A Friend writes:
In part I agree with you; we do need healthcare reform but the problem I have is how are we going to pay for it. Thanks to the PAST and CURRENT administration's ludicrous spending, this country is spiraling into eternal indebtedness. I more afraid of what is going to happen to my income taxes than I am of losing my health care. I do not have the first clue as to how to solve the problem but the white house cannot continue using the ‘Fed’ like a reproduction company.
As to the comment regarding voices, there are just as many inflammatory nuts on the left side of the media. One only has to watch msnbc and cnbc for a few hours to realize that fact.
While there are not "just as many inflamatory nuts" on the Left as the right (I'd lay odds on that one, my friends), it is true that there are some on the left just as guilty of instigation as some on the Right. Because the Left choose to play into the "who is more evil" game concocted by the Reagan-era marriage of the conservatives and the religious right, they do the same harm as their firebrand counterparts screaming doom, Armageddon and revolution.
The tone of this particular fight, however was chosen by the right, instigated by the right and is carried by the right. This administration began by saying "hey, let's try to work things out," to which the right responded with a thumb to their noses, fingers extended and spread. No, the left are not guiltless, but it's time Republicans owned up to the dirty dealings of their leaders and stopped following them in a blind rage. It's time that Republican people stopped getting offended when people speak out against their elected officials. Yes, you elected them. No, that does not mean that you must stand behind them. I'm sorry, but just because you're signed up on their roles doesn't mean you have to support everything they do and it doesn't mean you have to enlist to help fight Democrats on the grounds that they are "the opponents."
Forgetting the last administration, in less than one year, Republicans have taken us from being a nation of hope, of promise, of joy and of possibility to a nation of fear, anger, betrayal, lies and deceptions. Why do I blame this on Republicans? Because it is their soundbytes, their carefully choreographed opposition to anything laid out by the Obama administration, their unwillingness to compromise in hopes of having a better run in 2012, and their blathering mouthpieces that have turned up the political temperature in this country.
Have Obama and his people made all the right decisions? Certainly not. Have Democrats done stupid things over he past year? Absolutely without a doubt. But are Democrats trying to incite people to riot? To take up arms and revolt? To regain the revolutionary furor of the late 1800's? No. Absolutely not. Are Republicans? You betcha.
It is time for Republicans to own the actions of their elected officials.
No, I recant. It's time for Americans to own the actions of their elected officials and stop letting the actions of their elected officials own them.
