Smile! You're on Deather Camera!

I keep hoping that the health care "debate" we're having this summer will turn out to be just a plot point in the 2009 version of The Truman Show, the movie where Jim Carrey's character, Truman Burbank, discovers that what he thought was reality is actually a reality television show.

I want my character in The Marty Show to discover that Rush Limbaugh calling Obama a Nazi, and Glenn Beck calling the president a racist, turn out to be harmless taunts in a fictional storyline, not actual invitations to nutballs with weapons to do something truly terrible.

I keep waiting for that Candid Camera reveal when members of Congress realize that the constituents accusing them of wanting to euthanize their grannies turn out to be actors playing their parts, not voters too dumb or too scared to resist being manipulated by political demagogues and industry propagandists.

I keep praying that the execrable job the news media is doing turns out to be an intervention by extraterrestrials in an episode of The Twilight Zone. The elevation of combat over content; the false equivalence of lies and facts in service of a bizarre notion of "balance"; the imperative to captivate instead of the obligation to inform: I want the camera to pull back and disclose the alien mind-control experiment that has forced human journalists to become entertainers.

When Sarah Palin declares that Obama's evil death panel intends to condemn her Down's syndrome baby to die, I keep waiting for the twist. This isn't really the news; it's a headline in the Onion. This isn't really the opening salvo of the GOP frontrunner in the 2012 presidential campaign; it's a South Park parody of Harry Potter.

When I see how a handful of Senate Republicans and a kennel of Blue Dogs can demonize the public health insurance option as a tyrannical government takeover; when I see seniors demand that government keep its mitts off Medicare; when I see Obama trade billions of savings achievable by price-bargaining with drug companies for millions of administration-friendly Big Pharma ads -- that's when I pine for a shocker like the one in The Matrix when Neo learns that reality is just an illusion.

The election of Barack Obama offered reason to believe that the fear-mongering on the campaign trail, the lying in the ads and the inadequacies of the media were no match for the enduring common sense of the American people. Wow -- the system works.

Not so fast.

If the health care fracas has demonstrated anything so far, it's how porous the membrane is between self-government and self-deception. Other than the Hollywood tradition that the darkest hour is just before dawn, what evidence is there to believe that the country -- as Obama said at his inaugural -- has put away childish things? Other than the president's faith in bipartisanship and compromise, what reason is there to feel that Republicans won't do everything they can to destroy him?

This summer is shaping up to be as ugly as anything served up by Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay. Karl Rove and Dick Cheney may no longer call the shots, but their disciples in lobbyist front groups like Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks share the same DNA as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and the folks who impeached Bill Clinton.

When I hear Republican congressmen and cable gasbags cast doubt on Obama's natural-born citizenship, I know that they don't really believe the "birther" argument, just as they don't really believe the euthanasia argument. They're just playing to the base.

The problem is that the base doesn't know it's just being played.

To the demagogues in Congress, it's all a game, an act. They've already got health insurance. It doesn't matter whether 46 million uninsured Americans get it; what matters is whether they get re-elected.

To the media bloviators, it's a play, a piece of political theater. Their job isn't to cry foul, or to explain really complicated things; their job is to review the politicos' performances, and to hold the audience's attention so they stick around through the commercials.

Of course it's not at all a sport or a spectacle to the drug industry, the insurance industry, the hospital industry or any of the other stakeholders with hundreds of billions of dollars at risk. For them, it's a fight to the death.

Unfortunately, it's also a fight to the death for many of the Americans who can't afford premiums, can't afford drugs, and can't get insured. For them, it's not The Truman Show; it's a horror show.

This is my column from The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. You can read more of my columns here, and e-mail me there if you'd like.

Follow Marty Kaplan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/martykaplan

Comments

[Ramus]

This is from the NY Times in 2005: "American adults in general do not understand what molecules are (other than that they are really small). Fewer than a third can identify DNA as a key to heredity. Only about 10 percent know what radiation is. One adult American in five thinks the Sun revolves around the Earth, an idea science had abandoned by the 17th century." Now I ask you if our citizens are not educated, how easy is it to scare them into belieiving lies? These shills for the health insurance industry are being duped by greedy corporations because they are uneducated and fearful. Our citizens are easily manipulated because they are uneducated. The educated can also be manipulated but it's harder to do.

[thepianodiva]

I think the South should secede-all the conservatives can go live there. They can have their laissez faire, their "free market", their lack of regulation, tax cuts for the rich and all that awful stuff that has been a heavy weight for so many years against the forward momentum of this country. Then the rest of us can go about the business of building a just society where the people's needs come first.

[blooddoc]

There are many points that can be debated in health care reform, but there is one truism: the current system is not sustainable. It will collapse under the weight of rising insurance premiums, diminished access with diminished provider reimbursement, and escalating drug costs. People who think they like their health care situation now should take a deep breath and peek over the horizon. If they are realistic and not blinded by ideology (i.e., Obama hatred), the facts should speak for themselves. Sure, the federal government doesn't have the highest batting average for solving problems, but they do get some things right, and besides - who else you gonna call? The market? Who do you think is responsible for the current recession we're in? It's not a comfortable choice, but I would choose government over corporate CEOs any day of the week.

[humanbeing-rick]

Thank you for saying it so well, Marty Kaplan.
I too wish I could wake up from this awful nightmare.
This is not how things were supposed to be.

I keep hoping that they will all get together and announce that this was a big joke of some kind.
It seems so surreal that our business leaders and government representatives have sold out America.
Now they are devolving into a wild pack of back stabbing wolves.

We the People of America deserve better, and we should be demanding better.
We need to evolve to a higher consciousness as quickly as possible.
Life in America is currently unacceptable.
We have the power, lets fix it.

[Twratc]

(PART 2) I think the big disconnect between the two sides comes in how we view the government. The governement seems, to me at least, incapable of doing anything very well. I don't know about you, but I'm rather nervous about my five year old daughter entering public school tomorrow and I'm seriously considering debt to send her to private school. Does anyone think HUD is doing a good job? Do you believe DoD is an efficient organization? How about DoT and the FAA's twenty year equipment upgrade process?

It's very rare for government to do anything either well or efficiently. Disregard the arguments about death boards or diminished care for the elderly or rationed care. Do you really want the same people who've given you higher education costs for lower graduation and literacy rates providing for your health care? I do not.

As a final note to this admittedly long and slightly rambling post, I'd ask that you be careful how you classify the people with whom you disagree. When you call people with dissenting opinions morons, hate-mongers, or, "too dumb or too scared to resist being manipulated by political demagogues and industry propagandists," you cheapen the whole process, yourself included. If you've made it this far, thank you for your time.

[Kristen777]

You guys are the ones invoking Hitler and Socialism (implied Nazi Socialism) every other broadcast. You know your pundits are feeding red meat to the frenzied base.

Just like after the election, gun sales in the south went through the roof and the KKK membership grew 50 PERCENT! If anything crazy happens to ANY of our politicians it's this insanity that is to blame.

Take the higher ground and speak out for true conservative values then. Step up against the crazy name calling and insinuating that Barack Obama is the reincarnation of Hitler. Do it!

[Ramus]

It is supposed to be OUR governemnt, for the people and by the people. Not government for the for-profit corporations. You want your fire department run by a for-profit company? Or how about social security or Medicare run by private for-profits? We contracted out some of our government workers in the Army to Blackwater and Halliburton and KBR. Those did not work out so well because these corporations were only in it for the money! Right now some of our jails are run by non-profits and guess what - it is a growth industry and they are lobbying congress to get more people into jails for non-violent offenses! Maybe it would be fun if the police were run by for-profit corporations? The government is not the enemy. Big for-profit corporations who don't give a darn about anything but their bottom lines are the enemy. - that would include the health insurance corporations and the pharmaceutical corporations

[Twratc]

As a registered independent with strong conservative leanings, I had serious issues with TARP, and have real problems with the proposed health care reform (how many people have actually downloaded and read the bill from the House web site?), cash for clunkers, bailout, cap and trade, and most of the other programs coming from Washington. I'm very much a believer in the market (while admitting that overwatch is necessary to stop the cheaters) and its ability to solve most problems. For all of the issues Americans have with our own country, people still come here to put out their shingle and take their shot at the dream. That's possible here because we are free.

What concerns me, as a new member here, is the view many posters here seem to have that people who are conservative and disagree with the president are only out for themselves, are flat-out evil, are sorely uninformed, or are too stupid to think for themselves and are dupes of the ever-popular enemy, the "military-­industrial complex." Are there cases where that's true? Of course. Most conservatives are pretty much like you, but with differences in opinion on what's best for the country. (see part 2)

[TLV]

I wish it really was a funny.

My Dad has inadequate insurance and is struggling to pay for hospital coverage for life-threatening bladder infections caused by a prostate condition. Once he is almost done paying for the last visit, he has another infection and more bills.

My wonderful parents are having to live day to day with little extra in which to enjoy their retirement years. If they'd only accept some help from us kids, ....too proud, I guess.

[GreatNews27]

Here's the plan: make it so expensive to even see a doctor that millions suffer and die. Then put on a big ad campaign telling folks that the only way to see a doctor is to join the military. Win-win. People get the health care they need and government gets the cannon fodder for an expanded Afganistan and Iraq, and dare I dream it, Iran war. Everybody wins. Those people who received health care now have their funerals paid for too! Geeze, it's actually Win-Win-Win!!!!! Woopie!!!

[TLV]

Much like create a terror situation, increase patriotism, make the jobs disappear and then YOU HAVE to join the military if you are a young person in a poor town.

Bush's tactic, as I recall.

[Reichleay]

Marty, Your always solid insight given voice has triumphed with this one... an unnerving multimedia tapestry where the static move and the believable and unbelievable shapeshift in mercurial hallucination. The role that most media have suited up for in this diabolical thriller goes beyond any known confusion of character/­playwright­/performer­/prosceniu­m/spectato­r. You have given us a chilling table read of our movie-in a movie-in a movie-in a....

[COPerez]

I hope this horrible nightmare ends soon. I posted on FB that I now had many "pre-existing conditions" because of a recent auto accident and that I wanted a single payer system. A friend of mine who went to West Point with me said that he was sorry for what had happened to me but "god forbid" we should get single payer.

There's your conservative position right there. "Too bad."

Those that aren't corporate shi||s just don't care about their fellow man.

[usna73]

CO. Shameful isn't it. Ask your former classmate where we'd be if we would have had to serve without a "single-payer." What the heck has happened to the oath?

We are going to change things soon,.... no matter what he thinks.

We are all in this together. We are destined to fail as a nation otherwise.

[Rogan]

A big part of the problem, is that now, the opposition would rather see the country fall apart, and fail, than move forward, in a different direction than the one they want. It's terrible. I had no idea so many of us were capable of such treasonous behavior.

[skippypicasso]

Of course if your buddy is part of the VA system, then he's covered by a health program one might call "paid for by COPerez."

[Libbyland]

The devisiveness is deeply entrenched on both sides. No doubt in my mind that if Repubs were still in power and debates were happening in the house and senate those in power would be considered by the liberals as wrong, wrong, wrong and the lies would be flying from the liberal side.
Liberals and conservatives have become so polarized that I can't even stand to watch Keith Olberman any more and I used to think he was a moderate, thinking person who could smell stink from either side. No longer. CNN? Yeah, right...two words: Lou Dobbs. Anyone on Fox news or the radio wingnuts? Hilarity and horror combined in a startling Orwellian mixed bag of pure dung.
I'm sticking with the most trusted news man in television, and it is because he can smell stink from wherever the stink is emanating: John Stewart.
Meanwhile, my insurance premium for three months of $10,000 deductible catastrophic "coverage" from the wondrously profitable United Healthcare sits in the stack of bills to be paid: $1,042.00 for absolutely NOTHING except profit to United Healthcare. This is my newly "revised" premium (read: increased 105% over the previous quarterly premium) I know very well if I were to have a catastrophic claim for which they "promised" to pay, it could easily and handily be denied. Just because. That isn't a death panel? That's the system we want to keep?

[IneptitudePrideB4Fall]

On Monday, Aug. 10, on The Ed show, Ed Schultz reported the HUGE current profit of UnitedHealth and the income and stock options of UnitedHealth's CEO, Steve Hemsley. As I recall, Steve rips off $102K per minute(?). Get these and similar numbers OUT THERE so people will know where their health dollars are going. I've written to Ed to ask him to publish those reported HUGE amounts of money but, so far, no info.

Even for those Americans who like their health care, wouldn't you like to pay less money for what you're getting? Those repubs are so quick to say that the individual can spend his own money better thatn somebody else can spend it. Well, why isn't that true of keeping out health care $$$ in our own pockets so we can better spend that money more wisely?

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[thejazz]

they want the population to have their health care dollars in their own pockets because its easier to rip off a sick person than a group of clear thinkers.

[maryyooch]

President Obama should deny the Congress' health care. If it isn't good enough for us, then it shouldn't be available for them. Let those in Congress, with their pre-existing conditions, go out there and buy their own insurance. I bet they would write up a decent bill pretty quick if that were the case.

[cvarner]

And exactly how would he do that?

[maryyooch]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! My God, how cruel can these Deathers be? How stupid? They all are probably comfortable enough or voting against their own self interest. But to deny the rest of us health care? This should be the last effin straw! President Obama needs to put his foot up some butts and stop this big nightmare!
By the time we get the bill finished, there won't be anything at all resembling health care reform.
I am so ashamed of people in this country. Can you just imagine how we look to other countries in the world?
It's the United States of Me First!

[Carl Caroli]

It's a sad fact that the best either political part can hope to achieve anymore is a stalemate in lieu of actually achieving anything substantial for the benefit of the people. The fact that the oligarchs are willing to let the average person suffer in order to maintain their profit margins means that we have effectively turned the clocks back to the era of robber barons running our governments. We have lost control of our country and are heading for third world status, and our elected officials are complicit. It's a sad day.

[GardenerNorCal]

Well put. I think the best we can hope for is a stalemate at this point.

[SonofLiberty1]

Getting the nation working again and a public healtcare option are the two most important
problems facing our nation.

Anything else is just a distraction.