The 3 Stooges

Moe, Larry and Curly – some funny guys (if you are a man, at least – it’s a male thing for sure).

How I laughed at their silly antics. How could anyone be so stupid?

One of my favorite routines is when they all went duck hunting. In the 1939 short “A Ducking They Did Go’ the trio is in a rowboat in the middle of a pond. Curly accidentally fires his shotgun into the boat’s bottom, releasing a small geyser of water, and the boat begins to sink. Larry Fine jumps up, shouts “wait a minute, I’ll fix it!” and proceeds to shoot a second hole in the bottom of the boat. He explains “I made another hole for the water to go out!”

(See it for yourself - it's on youtube - search for "3 Stooges" and " a Ducking". Look at Part 2, at about 4:45)



Oh how I laughed as a young boy, watching these shorts on New York’s WPIX (Officer Joe Bolton, where are you?). Even as a elementary schooler, I was able to clearly see how idiotic their approach was to solving this dire problem. What seemed like a ‘logical’ solution to this intellect-challenged character only exasperated the situation.

Now, all these years later, I watch in disbelief how our leaders look to fix the health care system in this country. Instead of plugging the holes in the very leaky rowboat that is our health care system, they discuss ways of making new, better holes. Few are willing to mention the problems that are causing the leaks in the first place, and then they bring them up only in passing. Creating a ‘new’ government sponsored health insurance carrier is just creating another hole in the boat. Yes, it seems like a good idea for a fleeting second, but it will provide no real long-term relief. If we want to fix the system, we need to start patching holes. – and fast – the water is cold and chest high. Once we patch the holes, we can then start thinking about bailing.

Now I know that our leaders are bright men and woman – some of the brightest this country has to offer. I know that they are much brighter then that elementary school student watching the Stooges in his parent’s living room all those years ago.

Yet, all these years later, as I watch the great health care debate on CSPAN, I stare in mortification……..What did that congressman just say???!!! To me, it sounded like “NYUK! NYUK!!! NYUK!!!”


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