Thursday, August 13, 2009

The Truth Will Not Out,, on Its Own

By Robert Parry
August 13, 2009

The right-wing fury at town hall meetings over health care and the Republican obstruction of any serious reform in Washington are not just symptoms of a complex debate on an issue packed with powerful special interests; it is a test of whether reality matters in the United States.

Read on.
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9 comments:

profmarcus said...

i'm of the opinion that the u.s. has already lost its sanity... we keep allowing the manipulations to continue and, in fact, seem to actively enable them...

according to kent nerburn (http://kentnerburn.com/archives/275/):

"[T]he Democrats have fallen for one of the oldest demagogic tricks in the book: Establish a false premise and force your opponents to debunk it, because if you argue a wrong premise, you lose. Witness 'Have you stopped beating your wife yet?'"...

terence heath (http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2009083313/there-will-be-blood) sees dire things in store:

"There will be blood. Turning up the heat and stirring the pot already brimming with fear, lies, anger and violence will all but ensure that.

If Republicans continue to either stand silent or cheer on the mob we can assume one of three things: (a) they don't know what fire they're playing with, (b) it's what they want, (c) or — for the sake of ideology — they're willing to risk it."

my concern is this... if the threat of violence turns to actual violence, it could not only spread like an out-of-control fire tearing through sagebrush and scrub in a high wind, the kind we see all too often here in the high desert, it could also require an armed, national response to put it down, and where will that leave us...? for those of us who squirmed through eight years of the bush regime's toying with dictatorial powers, sidestepping the posse comitatus law, and carrying out the arrest and indefinite detention of american citizens, this development is, under a democratic president amazingly enough, even more alarming...

http://takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/

Thu Aug 13, 02:31:00 PM 2009
Unknown said...

I agree with the Prof. In addition people who are trying to stay out of this fray ARE afraid - not just the media. People remember FBI agents showing up at people's doors for 'loose talk' overheard at a health club after 9-11. They know about the kafkaesque 'no fly' lists. They know if they get on the government's radar and their employer finds out it could cost them their job.

I lost career jobs in radio and print journalism for standing up for rationality. When I tried to dispel the notion that Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11 on my radio show, it led to my eventual firing. WhenI protested the bring on of Ann Coulter as a columnist at my newspaper, the long knives came out for me as well.

I can no longer work in either field and it cost me a marriage and a home as well. Pretty soon, I fear, people will have to worry about being beat up by these brownshirts in the streets.

At this point I say, bring it. I have little left to lose.

Thu Aug 13, 04:23:00 PM 2009
Unknown said...

Sen. Grassley probably has a will. Is it the same will he had when he was 30 years old? As one ages, things change, new ideas are accepted, and our ideas of how we want our end of life affairs handle change. I certainly don't have the same wishes now that I'm older that I had when I was 40. If my health got so bad that I was terminally ill, it would make me feel better knowing that my family and I could get paid counseling as to our options for my care which would be reimbursed by my health care plan. I don't see why who reimburses us, private insurance or the government option plan, would make a difference. What would matter is how much we would have to pay for the health plan.

“You are asking us to trust turning power over to the government, when there are clearly people in America who believe in establishing euthanasia, including selective standards,” Gingrich said on ABC News’ “This Week” on Aug. 9. He is implying that those who believe in euthanasia are one and the same who are trying to get health care reform. Why does he, if he believes in the good old US of A, want to spread fear and falsehoods? These fear mongers make me sick to my stomach. Where is their patriotism. Why do they want to spend billions of our tax dollars killing people around the world when there are plenty of people in the USA who need help living their lives. A large portion of these US citizens are in desperate need through no fault of their own.

Thu Aug 13, 06:57:00 PM 2009
Not hopeful said...

Don't blame it all on the media.

Much of the problem lies in the fact that Americans are willfully ignorant, apathetic, lacking in critical thinking skills, and products of a sick educational system.

Even if the truth were readily available, most Americans wouldn't recognize it.

This country is fucked up beyond description.

Thu Aug 13, 10:45:00 PM 2009
Writer to the Stars said...

An excellent article that should be published in every major newspaper. As usual Robert Parry makes many sensible remarks, but his most sensible and stunning point is that there are no automatic mechanisms for correcting the truth. As he reminds us,the truth must be fought for again, and again, and again, and again. And for that, thank you, Robert Parry.

Thu Aug 13, 11:13:00 PM 2009
fact checker said...

Read Paul Krugman's column today in TNYT.

Fri Aug 14, 10:28:00 AM 2009
fact checker said...

NO WONDER PEOPLE ARE CONFUSED!

Obama makes a closesd-door promise to Billy Tauzin in 2009, but slammed him in his campaign.

Obama speaks out of both sides of his mouth.

If we want to get anything accomplished, focus more of the MEDIA ATTENTION on Obama's empty promises and put his feet to the fire, instead of yammering constantly about what the right is doing!

If more people held Obama accountable on his rhetoric, we might get something done for the people!

Fri Aug 14, 11:40:00 AM 2009
W.D. Shirley said...

Violence will not spread like a wildfire, mr. heath. Americans are too lazy to support a civil war. It would interfere with their reality shows and summer barbecues. The Republicrats are defending their coup with lies and distortions, but my great fear is this growing feeling that Obama is part of the "in crowd" and is playing his part as the helpless democrat trying to whisper in a crowded theater while the wingnuts yell "FIRE" at the top of their corporate lungs. I'm afraid the wingnuts will install their next puppet in 2012 and we will go back to the television.

Every time democracy loses another country like America it reinforces the idea that democracy is only good as a theory, that it's too weak to be a real government, but that's only the case for a republic, where we choose people to govern us, to make the rules and then hand over the keys to the treasury. We ought to try a true democracy for a change and link it to term limits for any office we deem too important to delete.

Sat Aug 15, 09:07:00 AM 2009
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