from a hospital because he was not Canadian? ”
That actually doens’t happen because they’ll ship your butt back. By the way, what’s “humity”? Is this a new liberal term we don’t know about…like turning Toni’s concerns into an obvious slam against the right by taking her out of context? You’re just as ignorant and hateful as the people you vilify. Read what she actually said and quit blowing up junk like this…hate baiter.
Thanks for catching my typo! I fixed it.
I really have no idea how to respond to the rest of your comment, as it makes no sense. Is it a conservative position to think that children of other nationalities should be refused medical treatment when their lives are in danger? That’s a new one on me.
What was out of context? Did she not object to a Mexican child being treated in an American hospital? Can you tell me what in her comments suggests otherwise? She was quite specific – we should help Houstonians, and we should not help anybody else.
Must be a slow day at ExxonMobil, where you’re posting from!
By the way, I welcome and enjoy people who want to debate, but if you can’t get past name calling (“hate baiter”) you’re not welcome here. This is the second time I’ve had to warn you about this; it’s the last.
“You’re just as ignorant and hateful as the people you vilify.”
I beg to differ. John is well educated, intelligent, caring, and fair minded. The same certainly cannot be said of Councilperson Toni Lawrence, a bigoted, ignorant, callous, racist.
I think it’s funny that everyone assumes that a Mexican traveler being treated in the US means that we are footing the bill.
I have no idea what the financial situation of this family is, but given that they got on a plane and flew from Mexico City to Matamoros, then drove to the United States to visit family, and according to news reports visited the Galleria shopping center in Houston, it seems quite possible that they are middle class or affluent people, perhaps with private health insurance that will foot the bill.
Of course, to many Americans, “Mexican” and “indigent” mean the same thing. Mexico is certainly a poor country, but it has middle and upper classes, particularly in Mexico City, and generally one doesn’t expect an indigent peasant to be taking plane trips, driving over the border to the US, and going shopping.
“That actually doens’t happen because they’ll ship your butt back.”
I have never heard of a case of Canada deporting an American citizen to the United States because they needed to be hospitalized for emergency care due to the sudden onset of a non-preexisting life threatening illness.
Please supply proof of this.
Mexican GDP per capita is US$ 14,200. Mexico’s GDP ranks 83rd out of 230 surveyed countries (CIA Factbook). That means it is in the top 40 percentile.
Mexico is not a poor country. They’re just not nearly as wealthy as the U.S.A.
In fact, I once accompanied a friend with a nasty (but not life threatening) head injury to a Montreal emergency room, where she was treated. They did want to know what kind of insurance she had, because she was not a Canadian resident, but that was about it. I can’t imagine they would not have treated her if she hadn’t had insurance.
My understanding is that even uninsured, undocumented aliens are legally entitled to emergency health care in Canada.
What I meant was that Mexico is a country with a lot of poverty, although it’s also got much more economically developed regions too. The range of incomes and standards of living is extreme by US standards.
And as is usually the case when many of a country’s citizens leave to seek opportunities elsewhere, the poorest are often over-represented in the migrant population.
Mexico’s Gini Index* is 47.9%, which supports your position that there is an extreme range of incomes and standards of living.
Most Americans just think of Mexico as a poor country of poor people — nothing could be further from the truth. America is a very wealthy country (10th highest GDP per capita) and we enjoy a standard of living unknown in most of the world.
Gini Index: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/docs/notesanddefs.html#2172
The latest information is that the Mexican child who died was healthy when he arrived in Houston and started showing symptoms several days later.
Since the incubation period for swine flu is 24-48 hours doesn’t that indicate that he contracted the disease in Houston?
John, I love reading the thoughts you care to share with the world. So sad that some others aren’t inspired by them as I am.
Love and peace!
John, you’re kind in describing Ms. Lawrence as loathesome. In my view, she’s something un-publishable(sp?) on you blog, but it starts with a “c.”
She has no soul to speak if- a mouth like a razor- and a mind like a steel wool pad. Ask any of her 17 aides she’s had in the last 5 years. Oh wait- one them died while working for her–she went ahead with a fundraiser the day he past.
To Kim: I think you mean she’s a bitch with a capital C.
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