Are the Lies Taking Hold?

The President's approval rating has dropped some, not unexpected after the euphoria of being rid of Bush and Cheney. Reality is setting in as it normally does. President's always make a lot promises. Few of them try to accomplish what they promised as quickly as this President has done. He has hit a stumbling block in the form of health care reform, one of the promises that he made quite clear during his campaign.

On the other hand the Republicans ramped up their "swiftboating" with outrageous lies. Even the ordinarily sane Republicans, and there are or were a few, picked up the torch and spread the lies. The ignorant, racist, and some elderly quickly latched onto the "death panels" as gospel. Socialized medicine and NAZI have also become the bywords of the Republican campaign. Exactly how NAZI and Hitler could be injected into this discussion is not clear. The carrying of guns, death threats, and screaming, drooling mobs is incredible.

The President would like to provide those who do not have health care an affordable option so they can provide themselves and their families with much needed medical coverage. If others want it, they can enroll also. How this translates into Hitler mustaches, assault rifles slung over shoulders and handguns on hips, screaming and frothing at the mouth, and death threats is beyond me.

Mobs have been used effectively throughout history to influence public opinion. Sam Adams used them in the early days of the American Revolution. I suppose the Republicans saw that their "tea bagger" mobs were well received by the base with the help of FOX News, so why not try it with health care? Sure enough, FOX News jumped on the bandwagon to assist, along with Limbaugh and the right wing radio hacks. With Sarah "leave my family out of this" Palin trotting out one of her kids and making the "death panel" comment, they saw an opening to bring the ignorant and elderly along. The GOP conveniently ignored the fact that it proposed and voted for "death panels" in 2003. After that it was "Katy bar the door." Once the mob gets going, it assumes a life of its own. The racist comments, guns, and Hitler were sure to follow, given the intellectual level of many of the base.

I hope the President continues forward. Hopefully, good will come from some kind of reform, with a public option for those who daily lose their health care. The Republicans, obviously, do not care about these people. They only want power. If we can get more people back in the health care system, maybe this country can move forward. The GOP continues to ignore the statistics and tout the U.S. as having the "best health care in the world." That is not close to the truth. We have some of the best facilities and health care professionals, but we rank far behind in providing that care to all of our people.

I find it very amusing that some of these screamers say they are afraid that changes in the system will hurt their Medicare. Duh! Medicare is the feared government health care option. They want it, but they do not want anyone else to have access to something similar. I would bet that if a public option becomes available these screamers will flock to it, if it turns out to be better or cheaper than their current option. They will definitely be standing at the door, if they lose their current insurance.

Time will tell us whether this effort will fail as previous efforts have done. I pronounced it dead a couple of posts prior, but I keep hoping that something good will pass. If so, it will shut up the critics and put the Republicans back under their rocks where they belong. People may be dissatisfied with the President at the moment, but they darn sure do not want the GOP back in power. I'm not sure the Repubs understand that fact.