Oh, THAT Constitution! Gotcha.

(where's your baseball cap, man? i almost didn't recognize ya)

I came across this video which features a red-faced town hall protester explaining how the "U.S.S. Constitution" prohibits Congress from enacting health care reform.

"Right here," says the protester. "I got a book here called the U.S.S. Constitution. I'm sure everybody's seen this before. And you know what? I've read this book three times now, and I've referenced it dozens of times and I can't find one little paragraph in here that says the government has the right to take over our health care."





My first question is, why do these people all wear hats? Is it a secret signal of some kind?

~ Why do they all have gray hair?

~ Why are they all standing out there in the hot sun, when they are clearly on the verge of a stroke already?

~ And last but not least, when did the U.S.S. Constitution become a book, which is undoubtedly way too long for most of these people to read? Is there a Cliff-Notes version we could see? Maybe, like, a one-pager that, like, might be stored in some government building?

sigh.

Fortunately, I also discovered this excellent article which explains the "tenthers" and their insistence that health care reform is unconstitutional.

Read it. It makes some very good points. But don't try to convince anybody wearing a hat.

Their minds are made up.

~~~

Why we are all morons

(you tell em Barney!
love ya.)

I love Barney Frank. I know, I know, he's gay and unattractive and has a speech impediment. But you have to admit, he tells it like it is.

On Tuesday he confronted a woman at a town hall meeting on health care. She tried to compare Obama's health care reform to Nazi Germany, and Frank retorted, "On what planet do you spend most of your time?"

You can watch the encounter here.

In a somewhat related incident, my husband received another email today. It's very long. It's very angry. Among other things, the author rails against "Big Government" and implies that our Constitution is being undermined and we have strayed from the vision of our founding fathers.

... sigh ...

How on earth can people compare an effort to provide health care to our own citizens, to the atrocities of Nazi Germany?

By what stretch of the imagination did the Small-Government-philosophy SUCCEED during the 8 years of the Bush Administration?

Which provisions of the Constitution, exactly, are being thwarted? Obviously the right to free speech is alive and well.

And lastly, how on earth did the Democrats lose the message war here? Did they not realize that Republicans would resort to dirty tactics to provide Obama's "Waterloo" - regardless of the consequences for the country? Did they forget to come up with a catchy slogan to counteract the words "Socialist" and "Death Squad"? Why are we on the defensive?

I'll just speak for myself. I really thought the need for health care reform was obvious. I thought an intelligent, articulate President would be a refreshing change for all of us. I thought we could become a better country, and pursue some higher goals, and accomplish some positive things.

I'll admit it. I am a moron. But I still hope for all that.

I still hope.

~~~

Town Hell Meetings

(cue the outrage! bring out the mobs!)

I'd hate to be a Democratic Congress-person right now. They are all home for the August recess. They thought they might hold some town hall meetings to discuss health care reform. But those meetings are turning into noisy shouting matches.

Lots of very angry, very vocal people are showing up, with signs, t-shirts and plenty of attitude.

They're all over YouTube. And they're nearly all middle-aged, gray-haired, over-weight white people.

What's going on?

Are these people crazy fringe right-wingers, organized by lobbyist-run groups such as Americans For Prosperity or FreedomWorks?

Or are they ordinary Americans, simply exercising their right to free speech?

I have my suspicions. (Door number one! Door number one!) And I have a suggestion for the beleaguered Congressmen and women: Bring along some ordinary Americans who are suffering because of our current health care system. Ask them to share their stories with the crowd.

~ Let the angry mobs shout down a mother who is dying of cancer because her insurance company cancelled her policy.

~ Let them hurl insults at a family that has gone bankrupt because of medical expenses.

~ Let them vent their rage at a man who lost his job, lost his insurance, and lives in fear of an illness or accident.

Expose the misguided, misplaced and manipulated anger that is dividing our country and undermining a worthwhile effort at geniune reform. And put it all on YouTube. Every ugly minute of it.

Maybe we can shame some sense into them.

~~~