That's the ominous opening line of the 1943 film The Fallen Sparrow. It euphemistically refers to the consequences of all-out war -- the inevitable death of many innocent people. Collateral damage is another way of putting it.
Paul Ryan came to Washington D.C. like Mack the Ideological Knife, committed to cutting government budgets and programs -- especially the big, popular ones. It's his one true love. He wants nothing more than to slash the shit out of Social Security and Medicare, but for now he'll settle for hacking away at the ACA and Medicaid.
It gives him immense pleasure. When he spoke the other day about "defederalizing an entitlement, block-granting it back to the states, and capping its growth," I swear you could almost hear him popping wood. He was damn near orgasmic at the prospect.
Ryan sees it as war, and himself as the Holy Warrior, the Crusader. And since it's a war, he can't be distracted by side effects. Twenty-four million Americans lose health insurance coverage? Too bad. Many sparrows must fall. "What matters is we're lowering costs."
If Ryan gets his way, will I be a fallen sparrow?
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