It seems as if the Tea Party insanity that has gripped the
federal government has “rubbed off” not just on the Republican “old guard,” but
some of the local constituency as well. On Friday, a man self-immolated on the
National Mall in Washington, DC. The day before, a woman named Miriam Carey
crashed some barriers with her car and led police on a wild chase on Capitol
Hill before being shot dead; she apparently was on medication for symptoms of
delusion—such as the belief that she was on “lockdown” by the president and was
under “electronic surveillance.” CNN ran with the story all day, although the Seattle Times didn’t see fit to mention
it until Page 5; maybe it didn’t have a “local” angle.
All that came after the Navy Yard shooting rampage by Aaron
Alexis. On one late night radio talk show there was “speculation” that Alexis was
the subject of a sinister government experiment intended to sway public opinion
on the need for gun control legislation. Alexis had in the past claimed to be
“hearing voices,” and the theory went something like an unnamed government
agency was secretly bombarding him with microwave rays which carried human
speech into his brain. The theory is insane, but the show’s paranoid right-wing
listeners gorge on this kind of stuff.
Whether or not it can be conjectured that the lack of
governmental sanity has had a sinister telepathic effect on the public
consciousness, there is no doubt—thanks to the anti-government welfare
recipients seated in Congress who have the audacity to cash a paycheck on the
public dime—that what is going on inside the Capitol Building these days rarely
resembles the activity of intelligent life. Since the Republicans and their Tea
Party cohorts took back control of the House of Representatives in 2010,
nothing but ineffectual, inconsequential and incompetent posturing has come out
of it. It is the “work” of people who at least give the very strong impression
of insanity.
The so-called “Obamacare” has, more than anything else,
brought out the nonsense in many. Almost two years of difficult work that went
into it, while Republicans refused to contribute even a single useful, constructive,
sane idea to fix a problem desperately in need of repair. Since their only “contribution”
was obstruction, Republicans have no right now to make “Obamacare” a rationale
to hold-up the business of government without even seeing how the thing
actually works in practice—particularly since the US Supreme Court has already
upheld it constitutionality.
Instead, we hear comments like “Individuals should have the
right to delay Obamacare for a year, just like businesses,” instead of applying
for the insurance exchange program now. Does this statement reveal daftness, or
just insensitivity to the real needs of real people? The House leadership
released a statement insisting that “The American People don’t want Obamacare.”
Apparently not everyone in this country qualifies as “The American People”
because many people actually do want Obamacare, or at least see what it can do
for them after having been failed by the current “system.” Let's not be completely unmindful of the fact that this is the only country in the "civilized" world that does not have universal health care. That's supposed to be measure of this country's moral and ethical "superiority"?
Then we hear comments provided by NBC News from people of
questionable lucidity in anti-government, neo-Nazi territory like Idaho and
Montana. A certain Greg Collett in Idaho has no health insurance and doesn’t want
it; he says the “government” has no business in the health care business. He
has 10 children, all home schooled. They are also covered by Medicaid—a government
health care program. Collet doesn’t see the inconsistency in his thinking; in
fact he likens Medicaid to public education. One may question his logic, if not
his soundness of mind.
Then there is a “John” in Montana, who thinks that having
health insurance is not a “good idea” because it “drives up prices.” According
to his “logic,” an individual should pay for services out of his/her own pocket
without insurance; that’s fine—except that it only “works” if you never get
sick or seek medical services, like John claims. But just in case John feels he
might need it, he’ll “look into” the insurance exchange program, even though he
doesn’t agree with “socialized” medicine. “I’m not a martyr,” he says. No, just
another partisan hypocrite.
And finally there is “Mark,” a trucker in Colorado. His rig
has a bumper sticker: “One Big-Ass Mistake, America”. Get it? He currently has
no health insurance, but he’ll be signing up for the exchange anyways, because,
after all, it might actually work for him. Isn’t that funny farm-ready? Sounds
like some people dislike Obama (because of his race?) so much that only after
cutting through the personal bullshit can they see that what he is doing
actually helps them, too. Republicans just don’t want you to know that because,
after all, they don’t care about you. Not really.
No wonder some people have been driven over the "edge.”
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