In the words of Howard Beale, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take this anymore!” I think the so-called health care reform debate in this country might just send me to an ironic, early grave. I mean, the stuff many members of the right are stooping too – the scare tactics, the fearmongering misinformation, the straight up lying/mischaracterization about what bills say and what people have said – is all outrageous and unacceptable, and they are not being held accountable for it. The media, public discourse, and political system in this country might need intensive care more than anyone. And it’s driving me crazy.

As far as I’m concerned, the Rush Limbaughs, the Glenn Becks, the Sean Hannitys, the Michael Steeles, and other obstructionists (both Republicans and Democrats) of the world have decided to make themselves opponents of the interests of the average person in this country. And, what’s worse, they do it wrapped in the flag, calling themselves defenders of liberty.

But just think of who most of these people are, and ask why on earth should they be speaking to the average person? Or, we should ask, just who are they really speaking for? Limbaugh and Beck and Hannity, for example, make millions upon millions of dollars a year, and they make these millions by helping to divide the country and by exploiting fear, anger, and ignorance (And then, of course, there are the key interests the obstructing politicians are tied to). People like this have spent decades conditioning us to selectively think that government services, whether we might personally benefit from them or not, are against our interests and tantamount to slavery. In the meantime, while we’ve been led to believe government can’t be made to work well for us and that we shouldn’t even want it to anyway, powerful corporate interests have grabbed hold of the reins, as is now being clearly revealed by just how difficult getting truly meaningful reform through is, even with Democrats at the helm.

Shame on us for accepting all that for so long. And shame on FoxNews for giving Glenn Beck a nightly show, on which he says to millions, “This bill isn’t about [health care]. It is about power and control over you!,” and “[The President's health care plan is] good old socialism…ya know, pretty much raping the pocketbooks of the rich to give to the poor,” and “The health care bill is reparations,” because the President’s “goal is creating a new America, a new model that will settle old racial scores.” And shame on Rush Limbaugh for saying, “President Obama…wants to pay people to kill some of us before we are born and before we’re ready to die after we are born. It’s called efficiency.”

And shame on all of these folks for not having enough decency and respect for their position or for their audience to be truthful and conscientious. They are not only opposed to a public-option anything, they have no interest in or reason to care about reform in any way. They don’t have to worry about health care. They don’t have to worry about recessions. But they play on the fears of the average people out there that do, while convincing them that the interests of the wealthy and of profit are somehow always their interests too.

But when any of these obstructionists are called out for being opposed to reform, they’ll say that no one is against reform here, they’re just against this reform. Sure, sure. And it’s not personal or anything, either. It’s just about breaking the President and offering “freedom solutions” and all that. But wait a second, when was the last time comprehensive, meaningful health care reform was attempted? 15 YEARS AGO! It was killed by Republicans then, just like they’re hoping it will be killed and walked away from now, again for years to come. And just how long have these Republicans had to come up with a workable, long-term proposal for change since then? It’s not like any of this is new.

I’m not sure I have the stomach anymore to hear such millionaire fat cats and anti-government politicians with no solutions tell us our government just can’t provide us with health coverage, though it sure can wage war on anyone it likes too, while cutting taxes to boot, and it sure can suddenly find the money to bail out the big guys! I mean, hell, and all we are talking about here is a possible public option, and we get this crazed response! Just imagine the freak out if a single payer proposal was actually being seriously considered!

I don’t have the time or energy to go through all the lies and the fear and obstruction. Just had to vent for now. I’m just gonna leave this here by sharing from an an article via my friend Scott. The following two paragraphs pretty much sum up where I’m at on the health care issue (and the rest of the article explains the situation as I see it pretty well too):

We don’t need private health insurance companies. We certainly don’t need a system that wastes $450 billion per year in redundant administrative costs and leaves 45 million Americans without health coverage. We could do without a system that excludes people with pre-existing medical conditions and limited economic resources. We don’t need a system that cherry picks profitable clients and dumps the unprofitably ill in HMOs featuring lousy care and little choice. Businesses and other employers would do much better not having to provide health coverage for their employees, who often end up underinsured. We could do better than a system that ties people fearfully to jobs they want to leave but can’t afford to lose because they might lose their health coverage. 

Health care is a fundamental human right that should be available to all people regardless of their economic resources. A society that takes seriously this elementary principle of social justice does not relegate the poor and underemployed to second-class care or status. The only Western democratic society that doesn’t even try to live up to this principle is the United States. When wealthy and middle-class people have to rely on the same health system as the poor, as they do throughout Europe, they use their political power to make sure it’s a decent system.