Son,

Ron Paul is a physician, a doctor, a M. D. Some folks think that qualifies him to be President. He is obviously very intelligent and very well educated. I suspect he knows a thing or two about health care issues. His physician experience is as a flight surgeon in the U. S. Air Force and later in obstetrics/gynecology. So let’s look at his physician credentials and apply them to politics.

First of all – I must say – Dr. Paul does not seem to have the typical demeanor of a physician. He actually presents as a nice person. Did he fail to take Arrogance 101 in medical school? I thought that was a required course in all reputable medical schools.

It is worth noting that while in the Air Force he was a surgeon. Surgeons have a different personality than Internal Medicine Practitioners. A heart ailment in an aging male patient takes on different meanings for these two related professions. The Internal Medicine guy might say, “Take this medication to treat cholesterol and blood pressure. Come back in three months.” The surgeon is more likely to whip out his Buck knife and invite the patient to lay down on a well lit table. He wants to fix the problem right now – no ‘take the pill and call me in the morning’ stuff for him.

As an obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Paul’s patients were women and children. It would probably serve me well to not go there with this debate – you can use your own imagination.

Dr. Paul seems to see all government ailments as acute rather than chronic. Diabetes, arthritis, and HIV are chronic and require long term care. With proper care folks with these ailments can live reasonably normal lives. Acute flare ups of these chronic illnesses require immediate intervention.

Our government contracted an incurable virus about a hundred years ago – we call it an Income Tax. Physician lawmakers have pondered the ailment for decades. It is much like taking steroids – there is short term gain for long term unpredictable behavior. Dr. Paul wants us to quit the steroids – cold turkey – the mentality of a surgeon. The Internal Medicine congressmen want to manage the illness.

All of us acknowledge that taxes bring inherent injustice. Prednisone is a steroid that is used to treat other ailments – but it has side affects. Taxes have side affects. But we have to meassure the side affects against the problems of the initial ailment – and we ask, “Are the side affects of the medication worth the treatment of the illness?”

In the case of our government we have ailments like maintaining an infrastructure that benefits all. We have roads and bridges and sewers and water supplies and police protection and fire protection and military protection – it goes on and on – and we have to treat these ailments.

Sometimes we do not agree on what actually ails us as a society. We can view immigrants as viruses trying to attack our vital organs or we can view immigrants as nutrients that feed our collective soul and imagination.

We make decisions with the collective wisdom of our population – we call this decision making process an election. Our country uses the Internal Medicine protocol – ‘take this politician and call me in four years.’

Dad