Reality Liberation Front

Thought that things would eventually settle down in the ongoing health care debate?  Hoped that people would eventually agree to a more civilized and informed discourse?  Maybe, like me, you hoped that our elected officials would decry the threats and violence, and ask their supporters to “participate” rather than “disrupt?”

Well hang in there, because things have gone from bad to worse…and from unreasonable to nonsensical.

A summary of recent events…

Town Hall Violence…Brought To You Courtesy of The Insurance Industry:

• Unions planning to attend town halls and counter-protest in favor of health care reform are receiving threats that are increasing in quantity, severity, and probability of being genuine.  An AFL-CIO has said that one such contact was a “pretty direct threat” by way of an email which read, “I will be going to a local town hall this weekend, all you union members BEWARE!  We will be waiting for you. better make sure you have arrangements with your local ER. today is the day when the goon meets the gun. see you there.” Other unions have received similar correspondence.  An email sent to the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) threatened, “You socialist f—s have the nerve to say stop the violence at the town hall meetings when they weren’t violent until you p—ies showed up because your n—– leader obama said to?????? When we have ours in Racine, Wi, I want you there. I want one of your little b—– to put his hands on this Marine. I want one of you to look or talk to me wrong. I’ll be the last thing your ignorant faux body guards will remember for a very long time. You can f—ing guarantee that.“  One caller told an SEIU representative, “I suggest you tell your people to calm down, act like American citizens, and stop trying to repress people’s First Amendment rights…That, or you all are gonna come up against the Second Amendment.“  Meanwhile, the Republicans tried to identify protesters as simply “concerned citizens,” or “average, patriotic folks,” or even merely “energetic.”  I think (and hope) we can agree that the people who would make such threats…are none of these things.
• Southern Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords tried to meet at a local Safeway with her constituents.  Someone dropped a gun.  The leader of the local conservative movement, Trent Humphries (who just so happens to be a former, failed legislative candidate), says that no one in his group is a racist (despite racist signs and taunts) nor means Giffords any harm (if you ignore the whole “gun thing”):  “Nobody is threatening Gabby.  But she does need to get in front of her constituents and answer to her constituents“
• Americans for Prosperity, the D.C-based, corporate-backed, PR and lobbying firm pretending to be a “grassroots organizer” is still coordinating efforts to disrupt town halls across the country.  This article covers some of the more ridiculous, and often scary, things seen at recent protests…and features a slideshow of various signs brought to the events.  It’s what you would expect…inane rants about socialism, thinly-veiled racism, threats of God’s anger…but my personal favorite, and high-scorer on the daily jackassery-meter, is the “Obama…the ANUS of AMERICA” sign.  Yeesh.
• Under “Irony Is A Biatch:” Meet Kenny.  Kenneth Gladney is a conservative, who opposes health care reform, and at a protest during a town hall meeting…conservatives claim he was “brutally attacked” by members of the SEIU organization.  Of course, the video shot of the incident shows Kenny hopping back to his feet and walking around without any apparent injuries…but now Kenny attends protests in a wheelchair and bandages.  His fans shout “Don’t Tread On Kenny,” and bemoan the fact that he is recently unemployed, and therefore does not have health insurance and can’t cover his medical expenses.  Wait…what? That’s right:  Kenny and his friends are protesting the plan…that would provide Kenny and all other Americans in his situation WITH HEALTH COVERAGE. Niiiiice…let’s just say they are probably not what you would call “readers.”

The Industry Reaction:

• You’ll notice…the insurance industry rarely comments on the health care debate directly.  It prefers to keep a “lower profile” and act through lobbyists and contributions to our legislators, as well as PR groups orchestrating the public chaos and ad campaigns.  However, recently Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans (the most powerful insurance industry lobbying group) had this to say, “If August is about villainization…that will mean members of Congress will come back to Washington without a strong sense that health care reform is doable. And that would be a lost opportunity.“  Whose “villainization” is she referring to?  Of course, she means Democrats making her industry (“big insurance“) look like villains.  Republicans and the right-wing fringe trying to make villains out of the people trying to reform health care…she obviously doesn’t think THAT is a problem.  Two things, Ms. Ignagni: First, your industry and the millions it pays every year to control Congress and deceive/defraud the American people, just so that you can continue your 60-year streak of defeating health care reform…that MAKES you the “villains.”  Secondly, don’t pretend that health care reform will fail because the American people won’t like Democrats criticizing your industry…if it fails, it will because of your industry’s efforts to thwart it.

The Republican Reaction:

• Friday, Sarah Palin posted on Facebook that she feared “my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their ‘level of productivity in society,’ whether they are worthy of health care.“  Of course, those familiar with plan (even those just using their common sense) will note that no such “death panel” would exist, and nobody’s parents or mentally handicapped children will have theirs lives ended by a panel of bureaucrats based on “level of productivity” or anything else.  The claim is so irresponsible and outlandish, that even many conservatives (with the exception of Newt Gingrich who defended her remarks) were quick to strongly criticize the statement.  Sarah now claims (in a new Facebook entry)…that “we must stick to a discussion of the issues and not get sidetracked by tactics that can be accused of leading to intimidation or harassment. Such tactics diminish our nation’s civil discourse which we need now more than ever because the fine print in this outrageous health care proposal must be understood clearly and not get lost in conscientious voters’ passion to want to make elected officials hear what we are saying.”  A little late to call for intelligent discussion and reason after inciting people with the “death panel” nonsense, Sarah.
• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that the complaints from Democrats and others (media, moderates, people who read without moving their lips) about the violence and disruption at town hall meetings…shows that the Republicans and other opponents of health care reform are “winning.”  In an interview on Fox News Sunday, the senator said, “We ought to focus on the issue. And to demonize citizens who are energetic about this strikes me as demonstrating a kind of weakness in your position. In other words, you want to change the subject. Rather than talk about the half-a-trillion dollars in Medicare cuts, let’s talk about somebody, in some town meeting, who misbehaved. That strikes me as missing the point.“  Senator…you say we should “focus on the issue“…but we can’t because of the violence and the disruption.  And seriously…calling the protesters “energetic” is like saying the Pope is “kind of religious.”  Oh…and they’re not cutting Medicare BENEFITS…they’re cutting Medicare costs (eliminate waste, improve efficiency, prevent unnecessarily duplicated tests, et cetera), which could pay for as much as 40% of the health reform plan.
• Arianna Huffington, of Huffington Post, appeared on “Real Time with Bill Maher” on Friday, and sat across the desk from Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA).  The conversation was fairly civil and pleasant, and there was a lot of consensus on several topics.  That is…until after the show, when it went into what is called the “Overtime” segment, which airs online and may be found in podcasts.  Both Kingston and Issa repudiated the tactics of fear, disruption, and violence that are being used at town hall events across the nation, and regarding the references to Hitler and Nazis (made by Rush Limbaugh, protesters, and others), Issa said, “Nobody has a right to use Hitler if it doesn’t live up to the atrocities he did.” Kingston, however, said the whole thing has been overblown, and that the protesters have been inaccurately portrayed by  “Rahm Emanuel and the White House and the spin machine trying to make anyone who opposes ‘Obama care’ an extremist.“  Arianna seized the moment…and asked Kingston why, at an event he attended…he thought it was a good idea when he held up a t-shirt (photo here) that read “R.I.P. The Constitution,” an obviously ridiculous statement…geared only at stirring the passions of right-wing extremists.  Kingston’s response:  He was just wearing the shirt inspire a young activist he met.  Representative Kingston…here’s your sign…
• Someone’s Using Their Head: Former Bush strategist Matthew Dowd spoke of the obvious flaw in the GOP’s thinking while appearing on ABC’s “This Week.“  They are so excited about “beating Obama” that they may not have considered…do you really want to be bragging at election time in 2010 or 2012 that you “killed health care reform?“  Especially when polls show that the majority of Americans WANT reform, think our system has MAJOR problems, and overwhelmingly support the “public option“…maybe “we killed Obama’s dream” won’t resonate too well with American voters.  Dowd said, “I think the Republicans soon have to be careful of something…I know Republicans are all patting themselves on the back and saying, ‘We’ve got the Democrats on the run, Obama on the run.’ I don’t think it’s necessarily a good political place to be in by November if you’ve defeated any health care reform.“

The Democratic Reaction:

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Representative Steny Hoyer have co-authored a column in USA Today, where they discuss the need for health care reform, some details of the plan, and they also denounce the violent and disruptive behavior at town hall meetings as “un-American.”  They may certainly be right…and they are right that this should be a discussion between representatives and their constituents…and they are right that the only purpose the more disruptive protests serve is to prevent reasonable people from asking questions…and I have written as much here on my blog.  However, I’m going to recommend that the distinguished Representatives leave the labeling of the mob’s behavior as “un-American” to the pundits, columnists, and bloggers like me. Coming from our elected officials, even if justified, it sounds too much like the “labeling of all dissent as unpatriotic” rhetoric that we saw during the Bush administration.
• The White House is releasing a new website to combat the disinformation/misinformation circulating about the health care reform plan.  In an email sent to supporters, it says the “Reality Check” site will help to dispel false claims about the plan because “We can’t let extremists hijack this debate, or confuse Congress about where the people stand.“  One problem:  remember when the whole “birther” ridiculousness started during the presidential campaign?  They posted a copy of Obama’s birth certificate on their “fact-checking” website…and despite this, nearly a third of Republicans STILL believe in the tinfoil-hat-wearing conspiracy theory that the president is not an American citizen.  Why? Because the people who spread the lies…and the people who hear the lies, instantly believe them, and then spread them themselves…they don’t “fact-check.” They don’t research.  Even when presented with the facts, they don’t accept them, regardless of how strong the evidence…and they are certainly NOT going to go to a “White House-sponsored” website to look for facts.  If anywhere, they will go to Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, WorldNetDaily, The Drudge Report, Free Republic, FOX News Online…and any other place that is going to tell them the same lies they have been hearing elsewhere.

Other Aspects and Points of Interest:

• Under ‘Not This Again:’ Sometimes…the Obama administration can be its own worst enemy…especially when it decides to repeat an obvious “Dubya” mistake.  Back when Bush was trying to negotiate the “Medicare drug benefit” for seniors, he gave Big Pharma (ie. the drug companies) a gift:  the government would NOT be allowed to use its huge buying power to negotiate lower drug prices.  Big Pharma…has profited immensely from this compromise, and at the expense of higher health care costs for all of us.  Now, President Obama has worked a deal where, in exchange for $80 billion dollars in undefined “savings” from the drug industry and their support in advertising health care reform…once again the government will be unable to use its buying power to negotiate lower drug prices.  Once Medicaid is included in with Medicare on the “drug benefit” plan, Big Pharma REALLY stands to profit.
• Want to learn more? The New York Times features an excellent piece titled “A Primer on the Details of Health Care Reform” that covers all the major issues, with copious citations and refreshing candor.  What’s in the plan…what’s NOT in the plan…addressing common arguments for and against…cost estimates…it’s all there.

We’re not even near the finish line on this one, folks.  Each day, anti-reform rhetoric and the flow of disinformation ratchets up a notch…and neither our leaders nor releases of factual information about the issue seem to even make a dent.  In fact, some of these “leaders“…keep making it worse…

More as it becomes available...