The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
Bottom Stories of the Day
- “Law & Disorder: No Foul Play Found at Bank”–headline, Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville), Feb. 14
- “Quebec Says TMX-LSE Hearings Will Be Months Away”–headline, Reuters, Feb. 14
He Does Drone a Lot
“Protest to Target Schumer, Drones”–headline (third item), Journal News (White Plains, N.Y.), Feb. 15
Great Moments in Socialized Medicine
First the bad news. “The National Health Service is today condemned over its inhumane treatment of elderly patients in an official report that finds hospitals are failing to meet ‘even the most basic standards of care’ for the over-65s,” London’s Telegraph reports:
A study of pensioners who suffered appalling treatment at the hands of doctors and nurses says that half were not given enough to eat or drink. One family member said the maltreatment amounted to “euthanasia”.
Some were left unwashed or in soiled clothes, while others were forgotten after being sent home or given the wrong medication.
In several cases considered by the Health Service Ombudsman, patients died without loved ones by their sides because of the “casual indifference” of staff and their “bewildering disregard” for people’s needs.
Now the good news: “In Britain, the government itself runs the hospitals and employs the doctors. We’ve all heard scare stories about how that works in practice; these stories are false,” according to Paul Krugman, star columnist at the New York Times.
Oops, but there’s more bad news: The New York Times has been known to publish out-and-out falsehoods on its opinion pages, including under Krugman’s byline.
Good news: This could be one of those instances in which he’s telling the truth. Bad news: We wouldn’t bet on it.
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for thef “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”
