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A fewmore things. Those angry teabaggers at townhalls. Some of them may be paid shills, but a lot of them are just angry right wing losers who have been revved up by right wing talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Some are seniors who are really scared because they are being told big lies by right wingers all over the place. I say tell the former to STFU and help the latter by defeating the messaging lies the for-profit health care industry is promulgating. Beat it.
One way to do it is to throw some money to the media in the health care bill. I know it ay seem crass, but Congress should include in the single payer health care budget a quarter of one percent of the $2.5 trillion spent on health care annually, to be applied to buy advertising for "health education." This investment would equal three quarters of the ad revenues newspapers and the US broadcast media saw in 2008. That kind of carrot might start getting the mainstream media on the bandwagon, supporting single payer. And actually, that much advertising supporting healthy lifestyle and preventive care might actually save thousands of lives and become a solid, productive investment. While the media are looking at this carrot, maybe they'll consider where their bread is buttered. Maybe Clear Channel, wondering where that single payer health and wellness ad money will be allotted, will decide it should start adding more liberal, progressive talk shows in all the metro areas that only have right wing talk, like Philly, where I live. Maybe Rupert Murdoch will think about how much of the ad money pie Fox will see as long as Glen Beck is spewing his lies and innuendos.
The Dems were given extraordinary power. They need extraordinary leaders to wield it. It really is time for a change. Maybe they should go all the way and replace Harry Reid with Bernie Sanders or Russ Feingold. America deserves better than what we've been getting. The people who voted for Obama deserve better.
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