We have now endured a month of the “Town Hall Crazies”–thanks to Dick Armey’s ultra-conservative “FreedomWorks”, “Palin Poison” [her bizarre "Death Panels" allegation]–with attendant Republican Cowardice and irresponsibility, orchestrated propaganda (The “Big Lie” process) and pundits gone wild with prognostications aplenty.  And, I apologize, we have also witnessed the tragedy wrought by irrational fear and prejudice and the ignorance of so many Americans who have lost sight of where their own well-being lies in the final resolution of this matter–and who have proved to be such easy prey for the Republican and “Blue Dog” propaganda machine. 

 

          If anyone were keeping score to this point on the Democratic “Universal Health Care” initiative and debate, he or she would certainly be justified in concluding that the Republican opposition to change of any sort leads by Three to Two.  The Democrats made two points by holding enough of their fractious base together prior to the August Recess to pass a form of the initiative (H.R. 3200) by three committees of the House of Representatives.  Sadly, however, it is clear the Republicans hit a “three point basket” with the wildly successful campaign of fear, threat and misinformation throwing the Nation into a strident, anti-intellectual turmoil.  Congress reconvenes on Tuesday, September 8, and we will then see whether this super successful campaign fomenting hysteria and irrational fear will continue hitting the long shot.

 

          It is always interesting to me how the Media, always searching for news so that they will never have any of what radio and television professionals refer to as “dead air,” will beat the air to death with old news and anything else they can come up with, no matter how tenuously related to the real story.  But, the aspect of the Media which concerns me most, and which is ultimately the most important, is how it feels compelled to call a “winner” in any political fight–long before the contest is over!  And they have been doing this with respect to this issue for the past two weeks and are obviously having an incredible impact upon that portion of the Public which had not previously made up its mind.  This is true even when, as here, the deciding body is in recess and only one draft of the bill has even received any formal consideration!  We certainly could not live without free speech; the problem is to learn how to live with the self-appointed experts who tell us all what to think.

 

          There are not many new issues left to explore at this particular juncture.  I am, however, still so very saddened and puzzled as to why it is that such a huge percentage of Americans never took junior high civics and learned that “socialism” is a form of government which combines within itself ownership of the means of production, provision and distribution of all goods and services?   About the only thing I remember beyond that is that while in socialism (and communism) everyone is supposed to be “equal”, some people are, in fact, “more equal” than others!  Oh, and that reminds me that it is a system which always fails economically because it does not account for Man’s native sense of competition and personal striving to better things for himself and his family.  So, socialism is a form of government which at its very core premises the organization of entire societies upon a lie.

 

          But, not having had junior high civics, or in about the ninth grade, these persons have proved themselves to be but “canon fodder” for the Republican onslaught of lies and misinformation.  They do not see that representative democracy and the United States Constitution do not even deal directly with any economic issue, only being concerned with the formation of a cohesive National government, the limitations thereupon and the preserved non-delegated rights of the States and of individual Persons.  These same persons do not understand that whenever anyone refers to government programs passed by our representatives (acting for us) as “Socialism,” THAT IS A BLATANT LIE! 

 

          Democracy is the form of government chosen by the writers of the Constitution; and capitalism is the name given by the economists and businessmen to the economic system which (outside some communes in California during the 1960’s!) has always prevailed in this free society.  The laws enacted by the Congress pursuant to the Constitution to benefit and protect the People in ways that only the government can do, are “social policies!“  In a recent television interview on “Meet the Press”, however, and in one of those blatant attempts to continue the barrage of lies, former House Speaker and current lobbyist (what else could he do!) Dick Armey had the shameless effrontery to say that it amounts to “tyranny” every time the government “forces” any American to participate in any government program!

 

          Using the Armey “logic” (stupidity? arrogance?), it was tyranny for the government ever to utilize tax moneys to build or maintain any roads, highways or bridges to help the people travel around this great land.  It would be tyrannical to use tax money for forming the armed forces to protect the People of the United States.  It would be tyranny for our elected representatives to enact programs such as Medicare and Social Security to assist Americans approaching or in their old age who did not, when they were younger, have the good fortune (pun intended) to be medical doctors, politicians or lobbyists!  And one democratic social policy example I particularly like is the one exemplified by rural electric cooperatives in the United States–made possible only by a government program adopted under FDR (still a hated personage in “Red States”–no matter how much the People thereof have benefitted from programs he conceived).  Prior to the Great Depression of the 1930’s electricity was only available to persons in towns and cities, and in the eastern United States in certain “townships”–which, except in land surveying, are mostly unheard of in the rest of the country. 

 

          These cooperatives were and are formed and maintained to this day by groups of persons living in rural areas, i.e. farmers, ranchers and persons simply choosing to live in less congested areas, for the purpose of producing or purchasing electricity for the use or consumption by their members.  The cooperatives do not cost the government one penny, since the United States simply makes loans, not grants, available to the cooperatives all of which are re-paid to the government from the revenues generated by the electric bills paid by their members.  While practicing law in Oklahoma I represented a very large rural electric cooperative and became quite familiar with its genesis, but most importantly, with the fact that without the REC’s around the United States there would be very little modern agricultural production and, quite importantly to me, even running water in  homes.  So, I find it pretty hard to believe that there was any tyranny or socialism involved in the formation of the rural electric cooperatives–for the Country as we know it would simply not be possible without them.  I have to also note that I personally grew up in the “country”, in south Arkansas, and never had electricity or the indoor plumbing it made possible until 1954.

 

          As one might quickly surmise, it is a rare occasion when Dick Armey, Newt Gingrich, John Boehner, Mike Huckabee, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and I agree with one another.  I personally believe they are highly intelligent individuals–and personally know Mr. Huckabee to be, but I also fervently believe that they are so focused upon their own personal welfare and financial fortune that they will do anything, absolutely anything, to deprive the “blessings of liberty” to millions of its citizens as intended by the Constitution of the United States.  And if in the process they rent the Constitution apart, that is of no matter to them.

 

          There is so much more that might be said, but I believe it best for the Congress and the President to have a few days to consider where they are on the matter of Universal Healthcare–and to allow the Senate to meaningfully review the matter.

 

Don Switzer

Rogers, Arkansas

(c) August 31, 2009

   

 

 

 

 

Tags: 1930's, 2009, Arkansas, Blue Dog, CALIFORNIA, capitaloism, civics, communes, communism, Constitution of the United States, dead air, Death Panels, democracy, Democrat, Dick Armey, Electricity, FDR, fortune, Freedomn, FreedomWorks, Glenn Beck, government, Great Depression, H.R. 3200, health care, indoor plumbing, innate drive of man, John Boehner, lobbyists, media, Medicare, Mike Hukabee, native sense, Oklahoma, poison, prejudice, propaganda, REC, Red States, Republican, rural electric cooperatives, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, self interest, September 8, Social Policy, Social Security, socialism, The Big LIe, Town hall crazies, townships, Universal Healthcare

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