Last night the irrepressible Mort Kondracke further graced his Fox News panel slot with a blame-it-on-Limbaugh comment about denunciations of ObamaCare at townhall meetings.
The host Bret Baier had reported a flood of email objections to Kondracke’s and Charles Krauthammer’s slamming of protestors’ behavior — acknowledging neither the indignation it represented nor its grassroots nature.
Blithe Spirit 
Well, look, I’ve been teaching US History classes for 40 years, and I have to say I’m hardly surprised that “the people” so ennobled by John Locke and Thomas Jefferson are usually no brighter than Alexander Hamilton cynically presumed lo these many years ago. If that makes me elitist so be it. But lets admit — some students and some citizens are simply more equal than others.
So when I not only watch but hear what the dissenters are generally shouting, what I sense is sincere but irresponsible mis (dis?) informatio at the core of their fears. Fears are good if authentic; dangerous if wrong.
With these kinds of fearful dissenters loose, even Napoleon and Patton would have a helluva time leading them to any victories! Facts, folks, get some facts straight. You’ve got some of them right, but seems to me about 90% wrong
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Jack,
Have you read the portions of the bill being objected to? I have read much of it — most is pretty generic and vague.
You are correct that there is misunderstanding about that end-of-life counseling is mandated. It is misleading as it stands in the bill, Sec. 1233. That is because it refers back to the SS Act in which it describes what Medicare will pay for under the proposed legislation — most people reading this portion miss that reference in all the confusion of the outlines’ ABCs.
Still, what business is it of government to intrude itself into this issue which is usually handled by the patient/or family and doctor when the time comes that decisions must be made? The prudent work this out with their lawyer in advance of the need.
The worst part is much of what will control our future health care is to be decided by a Health Commission — we have a bill that doesn’t specify the tricky details of the health plans. The public is being asked to accede to this blindly. Didn’t your parents teach you not to sign a contract with the blanks unfilled — trusting that the person filling them in later is working in your best interest? I think that they did.
Obama has surrounded himself with hard Left advisors and Czars; Zeke Emmanuel, Rahm’s brother, is a doctor and “ethicist” who favors treatment for teenagers and those who have the most life to live and, where dollars are scarce (aren’t they always with unlimited demand?) limiting treatment to the newborn and elderly.
Isn’t it kind of shocking how quickly this bill was put together? I think it has been written and waiting for a long time until the Democrats got the White House and Congress. Bingo! Here it is all written and ready to rush through with the Stimulus and Cap & Trade.
In no time every aspect of of our lives will be under government control; costs and taxes will be raised, union supporters will be paid off (as in the Health Plan, union health plans are exempted from the requirements that will be laid on private plans).
Isn’t it interesting that minority groups keep getting money — almost $ 4 billion to ACORN in the Stimulus bill; more money to such groups, unnamed, in the Health Care Plan for signing up people, etc.
The most maddening aspect for most people is that Congress and Federal employees will have their own, gold-plated health care options; the rest of the public, the private sector workers and taxpayers, will be kicked to the curb.
So, yes, Jack, ordinary citizens, who have paid, like my husband and I for 3 + decades for previous generations to have subsidized Medicare are now faced with rationing and the stealing from Medicare to provide free medical care to able-bodied young people who have hardly begun to contribute; or who are illegal immigrants who simply parasite off of our system.
We are DAMN MAD and rightly so. There are over 300 million citizens, half of whom are smart enough to know what is being pulled on us, and we are going to continue to yell about this monstrous rush to socialism (and ultimate tyranny because that is where socialism always ends) while we still can.
We were sold a Socialist under the guise of a post-racial black candidate who was going to take us past our shameful past. Half of us were “had.”
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Dear Margaret, I’d be “damned mad” too if everything they’re saying about this reform efforts were actually true…when I received a GOP list of 25 attack-points based on excerpts from the bill, I asked a lawyer friend to go through the list and he found ALL 25 excerpts either lies, misrepresentations, or hunches….my point is that yes it is a complicated bill that’s been over hurried…perhaps the GOP member who taunted Obama with “this will; be your Waterloo” may be correct…maybe Obama (like Hillary before him) let the argument get out of his hands…now we’ll see if he and the critics can compromise enough in the middle to get something done…rather than the real disaster of getting nothing done…fears are easy to sell, facts take more time to study…as a satisfied Medicare guy myself, I’m hoping & praying these guys get it right…but lets shelve the fears and fantasies about “death panels” from Barracuda Sarah and try facts and fidelity instead
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