In the protests in Washington this past weekend, we have been subjected to Jimmy Carter and a slew of commentators claiming that people are opposed to the presidents health care plan because he is black. Having apparently run out of arguments or ways to convince Americans to spend more money than they have on a plan they don't want, Democrats have resorted to the political equivalent of yelling, "your mamma!" Despite having no evidence to support the claim of racism by any definition, Democrats would have you believe the klan is marching down ninth avenue and crosses have been burning on the White House lawn. The phrase"grasping at straws" comes to mind. The argument as of late seems to have been going something like this:
Obama Health Care Opponent: I have serious doubts this plan will do what its says and about the government's ability to carry this out effectively and control costs.
Democrat: You're a racist.
To be fair, posters with Obama wearing the Che beret or sporting the Hitler 'stash are inflammatory, but not racist. I'm not saying racism doesn't exist, but the constant claim that the opposition stems from prejudice are not only unfounded, it detracts from legitimate issues involving race. In doing this, supporters of the Presidents plan are trying to place themselves on a moral high ground that they don't occupy. The problem Democrat leadership is running into is they are proposing a sweeping overhaul and aren't even considering the things that could be done that wouldn't cost the tax payers anything. (Tort reform, allowing portability across state line). Other than Jimmy Carter, the person who needs to keep her mouth shut is Nancy Pelosi. She tells people they need to calm down their rhetoric because she fears there will be violence. She chokes up and everything. Pelosi was the one who got the ball rolling by calling people at the town halls Nazis and saying it was an astroturf movement. Being the best argument for bringing back tar and feathering, Pelosi would be concerned about violence. Of course, she would get the San Francisco treatment which would basically entail an angry mob chasing her down the national Mall with bottles of maple syrup and goose-down pillows. The only violence that has occurred so far was at the hands of the SEIU. And if any violence does break out, you can bet it will be on the liberal side, taking it to the "racists" because attacking "racists" is okay. This whole thing has turned into a liberal's greatest hits compilation. To argue for this, they have sited people who have died because insurance companies wouldn't cover them, so you have the parade of victims. You have false claims about the ability of the government's ability to fix this, blame Bush, then promise that taxes won't be raised on the middle class, You have the emotional appeal to pass this for Ted Kennedy, blame Bush again, and when none of that works, accuse the opposition of being ignorant, hateful, racists.
This debate of the direction of health care and insurance in this country is vitally important, and there are multitudes of opinions on how this should be done. The majority of the country would like the same goal achieved, more accessibility and lower costs. Making accusations as such and predicting violence as a means of quieting opposition not only exacerbates the situation, it takes away from honest debate that could actually lead to a positive change. To his credit, Obama's White House has rejected the claim that opposition is based on the color of his skin. But Obama supporters and the bulk of the media who spent the last eight years dishing out criticism in spades, need to learn how to take it.
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