Obama Care!

To follow the developments in the “debate” surrounding government efforts to secure health care for the masses, to say the very least, is infuriating and highly disappointing on numerous levels. The crux of the matter is that big moneyed interests continue to be the most powerful force in American politics & government, and this does not look to be changing at any point in the immediate future. Their collective abilities to rile up the idiots, namely people whose existence is dependant solely upon being able to complain about anything and everything, and get their media cohorts to aggrandize and propagandize, will likely put an unceremonious end to whatever slim chance there was in the first place of getting any truly meaningful legislation passed.

Conservative Democrats, as usual, are instrumental in fudging what would otherwise be a strong bill, but assholes like Kent “I can kill the public option if I want to” Conrad, Evan “I’m not a Republican, I swear” Bayh, Max “I receive tons of cash from medical insurers” Baucus, Ben “I’m a joke” Nelson and so forth insist & persist in being assholes.

This notion of bi-partisan support is a total misnomer, for it truly makes no difference whether or not the Democrats get Republicans signed on – the Democrats need to get the aforementioned ones to stop being “centrist” and start doing what they know or should know is the right thing to do. The New York Times has a piece today about the “debate” in Arkansas pertaining to “centrist” Democrat, Blanche Lincoln, and the rock/hard place situation she finds herself in; being from a state where McCain beat Obama by twenty percentage points. This is a bad combination of poor journalism and a fearful, un-savvy, short-sighted politician. The journalist should not be implying that simply because Arkansas is a red state it automatically has no desire for affordable health care and neither should Blanche “I’m running for re-election in 2010” Lincoln. The Times can at times provide invaluable investigative journalism and will often contain worthwhile commentary from its editorial board and columnists (save William Kristol.. Ross Douthat annoys me too and I've spoken my fair share about good old Brooksie), but it also has the tendency to throw out these pieces where the so-called man on the street is really just sort of a shill for whatever corporate interests and lines that must be towed by The Times Company. I really liked the idea that The Times become a non-profit, in fact – the government should really do the same and then we actually might see significant progress, not just in health care but everywhere, instead of this never-ending charade that the government and the press are actually doing the bidding of the American people.

This malarkey about the republicans possibly going for the plan including co-ops is ludicrous! The term co-op itself is enough to drive most members of that party into some kind of rabid frenzy that would likely invoke imagery of Satan, Hillary &/or Bill Clinton, Obama as Pol Pot or whichever totalitarian dictator is in vogue this week, etc. etc.