Sarah Palin, the inarticulate, pathetically parochial former beauty queen, former vice-presidential candidate (thankfully) and former governor (again, thankfully) has drawn deeply upon her resources of scary rhetoric to voice her opposition to Obama's proposed Public Option health plan. Instead of making a reasoned argument (yes, I know, she appears to be incapable of doing this, so it may be an unfair expectation on my part, which is all the more reason why she should exit the national political scene ASAP), she spoke emotionally of "Death Squads" that would, given half a chance, judge her Down Syndrome child as unworthy of life.
In addition to spouting scary rhetoric, complete with comparisons of the Obama administration to the Nazis (you really must check out this video - Barney Frank's response is priceless), some right-wing gun nuts have been toting their firearms - including assault weapons - to town hall meetings at which the president addresses citizens about his plan. Are these people crazy? Given this country's morbid history of presidential assassinations and assassination attempts, what compels these jerks to think that town hall meetings about health care are appropriate places to parade their 2nd amendment rights?
To top it off, I learned today that Senator David Vitter of Louisiana (what were Louisianans smoking when they elected, then re-elected this man?) has added his unique contribution to the American health care "debate" (it's difficult to type that word without choking, as what is occurring is most certainly not a debate in any meaningful sense of the word). He opposes a public health care option in the USA, but supports the re-importation into the USA of cheap, subsidized drugs from Canada. Why?
"My ultimate goal," Vitter explained, "is to use that (re-importation) to cause that (pricing) system to collapse."
The way his idea works is that, if large numbers of Americans buy cheap prescriptions drugs from countries like Canada (in which the government subsidizes some portion of drug costs), then those subsidy systems will be overwhelmed into insolvency. Of course, the more likely scenario is that Canada's
government would very quickly crack down on re-importation, cutting off the supply to the Yankees.
Senator Vitter's opposition to government subsidized health care is so vicious that he opposes it in other countries, as well as in the USA. What a creep! What utter arrogance!
Too many Republicans and Republican supporters have surrendered their minds to blind hatred and unreasonable fear and their insanity is seriously damaging living conditions across the country. The USA desperately needs health care reform and desperately needs to have a reasoned discussion of how to bring that about. Instead of participating constructively in such a process, Republicans and many of their supporters abandoned reasoned discourse long ago. Sadly, their idiocy is going to have dire consequences for 307 million Americans.
3 comments:
Fears about one’s health fanned by false information, obfuscating statements brings for irrationality.
Two questions remain unanswered by those first defenders of the current system in America. 1. If the US has such a superior system that is a shining model that should be copied, then why are no other nations and their citizens rushing to reject their public system and adopt the American model instead of embracing a public system? 2. Given that countries around the world one after the other moved to a public system since the 1950s, why is America the only industrialized nation that does not have some form of a public system?
I know I am a little biased on the health care issue, being from a country that has public health care, I find the wild reactions funny and, sometimes, incomprehensible. I have been watching the public debates and the rheetoric on US, Canadian and British stations. The British public, in particular, has been offended by the socialist statements that have also appeared anit-British/Canadian. British politicians, such as the Prime Minister, have felt the need to defend their systems with first-hand accounts of how the systems benefited them with theeeee health needs of their children.
A large part of this has to do with the misinformation fed by the republicans (e.g., wait times, lack of quality health care). It always amazes me how gullible the public can be to believe such statements without searching it out for themselves. They just adopt a view that sounds good and then rant and rave without realizing how foolish they sound because the information and statements they spout are based on incorrect information to start with.
As well, how they say it appears ignorant, racisit and classist. While I realize that there are many people that can have a logical and considered debate on the issue the focus on the rhetoric does a diservice to the U.S. and its basic principles of democracy.
I have to say I'm very surprised over the heated debates going on over the health care reform. You would thing Obama was trying to disarm Americans of their weapons!
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