Humanities II

No single statistic drives the health-care reform debate like the number of uninsured Americans, variously characterized as 45, 46, 47, or even 50 million. Unfortunately, though, most of what we think we know about the uninsured is wrong.

Don't get too outraged, those of you who are looking down your noses at those unreasonable, misinformed, anti-health-care-reform town-hallers. No matter what particular clan, tribe, or party you belong to, you can't really disown them any more than you can your own grandmother. Their brand of hotheaded, self-righteous, obnoxious, stick-it-to-the-man-ism is as American as apple pie.

It's not a pretty process, and it clearly has its dangers. But suffering fools is the price of democracy.