In the sluggish news month of August we've been bombarded with endless tape loops of indistinguishable white men and women yelling at the top of their lungs, red faced and panting, at Democratic town halls across the country. The corporate media gobble up the spectacle because they love atmospherics and dumbed-down political food fights. But the Tea Baggers and other right-wingers who have descended upon these gatherings, denouncing the President and attempting to drown out debate, signify something far deeper than their own misinformed fears about the direction of national health care policy.
The election of the first U.S. president of African descent has challenged a lot of people's self-identity and "self-presence." The often loud, vicious, and unruly behavior we've seen is a collective expression of white trepidation. The hyperventilating about defending "the Constitution," like that guy screaming at Arlen Specter on the front page of yesterday's New York Times, has nothing to do with public policy and everything to do with defending white male privilege. Why else would there be the whitest man on Earth, Glen Beck, leading the charge?
What has really gotten under their skins is their sense of the slight diminution in the dominant position of white people in American society, what the much-maligned French philosopher, Jacques Derrida, called "decentering." For Derrida, decentering is "the stated abandonment of all reference to a center, to a subject, to a privileged reference, to an origin." Since their own identity depends on knowing what they are not, there is a "play of differences." And these "differences" scare the hell out of them. This idea, along with deep-seated American racism, explains why the Far Right can so effortlessly cast Obama as "the Other."
These people will never accept Obama as their president. They will oppose whatever he tries to do based on emotions and misinformation. They cannot bring themselves to acknowledge that their own destinies and the destiny of their country are intrinsically linked to the well-being of people on the margins of American society. People who they believe are not like them.
The fact that nearly 50 million American citizens have no access to health care and when they get sick or injured they are either driven into bankruptcy or suffer from being denied care does not seem to register with these people. On that point they represent "E Pluribus" without the "Unum."
Their footing, grounded on being always at the top of the heap if not kings and queens of the hill, is no longer secure. They did not like it when minorities could attend their schools, or buy homes in their neighborhoods, or work at their jobs or become their bosses. Now one of "them" -- "That One" -- has become the "big boss" the leader of the free world, the face of the nation. But that face, for the first time in 44 elections, and all the years that preceded them, is not white, is not European, is not patrician.
"That One" is one they used to call "boy" despite the fact he is a man. . Protocol requires that they stand when he enters a room and call him "sir" and call his wife "ma'am" and not "gal." So instead of bowing to protocol they liken him to Hitler, fictionally casting themselves in the roles of his victims.
So in spite of their best interests, they will oppose everything he attempts to do, not on its merits (or lack thereof) but because of him.
in the last election, ALTHOUGH obviously a majority of Blue State voters
could not have cared less about the race issue & proudly selected our
first non-white president ever. Proudly!
But the minority influence of Red State voters & their allies around the
country continues to be felt, in the form of a quite dangerous proclivity
to insist that the Obama presidency is not even legitimate. And they
have great wedge issues to work with, in that 'on any given day' lots
of people feel uncomfortable about 'Socialized Medicine', which is
'obviously the next step' towards the USA becoming a true Socialist
country, selling out to 'Red' Chinese bankers, etc.
As their votes disappear, as they must, the GOP will be squealing louder & louder!
Just as the individual who took the video of the Rodney King beating was a white man, and those who committed the beating were white police officers, Obama was raised by a white mother and grandparents, he could not have been elected without widespread white support, and the core of the wacko right wing are white.
It is important not to use too wide a brush when painting whites as crazy and hateful.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/8/14/766851/-OH-police-forward-Air-Force-One-N166ER-image-from-work
"They will oppose whatever he tries to do based on emotions and misinformation." They will use any excuse to oppose him just because he's black.
SICK!!
As far as I'm concerned, calling someone a racist is a serious charge. It loses its value when tossed around willy nilly.
The vast majority of these nuts that show up at the town hall meeting have no idea why they are there. When asked by journalist why they oppose the health care reform bill, nearly all of them repeat sound bites put put out by the conservatives who oppose the bill. When probed about the specifics of the issues that they disagree with they have nothing to say. They have no idea what they are fighting for.
Makes you wonder what their real gripe is.
Seems to be a collectivist point of view.
Where's the individual?
I completely "accept" President Obama as the Chief Executive.
I take an exception to so called "heath care" reform because many of the proposals will violate my civil liberties.
No emotion or misinformation involved - pure reason.
Life? Liberty? the pursuit of Happiness? Seriously, do share, because that will help illuminate for the rest of us what you are really concerned about.
It seems to me if you completely accept President Obama as the chief executive you wouldn't need to put quotation marks around your "acceptance."
Coverage for EVERYONE who applies
Structured premium payments of not more than 100 per individual, 300 per family
Deductibles capped at $2000 and based on income (means testing every year like the va)
No mandates forcing people to purchase insurance (a windfall for private carriers)
No triggers (also a windfall to private carriers)
No subsidies to private insurance carriers
No taxes on employer provided benefits
If someone has private insurance/wants the public option, they can drop private with no problem and be covered immediately under public.
No mandates on employers to buy into the public option to cover employees. Has to be free choice.
Everyone with coverage gets treated for new or pre-existing conditions.
Fairly negotiated reimbursement to private pracitce, specialty doctors and hospitals
Fairly negotiated prices for medications, even on name brand stuff which has no generic equivalent.
AND IT HAS TO BE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. Within 1 month of the above bill passing, Americans must be able to start buying in and using it.
It must be administered by an autonomous federal agency. Monies paid in must not be co-mingled with any other money, does not go into the general fund so it can be looted.
The ONLY payouts from this fund will be for: payments to practicioners, pharmacies and admin. In 5 years if we see significan overages, those overages will be used to suplement medicare and fund medical research.
See my next post on funding
20 million under insured
Subtract 10 million poor/indigent/mentally ill, etc, who are uninsured and will have to get free care = 37 mill un-insured who can pay.
18.5 million can pay $50/mo = 925,000,000
18.5 mill can pay $100 = $1,850,000,000
20 mill under insured will switch and can pay $100 = 2,000,000,000
That is a grand total of $4,775,000,000
That is FOUR BILLION, SEVEN HUNDRED SEVENTY FIVE MILLION DOLLARS IN PREMIUM PAYMENTS PER MONTH. FIFTY SEVEN BILLION THREE HUNDRED THIRTY MILLION PER YEAR IN PREMIUMS FOR ONE SET OF PEOPLE.
That does'nt count the millions who'll switch from private companies if they can pay $100 or 200 per month and have their entire family covered even with pre-existing conditions. Repeal bush tax cuts asap another 700 billion.
After thinking about it more, institute a 1 penny federal sales tax on EVERY item. I can hear the opponents shouting about making the poor poorer, but my statement is 1 cent on each item NOT on every dollar or hundred dollars. From candy bars to big screen tv's to your house. 1 cent on everything. If your grocery bill was $100. for 53 items, your bill would be $100.53. That's not putting people in the poorhouse especially when we've been dealing with price increases. Also, if you're saving 300-500 per month on insurance, you have that money to spend and put back in the economy, save, or invest.
OMG this is the 20th Century and it is a melting pot especially of the young. They don't see color and maybe we can learn
I am 51/White/Male and it is about integrity to me not race !!!
And, Barack Obama has got better Morals and Integrity !!! Integrity !!!
The GOP-Republican-Fox Noise-M. Maulkin-Meghan McCain-Daily Beast-Limbaugh !!!
Were sick of your GOP Tactic's of making Health Reform into Race !!! - Sick of it !!!
eF the Republican's and Fox Noise !!!