Irony
Posted By Russ Emerson on December 31, 2009 at 11:30 am
Last night, on the news that Rush Limbaugh had been hospitalized, an old friend of mine who happens to reside on the liberal side of the aisle suggested that it was ironic that, after opposing socialized medicine, a.k.a. Obamacare, Limbaugh was initially treated by socialist healthcare (“government”) paramedics.
I don’t think this quite fits the definition of “ironic.” Paramedic services are pretty much a “natural monopoly,” as are fire and police departments, and don’t necessarily have to be government-provided.
Here in my town, for instance, the EMT/ambulance service is privately operated. If you want to “subscribe,” you can pay a modest annual fee, but if you are not a subscriber and they respond to a 911 call, you (or your insurance company) are going to pay a hefty charge.
Relying on a monopolized service isn’t ironic.
On the other hand….
Would you call the following scenario ironic? Our country’s most vocal proponent of socialized medicine, upon discovering a medical problem requiring expert care…
- seeks out the world’s best specialist in that particular field
- travels hundreds of miles to receive immediate VIP treatment
- with little chance of a cure
- rather than wait in line to use local services under a more cost-efficient schedule.
Yes, I’m talking about Ted Kennedy, whose treatment may have given him a few months of life, but which I am certain cost well into the 6-figure range.* Could not those resources have been better used elsewhere?
But no, that’s not irony.
That’s hypocrisy.
In any event, neither term applies to Limbaugh.
* As regular readers will recall, I’d earlier had the same neurosurgeon do my own brain surgery, and I know how much that cost. Boy, do I ever know.
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