For all those people who are struggling to address the right wing Tea Party nuts who are promoting violent action against representatives and senators and the failures of the health reform bill at the same time without seeming like you side with Democratic leaders or the Tea Party

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There are two conversations that need to be had right now: one involves addressing what this health reform really is and what it doesn't do and how it empowers insurance and pharmaceutical companies at the expense of American taxpayers and the other involves addressing the zealous and bigoted Republicans, Tea Party Members, and the loons who read and watch Glenn Beck so that they can understand how America is run.

I would dare you to try and have both conversations in the same article or in the same conversation. If you can pull it off, congratulations--you have successfully pulled off a tightrope-balancing act of significant proportions.Such is the impact of polarization in society.

For the past week, congressmen have been receiving threats that come from the passage of health reform on Sunday. People like Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) and Rep. Tom Perreillo (D-VA) have been victims of rage from those who no doubt regularly attended Tea Party rallies and waved signs saying, "Don't Tread on Me," before health reform passed.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) was sent "white powder." Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) was faxed a "photograph of a noose" and Clyburn's "wife answered threatening phone calls at their home." And, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) (along with representatives like Clyburn) have been hearing protesters shout slurs at them all week (but for Frank that's nothing new; he's a favorite punching bag for the right wing in this country).

In an interview on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" on Monday, March 22^nd, Clyburn said in response to a question about whether Republicans who were cheering on angry and unruly protesters:

"the lawmakers who were cheering did so on the floor of the House. I saw at least a dozen lawmakers clapping as the people up in the gallery were trying to disrupt the proceedings of the House. Now, that is a violation of the decorum of the House. Now, I know some of my colleagues are saying, "Let's just move on." But, you know, we said the same thing back when we had the outburst [from Rep. Joe Wilson] when President Obama came to speak to a joint session and we wanted to just move on.

Now, at some point in time we are going to have to allow for the rules of the House to take hold and be adhered to. You can't just make up the rules as you would have them be and recognize whatever it is that you want to recognize. That we've got to bring a stop to.

And, on Hardball, when asked to address Glenn Beck's idea that Democrats wanted to be shot at for passing health reform, Stupak said, "no one is suggesting that anyone shoot at anyone, especially the Speaker. It seems to me it was Republicans that were on the Speaker's balcony, second floor, with the sign that had the big photo of the Speaker, showing it to the crowd, and they would go across her throat."

But, Speaker Pelosi came out in a press conference on Thursday, March 25^th, and said she did not think the GOP was provoking threats against lawmakers. Not only is she misrepresenting the way Republicans are handling themselves currently, but she is misrepresenting this entire process.

All one has to do is look at these collection of videos to see the remarks that came from the mouths of members of the GOP since talk of health reform began. It should be very clear that the GOP has been tapping into a groundswell of people whose ideologies come from white nationalism, libertarianism, conservatism, and religion have been seeking to foment insurrection and rebellion out of fear that has been promoted by Republicans.

By ignoring what goes on, Pelosi ensures that the Fox News echo chamber, which has set many agendas poisonous to our democracy (since at least their coverage of the 2000 Election results), continues to bombard Americans with messages that are not only filled with misinformation but also dangerously maddening---exactly the kind of news Tea Party mobs want to hear to validate what they are doing.

In a parallel dimension of this health reform farce are the Democrats who will publicly admit all the failings and problems of the recent reform that passed. They will refer to it as a "step." It's a step in the right direction like Obama was a step toward hope and change. ("Hope and Change" is a brand of snake oil that here isn't selling well these days although its stock price went up after health reform was signed.)

Progressive bloggers and progressive organizers exhibit a willingness to be foot soldiers for the Democratic Party, which has utterly sold the American people out on this health care by passing a package of tiny of reforms that could have been passed individually at anytime.

Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist who is known for his coverage of the military contractor Blackwater (which is has changed its name to Xe) said in an interview:

"let's be clear here: This is a complete and total sellout to the interests of the insurance lobby by the Obama administration. This is, as Michael Moore has said, a complete victory for the ultra-capitalists. Yet, if you look on the liberal blogosphere, people like Jane Hamsher are attacked mercilessly for having the audacity to stand up and say "this is a Democratic sellout."


So you have this blind allegiance to ... what? To Obama as a man? To the Democrats as a party? To me, it's very dangerous when you start going down the road of unquestioning support for any powerful individual or any politician. The moment you cede your conscience to a politician is the moment you stop struggling for a better society.

Indeed, many progressives buy into this idea that pushing a public option or Medicare buy-in could complicate the process. Even though now is the time in the process for amendments like a public option, a Medicare buy-in, or even a state single payer amendment, progressives unwisely promote this idea that those who want real healthcare reform need to stay out of the way.

The package gives Democrats the ability to parade around like martyrs for health care even though they haven't really advanced much of a social agenda at all. Support for the public option or single payer not-for-profit healthcare didn't change much during the health reform process and neither did opposition to the bill. (That's because until a few weeks ago nobody knew what was in the bill.)

Not much was done at all to mold consensus; Democrats tracked conventional wisdom among Democrats and Republicans and staked out at a "middle" position--an average of the two ideologies--and passed a bill that will probably lead businesses to cut jobs, that will require people to purchase a defective product from private insurance companies, and that will cause premiums to increase.

It's near impossible to address the insanity in one dialogue or article that comprehensively tackles the freak show we Americans are privy to right now.

If you talk to one person, he or she will probably get angry that health care is being reformed because he or she thinks a politician will be administering the next physical or surgical operation they need as a result of this health care. And, if you talk to another person, he or she will probably get angry that you aren't happy with where health care ended up (to which I say---for all the death threats and unruly right wing threats calling for violent militant action, it's too damn bad Democrats didn't actually pass something worth dying for).

To borrow Scahill's model for understanding the circus around health reform, there are people in the "blue state" camp who believe that if Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi had witnessed their accomplishment they would have anointed members of Congress true heroes of agendas for social equity in America. And there are people in the "red state" camp who continue to successfully infect the conversation on health care in a manner that antiwar protesters could only dream of.

I and countless others stand trying to balance in the middle. We walk a tightrope where we know right wing threats, GOP/Fox News remarks, and flash mobs are batty, but we aren't satisfied with the health reform at all. In fact, we'd prefer to call it "health insurance enrichment", not health reform.

We saw Dennis Kucinich send out fundraising letters with the DCCC stamp on them and we thought,"Goodbye Dennis. We always knew you were beholden to the Democratic Party leadership and now we know that you will, in the end, always ultimately do the bidding of the wolves in sheep clothing."

We'll balance as long as we can, saying one thing that makes us seem on the side of Democrats and then one thing that makes us seem like we might side with the lizard people who wave teabags in the air for freedom & liberty.

We sometimes think we should just watch from the sidelines and enjoy the show (after all, it's just getting interesting: did you hear about the Coffee Party?) But, we live here too so we continue to balance ourselves the best that we can.

Authors Bio:
Kevin Gosztola is managing editor of Shadowproof Press. He also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, "Unauthorized Disclosure." He was an editor for OpEdNews.com