For years, my mom taught elementary school in some of the rough-and-tumble areas of Chicago and its burbs. One thing she taught us is that you don't talk while someone else is talking because that means you aren't listening and therefore are being disrespectful. Which means, you are being rude. So, as you can imagine, I've seriously had my fill of the shouting mobs at the healthcare townhalls across the country. I can't deal with it anymore. I can't watch anymore footage of it, I don't want to hear about it, I am just done.
Keep in mind, there isn't even a voted-on bill in Congress yet. But, because the health insurance industry is scared shitless about the possibility of actually competing against a public option, they have hired Dick Armey's lobbying group Freedom Works (link goes to Rachel Maddow's investigation of Freedom Works) to go wrangle up a bunch of panic about what could happen. "There will be death panels!" No, there won't. You can opt to get some counseling on end-of-life care. Emphasis on the word "opt", as in you can choose to do it or not. "There will be federal funding for abortion." No, there won't, due to the Hyde Amendment. "There will be rationing of health care!" If you've ever seen the movie Sicko, the health insurance companies are already doing it, ruling on what they will pay for and what they won't.
What this basically means is that the other side of the aisle has decided not to actually offer a competing solution but to try to torpedo what the President and the Democrats have to offer. Honestly, this is the coward's way out. If you want to debate the issue, let's debate the issue. Let's discuss it. But if we are going to it, we're going to do it like adults. Let each side speak and then respond. And we're going to actually discuss the facts, not some fabrication about death panels. Shouting over anybody to get your point across is a bullying tactic, pure and simple. We are taught at a very young age that bullies are bad people, and must not be tolerated. If we aren't going to tolerate this behavior with our kids, then why should we tolerate it from adults?
I know plenty of Republicans, and none of them are these screaming harridans you see on basic cable, screaming at Arlen Specter or Claire McCaskill. And when I see these people having full on temper tantrums (and seriously, that's what they're doing), I feel sorry for my Republican friends. I'm sure they felt the same way about me when the extreme left was pulling their Bush Is A Nazi stuff during the Iraq war. Anytime you have to resort to screaming and/or comparing anyone to Hitler or Nazis, you have lost your argument, and a lot of respect from people. So let's all take a chill pill, a deep breath, and talk to each other like adults. Please.
Oh, one last thing, and this is to all of the wingnuts who are screaming and yelling and ripping up people's pictures of Rosa Parks. All of your bullying hullabaloo has had an effect on me. Oh yes, it's motivated me... to call my Congressman and my Senators tomorrow and tell them to stay strong on health care and pass the reform. The more you scream and yell, bullies, the more I will dig in my heels. And trust me, there are plenty of people like me who will do the same. So scream all you want. The more you scream, the more you will lose.
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