Letters: Jun. 19, 2006

(2 of 4)

I thank the Dixie Chicks for bravely stating what so many of us are afraid to say for fear of being branded as unpatriotic. I am a 71-year-old American, a veteran and former teacher of U.S. history. I am ashamed of what the President has done to this country and our standing in the world. I am extremely disappointed in the Democratic Party for failing to stand up to President Bush when doing so would have made a difference. We are a long way from what this country used to be all about.

DON BABB San Dimas, Calif.

Some entertainers overestimate the value of their popularity. Stardom does not give the Dixie Chicks the right to spew their political views to people who are paying to hear them perform. If politics is more important to them than their music, they should run for office. Count me among the many who will never forget their indiscretion at a time when the country needed unity.

DAN SHILLINGBURG Canal Winchester, Ohio

I am from Texas and share the Dixie Chicks' embarrassment about our President. Our country boasts of its diversity and freedom, but those advantages seem to be fading fast. The Dixie Chicks' dedication to their values rather than their pocketbooks is a breath of fresh air. Polls show a huge majority of the country agree with them. Americans should rise above the book-burning mentality. We have witnessed how censorship has harmed countries we are ostensibly trying to liberate.

BRENDA WILLIAMS Asheville, N.C.

Outsourcing the O.R.

America's health-care system has been suffering for years, but the new fad of traveling overseas for elective surgery is a sign of collapse [May 29]. Outsourcing has cost American manufacturing workers their jobs. If it takes hold in the medical world, U.S. hospitals and physicians will have their profits cut. Legislators and health-care professionals must awaken to the severity of the crisis Americans are in. Without adequate health care for middle- to lower-income citizens, more patients will take the opportunity to pay less by outsourcing.

DAYLE M. TOWARNICKY Westerville, Ohio

Your story quoted health-care economist Uwe Reinhardt, who said that medical outsourcing "has the potential of doing to the U.S. health-care system what the Japanese auto industry did to American carmakers." Such comments are typical of so-called experts who pontificate while others try to repair a flawed but high-quality system. Reinhardt seems blissfully unaware of the difficulties doctors and hospitals face in delivering quality care to our patients. True, our health-care system needs better transparency so patients can make informed choices. We need to run efficient operating rooms and hospitals. But we are able to achieve those goals much more often than consumers are led to believe. High-quality health care does exist throughout the U.S.--most of the time within a few miles of our homes. I'm staying here if I need surgery!

PATRICK E. DALY, M.D. Oshkosh, Wis.