Probably by now most everyone has heard the ridiculous statement by Sue Lowden, Senatorial candidate from Nevada, about “the olden days” when our grandparents would pay for their medical care with chickens or by offering to paint the doctor’s house. The DSCC has even launched a Chickens for Checkups page on their web site where messages can be sent to Mrs. Lowden asking her what the appropriate barter might be for a variety of ailments. For those who may have missed it :

Seriously, is this the best Nevada Republicans can do to come up with a challenger for Harry Reid?

Mrs. Lowden’s campaign web site doesn’t give her birthday, but it says she was second runner-up for Miss America in 1973, which means she was somewhere around 18 at the time. So if she was born in 1955, that would make her 55 years old now. Her parents have to be in their late 70’s or early 80’s, and her grandparents, if they are still alive, must be pushing or past 100, meaning they were born somewhere around 1910.

In the year 1910:

The average life expectancy was about 50 years.

Ninety percent of all doctors had no college education.

The leading causes of death in the U.S. were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea

I think I’ll take modern medicine over the “olden days.” Even if I do have to pay in cash instead of farm animals.