I - like many others - am angry about how the NHS has been misrepresented by republicans in the debate over US health reform. Orwellian, ageist, rationed, smelly are just some of the criticisms levelled at our beloved institution.
So, I’m going to join thousands of British people and express my support through the welovethenhs campaign on Twitter, the micro-blogging site.
As I was considering what five or six words to use to express myself, I noticed that Gordon Brown and Andy Bathrobe had beaten me to it. Even Sarah Brown has.
Gordon says: “PM; NHS often makes the difference between pain and comfort, despair and hope, life and death. Thanks for always being there.”
Andy says: “Andy Burnham: Over the moon about strong support for NHS - an institution I will defend to my dying day.”
Sarah chips in with “welovethenhs - more than we can say.”
Pete Woodcock says: “welovethenhs and Orwell too - stop putting evil and Orwell in the same sentence - he wrote other stuff as well.”
Pete’s not famous, I just liked his response.
Then Alan Duncan chips in: “Forget about NHS rationing, as an MP I’m forced to live on rations - it’s not fair.”
OK, I made the last one up, but the others are true.
I’m a bit thrown now. I wanted to line up alongside Stephen Hawking and have a jingoistic pop at right wing Americans - “Oi star spangled rednecks, shut it” etc - but now I just want to tweet Andy Bathrobe about ISTCs: “If you love the NHS so much why are you always trying to sell chunks of it off”.
Can’t decide: anyone got any better tweets for our republican cousins?
Tags: Humour, US healthcare
