The following is from a recent post to a usergroup with an interesting take on things. Thank you, O.G. — Ed.
Clearly our nation is divided and it serves the media and those forces that would see our demise. Much of the divide is created by the mainstream media and the scope of the discussion has become so narrow that it’s difficult for a sane person to get a word in edge wise:
“Last night I watched with embarrassment as a few of my fellow Americans disrupted and effectively killed a town hall meeting in Arkansas. The sublime irony was obviously lost on these would-be patriots as they undermined democracy by shouting down their Congressman and other citizens who had gathered for open and honest debate. I was trying to figure out why these people were so deeply upset. Were they in a lather about a “government take over” of health care even when there is no bill currently in Congress that comes close to proposing that?Were they up in arms about “socialized medicine” even though many in their ranks are probably Medicare recipients?
The town hall meeting was supposed to be a forum for discussing the health care issue, but you couldn’t have surmised that by the language of the protesters. There seemed to be a larger concern. The protesters were angry and they were scared. One woman broke down in tears and mourned the loss of her country. “I have never seen my America turned into what it has turned into and I want my America back!” she cried. The people screamed and applauded. She had apparently hit a nerve. She had voiced the shared despair of the 99.9% white audience. The Change that the rest of America voted for in 2008 had become the pinpoint of her fear. Apparently, sometime after January 20th, 2009, she and her worried neighbors began to realize that their president was indeed black.
I am not trying to cheapen my argument by calling the protesters racists. Many Republicans have strong political convictions that transcend the color of the president’s skin. Yet, there is an undeniable racial undertone to much of the rhetoric surrounding the debate. Race tinges the desire of some to see this particular U.S. president fail. It shows itself in the inane ramblings of Sarah Palin and in GOP Rep. Todd Akin’s use of the word ‘lynch’ when making a joke during his own town hall meeting. It shows itself every time Rush Limbaugh opens his well fed mouth. A worrisome byproduct of this hyperbole is that it encourages and legitimizes acts of violence in the minds of the whackos on the fringe who may contemplate picking up a gun or making a bomb.
The sad fact is that these protesters are pawns in a much larger struggle. They parrot the talking points of the conservative white media whose luminaries are far too rich to worry about health insurance. They are encouraged by conservative Christian Republicans in Congress who take advantage of a great health insurance plan courtesy of the U.S. government. They are supported by groups such as Conservatives for Patient’s Rights, Freedom Works, and Americans for Prosperity led by white ultra-wealthy lobbyists who also enjoy the best health care our system has to offer. Ultimately, the protesters are fighting for faceless corporations that profit from their illness.
In capitalism, you must necessarily have winners and losers. But certainly, some fundamental aspects of life in a civilized society–like clean water, breathable air, and medicine when you are sick–should be beyond the reach of Adam Smith’s invisible hand. Why in the world should being healthy have a price tag attached to it? As Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter recently said, “It’s bad enough to be very sick without having to worry about how you will pay for it.”
Take a look at the people who are trying to kill health care reform. Do the heads of pharmaceutical and insurance companies look anything like those protesters in Arkansas? Would they or the wealthy lobbyists who carry their water be caught dead with any of these regular citizens? No, but with a little race baiting, misrepresentation, and fear these powerful interests can use people like the angry Arkansas woman as foot soldiers in their desperate war on reform. They can count on the rage of old emotions and the deep roots of racism to keep the people blind to their true interests. It is a cruel and time tested bait and switch.
In the end, it all comes down to a few simple questions. Do you believe that Americans should have to worry about losing their homes or going bankrupt just because they get sick or do you believe equal access to free or affordable heath care to be a fundamental right of citizenship? Do you think that the same health insurance companies that saw profits rise 428% between 2000-2007 will suddenly drop pre-existing condition clauses and voluntarily offer affordable premiums, or do you think that health care should be universally guaranteed by your government, just like in every other wealthy industrialized country? Do you feel that the poor and the ill should be sacrificed at the altar of free market principles or do you feel it a moral responsibility for an affluent nation to provide for all of its citizens? And in this same light, Christians should ask themselves, was Jesus a capitalist or a socialist? An honest answer to that question might take some of the sting out of the ubiquitous “Obama is a socialist” chant.
WWJD indeed.”