BCT Editorial – 4/24/08

This page was last updated on April 25, 2008.

Poor health; Editorial; Beaver County Times; April 24, 2008.

I critique this editorial only to note the Times fixation with portraying the U.S. as a Third World country. This is the fourth time in less than a month Times editorials have compared the U.S. to Third World countries. The previous three were “Stoop labor,” “Cattle call,” and “Lapped.” This editorial may get extra credit since it used “Third World” twice.

The editorial is also an example of hyperbole. Here’s what I mean. There are approximately 3,100 counties in the U.S., yet the editorial claims decreases in life expectancy in 180 counties (6%) for women and 11 counties (0.4%) for men calls for comparison to Third World countries and is indicative of “indifference toward the plight of the poor.” Has the Times not noticed how many taxpayer dollars we spend on the “War on Poverty,” let alone the assistance provided by private charities?