Too Famous To Die

This morning I was reading an article about former Vice President Dick Cheney getting a heart transplant over the weekend. Now, the people on Twitter had lots of fun talking about this but I actually have a problem with it that, unlike most people's views, has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with fame. I long ago made my peace with the fact that people who are rich and famous get things they probably don't deserve just because of who they are. Even stranger is the fact that even though they could easily afford it, they also get these undeserved things for free. Hey, I'm not going to get too mad, because I'm sure I would do the exact same thing if I were ever put in that situation. However, I simply believe there is are some lines you shouldn't be able to jump, no matter how rich, famous or powerful you are and my standard  of where that line is starts and ends at getting vital organs.

Of course, Cheney is hardly the first famous person to use his name to get to the top of an organ donor list. Larry Hagman has something like five livers and Mickey Mantle was on the liver transplant list for a grand total of one day before getting his. But the simple truth is that if Cheney was a normal citizen and people just looked at his medical history without a name on the top of the chart he would never make it on the donor list, let alone get a heart. Honestly, do you think the 71 year-old man who has had five heart attacks and continues to operate in a high-stress environment is really the best candidate? I'm not going to hate on someone just because they have had a lot of success or made a lot of money, because I'm sure they worked very hard to get it and should be allowed to spend the money they have made any way they want. I'm just not sure you should be able to buy your way to the front of every line.