Quit Makin’ Things Up

I don’t want to point fingers here, but SERIOUSLY – when did we get to the point where just completely lying about things was an acceptable strategy? Political or Otherwise? If you don’t like healthcare reform – I get it. Why not? I mean, why “in the fact based universe” not? I am sure there are plenty of rational reasons… You think that the people who run the insurance companies are more likely to advocate for you than the government that is dependent upon you for reelection? Fair enough. You are thrilled with the direction that the insurance industry has gone in the last several years? Great! You are concerned that the healthcare plan is huge and complex and needs to be properly vetted prior to being voted upon? I GET THAT! Saying that the *liberals* – you know, the ones who are constantly trying to take your hard earned money to prop up the lazy and the undeserving – saying that the LIBERALS are trying to push through a plan that will allow them to euthanize your GRANDMA because she isn’t pulling her weight? Surely that’s just a TINY BIT disingenuous… Yes, I’m a little afraid that if this gets passed, and then someone new gets elected who isn’t all “people have intrinsic value,” that things could get a little Soilent Greenish on us, but I figure UHC is only a year or two off from that, anyhow. Meanwhile, the insurance companies only want my doctor to spend 7 minutes with me and they aren’t paying for any more of that commie “wellness” crap. I have been told that Canadians are dropping like flies because they have soviet-era breadlines for bypass surgery by the SAME PERSON who told me that his doctor couldn’t refill his VERY IMPORTANT prescription until he came in for his appointment, but that the doctor had just rescheduled that appointment for a month after the initial prescription ran out. (That story has a happy ending because the teller had clout and was able to get “samples” – which I guess aren’t tracked by the insurance company because they aren’t officially prescribed…)

Oh, and seriously. I understand that you can’t separate beliefs from actions, and therefore it’s unreasonable to separate religion from politics – BUT THAT BEING SAID… I’m sure that if I read the bible properly I’d realize that God is a Libertarian (or at least a fiscally conservative Republican), but I was born in the 60s when the hippies were all “love” and “peace” and junk, so I get all hung up on the “compassionate” spin that the lefty preachers try to put out. I get the concept of “fulfilled covenant” meaning that the New Testament totally trumps the Old Testament (except the “No Gays” stuff), so we should just ignore the bits that says things like “You should generously open up your hand to your afflicted and poor brother in your land,” but show me the part of the bible where Jesus says “if a man asks for your coat, tell him to get a job and a haircut” – because I seem to be missing that page. If I could get the protestant version of a talmudic scholar to interpret the “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” – since I CLEARLY misread the tax implications therein.

The world is a hard place. Big corporations don’t actually put people before profits. Politicians are self-motivated. Some people take advantage of the system. There aren’t easy answers – but surely we should at least try to find them, right?