Tea Party Hypocrisy
I really don’t understand the Tea Party movement. Do they not realize that they are currently the most hypocritical group of people on the planet? Or are they just too stupid to realize that their arguments make absolutely no sense? They bitch and moan about too much government control, unless of course the government wants to control something that they are in favor of, like same-sex marriage. They complain about President Obama supposedly taking away their civil liberties, but when Republicans trample all over our civil liberties, not a peep from them. They also complain about the recent health care legislation being unconstitutional, but do they not recall the Patriot Act and the suspension of habeas corpus by former President George W. Bush.
One of the current arguments made by the Tea Party is that they want less government control of health care, business, and their lives in general. We’ve all heard the argument that less government intervention and control is the way to go. I want the Tea Party to explain why they are in favor of controlling what Americans put into their bodies and what Americans do in their bedrooms. Why is the Tea Party in favor of the government telling us who we can marry and what we can do with our sexual partners in the privacy of our homes? You would have a hard time finding a Tea Party member who is in favor of same-sex marriage, and up until the early 21st century, 36 states had laws against sodomy. These laws present a textbook case of government control. Why doesn't the Tea Party protest about this? The fact of the matter is, those affiliated with the Tea Party are perfectly fine with government control and regulation, as long as the type of control vibes with their personal agenda and beliefs. Either you are in favor of government control, or you aren't. You can’t have it both ways, unless you're hypocrite.
The Tea Party is in favor of control when it comes to marijuana. If the government tries to mandate you to buy health insurance, in order to provide health care to more people, that is wrong. But if the government outlaws marijuana and other drugs, that is ok. Do they not see the hypocrisy of their argument? I don’t get it. They are against government control, unless of course it is something that they want controlled.
The Tea Party says that President Obama is infringing upon their civil liberties, but where were the protesters when George W. Bush was taking away a persons right to a fair trial? We still have prisoners in Guantanamo Bay that have not even been charged with a crime, let alone had access to legal counsel, or a fair trial. These are basic human rights that George W. Bush denied people. Where was the Tea Party then? Were they all asleep when Bush was destroying civil liberties? Why do they only protest when Democrats are in office? They are hypocrites.
The Tea Party complains about President Obama’s health care plan, they say the mandate is unconstitutional. Where were they when the Patriot Act was being pushed through Congress? The Constitution strictly prohibits unwarranted search and seizures. Where was the Tea Party when this unconstitutional bill was being passed? Where were the protests? Where was the “revolution” that that they are calling for when George W. Bush was in office? They are hypocrites. Republicans can enact any piece of legislation they want without a peep from these hypocrites. Make no mistake; they don’t care about the Constitution. They are protesting because they hate President Obama and the Democrats, that is the ONLY reason.
President Obama has done many things that liberals are not in support of, but how can you complain about President Obama and the Democrats, and stay silent when the Republicans do far more shameful things? There are only two conclusions that we can come to based on their behavior. They are either too stupid to know what they are complaining about, or they are hypocrites. I can guarantee everyone reading this post of one thing. If President Obama is not re-elected in 2012, and we get a Republican in office, I can promise you that the Tea Party will disappear into the shadows. There will be no more protests. The Tea Party will go away, only to re-surface the next time a Democrat comes into office. Don’t be fooled, the Tea Party is comprised of hypocrites. They are only concerned with their own self interests. They don’t care about you or me. They only care about themselves.
Another Reason Not to Believe
As if we needed more of a reason to disbelieve in all the major religions of the world, and all the minor ones for that matter, NPR ran a story today that highlights a study conducted by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study shows that moral judgment is nothing more than a mechanical process in the brain. According to Joshua Green, a psychologist at Harvard University, “Moral judgment is just a brain process. If something as complex as morality has a mechanical explanation, it will be hard to argue that people have, or need, a soul.”
Scientists at Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences had a group of people read stories that were designed to produce a moral judgment. In one of the stories, a woman named Grace, decided to put powder in her friend’s coffee. In this version of the story, Grace believes that the powder is sugar, but it turns out to be poison and her friend dies after ingesting the coffee. In another story, Grace believes the powder is poison, but it turns out that the powder is sugar and her friend lives.
Liane Young, who works at the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says, “People who hear these stories generally forgive Grace for unwittingly poisoning her friend, but they usually condemn Grace for the failed attempt to do harm.” She also says, “We judge people not just for what they do, but what they're thinking at the time of their action, what they're intending, but a brief magnetic pulse was able to change that.”
Here is an excerpt from the NPR story explaining how the study works:
Young and her colleagues used a technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, to temporarily decrease activity in an area of the brain called the right temporoparietal junction. It's near the surface of the brain, above and behind the right ear, and it seems to helps us decipher another person's beliefs.
Twenty volunteers got TMS before or during the time they were listening to stories like the one about Grace and the coffee. The stimulation caused people to pay less attention to Grace's intention and more attention to the outcome, Young says.
"If no harm was done, then subjects would judge [Grace's behavior] as OK," she says, even if the story made it clear Grace was trying to poison her friend. That's the sort of moral judgment you often see in kids who are 3 or 4 years old, Young says.
Studies show that at this age, children will usually say a child who breaks five teacups accidentally is naughtier than a child who breaks one teacup on purpose, she says. That's probably because their brains are still developing the ability to understand the intentions of other people.
Throughout history, we have been told by religious leaders and philosophers that morality comes from our soul and from god, this study proves this to be unequivocally untrue. Once again, religion has proved itself to be patently false. The evidence against the existence of god is overwhelming. Through evolution, astronomy, and many other subjects, we can find mountains of evidence that run contrary to the mythology that is beaten into our brain from the time we are young. The more scientific knowledge we gain, the more evidence we have to contradict religious beliefs.
In my opinion, and the opinion of the larger science community, the concept of having a soul is false. If we don’t have a soul, then there can’t be a heaven for our soul to go to. If there is no heaven, then there must not be a hell. We can put a check mark next to yet another religious story that is obviously false. Are people ever going to step back and take an honest look at the validity of their religious beliefs? If they did, they would realize that the wool has been pulled over their eyes. They are nothing more than sheep, following a flock.
Whose Country Is It?
I try and make a point to post as much original content, written by me, on the site as I possibly can. But every now and then I come across an article that is too good not to post. That being said, Charles Blow from the New York Times posted an op-ed piece on Saturday that I couldn’t have said better myself. I have decided to share his article with you.
Whose Country Is It?
By Charles M. Blow
NY Times – March 27th, 2010
The far-right extremists have gone into conniptions.
The bullying, threats, and acts of violence following the passage of health care reform have been shocking, but they’re only the most recent manifestations of an increasing sense of desperation.
It’s an extension of a now-familiar theme: some version of “take our country back.” The problem is that the country romanticized by the far right hasn’t existed for some time, and its ability to deny that fact grows more dim every day. President Obama and what he represents has jolted extremists into the present and forced them to confront the future. And it scares them.
Even the optics must be irritating. A woman (Nancy Pelosi) pushed the health care bill through the House. The bill’s most visible and vocal proponents included a gay man (Barney Frank) and a Jew (Anthony Weiner). And the black man in the White House signed the bill into law. It’s enough to make a good old boy go crazy.
Hence their anger and frustration, which is playing out in ways large and small. There is the current spattering of threats and violence, but there also is the run on gunsand the explosive growth of nefarious antigovernment and anti-immigrant groups. In fact, according to a report entitled “Rage on the Right: The Year in Hate and Extremism” recently released by the Southern Poverty Law Center, “nativist extremist” groups that confront and harass suspected immigrants have increased nearly 80 percent since President Obama took office, and antigovernment “patriot” groups more than tripled over that period.
Politically, this frustration is epitomized by the Tea Party movement. It may have some legitimate concerns (taxation, the role of government, etc.), but its message is lost in the madness. And now the anemic Republican establishment, covetous of the Tea Party’s passion, is moving to absorb it, not admonish it. Instead of jettisoning the radical language, rabid bigotry and rising violence, the Republicans justify it. (They don’t want to refute it as much as funnel it.)
There may be a short-term benefit in this strategy, but it’s a long-term loser.
A Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday took a look at the Tea Party members and found them to be just as anachronistic to the direction of the country’s demographics as the Republican Party. For instance, they were disproportionately white, evangelical Christian and “less educated ... than the average Joe and Jane Six-Pack.” This at a time when the country is becoming more diverse (some demographers believe that 2010 could be the first year that most children born in the country will be nonwhite), less doctrinally dogmatic, and college enrollment is through the roof. The Tea Party, my friends, is not the future.
You may want “your country back,” but you can’t have it. That sound you hear is the relentless, irrepressible march of change. Welcome to America: The Remix.
The Ralph Nader Effect
Just yesterday, I decided to donate twenty of my hard earned dollars to the Tea Party. This may seem like a ridiculous act to most liberals and progressives out there, but there is a good reason for this. For one thing, when the Tea Party people grab their guns and try to start a revolution by eradicating all Democrats, Liberals, and Progressives, I’m hoping that they will remember my donation and spare me. The second reason that I have decided to support the Tea Party, is what I like to call the Ralph Nader effect.
For those of you who don’t remember Ralph Nader, he is famous for arguably costing Al Gore a victory in Florida over George W. Bush in the 2000 election. Al Gore only lost Florida by 537 votes, this loss essentially cost Al Gore the election. The argument is that most of the people who wound up voting for Mr. Nader, would have voted for Mr. Gore, had Mr. Nader not been part of the election. This is exactly the scenario that I think the Tea Party is presenting for the Republican Party.
I still believe that the majority of the country is moderate, somewhere in the middle of the political spectrum. This is exactly why candidates like Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul never win elections. The presence of the Tea Party is dragging the Republican Party more and more to the right wing crazy fringe. The thing is, in order for a candidate in either party to win in a general election, they have to win the primary first. Because of the primaries, Republican candidates have to appeal to the extreme wing of the party, in order to win the primary, and in turn be able to compete in a general election.
Take the 2010 Florida race for Senate. The two front running candidates for the Republican Party are Charlie Crist and Marco Rubeo. Mr. Crist is considered by most Republicans to be a moderate, while Mr. Rubeo is a Tea Party nut job. Because of the high concentration of Tea Party crazy people in Florida, Mr. Rubeo is the favorite to win the Republican primary. The problem for the Republican Party in Florida is, Mr. Rubeo, according to the polls, is going to have a very difficult time winning in a general election against the Democratic candidate in Florida, because he is so far to the right, and that does not appeal to moderate Republicans and Independents. In my opinion, Mr. Rubeo is going to wind up costing the Republicans their Senate seat because he is too polarizing to win in the general election.
This phenomenon appears to be happening all over the country. Look at the 2009 election in New York’s 23rd Congressional district. The Republican primary, pitted the moderate Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, against the hard-right Tea Party Candidate, Doug Hoffman. Mr. Hoffman wound up winning the primary election, but losing the general election to the Democratic candidate Bill Owens. Keep in mind that Republicans had not lost in New York’s 23rd Congressional district since the Civil War. A seat that was a historical lock for the Republican Party, in a district that had been under Republican rule since 1873, was lost to a Democrat, all because of a crazy right wing Tea Party nut job.
Democrats, Liberals, and Progressives, with your help and donations, we can help the Tea Party run primary candidates in every Republican primary across the nation in 2010. The larger the Tea Party becomes, the more extreme they get, the more they are going to single handedly kill the Republican chances of ever getting another majority in either house of Congress. So donate to your local Tea Party chapter today, the Democrats will thank you tomorrow.
The Man in the High Castle
The whole health care debate has left me a little burnt-out. The news has been flooded lately with debates about the health care bill, crazy tea party idiots, and new polls telling us how Americans feel about the bill. I think that I have said everything there is to say about the health care argument and how I feel about it. I have decided to take a day off from politics, and go off topic for this post. I am going to tell you about my new favorite author. I didn't know about this author until recently, and I’m assuming that many other people haven't heard of him either.
My new favorite author is Philip K. Dick. This man wrote the stories that were responsible for the films Blade Runner, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and Total Recall. In January, I picked up a copy of Mr. Dick’s first novel, The Man in the High Castle, and absolutely loved it. The Man in the High Castle is a novel that presents an alternate reality of the United States, post World War II. Here is the description that is found on the back of the book:
“It’s America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some 20 years earlier the United States lost a war-and is now occupied jointly by Nazi Germany and Japan. This harrowing, Hugo Award-winning novel is the work that established Philip K. Dick as an innovator in science fiction while breaking the barrier between science fiction and the serious novel of ideas. In it Dick offers a haunting vision of history as a nightmare from which it may just be possible to awake.”
Since January, in addition to The Man in the High Castle, I have also read the following titles from Philip K. Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (the movie Blade Runner was adapted from this novel), Ubik (which is found on Time Magazine’s top 100 novels of all time list), Flow My Tears the Policeman Said, The Divine Invasion, and a number of short stories written by Dick, including Minority Report and Total Recall.
I never before considered myself a fan of science fiction writing. But after reading the above referenced titles, I have decided that I am now a fan of the genre. Even if science fiction is not your thing, I highly recommend checking out this author. Mr. Dick will show you how entertaining and interesting science fiction novels can be.
An Absence of Class
For the better part of the last year, the Republican Party has used scare tactics, misinformation, and straight out lies to stop President Obama’s attempt at health care reform. We have heard acrimony and bigotry from Republican Congressmen, tea party protesters, and right wing radio and television hosts. The hatred, ignorance, and misinformation campaign of the right wing seems like it has reached unprecedented levels. John Lewis, an African American Congressman, who had racial slurs shouted at him on Saturday, said that he hasn’t seen anything like this (referring to the racial slurs of the protesters) since the civil rights legislation in the 1960’s.
Columnist Bob Herbert wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times today titled, An Absence of Class, that does a magnificent job of summarizing what we have seen from the right wing. The article was so good that I decided to re-post it here. Enjoy.
An Absence of Class
By Bob Herbert
NY Times – March 22nd, 2010
Some of the images from the run-up to Sunday’s landmark health care vote in the House of Representatives should be seared into the nation’s consciousness. We are so far, in so many ways, from being a class act.
A group of lowlifes at a Tea Party rally in Columbus, Ohio, last week taunted and humiliated a man who was sitting on the ground with a sign that said he had Parkinson’s disease. The disgusting behavior was captured on a widely circulated videotape. One of the Tea Party protesters leaned over the man and sneered: “If you’re looking for a handout, you’re in the wrong end of town.”
Another threw money at the man, first one bill and then another, and said contemptuously, “I’ll pay for this guy. Here you go. Start a pot.”
In Washington on Saturday, opponents of the health care legislation spit on a black congressman and shouted racial slurs at two others, including John Lewis, one of the great heroes of the civil rights movement. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, was taunted because he is gay.
At some point, we have to decide as a country that we just can’t have this: We can’t allow ourselves to remain silent as foaming-at-the-mouth protesters scream the vilest of epithets at members of Congress — epithets that The Times will not allow me to repeat here.
It is 2010, which means it is way past time for decent Americans to rise up against this kind of garbage, to fight it aggressively wherever it appears. And it is time for every American of good will to hold the Republican Party accountable for its role in tolerating, shielding and encouraging foul, mean-spirited and bigoted behavior in its ranks and among its strongest supporters.
For decades the G.O.P. has been the party of fear, ignorance and divisiveness. All you have to do is look around to see what it has done to the country. The greatest economic inequality since the Gilded Age was followed by a near-total collapse of the overall economy. As a country, we have a monumental mess on our hands and still the Republicans have nothing to offer in the way of a remedy except more tax cuts for the rich.
This is the party of trickle down and weapons of mass destruction, the party of birthers and death-panel lunatics. This is the party that genuflects at the altar of right-wing talk radio, with its insane, nauseating, nonstop commitment to hatred and bigotry.
Glenn Beck of Fox News has called President Obama a “racist” and asserted that he “has exposed himself as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.”
Mike Huckabee, a former Republican presidential candidate, has said of Mr. Obama’s economic policies: “Lenin and Stalin would love this stuff.”
The G.O.P. poisons the political atmosphere and then has the gall to complain about an absence of bipartisanship.
The toxic clouds that are the inevitable result of the fear and the bitter conflicts so relentlessly stoked by the Republican Party — think blacks against whites, gays versus straights, and a whole range of folks against immigrants — tend to obscure the tremendous damage that the party’s policies have inflicted on the country. If people are arguing over immigrants or abortion or whether gays should be allowed to marry, they’re not calling the G.O.P. to account for (to take just one example) the horribly destructive policy of cutting taxes while the nation was fighting two wars.
If you’re all fired up about Republican-inspired tales of Democrats planning to send grandma to some death chamber, you’ll never get to the G.O.P.’s war against the right of ordinary workers to organize and negotiate in their own best interests — a war that has diminished living standards for working people for decades.
With a freer hand, the Republicans would have done more damage. George W. Bush tried to undermine Social Security. John McCain was willing to put Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the Oval Office and thought Phil Gramm would have made a crackerjack Treasury secretary. (For those who may not remember, Mr. Gramm was a deregulation zealot who told us during the presidential campaign that we were suffering from a “mental recession.”)
A party that promotes ignorance (“Just say no to global warming”) and provides a safe house for bigotry cannot serve the best interests of our country. Back in the 1960s, John Lewis risked his life and endured savage beatings to secure fundamental rights for black Americans while right-wing Republicans like Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan were lining up with segregationist Democrats to oppose landmark civil rights legislation.
Since then, the right-wingers have taken over the G.O.P. and Mr. Lewis, now a congressman, must still endure the garbage they have wrought.
What Would Jesus Do?
"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?"
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
Matthew 25: 35-40
The health care debate has finally come to a dramatic conclusion. President Obama and the Democratic majority can finally put health care to bed and work on some other legislation that I am sure will lead to more months of heated debate and scare tactics by the Republicans.
For the last couple of days, I have been engaged in a spirited debate with some of my “friends” on Facebook about the whole issue of health care and the current legislation. Towards the end of one of these debates, my opponent wrote the following message, “God bless you, I will pray for you.” This message really irritated me for a couple of reasons. The first, I consider myself a non believer, an atheist if you will, so the thought that I somehow needed praying for because I am in favor of the health care bill, and for universal health care or “socialized” medicine. The second thing that bothered me about this comment was, how can this Republican, who is advocating against health care coverage for all Americans, sit there and act all high and mighty, while at the same time advocating against something that his god would clearly be in favor of. I am shocked about two things. First thing is that I didn’t think of this obvious argument before. And second, that nobody in the media, even the ultra left liberals, have not mentioned this.
We are all well aware that the vast majority of Republicans consider themselves Christians. For the longest time, the Republicans have considered themselves the party of the religious. George W. Bush can thank the Evangelicals, along with the rest of the Christian right, for his election in 2000, and re-election in 2004. But somehow this party that encompasses the “moral majority” goes completely against everything that Jesus taught. These right wingers really should take a page out of the Bible that they hold in such high regard, and actually follow its teachings.
First of all, Jesus was more of a socialist than President Obama could ever hope to be. If anyone would have been against Capitalism, it was Jesus. If Jesus was not in favor of the distribution of wealth, then I don’t know who is. Jesus spoke openly against obscene wealth. Remember that whole line about how it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to pass through the gates of heaven? Does that concept seem like anything that any Republican member of Congress would subscribe to?
Let’s get back to health care. I often hear these Tea Party protesters say that if you can’t afford health insurance, then you’re just not working hard enough (see my post titled, This Video Makes Me Sick). They also say that health care is a privilege, not a right. Let’s assume for a second that Jesus is alive, and here on Earth right now. Now let’s assume that there is a poor, sick person in the hospital who does not have health care coverage. Do you really think that the omnipotent son of Christ would say, “I’m sorry that you are sick, but you just didn’t work hard enough to afford health care?” I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that Jesus would be more likely say something like, “It’s okay that you don’t have health insurance, let’s all chip in and pay for this sick, poor person’s care.” There is no possible way that anyone who claims to be a Christian, can truly believe that Jesus would be against universal health care. It is unbelievable to me how these Christian Conservatives can’t recognize this glaring hypocrisy.
The thing that really amazes me is that these Christian Conservatives can act all holier than thou, but can’t admit to themselves that the god they claim to worship would be vehemently against their position on almost every single issue of political debate. Jesus surrounded himself with the poor and sick, the criminals and prostitutes. Jesus would have been deeply in favor of equal civil rights, welfare programs that help the less fortunate, Medicare, Medicaid, and every other social program that the Republicans protest against.
There was a story yesterday, on Fox News of all places, about some Tea Party protesters yelling racial epitaphs at a group of African American Democratic Congressmen. I can’t help but remember a famous quote by Jesus that said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Apparently the Tea Party protesters are perfect.
In the end, these hypocritical right wingers are not real Christians. They are “Un-Christians” as a friend of mine likes to call them. These Un-Christians claim the moral high ground, and then completely disregard everything that their god preached. The Un-Christians use religion as a way to lure gullible people into thinking that they represent the Christian population. The Un-Christians know that they can easily manipulate their minions into trusting them. The Un-Christians know that if they just hone in on hot button issues like gay marriage and abortion, they can tap into their base's hatred and bigotry, then the sheep will follow them on any issue they want. The Un-Christians have manipulated the flock into believing that universal health care is bad, and will ruin the country. When will people stop being so easily manipulated and start practicing what they preach?
Jon Stewart’s Perfect Parody of Glenn Beck
On Thursday of last week, Jon Stewart absolutely eviscerated Glenn Beck. Mr. Stewart spent virtually his entire show parodying Mr. Beck, and it was spot on perfect. For anyone who has had the displeasure of watching an episode of Mr Beck's show, you will find this hilarious. This video was just too good to not share with you...enjoy.
Health Care Reform Now
The United States of America is the only advanced country in the world that does not offer some sort of universal health care coverage to its nations citizens. Every other industrial nation in the world offers universal coverage, regardless of a person’s medical history. It is time for the United States to take a step, small as that step may be, in the right direction.
On Thursday, Nancy Pelosi released a package of amendments to the Senate bill that was passed on Christmas Eve. The amendments were put in place in order to improve on the original bill. Hopefully on Sunday, the House of Representatives will pass the Senate bill, with passage of the amendments to the bill coming next week. According to figures released by the Congressional Budget Office, the bill, along with the amendments, would cut deficits by 138 billion over the first decade and 0.5% of gross domestic product over the second decade, which amounts to about $1.7 trillion dollars. The bill would mandate everyone to carry insurance, as well as offer subsidies to help low and middle-income Americans afford coverage. According to a New York Times editorial, “To make up from a loss of revenue from the excise tax and help cover the enhanced benefits, the reconciliation package would extend the Medicare payroll tax for high-income Americans to include investment income, putting the burden on people who can clearly afford it.”
Let me first point out that I think this bill is extremely weak, and I’m disappointed that a more progressive bill couldn’t get passed. With that being said, this is the best bill that I think this Congress can pass at this time. There are definitely some good things in the bill. Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage to people because of pre-existing conditions. There is no Medicare buy in for people under 65 years of age, and no public option. Regardless of what the idiots on the right say, this bill is in no way a government takeover of the medical industry (although I wish it were). There is no federal funding for abortions (although there should be). Just like the civil rights legislation, this bill is a small step that will hopefully lead to more comprehensive reform in the future. The mandate to buy insurance coverage sucks, but it is a necessary evil. As Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman put it, “To make insurance affordable, you have to keep currently healthy people in the risk pool, which means requiring that everyone or almost everyone buy insurance. You can’t do that without financial aid to lower-income Americans so that they can pay the premiums. So you end up with a tripartite policy: elimination of medical discrimination, mandated coverage, and premium subsidies.
The Tea Party and Fox News commentators are, as always, disingenuous. They complain about the deficit and government spending, then they scream, yell, and protest a bill that will actually lower the deficit and help to control ballooning medical costs. This bill is nowhere near what this country needs, but it is better than nothing. The right wing says that they want health care reform as well. But in eight years under George W. Bush, they did absolutely nothing to improve our failing health care system, inflated medical costs, and rising premiums. And when President Obama added the amendments that the Republicans wanted in the bill, they still protested it and claimed that the American people don’t want it. The fact of the matter is, when people are informed about what provisions are actually in the bill, they are overwhelmingly in favor of it. The problem is, that people have been manipulated and misinformed by Fox News, right wing pundits, and Republican congressmen. Let’s hope that Congress can pull together this weekend, and pass a bill that may actually do some good.
I Didn’t Go Far Enough
I posted yesterday’s video to my blog in haste. I was so irritated and outraged about it, that I just wanted to get it up so people could see what kind of scum we are dealing with. Someone left a comment on yesterday’s video which said that I was going too far and getting too worked up about it. I am going to readdress this video again today, and make the argument that I didn’t go far enough in condemning these asshole protesters.
The video posted below, shows a group of Tea Party protesters at a rally against health care reform in Ohio. At one point, a man with a sign indicating that he has Parkinson’s disease, sat down in front of the health care opponents. One of the protesters then shouted, “If you’re looking for a handout, you’re in the wrong place. Nothing for free over here, you have to work for everything you get.” Then another protester walked over to the man with Parkinson’s disease and said, “Here you go, I’ll pay for this guy” and proceeded to throw dollar bills at the disease inflicted man sitting on the ground, while calling him a Communist.
I wonder how these protesters felt while they were degrading another human being with a terminal illness. This man is probably at this demonstration because he is unable to afford the medical care that he needs to treat his illness. These Tea Party douche bags are basically saying that in the game of life, if you get some terminal illness, well then, it’s just too bad for you. Do not expect this country to help you in any way. I don’t believe in religion, but I do believe in karma. Someday, a family member of one of these protesters is going to get sick, and they are not going to be able to pay for their medical care. They are going to look back at this video and see how irrational and inhumane they are.
The logic on the right is so fundamentally flawed. Their argument is that this guy with Parkinson’s can walk into any hospital in the country, and receive access to, “the best medical care in the world” therefore passing the cost of his care to this idiot who was throwing the dollar bills at him. This perfectly demonstrates the flawed logic of these people. I hope that the man with Parkinson’s goes to the most expensive hospital in Ohio and gets the care, this way these moronic protesters have to pay for it.
This video is exactly why the Democrats have to pass health care reform (as weak as the bill is) right now and not worry about getting bipartisanship. This video exposes the Tea Partiers for who they really are. No matter how much President Obama tries to compromise with them, it doesn’t matter. Look at what you are dealing with. A person who acts and thinks like these protesters will never see the rationale behind health care reform. These people are not rational. They will never come to the other side of the debate. It is impossible to reason with someone that stupid and inhumane. They would rather throw this man who is inflicted with this disease out with the trash, than cough up a few extra tax dollars to cover everyone with quality medical treatment (which by the way this bill doesn’t even do). Stop with the bullshit and the pass the damn reform bill already.
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