OpEdNews - Article: Not Ready to Make Nice

The health insurance reform bill was passed late Sunday night amid ugly, dysfunctional, partisan protests. If this is the future of legislative debates in this country, we're doomed. Demonstrators Saturday spewed racial slurs at African American congressmen and bigoted anti-gay insults at Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank. But the nastiness didn't end with those protesters; last night during the "debates" and the votes a Republican congressman shouted "baby killer" at Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan because he voted in favor of the bill after some changes in the abortion provisions were included.What has happened to even partially dignified, adult behavior from elected Republican officials?

This Republican craziness followed months of explosive town hall forums and right wing "teabagger" events where wild, outrageous claims about the dangers of "Obama care" were shouted out with rabid enthusiasm, exploding like paint balls at some backwoods Redneck Olympics.It is a sad commentary on the collective mental health of our society when the bizarre idea that President Obama wanted to send our grandparents before death panels to determine their time -- and style -- of their pre-planned execution is taken as fact. Or that Obama wanted to pay for nose jobs and liposuction for illegal immigrants; or force young girls to get abortions; or enforce old Soviet-style rationing of health care and force Americans into government run insurance plans. What does it say about us that we have a segment of our population that believes even a slice of this nonsense? Has the Rush/Beck/Hannity/O'Reilly syndicate warped their minds to this insane degree?

None of these obscene claims about the President's proposal is true, of course, but that didn't stop the frenzied mob from shouting "send him to Cuba" at teabagger rallies, or joining Rep. Michele Bachmann (R/Mars) in her pledge to "slit our wrists and become blood brothers" in protest over . . . . affordable, accessible health care?!

And that is the most perplexing aspect of this entire legislative circus: Why do these NeoCons seem so completely terrified at the prospect of a fair, compassionate, modest change to our current (disastrous) health care system? Citizens living in the rest of the Western world are scratching their heads, wondering why so many Americans -- especially our legislators -- are so loudly opposed to a plan that will cut the deficit by$1.2 billion over the next 10 years, more than a trillion the following decade, and would cover 32 million Americans currently without coverage while closing the prescription drug "donut hole" for seniors, and ending the insane insurance company practice of denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. Remember, over 1 million Americans file bankruptcy each year solely because they cannot pay their medical expenses while estimates are that up to 45,000 simply die from lack of coverage. What clear-minded person can look at those numbers and claim there's nothing wrong with our current system?

The "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" bill did pass the House 219-212 without any of the maligned legislative maneuvers such as the dreaded "deem and pass." Now the bill returns to the Senate for "reconciliation" involving the acceptance of minor adjustments in language made in the House.

Expect Senate Republicans to unleash the same scare tactics during this normally pro forma process that crazed House Republicans hurled at their Democratic counterparts -- threats that the Democrats "would never hold elected office again" if they voted for this life-saving legislation. And, unless the Senate passes the exact same, word-for-word version of the House bill, it will then return to the House for another round of bloody battle. This is good news for the political pundits and cable "news" networks, who haven't seen such excitement since the Clinton Inquisition. But, it does nothing for the American people except further erode the nearly dead confidence in our political system while further corrupting our image abroad -- if that's possible.

The battle scars from the long debate are going to be slow to heal -- if they ever do. But, if the result is a baby-step toward the kind of rational, reasonable health care/health insurance system enjoyed by so many in the rest of the world, then it is a small price to pay.