Jigsaw Jimmy and the Mindless Mobs

It would be pretty funny if it wasn't so infuriating.

It's sort of like I went to sleep and woke up in another dimension, just slightly different from the one I went to sleep in. When did this country become a nation of "whoever can shout the loudest wins?"

These town hall fiascos have to stop. They've become low-rent referendums on President Obama, and have almost no relationship to the actual merits of health care reform. They have become indoor versions of those pathetic "tea parties" that are nothing more than anti-Obama rallies masquerading as public outcry at the destruction of core American values (irony note #1: these same "tea party" participants raised not one peep at the warrant-less wiretap programs of the previous administration, conducted in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment).

In the interest of full disclosure, I voted for Obama. But I'm not one of his disciples. The man is a politician, and he has made and will make mistakes. I disagree vehemently with this entire "cash for clunkers" program, which is one of the dumbest things this country has done in a while. I think his administration has been too willing to give money to private companies, but I can understand why he's done it.

This is the second time a Democratic president has tried to overhaul health care in this country in the past 40 years. It's not looking good.

Anyone who says the health care system in this country is in good shape is either lying or an idiot, and you can bet a paycheck that person has good insurance coverage. The reality is that the health care system is broken. Health care coverage itself is a total scam.

Now we have these town hall meetings where opponents of the health care system are screaming about socialism. Irony note #2: a lot of these same loudmouths are currently enrolled in Medicare, the government-sponsored health insurance program created by President Lyndon Johnson.

Irony note #3: these same people are the target audience for those "I get around great now with my new scooter" commercials that tout the fact the adult scooters are usually free to the recipients; meanwhile everyone drawing a regular paycheck is footing the bill.

As much as I disliked former President Bush and thought he was dangerously expanding executive power, I at least respected the fact he tried to do something with the Social Security system, which is clearly on the fast track for total destruction. Now Obama is trying to fix another obviously flawed system in this country. Yet people who dislike the man are conflating that into dislike for anything he does or proposes.

I guess people would rather deal with a broken system they're used to, rather than try to create something better that would be chock full of unknowns. I've always suspected that about Americans, I've always secretly knew that, but now I'm openly admitting it to myself. We take the lazy way out. It sucks.

It's like we've become a nation of adults with 12-year old mentalities. I'd like to go back to sleep, but I'm afraid what I'd wake up to. Again.

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