A Primary Parable (First Aid or a Doctor?)

[GiovanniC]

Imagine that you are walking along one day and you see an utterly insane young man, utterly wild-eyed and probably no more than 15 years old stooped over what appears to be a life-sized CPR dummy. As you approach, you see that the seemingly lifeless body is in fact a real woman, unconscious and oblivious to her surroundings. The wildman has sawed off one of her arms and is working on taking off a leg. The woman is bleeding profusely and she is in very grave danger of dying if something is not done immediately.

Now, imagine that you -- and you alone -- had the power to make this wildman disappear into oblivion, to be replaced by one person of your choice.

At this point, pretty much ANYONE would be better than the wildman who is almost certain to kill this woman. Someone with some basic first aid knowledge might be able to fashion a tourniquet and stop the bleeding. In this way, the woman may live. But although this is certainly better than the wildman, is this really the best choice?

Certainly, a better choice would be a skilled surgeon who would be able to reattach the limbs, and help restore the woman to full health, making her at least as good as she was before.

In this year's primary, our country is that woman. Bush has been savagely attacking her, endangering her very being. And any of our candidates would be better than him, because not only would they stop savaging her, they would attempt to stop the bleeding and save her. But to undo the damage that has been done, you need to do more than just to stop the bleeding.

I believe that Wesley Clark, Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich were three candidates who could have not only stopped the bleeding but also restored our country. Now Wes Clark is out and Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich have been marginalized so badly that I can only see them following in Clark's footsteps at least to some degree. Leaving Sharpton, who is a funny guy but is really not Leader-of-the-Free-World material (though again, he'd be better than Bush), and Kerry and Edwards.

My primary (Michigan) is over now. My vote for Wesley Clark has been nullified. I have become very disenchanted, and at a time when this country needs restoration, not just a tourniquet, I feel a tourniquet is the most we can hope for.