The US health-care "debate"

I've been watching and listening to what passes for 'debate' south of the 49th this past while, specifically the "debate" on health-care, and I think this morning was the straw that broke the camels back. My respect level for our friends to the south (the United States) has dropped to zero. Granted, it hasn't been too high for quite a while now. The US has for too long seemed like that little jerk who would only let you use his ball if he could pitch. They sort of meant well, but only on their terms. After the 9/11 attacks when they had the rest of the world standing behind them, they blew it. Yelling and screaming when they didn't get their way, a pre-emptive attack on a country that had nothing to do with the attack while virtually ignoring a country that actually was supporting the attackers (and kissing up to the country where the majority of the attackers came from) and it didn't take to long for the stature of the US to drop. International respect for the US has been at all-time lows for a long time now and the only people surprised about it were US citizens.

Then the presidential election in November and it looked like the bully was growing up. A new president who said he believed in hope for everybody. Then he dared to try to introduce affordable health-care for every US citizen, and our friends to the south showed their true colours. Now I know that a lot of folks down there are easily fooled. Just look a the whole 'Joe the plumber' thing that went on during the election campaign last year. This guy was some sort of cultural hero? He was, at best, a liar or a simpleton, and my money says he is both. He claimed that he was thinking of buying a company which showed a profit of $250,000 USD per year and we was concerned that Obama's tax plan would hurt him. Beats me how. This loser had never earned over $40,000 USD in a year in his life so how was he planning to buy a company that had a $250,000 USD profit? But Republicans bought into it, they believed this guy. That just completely blew me away. Were they all totally incapable of thinking? It appeared so. But, I told myself, this was an isolated incident that took place during a political campaign. And now there is the "debate" on health-care.

The citizens of the US claim in poll after poll that they are the most religious people around. Far more than Canadians they claim to go to church and to believe in God and in Jesus as their saviour. Isn't there something in the bible, maybe in a footnote or something, about caring for your fellow man? I don't think it is too much of a stretch to suggest that making it possible for everybody to afford quality heath-care could be considered caring for your fellow man. Taking a little bit of stress off of a family that may be going through a crisis, wouldn't that be caring? Yet when I see these people at the town-hall meetings screaming about socialist health-care, I feel sick. This morning I was listening to another report on the squealing mob at one of these meetings, and they spoke to a woman who was there with a photo of president Obama with a Hitler mustache drawn on in crayon. "Crayon. How fitting", I thought, since this was apparently someone who shouldn't be trusted with anything more dangerous than a soft ball. They spoke to another woman, a 68-year old breast cancer survivor who claimed that if the current suggested plan had been in effect when she had cancer, she would be dead now. I can't for the life of me figure out how she worked that out. And then the whole thing came to a head for me. Our friends to the south just don't give a wet shit for one another. They are motivated by greed and selfishness and that is it. How else do you explain some sleazy cretin showing up at a town-hall meeting packing a gun? Just because it is his legal right, that does not make it right. What possible reason could there be to act that way? Former vice-president candidate Sarah Palin claiming that her youngest probably would be dead if the current suggested plan had been around when he was born because the "death-panel" wouldn't want to spend money to keep him alive. There is no such thing as death-panels in the proposed bill (yes, I have read it), so she is either lying, or genuinely stupid. And this was the best that the Republicans could come up with to run for vice-president?

I just can't listen to it any more. Our friends to the south have a golden opportunity here and I just have a feeling that they are going to blow it, big time, again. It's what they do. And the insurance companies will be laughing all the way to the bank. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.

Anyway... Humouroceros