DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse said Republican operatives and special interests are funding and organizing these groups in an effort to stop Obama's top domestic priority...health care reform also described by me and others as the public option, government-run health care, single-payer health care or universal health care.
"The right wing extremists' use of things like devil horns on pictures of our elected officials, hanging members of Congress in effigy, breathlessly questioning the president's citizenship and the use of Nazi SS symbols and the like just shows how outside of the mainstream the Republican Party and their allies are," he said. "This type of anger and discord did not serve Republicans well in 2008 ... and it is bound to backfire again."
How many times was Bush depicted as a devil by left wing extremists as some Congressman (TX Rep. Doggett) are now being depicted? Remember a few years ago when Hugo Chavez spoke to the UN, right after Bush had spoken, and described the residual smell of sulfur?
How many times was Bush hung in effigy by Iraq war protesters both in this country and across the world as are some Congressman at these townhalls?
How many times, prior to both the 2000 and 2004 elections, was Bush's National Guard service questioned by his opponents as Obama's citizenship is now being questioned by members of both parties? It's not the facts that matter only the seriousness of the charge, right?
Remember when IL Senator Durbin described the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay to a Nazi concentration camp or a Soviet gulag? How many times did the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein refer to Bush as Hitler during his trial?
I thought all of these things were out of the mainstream prior to the last two election cycles but they seemed to serve the Democratic party pretty well? I sure thought they took the GOP to the cleaners. All of those words and actions were lauded as free speech. Will it backfire on the GOP or will it serve them well in the next election?
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There are many, and I guess this includes you Mike, who use various terms "public option", "government-run health care", single-payer health care", and "Universal health care" as all discribing what President Obama is seeking to establish. It is convienant to disreguard the distinctions. But, it isn't a truthful way to discuss the issue.
ReplyDeletePublic-option and single-payer health care are not at all the same. With a public-option there will be one choice, among many, that is offered by the federal government. Anyone who wishes to keep the insurance he or she has now will be able to do that. Because there will be many options, (one of which is the public option) there will be many payers.
As for the term universal health care, this simply means that everyone will have "care".
As it is now more than 40 million americians are without.
Finally, the term "government-run health care" is generally used by those who want to give a "black eye" whatever is being proposed. "Government-run" is considered a dirty phrase, employed by some who do not think that the government can do anything right.
Anyway, I thought it would be honest and truthful to point out the differences between these terms.
It doesn't seem that you ever say if you think calling names, burnning effigies and generally slandering other people is accetpable or not. Does "everybody doing it" make it OK!
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