Stop Criticizing Criticizing Obama

The democrats of 2009 are turning into the republicans of 2004 and it's really starting to bug me.

I've heard several times that the so-called “blue dog” democrats who want changes in the health care bill before they pass it need to just shut up and go along with the President. On Bill Maher's show the other night, he was doing a bit about medications and coming up with non-existent humorous names for medicines (such as “Beau Talks” for women who are having a trouble getting their men to open up). One of these humorous medicines was Growacet (pronounced “grow a set”) for democrats who were having trouble lining up behind Obama's health care plan.

Zieg freakin' Heil, guys. Jeez.

For how many years did we revile the republican “leadership” in congress for bullying moderate republicans into just lining up behind Bush and doing whatever he wanted? That's not what this is about, is it?

Look... I agree that health care is a necessity. We spend more on public health than any other industrialized nation, while being behind ALL of them in actual “public health”. And yes, at first, that spending will increase. The idea is that, over time, this trend will reverse. As we get the sick people healthier, start allowing doctors a little more latitude to help people stop smoking and encourage better nutrition, especially for our kids, things will get better. Me personally, I think that if we don't do something and SOON to improve the overall health of our kids NOW, I don't want to know what public health bills for them are going to like like when they grow up. But, by the same token, I think that there are legitimate questions that need to be answered about the bill. Yes, you can immediately disregard the people who are obviously nothing more than shills for the insurance companies. Yes, you can immediately disregard the people who are screaming that THEY WANT THEIR COUNTRY BACK at town hall meetings. And yes, you can disregard all of the bullshit about “death panels”. But what you CAN'T disregard is Daryl Issa's concern about a lack of malpractice tort reform in the bill. What you CAN'T disregard is that there is almost nothing in there addressing preventive care. For instance, doing something that the republicans have been fighting for years... putting severe restrictions on the way that McDonald's and Hershey's advertises to our kids. Or REQUIRING people on the public health dime to give up smoking, maintain a good weight and have annual checkups.

I guess that what i'm saying, guys, is that we don't all have to stand in line behind President Obama. As a matter of fact, being a fellow intellectual, I think that he doesn't WANT that. His plans are ultimately good for the country (unlike the crap that Bush pushed through with the help of the obedient republicans), so I think that he WANTS a vigorous debate. If we have concerns, we need to state the concerns. RESPECTFULLY, TOWN HALL SHOUTERS! BECAUSE IF IT JUST COMES DOWN TO WHO CAN SHOUT THE LOUDEST, I CAN OUTSHOUT ALL OF Y'ALL! If you're a democratic lawmaker who doesn't think that “Obamacare” is a good bill, then yes, vote against it. Campaign against it. Don't be like most of our lawmakers were, both democrat and republican, when the “USA PATRIOT” act was introduced and just sign it so that you can hang out with the cool kids, okay?

Peace.

Rev. Randal