I was a newspaper reporter once upon a time. I used to sit in on many meetings with many different opinions in the same room. We had nut jobs speak about things they didn’t know anything about and we had genuine people debate the facts at hand.
I didn’t always agree with everybody, but I learned quickly that those who had a point would wait to speak then make their point. Those who didn’t have a point would simply make noise and try to disrupt. It reminds me of a saying: when you have your facts you pound the facts. When you don’t have the facts you pound the table.
There’s a lot of table pounding going on in this country over health care reform. These mobs (and I will call you mobs until you act otherwise) gather at town hall meeting after town hall meeting with the sole purpose of not allowing the meeting to happen. Then they say we are under a Hitler-like regime because Obama wants to reform health care. Well, folks, I have a new term for you idiots. You’re Corporate Nazis!! And I will stand by it.
Here are some bullet points I don’t understand or want to bring to light about these groups:
1. These groups are being stirred by the pharmaceutical companies pretending to be community organizers. They have websites, money, and busses to help prove their point. They claim it’s all a grassroots effort. Really? I know tons of people like you and me who can afford big busses to roll into these gatherings and hand out literature.
The truth is it is corporate funded. Insurance and drug companies did this 15 years ago when Hillary Clinton tried to reform health care. They succeeded. What makes me laugh is these people bring up our forefathers who gathered at meetings and liken their cause to those who founded this country. Funny, I don’t see Patrick Henry being bought!
2. Patients United Now is one of these groups. They also led the charge back when Hillary tried to reform back in 1994. Here’s what they say on their own website:
“We are Americans just like you. We believe patients and doctors should make health care choices, not Washington bureaucrats.”
They are NOT just like us. They are a Republican and corporate-backed organization whose sole purpose is to fan the flames. The main organizer of this group worked for Coke Industries (the number one private energy company in the country) for almost 10 years. He is high up in the Republican Party.
3. These mobs are only going to get worse. We’ve already seen an incident in St. Louis where the two sides clashed, several people were arrested, and a couple of people got hurt. When you try to bar them from attending the meeting they cry foul saying it is a violation of their Constitutional rights. I say once you show hostility and try to disrupt the actual meeting, you should be escorted out promptly. A second thing you can do at these meetings is have an agenda and stick to it. Allow a section for public comment and limit their time to speak. There’s no law against any of these and those who are there for purposes of gathering information should be allowed to be heard just as much as these ranting nut jobs.
4. Calling Obama Hitler has been the last straw for me. As much as I hated Bush’s decisions I never compared him to Hitler. I called him A LOT of names, but I would never disrespect the office of the presidency enough to compare someone occupying that office with the worst killer in modern history. Again, it shows how childish these people are and how much they need to grow in the debate of the ISSUES!!!
5. I want the Republican Party to declare these mobs to be hazardous and demand they stop as they stand now. I think it would be fine to encourage those with passion on both sides of the issue to attend these meetings and be heard. I am not trying to stop anyone from talking, but there is no reason why we can’t have a spirited, civil debate. This is the America I know and love. Mob violence has no place here.
6. I admire any American who stands up for what they believe in and takes it to the level of becoming active. These people are disrupting meetings from being heard. This is NOT American. I find it ironic they talk of Communism yet they don’t want anyone but themselves to speak at these meetings. Hypocrisy anyone?
7. I do understand that health care reform is a big issue. People should care about it. However, they deserve to get their facts straight and let others be heard without intimidation. This can’t happen when they continue to pound the table and not listen to real information.
I'm going to end this with an actual debate using the words of the group I'm criticizing.
"We know America needs real health care reform focused on delivering affordable, quality choices to all Americans"
They said the same thing in 1994. Has it changed for the better since then? Nope. It's gotten worse. It's your call America. Allow the corporate world to continue controlling the costs of your health or do something about it!!
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