BOSTON -- Know who one of Canada’s genuine, all-time heroes is? Here’s a hint: he was named “The Greatest Canadian” in a 2004 national TV contest there.

Give up?

Answer: Tommy Douglas , the founder of Canada’s national healthcare system.

Now, this also answers two other things about Canadians. One, they’re rather universally fond of their universal healthcare system. Two, they really need some other heroes.

(And three, in the interests of full disclosure -- I am married to a Canadian, though I am fairly certain Tommy Douglas is not her hero.

But it also says something about our own national healthcare system. Not that we actually have a national healthcare system worthy of the name, but you know what I mean.

It is fascinating lately to watch the Myth of Sisyphus play out yet one more time in Washington, D.C.

Sisyphus, you will recall from your Greek Mythology class (or in my case, from the Cliff Notes) was the tragic figure who was doomed to roll a stone forever up a hill, only to have it roll back down again, thus becoming an eternal metaphor for futility.

(Not to be confused with a metaphor for “fertility,” of whom Greek Goddesses like Aphrodite are hugely more popular than a shlep like Sisyphus.)

Sisyphus then, for obvious reasons, is not considered a national hero in Greece. In fact, he is not considered a national hero in any country. Which makes it all the more remarkable that at regular intervals, his sad and fruitless exploits are seemingly celebrated all over again in our nation’s capital.

Because every two or three decades, starting with F.D.R. in the 1930’s, and continuing through the Truman, Johnson, Clinton and now Obama administrations, there have been, to varying degrees, concerted efforts to enact some true form of universal health insurance in America.

You will note that all of the above presidents have been Democrats. Which tells you that either Democrats really have a greater degree of conscience, or really have a hidden thing about playing Sisyphus.

Seems to me it could go either way.

Not that American healthcare reform is not vitally necessary, and has been for decades. After all, all those otherwise bright presidents didn’t just take up the seemingly Sisyphean task because all of their other policy objectives were all successful and complete and there were no other cities to help or planets to visit or wars of choice to start or North Koreas or Irans to defang or GITMOs to empty.

No, those presidents of the past -- and Obama in the present -- all put their shoulder to that perennial rock of healthcare reform because our healthcare system remains in many ways an embarrassment.

Oh, sure we have the most high-tech gizmos and advanced diagnostic tests. And those are nothing to sneeze at, particularly if you are sneezing for no apparent reason and at the same time experiencing a shortness or breath, slurring of words, and a sudden and unexplained pain in your chest, for instance.

But, and it’s back to Canada here (isn’t it always, really?), laugh at those silly Canucks all you want but guess who doesn’t worry about whether to see a doctor or not because they might have trouble with the co-pay?

Guess which nation spends the most on healthcare? Right, the United States. (Much of it on advertising.)

Guess which nations eclipse the U.S. when it comes to lower infant mortality?

Right, Canada. But also Cuba. And also about 20 other industrialized nations.

Guess which industrialized nation, per capita, has the highest number of uninsured citizens? Hint: it's not Cuba, much less Canada.

But in our nation, the yahoo yelps of “Socialized Medicine!” always seem to work just fine to tamp down real healthcare reform. And when the old, stale screams lose their lying luster, there are new crocks of conservative gimcrack to trot out, like the legendary “Harry & Louise” TV commercials .

(Though word is that Harry was turned down by Cigna for a pre-existing prostate condition, and Louise’s double-knee replacement isn’t covered after all. They may lose everything now, including their famous kitchen table.)

Meanwhile, the Obama administration’s desire to simply include a public (i.e. government) plan as a part of a larger health insurance reform plan is once more being called a “non-starter” by Republicans. (And some supposed Democrats.)

Funny, but those same Republican legislators do just fine with their own very public, government-run health insurance.

So, will meaningful healthcare reform finally become a reality?

Will we finally stop making fun of Canada’s plan and start finally emulating it more?

Will Canada finally come up with some more exciting national heroes?

Who knows?

But lest the Democrats be the only ones associated with an unpopular Greek God, it’s also finally time to assign the feckless Republicans their own.

That would be Coalemus.

Greek God of stupidity.