Who needs health insurance reform? Anyone who answers that question with anything other than “We do!” should watch the following videos which explain just a bit of the hypocritical, political games being played in Washington. Note that the clips provide proof of the contradictions directly from the speakers’ own mouths. In trials, we used to call that impeaching the witness (an exercise that attacks one’s credibility and effectively renders him untrustworthy).
In the MSM, Rachel Maddow says that she tries to “increase the amount of useful information in the world” and that she’s not trying to “push any particular agenda of any stripe” rather she is trying to make the world “make more sense.” Well, I am glad she does and I hope and pray that people attempt to get the facts rather than believe all the lies and spin being dished out for lobbyists and special interest groups.
And, specifically with respect to health insurance reform, I appreciate Ms. Maddow’s efforts to explain what’s happening on the Hill and how the Democrats should respond.
I am not a proponent of big, bloated bureaucracy (either within the federal government or within private health insurance companies). On the contrary, as a proud hard working former civil servant, I fought hard to ensure accountability, quality and efficiency in our country’s health care system. I saw the waste in the system first hand, so I have reason to support a more efficient government that protects its citizens and rewards hard work. One that inspires its citizens to be the best people they can be, that puts politics aside to achieve goals that are consistent with the founding principles of the country. A government with a brilliant leader who is strong enough to assert firm boundaries in keeping with his family values and to address thorny, controversial, difficult issues head on in a calm and assertive manner. In which its civil servants from the lowliest postal employee to the most senior member of Congress support and assist our president instead of trying to defeat him for their own political gain (or for their largest donors’ political gains).
But, when that’s not possible, perhaps we have to resort to a bit of strong arming. When the government includes factions that seek to undermine sound policies solely to defeat their (perceived) opponent, the majority party should act on behalf of its constituents and do the right thing. Do what those constituents elected the majority to do.
So I agree with Ms. Maddow when she says the Democrats need to stand up to the bullies and refuse to back down. Be a shining example to our children of how to face a bully. Stop playing Mr. Nice Guy who seeks an idealistic but unrealistic bipartisan solution. The perfect or ideal plan is impossible when the other half of that “partisan ship” (so to speak) is determined to sink it.
Let go of the fear and embrace the good enough solution.
I urge you to spend just four minutes watching this video. Just four minutes. Then think about it. We can’t let ourselves be fooled, scared and tricked by the sophisticated, high stakes games played by the insurance companies. Not again.
I don’t want to add much commentary to this video by John Green about a massive pig at a State Fair and health insurance reform.
If you’re interested, here it is: [Update 9/5/09 - ThoughtBubble made it even better. Here's the revised version with cool graphics.]
Hey, even my kids enjoyed it.
I’m sure John could have made this video much longer than his standard less-than-four-minutes-in-length, but for a brief rant about the current health care debatediscussionshostilitiesfiasco reform effort, it’s worth a look.
The nexus between boars and health didn’t initially resonate for me*, but ultimately I had to admit…the ridiculous (made up) notion of “death panels” is just as smelly as a barn full of boars.
Yeeeah.
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*This coming from a former senior health policy advisor, mind you…
Parents often warn other parents to be prepared for those dreaded teen years:
“Just write off about five years of their lives.”
“During those years, they think you know nothing. Then, in college, miraculously, you’re once again brilliant and they ask you how to do everything from folding laundry to paying rent.”
“Oh, they’ll tell you they hate you, but they’re just really mad at you.”
“I didn’t know the person who inhabited my daughter’s body during those years. But, in about eleventh grade, the daughter I knew returned.”
In the early years of their lives, many kids try hard to please their parents. They implicitly acknowledge their necessary state of dependence and pretty much worship the ground we walk on. The effect on parents’ egos is rather intoxicating. We reach a point where we start to believe we know what we’re doing. We stand tall and breath sighs of relief, as we begin to feel confident in our parenting abilities. We go through stages where we proudly boast about achievements and quickly pull out photos of the little angels. But if we talk to parents with teenagers, we often hear them say (to those of us with younger children) that we should “enjoy it while you can” because it can change in a flash when those adorable toddlers and grade school kids reach adolescence.
As my kids approached middle school, I witnessed other teens grow sassy and more defiant so I found myself getting a little nervous, worrying more than I used to, wondering if my kids would change and, more importantly if our relationships would drastically change.
For me, Ready 2 Rumble, a boxing game for the Wii with dazzling graphics and backgrounds, was fun and had me working up a sweat but was just a little too…realistic for my liking (I generally don’t like conflict (much less whaling on someone’s face or torso)). So I turned to my son, Soapbox Guy (who loves these kinds of games) and his friends to help write the review.
Here’s the review:
Ready 2 Rumble (Wii) is a fun, invigorating game that is best described as an extremely buffed-up Wii Sports boxing. There are multiple moves, such as the uppercut, hook, jab, etc. There are also heavy versions of all the punches too, which makes it fun to really smash the opponent.
