Opinion

PRIORITIES -- Rick Santorum said today that he believes in "free-market health care, not government-run health care." The view from here is that health care is too important to be left to the free market. There are many other things that are also too important to be left to the free market, among them roads and bridges; sanitation; law enforcement, policing and court systems; fire protection; environmental protection, and military defense. Many hospitals began as nonprofit facilities run by local volunteer or religious groups. However, many have been taken over by corporate-owned health systems, which are profit-oriented. Is the level of care any better? That's an open question.

REMAINDER -- The staff reviewer for an NBC morning talk show noted that the audience for the new film, The Hunger Games, was 50 percent women and 40 percent men. We wondered who were in the remaining 10 percent. Trolls, perhaps?