Haloes and holiness

I don't tend to idealise people. I tend to see them just as they are, warts and all, their faults as well as their good points. I'm always surprised by how readily people idealise public figures and turn them into saints who can do no wrong.

When everyone was idealising Barack Obama and saying what an amazing President he would be, I was thinking, he'll probably do a good job but he'll also disappoint a lot of people who're expecting something more revolutionary. Which turned out to be the case.

When everyone was idealising the new Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and saying what an amazing Prime Minister he would be, I had similar reservations. I knew he wouldn't be the sweeping reformer everyone's waiting for, he'd fall short in all sorts of ways. Because he's an imperfect human being like all the rest of us.

I've never idealised rock stars, film stars, politicians, authors, gurus or celebrities generally. I never idealised my parents or my teachers. I knew they all had feet of clay - bad habits, weird obsessions, blind spots, fierce prejudices. Behind the respectable public facade there's always a darker side.

But I'm not perfect either. One person I did idealise was John Lennon. I adored his personality - his rebelliousness, his sharp wit, his humour, his crazy stunts, his music. I grew my hair long and grew a beard to look more like John. So I was very upset when he was murdered. I conveniently overlooked his womanising, his misogyny, his egotism and his arrogance until many years later.

And I do tend to idealise women. I often see them as more beautiful, more intelligent, more perceptive and generally nicer than they truly are. I shut out the bitchiness, the self-doubt, the competitiveness, the begrudgery. At my age, I really should know better.

When other people are seeing haloes and holiness, I'm looking for the Achilles Heel.

Unhealthy ravings

American Republicans out to sabotage President Obama's health reforms are spreading the most absurd lies and smears about the UK's National Health Service.

Their vicious campaign to portray Obama as a Nazi claims that his reforms are based on the NHS, a supposedly inhuman, uncaring organisation that writes off human lives.

According to them, it denies treatment to the elderly or anyone who's not "cost-effective", it has "death panels" that decide if people should live or not, it has endless waiting lists and expensive treatments are rationed.

This grotesque parody would be totally unrecognisable to most users of the NHS. They would be utterly bewildered by such a deranged travesty of a service that by and large works remarkably well and gives effective medical treatment to everyone and anyone.

I'm well aware of the NHS's flaws and failings, but the fact is that these flaws are trivial compared to its massive achievements. Far from writing off human lives, in general it goes to extraordinary lengths and spends extraordinary sums to relieve people's illnesses and maintain their quality of life.

The Republicans are not only telling breathtaking lies to prevent American citizens getting proper health care, they're insulting Britain and the million-plus NHS staff who are dedicated to their patients' well-being.

Yes, there are waiting lists for some high-demand procedures. Yes, a few expensive treatments are denied because they're of doubtful value. But anyone who needs urgent, life-or-death assistance gets it immediately with no questions asked and no expense spared - whether they're nine or ninety-nine.

Those in favour of Obama's health reforms should not imagine for one moment that the Republicans' deluded ravings are in any way based in reality.

They're just the desperate flailings of those who still want medicine to be the preserve of the rich, while the poor suffer and die helplessly.

PS: I read that the Twitter campaign #WeLoveTheNHS now has over a million followers

PPS: See Barack Obama's new webpage on the health reforms "Setting the record straight"