Garden Variety Neurosis

I was stunned, and deeply saddened, when I heard that the public option died in the finance commitee today. I was saddened because the driving force behind that decision was not the senators in the room, but the fear-mongering media whores on Fox News who have whipped the gullible sector of America into a frenzy, prompting them to ask their senators to vote against the public option.

I am saddened by this because the primary reason these pundits want to defeat the health care reform bill is not because they do not see the need for reform. It is because they want President Obama to fail, and they will do what they can to make that happen, at all costs. Perhaps the biggest talking head in their camp is Rush Limbaugh, and he made it very clear when President Obama took office that he hopes that Obama fails.

Why?

They will say it's not a race issue. Perhaps Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and many of the other talking heads in the right-wing are not overtly racist (though they come darn close to being so), but they are not unaware that many of their most avid followers are decidedly racist. Their entire campaign against President Obama has been one that plays on the fears of their followers, and one of those fears is certainly about the implications of having an african-american man for our president.

Knowing what I know of the ultra-conservatives, I was deeply concerned for Obama's safety as he took office. I remain concerned, because the hateful, intentionally deceptive, anti-Obama reporting continues to gain steam, and people continue to drink the ClusterFox Kool-Aid. The type of reporting done on Fox News is not about reporting the news at all, but it is about being a political machine for the conservatives, another tool used to achieve their agenda. They are not oblivious to the fact that most of their audience is comprised of people who do not check facts (let's be honest here), and will take what they say as being fact simply because it was Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, or one of the other talking heads that said it.

There are many examples I could use to make this point, but I will use the most recent "outrage" regarding the alleged "indoctrination" of our school children. In classic Fixed News fashion, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Fox and Friends, and all of the news actors on the channel, joined in a conversation that whipped up the fury of their followers.

The clip I am showing here included how ClusterFox reported the "outrage", and the MSNBC commentary from "Countdown With Keith Olberman", which exposes the outrage for what it really is.



As far as I know, ClusterFox has never issued a retraction of their "news", and they never will. If confronted with the truth, they will likely tell their viewers and listeners that the real story is just being covered up by the elite liberal media, because the media is in love with Obama and don't want you to know that he is indoctrinating your children. Then, in classic form, they will find another scrap of video to prove their point...never telling you the truth about that clip, either.

I am deeply concerned about the future of a nation when a large part of its populace prefers to believe a lie simply because it's told by a charismatic person, rather than accept the facts even if they oppose the charming person who lied to you. In recent conversations with staunch conservatives, regarding everything from health care reform to why the hell Christians felt the need to demonstrate at a sacred gathering of Muslims in Washington D.C., it is very clear that the facts are of little concern to the conservative "movement", and it is far more preferable just to believe the talking heads. What happens to a nation when the facts come to mean nothing? What happens to a nation that has been taught to distrust everyone except for the handful of people who spoon-feed you the only news they tell you that you can believe?

Sadly, it's a trend that is stirring people into fury, and the fury is not dying down regardless of the lies that are exposed. People are following ClusterFox and all the right-wing talking heads without question, and become hostile when the truth is presented to them. It's getting scary.

I think we've seen elements of this media manipulation before. It happened in Germany awhile back. What was that called again? Oh yeah...the Third Reich.

And they want you to believe that Obama is Hitleresque...

Here is something to consider: Part of Nazi Germany's regime was to rid Germany of the "useless eaters"...those who, due to illness, race, handicap, etc...are not deemed worthy of living because they do not contribute anything to society.

Now, if health care reform does not go through, who does that impact the most? It impacts the poor in the United States, who suffer and die due to lack of health care. Being that the "think tanks" that are spinning the lies about why health care reform would be so dangerous to our society, are actually groups of people with corporate interests and get big fat checks from those corporations, is it too big a leap to say that these "think tanks" that are perpetuating the lies about health care reform have little or no concern for the "useless eaters" who die every year due to lack of health care? After all, what does a poor person without health insurance, who possibly suffers from recurring health issues, contribute to our fine nation?

Who is looking more like Hitler here? As the "death panels" that Obama was accused of including in the bill have been shown to be a trumped up lie designed to misinform the public, it would appear that those who are so furiously opposing health care reform are actually the ones who are dictating who lives and who dies in this country, by withholding access to health care from those who do not qualify for programs that already exist, and cannot afford to buy private insurance.

Once again, conservatives...wake up! You are being lied to. Stop being a mouthpiece for the pundits, because when all is said and done, you are just playing into their hand, and they will throw you under the bus, too, if it serves their best interests. Think for yourself. Don't let them play on your fears.