By Patricia L Johnson

Sometimes I read articles and am totally flabbergasted at the utter stupidity of suggestions made.

In the latest edition of Hightower Lowdown, edited by Jim Hightower and Phillip Frazer, the author(s) is suggesting a general work strike by the people of the United States for at least one day as "affirmation that the people are the only "larger force" that can stop the BushCheney coup and make America whole again."

While I can wholeheartedly agree with the need for American people to do something as a group to demonstrate anger at what this government and our country has become in the past seven years under the leadership of the Bush Administration, I cannot even begin to think of the consequences the people would have to face if everyone walked off their jobs for one particular date.

Every year 23% of the 1.1 million Americans that suffer a heart attack die within one hour of the beginning of their symptoms – that’s easy math, it comes out to 230,000 people in one year.  If you divide that figure by the number of days in a year, we’re looking at 630 people that are probably going to die in any given day from a heart attack no matter what action is taken, but what about the other 77%?  That’s 770,000 and comes out to 2,109 persons per day that normally will survive providing immediate medical care is provided.

What if no care is available? 

My one son is a paramedic – what happens if a member of your family has a heart attack and you call the ambulance, but no one shows up because he took the day off to protest the Bush/Cheney regime?

Is your family member going to be one of the survivors and if he/she isn’t where should the blame fall?  On my son for not going to work that day?  On the local government agency that hired him?  On the school where he received his training?  On me, his parent, for not teaching him proper job ethics?  Or, should the blame fall on the people that suggested staying home from work makes for a great political demonstration?

My other son works for the township and is also a first responder for non-medical emergencies.  If you’re flooded, he’s going to be on hand to help evacuate you, if a tornado comes through he’s going to be there to assist you, and the list goes on and on.  Here again, if you’re the family suffering the flood, or you’re the family whose house came crashing down around them and you’re not getting any assistance from your local government agencies, who are you going to blame?  The list can go on and on, auto accidents, school injuries, work injuries, etc, etc.

Suggesting the American people protest the actions of this government by a mass strike is simply frosting on the Bush cake as far as I’m concerned.

Our country is in the situation it’s in because our elected officials have not performed their jobs to the best of their ability– a strike will only lower the standards and ethics of our great American workforce to the incredibly low  levels set by the highest elected officials in this country.