An Un-Healthy Debate

It's time to Break It Down!

There has been a confounding development recently in the discourse of contemporary public policy. An alliance of groups has emerged in opposition to the various Health Care Reform concepts offered by President Obama and both Houses of Congress. The operatives of these groups have been executing a thinly veiled plan to undermine, disrupt, and stifle debate at Town Hall meetings scheduled by members of Congress to seek input from constituents. The meetings also serve as a means for members of Congress to clarify the Health Care Reform proposals emanating from the House and Senate.

The basic concept is similar in theory and practice to the “Tea Parties” that numerous groups devised to protest the Stimulus Bill. Of course it’s not uncommon for opponents of a President to rally against his proposals. In fact, it is fair to say that is a central element to democracy in action. Let all sides be heard, consider all the facts; may the side with the most compelling argument(s) prevail.

Hold up; wait a minute! That’s where this train is derailing. It appears so much of the energy, fight, and steam of this gambit is derived from the desire to shout down, drown out, or otherwise prevent the other side from being heard. Moreover, another key dimension of this obstructionist pattern of behavior is to inject strains of misinformation into the would-be conversation.

Inducing fear and promoting distrust by the strategic use of rumor, innuendo, and a loosely cobbled amalgam of facts and fantasy is the order of the day. Allusion to “death watch” squads, a government run health care system, and denial of Medicare benefits are just a few of the mainstays in the regular rotation. The full range of straw men runs the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Despite numerous diversions, the attention of the American public is finally zeroing in on the Great Health Care Debate of ’09. Many observers and analysts place this harrowing drama squarely at the feet of the Republican Party. Those who believe some GOP Zeitgeist has enveloped the land have shown their vulnerability to the grandest of conspiracy theories.

That’s does not mean Right Wing zealots are uninvolved. Rather it is to point out what should be obvious by now. In the current conversation about Health Care Reform, the issues are as clear as mud, and the sides are not always readily discernible. For example, if President Obama led a resolute and united Democratic Party, Health Care Reform would have been the law of the land before the August Break…as the President desired. His inability to check, and pull the “so-called” Blue Dogs in line is directly contributory to the “fine mess” in which we find ourselves today.

But this is really not a discussion aimed at assigning blame. Instead, it is an effort to recall the 1993 Clinton effort at Health Care Reform, and to point out that the kind of sweeping changes proposed by President Obama does have a natural list of opponents, enemies, and haters. As you may recall, the Clinton Plan, largely led by now Secretary of State Clinton was DOA (Dead On Arrival) as a piece of legislation.

Many Doctors, segments of the Pharmaceuticals Industry, and lots of regular citizens who either embrace or promote the misinformation referenced earlier, opposed the Clinton Plan 16 years ago, and they oppose the Obama Plan today. No problem; it’s no sin to oppose the plan! On the contrary, there are countless precedents for clever, lucid expression of one’s opposition to legislative initiatives.

However, in its finest moment, public debate in a free and open society, is an essential element of freedom of speech…for everyone! That means no side is shut out or excluded from participation. In other words, the broadside attacks on Solons by citizens may not be Un-American as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has asserted, but it is most certainly “An Un-Healthy Debate!”

I’m done; holla back!

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