Fear and Impermeability

In my hometown of Stratford, CT, there was a small protest of universal health care; nothing like those mobs you see on the news, there were maybe 5 or 6 six protesters. Me and a couple of friends went there and basically asked questions and gave them our views on it. The protesters ranged from people who were really well informed on political issues, to older people who already hate Medicare, to a lady who looked like Ann Coulter if she took really bad care of herself (and even shared her rheotic regarding opposing viewpoints). Either way, the best thing to do when examning political issues, in my opinion, is to talk to people who share different views, respectfully debate with them if your opinions differ, and get in their heads. And I'm glad I did because most protests are marred by people screaming at each other, and leads to name calling and misunderstanding on a very grandiose level.

There were a few protesters I honestly pitied. They honestly believed in the so-called "death panels" that Sarah Palin has circulated across the media (nice way of following your own advice about making things up, half-term governor extraordinare!). They were getting up there in age (one of them was 71), and they actually had signs speaking of genocide towards sick old people due to the cost of taking care of them. They misinterpreted the "end of life" counseling. They think that doctors will be forced to talk you into death, but that's not true. Seniors will have the option to refuse end-of-life counseling, and there are a lot of things regarding end-of-life counseling, such as living wills, what course you want to take as far as treatment goes, and the inevitability that people fear (understandably) that one day a person will reach the end of the road. Obama does not want to kill your grandma! There was a man who was spearheading a campaign to get rid of Senator Chris Dodd in 2010, which to me seems kind of inappropriate since he's currently battling prostate cancer (they caught it early and he's OK, but still). Him and I talked for a while, and he was pretty nonpartisan and said that he wanted BOTH Republicans and Democrats out of office. I didn't agree with a lot of what he said, but he seemed like a good guy.

Yet there were a couple who were just jingoistic, and I avoided dialogue with. Case in point, a young man came and debated with them, and explained on how he lived in a country where socialized medicine was in effect (Russia) and how easy it was. And this lady (the Ann Coulter-esque woman I told of earlier) was like "Then why don't you go back there? I'll pay for your ticket back!" and asked if he was a Communist. By then he was ready to leave to meet up with a fiend, and as he was walking away he said "What if I am?!?!" Pretty bold move. Of course she and this other fat guy in suspenders carrying a DON"T TREAD ON ME flag were like "He's a Communist!" By then the 'protest' had died down, and I wasn't in the mood to go in the whole debate on whether or not what they knew what Communism and socialism were other than what FOX News and conservative politicians tell them. Last night at the bookstore I started to brush up again on Communism, and I'm gonna do some research on this issue because supposedly next week they'll be protesting again, and it's always good to be more informed on political issues. I can't say I've fully delved into the health care plan.

I wish I had brought my camera with me, but I just drove by it and my friends and I extemporaneously went to see what they were selling. Most of them agreed with one thing though; the current health care system needs to be reformed, and to my pleasant surprise, most of them didn't like Bush or McCain either. I only wished that they didn't buy into the right-wing fueled misconceptions that are plaguing this bill.

Another classic example of right-wing hypocrisy; I was watching Rachel Maddow last night before I went to bed, and Palin, Limbaugh and Gingrich, the unholy trifecta, are opposed to living wills as proposed in the health care bill. However, they supported them in the past and even pitched it in various advertisements and political spiels. Sarah Palin even pointed out their importance and declared 4/16/08 to be Health Care Decision Day in the Frontier State, in which she emphasized the importance of living wills, the thing she is now calling evil. Limbaugh pitched a commercial for a company that specialized in living wills (which he is now blasting like a stick of dynamite on his radio show), and Gingrich backed Palin on her 'death panel' claims, yet stated he has a living will and a power of attorney. I don't see living wills as a way to try to kill off the elderly. My dad and stepmother have one, my mom has one (and the 3 aforementioned people's average age is 56.67 years), and it's important to have dialogue about end-of-life care in case you reach a state in which you can't speak for yourself and there's no squabble over what you may have wanted as you reach the end of your life.