Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right

I keep hearing my liberal friends say that the Republicans used Reconciliation to pass Medicare Part D and therefore the Democrats using it to pass Health Care Reform is fair.  That argument strikes me as being similar to hearing my child tell me he punched his brother because I didn't say anything when his brother punched him.  Well, I missed the beginning of the fight.  I wasn't paying close enough attention.  I was wrong for missing it, but that doesn't absolve the punchee for punching.  Both boys are wrong for punching.   Likewise, ramming legislation through using Reconciliation isn't right when anyone uses it.

Claiming that no one was really paying attention to the Republicans when they used Reconciliation is mostly true.  Most of us weren't really paying attention until the market crashed in 2008.  As more and more people started paying attention to what was happening and how things were being run in our country, more and more people got angry.  Many of those people became the Tea Partiers.  The Tea Partiers are non-partisan and are angry at America's elected representatives forgetting America is a democratic republic.  Too many of our representatives, Democrats and Republicans alike, have forgotten that "we the people" are not their subjects, but are rather their constituents.  I have attended a Tea Party rally and can verify that not everyone participating was Republican or white or rich.

The anger over the way the Health Care bill was written and how it was passed is not purely a Republican position.  22 House Democrats voted against the bill.  Using the argument "the Republicans used Reconciliation, too" doesn't make it right.  This is 1/6 of our economy.  Using an obscure legislative tactic that was designed 30 years ago to pass legislation that the majority of Americans don't like doesn't make it's passage right or noble.  It makes it wrong.

How will we get past our ever-widening political divide when we don't hold our elected representatives accountable for terrible tactics?  

The Tea Partiers aren't saying we don't need Health Care Reform.  They're saying that putting so much of it in the hands of the government is wrong.  No one is saying we don't need reform.  We need it.  We desperately need reform.  But this bill isn't it.  And the way it was passed is reprehensible.  Please, let's stop acting like children pointing the finger and repeal this monstrosity and work together to craft legislation that won't bankrupt the country and will actually help Americans. 

Jon Stewart on the Factor

I watched Bill O'Reilly interview Jon Stewart. A couple of things struck me. Yes, Stewart's intelligent. Second, he and O'Reilly seem to enjoy each other. But third, and this is the one that annoys me, Stewart's assertion that FOX "sells the clearest narrative" and laughs that FOX calls itself a "news organization" annoys me. He marvels that FOX has managed to "mainstream Conservative radio."

Stewart maintains that because there's opinion on FOX that it must not be a news organization. Is he not aware that the line-up on MSNBC now features at least three ranting liberals in their respective shows? It must only be a "narrative" when you don't agree with it. I wonder if it's occurred to Jon Stewart that the reason most Americans trust FOX is because FOX bothers to give the back story on most of their coverage? Does it occur to him that for years Americans have been given only what left-leaning journalists want us to know? Has it occurred to him that Americans want more to the story than just what happened ten minutes ago and might want meat with their milk?

A friend called after spending two hours sitting in an auto shop's waiting room. FOX played on the shop's TV. She said she'd never watched it before and was shocked because it was the most thorough news coverage she'd seen. This was a week or so before the Scott Brown won the Massachusetts Senate seat vacated by Ted Kennedy. The point is, my friend learned what I learned a couple of years ago: FOX news is in the business of educating viewers about what's going on. Guess that's a good "narrative."

When there's something going on in the world that requires attention, right now only FOX can be trusted to tell the story. Once I started watching FOX, I developed a more thorough understanding of the news. After 25 years of watching the news and reading the paper, it took FOX news to bring it together for me. Clearly, I'm not alone. Yes, there are most definitely opinion shows, but if you can't tell the difference between Glenn Beck and Shepard Smith, you must be a liberal.

More than anything, I'm worn out with the attitude that anything that doesn't jibe with left-leaning sentiments is less than.

Spare Me the Label

Why is it that when conservatives and the average American decide to stand up against Democrats, it's a contrived, organized mob that can only be "astroturf?" But when liberals and Democrats bus people to functions, pay people to protests, and even make signs for them to wave, it's just Americans exercising their right to free speech? Spare me.

I've had enough.

We stayed in a hotel recently. When we went downstairs for the continental breakfast, we noticed every single table was occupied. In fact, the room was packed. What made it even more extraordinary was that everyone was silent. No one was talking. They all had their eyes glued to the tv. What was on? What could possibly have captured their attention so fully? It was the Arlen Specter Town Hall on healthcare.

If a hotel lobby full of hungry travelers could be captivated by healthcare and discussion of it, please spare me the label "astroturf."