We Can't Protect Our Own Children
/By Don Varyu
May 28, 2022
Many Americans are proud to proclaim that their country is “the greatest nation on Earth.” For a long time, I agreed. But now I’m having my doubts. What does it say about a country that can’t even protect its own children?
(1) Uvalde. I don’t need to go into the details. You’ve heard them. I did watch a news conference by Texas governor Greg Abbott who claimed more spending on mental health may be required. But he’s the same guy who cut such funding in his state a couple months earlier. Nationally, Republicans claim school shootings could be prevented by locking school doors from the inside. In some cases that might save a 10-year-old girl from being ripped to shreds by bullets from an assault rifle. But it’s hard to see how that same little girl would be spared if the shooting occurred in a church or shopping mall—where such crimes have repeatedly happened.
(2) Baby formula. For days, the media have dived into every aspect of why this shortage occurred. This includes investigations of formula manufacturers, the FDA and federal preparedness and response. But somehow, the babies of America don’t seem to care; they just want something to eat.
(3) Life-saving drugs. 60 Minutes recently did a typically excellent piece on the shocking lack of even fundamental drugs and supplies in U.S. hospitals. Many of these shortages include simple products like glucose and sterile water. Others are vital medications for chemotherapy. The victims include premature babies fighting for life, and young kids dependent on chemo to battle childhood leukemia. Fingers are pointed in all directions between drug manufacturers, the middleman distribution companies and (again) the FDA. Meanwhile, there is no progress—no solution is in sight.
Predictably, there is political infighting involved in all of this. Who can we make look bad? But this “greatest nation on Earth” thing may have to take a timeout. In Ukraine, fighters are battling every day to save their government, save their cities, and most of all—to save their kids.
We are failing that test. Shame on us.
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