The news and events surrounding the health care debate recently have caught my attention. Public concern about expensive plans that no one seems to know all the details on and mixed messages on what government options will mean and what the ultimate goal of reform is have caused a great deal of this concern.
What has caught my attention however is the propaganda on both sides of this debate but in particular that coming out of the white house. I find their constant labeling of citizen concern and participation disturbing. The recent addition of an email to report “fishy” claims about health care is even more disturbing.
The white house claims this email address is only to help them combat disinformation but the appearance is otherwise that that coupled with misrepresentation of some of these crowds by the White House and members of congress adds to the suspicious nature of a system to report fellow citizens to the government. It all starts smell like suppression of free speech and intimidation tactics.
People showing up for town hall meetings expressing their point of view have been compared to Nazis and Brown shirts by members of our government. This is different than commentators or talk radio making outrageous claims this is your government labeling fellow citizens and claiming they are all members of an organized mob effort.
A long-standing rule of thumb for me has been that the first person to bring up Nazis lost the debate. I am not sure who that is in this case but for me the rule stands.
I also have never supported shouting people down. As someone who believes in free speech I believe that means it goes for everyone. Everyone has a right to express a point of view and people have a right to agree or disagree with that point of view. Shouting people down to shut down debate or prevent someone from expressing their point of view is not respectful and does not support the free flow of ideas. This goes for left wingers who have used shout down tactics against people on the right for years and it goes for people opposing the current big government big spending trends whether they are right wing, libertarian or even normally left leaning people who are simply tired of over taxation and under representation.
The fact that the Government is not respectful of the citizenry and is not listening to the voters is no excuse to adopt thug tactics that shut down free expression and debate. Let people talk then respond to them. If they are lying I have no problem with telling them they are lying but back it up with facts. Be respectful but also stand up for what is right. That is how debate should be conducted. Sometimes raising your voice to be heard in a town hall may be necessary but allow the speaker to make his or her points then you make yours. If they try to shut you down let everyone know. I think recording events is more than called for right now and I am glad many people are doing so. This also helps protect free speech and it gets information out to people who want to make informed decisions about what is going on. That I can respect and that I can support.
There have been a lot of indications lately that our elected officials are not listening to the voters. Most polling data shows the majority of Americans are happy with their health insurance and do not want the massive reforms being pushed through congress. It is also frustrating that for years now we have heard this figure of 47,000,000 uninsured Americans who need coverage. That number is artificially high due to the inclusion of some illegal immigrants as well as a number of people who for one reason or that other have chosen not to have insurance.
The proposals being made by Democrats would require every American to have health insurance whether they want it or not. If you take out people who chose not to have insurance and illegal’s the figure of uninsured that cannot get insurance by no fault of their own but would like coverage is actually between 10,000,000 and 15,000,000. This is important because if we start with an artificially high number how can we arrive at a sensible solution?
None of this is being considered and when people try to get answers on this they are not forthcoming from Senators, Representatives or the Obama Administration. There is no acknowledgement that the most recent polling data still shows people do not want massive government reforms and after having had huge bailouts and stimulus plans pushed through in a hurry before anyone even read the bills or listened to the American people it seems that the citizens are just fed up in many cases and will go to great lengths to have their voices heard on this issue.
To have our government call that brown shirt tactics, suggest people are thugs, unruly mobs or somehow paid representatives of the insurance industry or organized by the GOP is frankly insulting. Setting up email addresses and putting messages on the White House page suggesting citizens start informing on each other is down right un-American.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljszZ961rdM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz7tHAtjteI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOLs7Cybnqw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOdlZgMHKcQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTXBOgPCh9w
Obama at SEIU Health Care Forum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbJCBP_2RvI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtbfPOgKf2g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0ER4rhpwIM
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