Required Reading for Health Care Town Halls

I am frustrated with the deepening madness at health care reform town hall meetings. In an effort to contextualize these events I'm offering a short syllabus that may help us understand the current state of public discourse on health care reform.

James Madison's The Federalist #10

Now is a good time to revisit Federalist #10 where Madison takes up the issue of factions and the danger they pose to responsible policy making in a democracy. Madison surely would have reminded President Obama and congressional Democrats that town hall-style, direct democracy is a breeding ground for faction-led mischief.

Madison writes, "The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into the public councils, have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished."

Like most of the founding fathers, Madison was suspicious of popular control of policy making. He worried about the balance between responsive and responsible government. But despite his anxieties Madison insists that we cannot limit freedom, nor ignore multiple viewpoints. The goal is not to silence dissent, but to control the potentially tyrannical effects of factions. Madison believed that responsible representatives, held accountable by periodic elections were the best safeguards against the worst effects of factions. Members of Congress need to rely on Madison's vision rather than giving into pressure tactics of a rowdy faction.

Karen Stenner's The Authoritarian Dynamic

Professor Stenner was one of my dissertation advisers when I was earning my PhD at Duke University. I worked as a research assistant gathering data for this insightful text. Witnessing the fear and anger of health care reform opponents immediately reminded me of Stenner's work.

Building on research begun by Theodore Adorno and extended by Robert Altemeyer, Stenner's text offers a comprehensive and systematic examination of the link between authoritarian personalities and expressions of moral, political, and racial intolerance.

Fear of change and discomfort with divergent opinions tend to activate latent authoritarian impulses for some individuals. Uncomfortable with a world that is changing, diverse, and seemingly beyond their control, these citizens can become aggressively intolerant. Stenner's research is a crystal ball that predicts the town hall protests were a likely resulting from President Obama's trumpeting a theme of "Change."

Ida B. Wells' The Red Record

Ida B. Wells was one of America's first investigative journalists. In 1895 the young Wells asked a compelling and dangerous question: what is the cause of lynching?

Brutal violence against African Americans in the South was widely justified as acceptable punishment for black men's sexual aggression against white women. In 1892 three friends of Wells were lynched by a white mob. The mob was angry about the men's financial success as owners of a grocery store that successfully competed with one owned by white men. In A Red Record Wells painstakingly collects and presents evidence challenging the rhetoric of black male sexual violence. She discovers that rape was rarely the true motive for lynching. Instead, black men were tortured and murdered when they dared to seek economic, personal, or political equality.

Wells' work is a reminder that the highest calling of investigative journalism is to provide evidence against false justifications that underlie violent ideologies. The crowds at health care reform town hall meetings are enraged and armed. Many are spurred on by a belief that their families, their futures, and their way of life are being threatened. Many hold patently false beliefs about the facts of pending health care reform legislation.

We need our own Ida B. Wells with the moral courage to unflinchingly reveal these lies.

Tali Mendelberg's The Race Card

In contemporary political discourse far too many commentators refer to "the race card" as though it were a debit card issued to black people at birth that African Americans then use to provoke white racial guilt and thereby obtain unfair advantages.

Mendelberg's text is a reminder that "the race card" is a purposeful strategy employed by political parties, candidates, and interest groups in order to manipulate white voters into acting against their own economic and political interests.

The current opposition to health care reform has all the hallmarks of a "race card" campaign. There is no question that the health insurance lobby would have mobilized against any president, black or white, who introduced reform. But in this case entrenched insurance interests, some conservative spokespersons, and some members of the GOP are using racial code words, stoking racial anxiety, and introducing race into a race-neutral issue to serve their own purposes. Mendelberg's book demonstrates the frightening effectiveness of these strategies over the past thirty years.

James Cone's God of the Oppressed

In this text James Cone, the father of black liberation theology, develops a systematic theology rooted in the claim that the Bible demonstrates God's preferential option for the poor. At a time when so many on the Christian right have hijacked religious language in service of the free market, Cone's text reminds us that Christianity is built on a moral imperative to care for society's most vulnerable.

Cone's theology implies that health care reform should be at the center of the so-called values voting agenda.

Stephen Ansolabehere and Shanto Iyengar's Going Negative

Anyone who wonders why health care reform opponents have ditched reasoned debate for unruly shouting matches needs to read this book. Ansolabehere and Iyengar offer compelling evidence that negative campaigning shrinks and polarizes the American electorate.

The opposition gains an important strategic advantage by "going negative." Moderate and undecided voters will find themselves distressed, discouraged and confused by the town hall shouting matches and will tune out of the debate altogether. Through intense tactics of negativity the Right can marginalize and silence the majority of Americans who support and need health care reform.

Kelly Dipucchio's Grace for President

As the mom of a seven-year-old I read a lot of children's books and find many instructive lessons there. During the 2008 election my daughter and I fell in love with Dipucchio's Grace for President.

The story follows a grade school election prompted when Grace, a young black girl, discovers there have never been any "girl presidents." The book demonstrates the power of identity based voting as the girls all support Grace and the boys all support her opponent, Thomas. In the end, however, a young white boy representing "the equality state of Wyoming" casts his 3 electoral votes for Grace Campbell because she "is the best person for the job."

My daughter and I always cheer at the end of this book which promises that as Americans we are able to see past our differences and make the best choices. These days we could all use a little Grace.

Comments (78)

1. Why don't you try a different approach. Why don't you simply summarize and explain why HR3200 is such a good vehicle to implement all of the goals President Obama sets forth so eloquently. The bill is there for all to read. I've read it twice. I'm sure if you take the time, you'll see how carefully the authors have laid out a simple, fair, efficient, and of course non-disruptive road map to achieve a shining new paragon of health care delivery. You shouldn't have any trouble understanding its many features and benefits, and communicating to us why we should be strong supporters instead of doubters. I'll look forward to your next post on this!

   Posted by sntauri at 08/14/2009 @ 10:10am

2. "Why don't you simply summarize and explain why HR3200 is such a good vehicle to implement all of the goals President Obama sets forth so eloquently."----Posted by sntauri at 08/14/2009 @ 10:10am

   You mean how the Right has simply summarized and explained why HR3200 is such a BAD vehicle....

   in-between screaming "Keep your Government hands off my Medicare"....painting swastikas on Congressman's signs....and taking guns to town hall meetings with the President???

   Posted by Mask at 08/14/2009 @ 10:18am

3. Melissa Harris-Lacewell writes: "Now is a good time to revisit Federalist #10 where Madison takes up the issue of factions and the danger they pose to responsible policy making in a democracy. Madison surely would have reminded President Obama and congressional Democrats that town hall-style, direct democracy is a breeding ground for faction-led mischief....Madison writes, "The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into the public councils, have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished.""

   --Melissa, the Federalist Papers were arguing in favor of a bigger, more powerful centralized federal government (than what the Articles of Confederation had created). By "factions" Madison was speaking of (and essentially predicting the modern practice of) lobbying groups. Via the Federalist Papers, Madison was arguing that "factions" would never gain too much power over the government because of the way the Constitution was set up, with it's separation of powers and federalism built in, that the people were retaining the true power, not the federal and state gov't actors who worked for them.

   Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 10:23am

4. Melissa Harris-Lacewell: "Members of Congress need to rely on Madison's vision rather than giving into pressure tactics of a rowdy faction."

   --what about the pressure tactics of rich donors/lobbyists? the wallet speaks louder than any blue-in-the-face crowd full of average joes whose voice can only be heard anonymously at the ballot box.

   Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 10:26am

5. MHL: "Fear of change and discomfort with divergent opinions tend to activate latent authoritarian impulses for some individuals."

   --what about for "some lobbyist groups"?

   MHL: "Uncomfortable with a world that is changing, diverse, and seemingly beyond their control, these citizens can become aggressively intolerant."

   --as in lobbyist groups threatening to pull campaign donations, to support the incumbents' opponents in the next election, and to run negative ads about the incumbent if he/she doesn't do what the lobbyists wants him/her to do?

   MHL: "Stenner's research is a crystal ball that predicts the town hall protests were a likely resulting from President Obama's trumpeting a theme of "Change.""

   --first, you're really just trying to "trumpet" your own horn here 9and to give your old professor a shout out and gain whatever brownie points you want/need to gain in the world of academia. Second, where was this type of post when all the anti-iraq war protests by liberals/progressives were happening? those protesters were mad as hell, and acted with just as much "aggressive intolerance." also, don't forget the lobbyists; i.e., the puppeteers who hold the strings on the president who ran on a platform of "change." maybe barack needs to express some "aggressive intolerance" for the lobbysists who aren't letting change happen. oh that's right...he's too busy making sure he gets a second term.

   Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 10:36am

6. MHL: "We need our own Ida B. Wells with the moral courage to unflinchingly reveal these lies."

   --Barack needs to be Ida. Is he willing? Nope. Not even close.

   Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 10:38am

7. race card melissa? you admit the insurance lobby would go full speed to protect its interest, regardless of the color of the president, yet you still play the race card too? shameless.

   Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 10:44am

8. James Cone's God of the Oppressed

   In this text James Cone, the father of black liberation theology, develops a systematic theology rooted in the claim that the Bible demonstrates God's preferential option for the poor. At a time when so many on the Christian right have hijacked religious language in service of the free market, Cone's text reminds us that Christianity is built on a moral imperative to care for society's most vulnerable.

   Cone's theology implies that health care reform should be at the center of the so-called values voting agenda.

   --this I agree with 100%. but, alas, most modern day Jesus-suck ups don't really care about the Sermon on the Mount. It's too liberal.

   Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 10:46am

9. Anyone who wonders why health care reform opponents have ditched reasoned debate for unruly shouting matches needs to read this book. Ansolabehere and Iyengar offer compelling evidence that negative campaigning shrinks and polarizes the American electorate.

   The opposition gains an important strategic advantage by "going negative." Moderate and undecided voters will find themselves distressed, discouraged and confused by the town hall shouting matches and will tune out of the debate altogether. Through intense tactics of negativity the Right can marginalize and silence the majority of Americans who support and need health care reform.

   --if this works why is the u.s. military still in Iraq and Afghanistan? Guess the libs gotta get out there and protest barack's malfeasance. get the troops home! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. SAY IT LOUD!

   heheh

   Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 10:57am

10. As the mom of a seven-year-old I read a lot of children's books and find many instructive lessons there. During the 2008 election my daughter and I fell in love with Dipucchio's Grace for President.

    The story follows a grade school election prompted when Grace, a young black girl, discovers there have never been any "girl presidents." The book demonstrates the power of identity based voting as the girls all support Grace and the boys all support her opponent, Thomas. In the end, however, a young white boy representing "the equality state of Wyoming" casts his 3 electoral votes for Grace Campbell because she "is the best person for the job."

    My daughter and I always cheer at the end of this book which promises that as Americans we are able to see past our differences and make the best choices. These days we could all use a little Grace.

    --the fact that you included such a pollyanna lesson when talking about real politics tarnishes your messasge greatly.

    Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 11:05am

11. "Why don't you simply summarize and explain why HR3200 is such a good vehicle to implement all of the goals President Obama sets forth so eloquently."----Posted by sntauri at 08/14/2009 @ 10:10am

    You mean how the Right has simply summarized and explained why HR3200 is such a BAD vehicle....

    in-between screaming "Keep your Government hands off my Medicare"....painting swastikas on Congressman's signs....and taking guns to town hall meetings with the President???

    Posted by Mask at 08/14/2009 @ 10:18am | ignore this person | warn this person

    --it's a perfectly fair point sntauri. if this bill is good for us, and if the left plays fair (i.e., doesn't engage in the tactics MHL blames the right for engaging in)...then why doesn't MHL simply make a concise (as concise as possible) post about the benefits of the bill passing. sntauri's point is clear and fair: dollars to donuts MHL hasn't read the bill. And, more importantly, even if she's had the "salient" points read/presented to her: why not put those in her own words and convince us on the merits?

    why not? because that's actually a very difficult thing to do: being persuasive, using just the facts. So MHL (and most others writing abou the topic) simply focus on the National Enquirer aspects of the story. sad.

    Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 11:10am

12. Got anything to say on this article, urmy?

    LOL

    Posted by Mask at 08/14/2009 @ 11:41am

13. Mask, perhaps YOU could come to MHL's rescue. Why don't YOU simply explain, oh, let's say the top three things in HR3200 that will actually implement Obama's top three priorities. President proposes three goals, Congress passes legislation that implements those goals. How simple can it be? Of course, with metrics that the citizens can use to gauge effectiveness. And a feedback mechanism so that when things don't work, a process of continuous improvement can be put in place. That's reasonable, isn't it?

    Posted by sntauri at 08/14/2009 @ 11:51am

14. Got anything to say on this article, urmy?

    LOL

    Posted by Mask at 08/14/2009 @ 11:41am | ignore this person | warn this person

    ---obviously you don't. heheh

    Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 12:32pm

15. Mask, perhaps YOU could come to MHL's rescue. Why don't YOU simply explain, oh, let's say the top three things in HR3200 that will actually implement Obama's top three priorities. President proposes three goals, Congress passes legislation that implements those goals. How simple can it be? Of course, with metrics that the citizens can use to gauge effectiveness. And a feedback mechanism so that when things don't work, a process of continuous improvement can be put in place. That's reasonable, isn't it?

    Posted by sntauri at 08/14/2009 @ 11:51am | ignore this person | warn this person

    --as sure as I am that the sun will come up tomorrow, I am sure that Mask will NOT answer your substantive questions here.

    Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 12:35pm

16. And mask, since MLH has included Coneon her reading list, perhaps you could help us understand how a few of Cone's thoughts, such as the following, help us to advance a discussion on healthcare?

    "If there is one brutal fact that the centuries of white oppression have taught blacks, it is that whites are incapable of making any valid judgment about human existence." (61-62)

    "The Constitution is white, the Emancipation Proclamation is white, the government is white, business is white, the unions are white. What we need is the destruction of whiteness, which is the source of human misery in the world." (107)

    I'm sure your insight will be appreciated.

    Posted by sntauri at 08/14/2009 @ 12:36pm

17. And mask, since MLH has included Coneon her reading list, perhaps you could help us understand how a few of Cone's thoughts, such as the following, help us to advance a discussion on healthcare?

    "If there is one brutal fact that the centuries of white oppression have taught blacks, it is that whites are incapable of making any valid judgment about human existence." (61-62)

    "The Constitution is white, the Emancipation Proclamation is white, the government is white, business is white, the unions are white. What we need is the destruction of whiteness, which is the source of human misery in the world." (107)

    I'm sure your insight will be appreciated.

    Posted by sntauri at 08/14/2009 @ 12:36pm

    Ouch!!

    Perhaps Ms Harris-Lacewell missed that particular reading?

    Posted by antisocialist at 08/14/2009 @ 1:04pm

18. Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 12:32pm

    Nothing as spam-worthy as you, urmy.

    Posted by Mask at 08/14/2009 @ 1:29pm

19. It appears that sntauri is picking up for HonestLiberal while she's on vacation!

    Posted by Mistral at 08/14/2009 @ 1:44pm

20. Can anybody here imagine what President Lyndon Johnson could have said to quiet down all those inconvenient antiwar protestors? Could he have said, as Ms. Harris-Lacewell does,

    "I am frustrated with the deepening madness at [college campuses]. In an effort to contextualize these events I'm offering a short syllabus that may help us understand the current state of public discourse..."?

    Posted by Mistral at 08/14/2009 @ 1:52pm

21. Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 12:32pm

    Nothing as spam-worthy as you, urmy.

    Posted by Mask at 08/14/2009 @ 1:29pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    --"spam-worthy" meaning I actually talked about the points Melissa wrote about, right?

    easiest money in the world is to bet against Mask ever giving his substnative opinion on an issue.

    heheh

    Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 1:57pm

22. p.s., Mask--sntauri's challenged you to share your subsntative opinion too. or is he just a "spammer" you won't address too?

    heheh

    Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 1:58pm

23. Melissa, It was a great article, and gave me more insight on the issue. Which was your intention. Thanks.

    Michele

    Posted by cobweb25 at 08/14/2009 @ 2:00pm

24. I think Chris Hedge's "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America" has helped me understand the current state of public discourse on health care reform.

    Posted by Soloderiver at 08/14/2009 @ 2:11pm

25. Hey, remember when protesters put swastikas in place of the S in Bush (or, on the other side, a hammer and sickle in place of the C in Clinton) and that was defended as "dissent" and "freedom of speech"?

    Posted by Mistral at 08/14/2009 @ 2:22pm

26. "The Constitution is white, the Emancipation Proclamation is white, the government is white, business is white, the unions are white. What we need is the destruction of whiteness, which is the source of human misery in the world."

    what's so controversial about this quote? and how does it invalidate the author's overall point?

    Posted by darladoon at 08/14/2009 @ 2:41pm

27. "The Constitution is white, the Emancipation Proclamation is white, the government is white, business is white, the unions are white. What we need is the destruction of whiteness, which is the source of human misery in the world."

    what's so controversial about this quote? and how does it invalidate the author's overall point?

    Posted by darladoon at 08/14/2009 @ 2:41pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    --what's controversial about stating that white people are the problem? hmmm. i'm white. i'm liberal. am i the problem? guess i gotta be destroyed

    Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 2:45pm

28. Okay, sntauri....seems similar to why NOW the Republican Party claims it wants to "protect and shore up Medicare"...

    and 49 years ago they said-

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdLpem-AAs

    Posted by Mask at 08/14/2009 @ 2:51pm

29. what's so controversial about this quote? and how does it invalidate the author's overall point?

    Posted by darladoon at 08/14/2009 @ 2:41pm

    In my opinion, stating that "whiteness" is the source of human misery in the world is a controversial statement, because it is not a fact, but an opinion. An opinion can be controversial. For it not to be controversial, one would need to understand Cone's definition of "whiteness" and then test that definition as to the possibility of it being "the" (as in major or only) source of misery in the world (as in all places at all times). I do not agree.

    I did not state that that it invalidated the author's point. I asked Mask for his opinion on how statements such as Cone's help to advance the discussion on health care reform.

    Posted by sntauri at 08/14/2009 @ 2:55pm

30. Isn't that rather like using quotes from Bull Connor to discredit modern Democratic politicians?

    Posted by Mistral at 08/14/2009 @ 2:56pm

31. Sorry, that last comment was meqnt to refer to Mask's, not sntauri's

    Posted by Mistral at 08/14/2009 @ 2:58pm

32. Posted by Mask at 08/14/2009 @ 2:51pm

    Thank you, a very interesting 10:06 audio of Ronald Regan. I guess I missed something though. President Regan didn't really help me understand how HR3200 will implement Presiden Obama's goals. Perhaps you could show me where in the video I should look for the answer to my question.

    Posted by sntauri at 08/14/2009 @ 3:02pm

33. Thank you, a very interesting 10:06 audio of Ronald Regan. I guess I missed something though. President Regan didn't really help me understand how HR3200 will implement Presiden Obama's goals. Perhaps you could show me where in the video I should look for the answer to my question.

    Posted by sntauri at 08/14/2009 @ 3:02pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    --haha! good luck sntauri. mask is here to say republicans are hypocrites b/c they're not calling for the abolition of medicare (even back to the days of reagan) even though they're ranting and raving about how bad/evil single-payer is. but if you're expecting mask to actually explain why he thinks single-payer is good (or to even explain what it is)--not. gonnna. happen.

    Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 3:10pm

34. Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 3:10pm

    Perhaps. I don't want to complicate Mask's task. We don't need to worry about single payer in HR3200, and that was what my question was about. It would be too much work for him to compare and contrast HR3200 and HR676, which is where the single payer proposal is embodied. After all, these are just a few of the bills in various stages which must be brought into alignment with the as yet unwritten Senate version. I'll just focus on HR3200 for now as it has the most detail that we can evaluate as to how effective it will be in giving us what we need.

    Posted by sntauri at 08/14/2009 @ 3:21pm

35. ...don't hold your breath

    Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 3:51pm

36. It is the responsibility of Congressional officials and President Obama to insure that real health care reform takes place despite the angry, ignorant, frequently racist and armed mobs encouraged to show up at the town halls by scoundrels in mass media.

    Posted by syfriendly at 08/14/2009 @ 4:14pm

37. Well, well well, newsflash! The Obama admin. is sending "plants" or "astroturf" to town-hall meetings via his "organizing for america" group! And it gets better....these "plants" are also bonfide "liars" just like our president. Sheila Jackson "racist" Lee just had a wonderful time speaking with a "supposed" physician that....you're not going to believe this....was "for" healthcare reform. Ms. Lee was very impressed and gave this woman compliments and even a hug, I think, and Ms. Lee didn't even know this woman...I think. Now , we come to find out that this "physician" was NOT a "physician" in any way shape or form. No, this woman was a low-life loser-liberal plant from "organizing for america", and also a DEMOCRATIC DELEGATE you moronic idiots!!!!!!!!! MHL, you are a fool, a RACIST, and an embarrassment to the word education. You are only where you are for 2 reasons: 1) skin color 2) NEPOTISM. The Obama admin. and the dem. oparty are the most CORRUPT, by far, admin. in the history of this country, and fools like MHL are responsible for allowing it to happe without questioning ANYTHING, and instead CHEERING them on as they steal our liberties and freedoms! I wonder why the MSM and thenation aren't reporting on this "plant" when we all KNOW what would have happened if the Bush admin. had done something REMOTELY close to this evil act!

    Posted by barry25 at 08/14/2009 @ 4:21pm

38. armed mobs?...hahahahahahahahahaha! You people are psychotic! One guy, maybe 2, brings a gun, L-E-G-A-L-L-Y, to express his 1st and 2nd amendment rights, and dumshit liberals start freaking out stating that "armed mobs" are showing up. I wish they actually WERE armed, and that they'd decide that revolution was inevitable, and get it over with, but that's all it is...a WISH, because it ain't happenin' JACKASS!

    Posted by barry25 at 08/14/2009 @ 4:26pm

39. The only thing to say in response I think is:

    "You keep yer Gummint hands off my Medicare!"

    The real collapse of the Republican Party can be seen vividly in these mobs; there is no intellectual leadership in the party, and sane figures in the party have been marginalized. The end result (and time will show what a disaster it is for the GOP) is a political party that is now defining itself as the party of angry, dim-witted, frequently racist, paranoid loons unmotivated by an factual information about the issues they pretend to care about.

    If the Democrats and President Obama are sufficiently weak and corrupt that their health care reform is neutered by the nut wing of the GOP, then let the Democrats defeat themselves. That's fine.

    But the GOP apparently has no more cards to play other than its nut wing. And that spells disaster for any political party attempting to operate on the national level in the US. You can't run for President, take over Congress, or confirm judges on "Keep your Gummint hands of my Medicare!!!" or "Its time to water the tree of liberty!!!". All any party relying on that idiocy can achieve is further sequestering itself into the most rural and the most Southeastern parts of the country, where fools still wave Ol' Dixie and haven't gotten over the Emancipation Proclamation yet.

    Posted by syfriendly at 08/14/2009 @ 4:36pm

40. I addressed this with Ms Savan last week. I guess I have to address it here today.

    Does anyone remember the old joke (that I've mentioned here before)?

    A man goes the the psychiatrist and is subjected to the Rorschach test.

    That's a woman having sex with her butcher. That's a woman having sex with three dogs. That's an elephant having sex with a pig.

    To which the psychiatrist says, "Well your problem is obvious, you're objessed with sex."

    To which the patient exclaimed, "Me?!?! You're the one with all the dirty pictures."

    This article, your recent video, and last week's article all find racial overtones and codes words inextricably linked to opposition to socialized medicine. I don't think I'm covering my eyes so you must be imagining it.

    Posted by Darin_the_Big_Fat_Troll at 08/14/2009 @ 4:40pm

41. I'm a Canadian citizen and recently visited Seattle. It is really amazing to read and hear the outrageous and frankly, really dumb comments being made about your proposed health care reforms. Americans must have a poor memory. Do you recall the fear tactics used to sell the US invasion of a sovereign country? That would be Iraq. All that fear mongering and you accepted the war with barely a sound! Now you have a government trying to find ways to provide decent health care for all of you! Health care ought to be a fundamental right but it appears you have fallen for the fear tactics again . Why not ask your government to step out of education and road and bridge repair too? Do you realize how ridiculous you appear to the rest of the world? Or do you even care?

    We sure have our problems here in Canada too....but I am almost positive I couldn't find even one person to fall for the "death panel" stuff..... try some common sense!

    Posted by su at 08/14/2009 @ 4:45pm

42. Posted by su at 08/14/2009 @ 4:45pm |

    For the sake of discussion, let me agree to the points you have made in your post.

    The problem I have been trying to get some posters here to address is not the goals, but the proposed solutions. Even if there were ZERO disagreements on the goals of health care reform, we would be in a world of mess because of the way the US legislative process proceeds. My favorite whipping boy, HR3200 for example, appears to be a cut and paste of stuff that has been sitting around for 15 to 20 years in a file cabinet or on a disk drive. In typical political fashion, rather than laying out a plan to address problems with 1/6 of the economy in an understandable, achievable fashion, it creates command and control mechanisms with unknown feedback loops and numerous gaps in details, and weasel mechanisms like "left to the Secretary to decide". And they wanted to do it in 6 weeks, before the August recess. I have yet to see a reasonable explanation of why this specific bill will do as advertised, let alone get anywhere near the hopes of the likes of The Nation's writers.

    Posted by sntauri at 08/14/2009 @ 5:05pm

43. sntauri--you won't see that explanation on this site, for sure. i'm for universal health care. any thing middle ground is doomed to fail.

    Posted by urmygyro at 08/14/2009 @ 5:43pm

44. i want to know (specifically) why it is so controversial to suggest that whiteness (not white people), but whiteness, should be destroyed?

    i'm not saying i agree with the author, i just want to know what (specifically) is outrageous about her statement.

    and what did the author say before and after the quote? i wanna see the whole page.

    Posted by darladoon at 08/14/2009 @ 6:47pm

45. like that clueles townhall protestor suggested, we are in the midst of a "systematic dismantling of our country"

    code words for: "poor blacks and latinos are taking my hard-earned tax dollars to pay for their healthcare"

    Posted by darladoon at 08/14/2009 @ 7:42pm

46. Christians all.

    Posted by jarshadow at 08/14/2009 @ 7:47pm

47. "i'm awfully bitter these days, 'cuz my parents were slaves!"

    i remember that nina simone song....

    Posted by darladoon at 08/14/2009 @ 9:01pm

48. I enjoyed your article, Melissa, and agree with all your points. However, Obama and the Democrats still haven't sold me on their healthcare plan. Kathe Pollitt's "Healthcare We Can Believe In" expresses my thoughts very well.

    Posted by ktrig at 08/14/2009 @ 11:23pm

49. Melissa Harris-Lacewell's screed is both typical and predictable. It's what the left always does when it get's backed in a corner by facts it can't refute. Instead of engaging in reasoned debate, it hypocritically does what it falsely accuses its opponents of doing and obfuscates facts, tells half-truths, and/or hurls accusations - basically anything to draw attention away from the real facts at hand. Then, quoting a few well known people (usually out of context), the left generates a facade of legitimacy in which to place the propaganda and give it an air of legitimacy it doesn't deserve (as MHL has done), before presenting the final product to the public as an authoritative "critique" minted by a genuine PhD from none other than Duke University! Far from achieving its intended goal, though, MHL's "scholarship" only adds further evidence, indicating what many of our major universities have become: intellectual deserts, producing cookie-cutter graduates with much knowledge but precious little wisdom, intellectual honesty, or appreciation of divergent views.

    Posted by skeetjr at 08/15/2009 @ 01:02am

50. This woman would be ok if she weren't so clueless.

    You should read THE GIVER now Ms. Melissa, and save up what it says to share with your daughter later.

    This Town Hall uprising is not (just) racist, authoritarian, hate fueled, factional 2nd amendment --a bit of each, maybe; but judging from the little string of "right wing extremist fringe" paradigm psychokillers trotted out for comparison -- if not set up as pansies for the purpose -- by radical anti-American neocon lib-leftists (e.g., Mark Potoc, SPLC lizard), its "about":

    misogyny ("Good luck Obama!" wrote that George Sobini guy before opening fire on women at the LA FITNESS center in Pittsburgh. "White hoes" of Amerika loved the black man more than him.)

    Children's step-dad rejection: since Obama lacks the same parent/place of birth documentation as the 43 previous Fathers of our country, he lacks legitimacy. Except that bestowed by fatherless/husbandless runts who had to settle for what the Fem Dems decided on -- whoever wooed the Jews better, it turned out. Not much fatherly authority there. What was it that Indonesian PM Mahathir said back in '02? What we are saying is that there is a deep, deep psychological rejection, with revulsion,of the entire process. I want my country back.

    What you are seeing in the contorted faces is, first, the look of abused children. If you've seen pictures, they scream and rant just so when helplessly approached by 'loving abusers', again. Like letting anyone in the 'we wuv ya' gov't get within smelling distance of personal health care is not ok, especially when its Department of Homeland Security says there is a pandemic if Swine flu on the way this fall, and everybody must line up for compulsory poison vccine, like Jimmy Jones had them do at Jonestow

    Posted by jones at 08/15/2009 @ 01:44am

51. Second, in deeper psychodynamic terms what you are seeing (besides abused- child trauma) is fetal rage. Actual overpowering trauma convulsion, as a shared state.

    Photos of late term ready-to-get-out unborns* (*as crazy anti-abortionist who identify with them say) show them wildly writhing, head-threshing in the womb (potentiating a flashback-state, triggered by traumatic regression) -- in evident pain,'rage'. Traumatized people regress to the level of fetal origins of experience, and that is what is seen enacted at "Town Hall meetings". Where Democracy in America was born.

    I want my country back.

    The rebirth repetition-compulsion, ritualized as child sacrifice, aka 'war', is the driving political force of historical group process, and this outburst of fetal rage is an absolute compulsion to rebirth a new America that includes the descendants of the Fouding Fathers of the old. As in mine.

    The Right gets no break from this. They committed child sacrifice in Vietnam, for the Catholic fathers Kennedy and Diem. This was not American, and it is where the Right went anti-American. That was solidified under Reagan, the Jokenman tagged as such already by Bob Dylan. Themselves shoved aside by the neocons during the 80's (ask Buchanan), when the real hate-America seeds were sown (remember Jeanne Kirkpatrick "They always blame America first!"? --the great CONTRA reversal continues).

    OK, the right deserves pity. Neocon snakes slither over to Goldman Sachs socialism, leaving poor Republicans home alone; so unified they were for so long behind the lying, unAmerican Middle East wars. Obama inserting 20,000 more troops into Afghanistan? pshaw. 20,000 more deployed on America's streets? bagatelle.

    Been unborn so long it must seem like hell. Poor rep

    Posted by jones at 08/15/2009 @ 03:18am

52. We need a new FCC truth squad to prevent new Yellow Journalism and more unnecessary wars...

    The problem is described very well by: http://www.publictruth.org/content/view/122/26/

    "THE MEDIA CAN LEGALLY LIE Written by Jane Akre Sunday, 20 August 2006 In February 2003, a Florida Court of Appeals unanimously agreed with an assertion by FOX News that there is no rule against distorting or falsifying the news in the United States...

    In a stunningly narrow interpretation of FCC rules, the Florida Appeals court claimed that the FCC policy against falsification of the news does not rise to the level of a "law, rule, or regulation," it was simply a "policy." Therefore, it is up to the station whether or not it wants to report honestly...

    The Bush FCC, under Michael Powell's leadership, has shown repeatedly that greater media consolidation is encouraged, that liars like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter are perfectly acceptable, that to refer to the FCC interpretation of "editorial judgment" is to potentially throw out any pretense at editorial accuracy if the "accuracy" harms a large corporation and its bottom line...

    Indeed. This is what our corporate media, led by such as Rupert Murdoch, have come to. How low we have fallen."

    End of Article.

    Posted by thanksbutnothanks at 08/15/2009 @ 06:01am

53. Ms, Harris-Lacewell, it seems that our truth researching and reporting heroine to carry on Ida B. Wells has arrived--she's white, but really smart, and is digging up all the sneaky alliances that the Right uses to stir up hate and fear among those who are not so well-endowed in the intellect department. She's Rachel Maddow of MSNBC and I have hope that her diligence in investigating and reporting all these internecine relationships that keep the trolls and dullards motivated to kill health care reform will make a difference among those in the great middle of America, who have been lied to and scared by groups such as "Freedom Works". Yeah, as in "freedom to make lots of money at the expense of the common man"!

    Posted by vraptor at 08/15/2009 @ 07:59am

54. The right wing doesn't mind big government and government intrusion into their private lives as long as a neocon Republican is the one doing it. Which can be witnessed by all the infringements upon the Constitution, their private lives and their freedoms they allowed Bush to do without uttering one whimper of protest. These people's screaming and protesting is so phony its starting to get irritating. And I suspect starting to sink there cause. But, I have little doubts they will kill health care. Most of them aren't smart enough to figure out which side there bread is buttered on. All the elected Representatives and Senator's in my state are having phone town hall meetings to answer concerns of voters. It seems to be a more rational way to avoid these paid shills.

    Posted by ganddw42 at 08/15/2009 @ 08:33am

55. Great article!From the comments of so many objectors, it seems that Americans generally are terrified that some of their tax money might be going to help someone less fortunate than themselves. What a meanness of spirit for a country that sees itself as the most Christian of nations! So what happened, then, to the Christian ethos of being your brother's keeper - an ethos far better reflected in the secular European welfare states over here?

    It's truly mind-boggling to see so many people who would benefit profoundly from a national health care system, howling down modest steps towards one.

    They're begging that more of their tax money continue to enrich the corporations , rather than have a more efficient, economical – and ethical - national system,. (See World Health Org comparisons - or just look across your northern border!

    I'm now fully realising what a catch-all pejorative ‘socialism' is in the US.

    From the ill-informed objections that the mindless masses are voicing, I doubt whether any medical treatment – private or public – could cure their pathological stupidity.

    Posted by pongacat at 08/15/2009 @ 11:01am

56. stuff that has been sitting around for 15 to 20 years in a file cabinet or on a disk drive.

    anything sitting on a hard drive for 20 years, you might have a little problem retrieving it.

    Posted by emile duBois at 08/15/2009 @ 12:20pm

57. I am truly sad to say that most of the town halls protest is meaningless and useless and we should not even consider it when we think about health insurance and reform. Watching and reading about the town hall meetings and protests proves that most of the protest has no relationship or nexus to the health care discussion. I also notices it is stacked and packed by the same people who soured Sarah Palin, the woman who saw Russia from her house, therefore she is an expert on foreign policy and affairs. My point is, most of the comments that are made at those protests has nothing to do with health care reform. those are the same people who want more money spent on wars and war machines. we can pay for health care and any other social programs like education instead of spending money on the defense department. those are the same people who never objected to deficit during the republican congress or republican white house. those are the same people who think the second amendment is the only amendment in the constitution.

    Posted by alexazzam at 08/15/2009 @ 12:29pm

58. It's morally wrong to leave 100 million Americans un or underinsured, 1 illness away from financial ruin. And it's wrong to burden small business with the outrageous insurance costs also -- found a cool site; Balkingpoints ; incredible satellite view of earth

    Posted by reg373 at 08/15/2009 @ 12:48pm

59. For those who have issues with MHL quoting James Cone, please speak at length regarding what ***the centuries of white oppression have taught blacks*** That is, what lessons do you think blacks learned during/from "centuries of white oppression"...?

    Of course, MHL didn't quote the following passage from Cone's "A Black Theology of Liberation" which was first published in 1970 ("God of the Oppressed" which MHL referenced is a different book altogether and was published in 1975 and, again, 1997):

    "Liberation means that the oppressed must define the structure and scope of reality themselves without taking cues from the oppressor. If there is one brutal fact that the centuries of white oppression have taught blacks, it is that whites are incapable of making any valid judgment about human existence. The goal of Black Theology is the destruction of everything <i>white</i> so that black people can be liberated from alien gods." <i>(As seen in the Google Books version of "Black theology and ideology..." by Harry H. Singleton)</i>

    Of course, there is no logical connection between what MHL referenced and the kind of faux character assassination that's being attempted by going to places like the American Thinker or wherever and cherrypicking already cherrypicked quotes. Obviously, Sntauri has no substantive argument against MHL's reference and is hoping bs does the trick.

    The irony of Sntauri suppling quotes without a link/reference, page numbers and all, is how Sntauri chose the quote including the U.S. Constitution which drafted by individuals who not only said all kinds of racist things but presided over, practiced or participated in the nation's most racist institution and I doubt Sntauri rejects everything they say/did based on their indisputable racism.

    Posted by Nquest at 08/15/2009 @ 1:11pm

60. Yes, the irony of it all. The first person MHL references is James Madison a life-long slaveholder. Yet, Sntauri didn't rush to supply quotes regarding Madison's creation of the three-fifths clause or anything else hoping to cast Madison in a negative light.

    Posted by Nquest at 08/15/2009 @ 1:52pm

61. I think Sntauri and others have made one very valid point.

    Right now, Rush Limbaugh and friends are tearing HR3200 apart, showing what appear to be significant, serious problems which they believe would make the health care situation significantly worse for most people.

    Rush says stuff like this: Hey, on pages 15-20 of the bill, it says that you can't actually keep your existing insurance, even as President Obama reassures us almost daily that we can. The text of the bill says your existing policy is grandfathered, but only for five years and if you want to make major coverage changes, you have to take what the government wants to offer.

    In short, President Obama is lying to us to try and get us to support the bill. There is absolutely nothing good I can say about this and I would think even The Nation's readers might be a tad disturbed.

    So Rush and friends deserve enormous credit for having actually read HR3200, slogging through its almost unreadable clauses. They understand its contents. Give them credit where credit's due.

    Why, then, is The Nation avoiding any analysis of the bills and their contents? People like me come to this site to discover what the left thinks about the bill. We don't want Rush Limbaugh to be the only news source. We'd like to see the Left's viewpoint, and so far this site has sorely disappointed me in this time of great need for sound, sensible analysis from both sides.

    Sntauri is simply saying, okay, we know what Rush thinks about HR3200, what does The Nation think? What kind of arguments can The Nation's newsprint-stained scribes launch against Rush's dazzling array?

    Anyone?

    Posted by DavidDennis at 08/15/2009 @ 2:36pm

62. We don't want Rush Limbaugh to be the only news source.

    new source? I thought he was just an entertainer.

    if Rush is your news source, you have far bigger problems than the health care overhaul.

    Posted by emile duBois at 08/15/2009 @ 6:01pm

63. Why is it that the Obamanation that makes desolation and the Demoncrats can even actually talk about the socialistic charactoristics they are trying to force on the American citizens? Is it because they are so used to lieing and covering up their real intentions they believe everyone is gullible enough to take them at their word?

    Posted by BigPasture at 08/15/2009 @ 6:36pm

64. If Rush Limbaugh and others are quoting parts HR3200, don't you believe that you at least have an obligation to read that part of the bill to prove it to yourself, or do you prefer to listen and believe other's dogma?

    Do you understand that according to HR3200 if you do not carry health insurance you will be fined 2.5% of your adjusted gross income?

    If I do not want to purchase health insurance and pocket the money why should I be fined for that? What choice is that? The whole pupose of that legislation is to force Americans into the Governement health care system. This is socialism.

    Posted by Pappy09 at 08/15/2009 @ 6:42pm

65. Who's behind the attacks on a health care overhaul?

    By Margaret Talev | McClatchy Newspapers

    WASHINGTON -- Much of the money and strategy behind the so-called grassroots groups organizing opposition to the Democrats' health care plans comes from conservative political consultants, professional organizers and millionaires, some of whom hold financial stakes in the outcome.

    Rick Scott, the co-founder of Solantic urgent care walk-in centers

    They include billionaire flat-tax proponent and former GOP presidential candidate Steve Forbes; Richard J. Stephenson, who founded Cancer Treatment Centers of America, which offers alternative as well as standard therapies, sometimes not covered by insurance; and Frank M. Sands, Sr., chief executive officer of an investment management firm whose offerings include a Healthcare Leaders portfolio.

    It was started by billionaire David Koch

    Chris Chocola, a former Republican congressman from Indiana

    Singer Pat Boone

    direct mail guru Richard Viguerie

    http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/73765.html

    LET THE PEOPLE SPEAK!

    Posted by frosty zoom at 08/15/2009 @ 7:34pm

66. Well, I didn't want one red cent of my tax dollars going towards the war in Iraq. So, because I was not given any choice in the matter... I guess that's the tyranny of SOCIALISM yet again.

    Posted by Nquest at 08/15/2009 @ 8:01pm

67. I spent the day with a group of volunteer pilots, flying cancer patients from our remote location to a larger city where they receive chemo, and then when they're able, back home. Imagine my surprise when I log on to The Nation, and there are ZERO explanations from pro-reform people on why HR3200 is going to work. I guess I expected more.

    Posted by sntauri at 08/15/2009 @ 8:27pm

68. This is socialism. Posted by Pappy09 at 08/15/2009 @ 6:42pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    I guess the mandate for car insurance is socialism too? whatta crock.

    Posted by emile duBois at 08/15/2009 @ 9:04pm

69. guess the mandate for car insurance is socialism too? whatta crock.

    Posted by emile duBois at 08/15/2009 @ 9:04pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    Yea, lets JAIL the irresponsible fools who risk the lifes and economics of others because of their "high risk health practices". Give them 10yrs to life depending on what they practice! Or we could force them also to buy bodily injury coverage starting at 10million single limits that they must maintain to do drugs or practice homosexual sex with Hiv-Aids partners or uninfected general public! We need to get provision like that reflecting the degree of risk to safeguard the public!

    Posted by BigPasture at 08/15/2009 @ 9:34pm

70. Funny how Obamanation, the Demoncrats, and all the leftwingnut fringe groups have spent over $48 million, not counting the new $12 million dollars trying to sell this dead pig in a poke. Even with 6 to 1 spending they still can't convince Americans they are not the socialistic marxist leaning faction of America we KNOW they are just reaching for more political power at the expense of liberty and freedom!

    Posted by BigPasture at 08/16/2009 @ 12:10am

71. Herein a piece in the British press on US health care: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas See: the-brutal-truth-about-americarsquos-healthcare-1772580.html

    Posted by mikhailovich at 08/16/2009 @ 05:51am

72. And here's another. I've quoted a bit so you get the general flavour.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ debate/article-1206149/STEPHEN-GLOVER -I-deeply-resent-Americans-sneering -health-service--- thats-truth-hurts.html

    If you are suspicious of comparative statistics, consult any American who has encountered the NHS. Often they cannot believe what has happened to them - the squalor, and looming threat of MRSA; the long waiting lists, and especially the official target that patients in 'accident and emergency' should be expected to wait for no more than four - four! - hours; the sense exuded by some medical staff that they are doing you a favour by taking down your personal details. Most Americans, let's face it, are used to much higher standards of healthcare than we enjoy,

    Posted by Mistral at 08/16/2009 @ 06:20am

73. Most Americans, let's face it, are used to much higher standards of healthcare than we enjoy, Posted by Mistral at 08/16/2009 @ 06:20am | ignore this person | warn this person

    and many americans get very little if any health care.

    Posted by emile duBois at 08/16/2009 @ 10:49am

74. emile duBois, Rush is at least reading the bill and pointing out interesting things in it, which is far more than The Nation is doing.

    You can read his stuff, and read the sections of the bill he refers to, and come to your own conclusions. I have and although Rush sometimes exaggerates - he is an entertainer, after all - he backs up what he says with truth.

    Therefore, on this particular subject, Rush is a superior source of information to The Nation.

    I have plenty of news sources other than Rush, including The Nation. My post is meant to challenge you guys to do at least as good a job as Rush in coverage of this vital issue. So far, Rush is beating you by miles, romping towards an effortless victory.

    Surely a serious news organization like yours should not let that happen?

    But I do think I can tell you what's going on.

    The Nation's staff doesn't like this bill. It it too compromised. It was designed by influence-peddling Congresspeople with lots of ulterior motives.

    The Nation's staff knows a bill like this is the only way to get to universal, national health care, which they passionately desire.

    So the Nation doesn't want to tell its readers about the bill because if they understood what was in it, they would oppose it vigourously.

    But The Nation doesn't want to support it either because then they would be blamed for its content.

    So what do they do? Well, say it's not a particularly good bill, and demonize its opponents. So the opponents are evil and so we should support the bill, but since it's not a very good bill maybe we should just not really oppose it, or support it, or even take any kind of real stand on it.

    Not exactly courageous journalism, is it?

    D

    Posted by DavidDennis at 08/16/2009 @ 12:05pm

75. he is an entertainer, after all - he backs up what he says with truth.

    . first he's a news source, then he's an entertainer. you are a joke.

    Posted by emile duBois at 08/16/2009 @ 12:26pm

76. . first he's a news source, then he's an entertainer. you are a joke.

    Posted by emile duBois at 08/16/2009 @ 12:26pm

    And you choose not to explain why anyone should support the propose legislation. No rebuttal to criticism that HR3200 does not in any understandable way actually improve health care delivery, nor how the bill supports the President's allegation that the plan will not increase the national debt. It is my belief that you are capable of doing this if you want to. Instead we get terse ad hominem attacks on posters. How does this show us how our Congress is fixing our health care system?

    Posted by sntauri at 08/16/2009 @ 1:10pm

77. All the confusion and hype from both sides of the health care debate are continuing to obscure the realities of health care in America and this great magazine/website/blog continues to do its share of the obscuring. And the reason is simple, both the conservatives and the liberals are in the pocket of the health care industry (i.e., HMOs, insurance companies and the foreign investment banks of Wall St.) For anyone wishing to cut through the conservative & liberal lies on the health of Americans, you can start by reading The Nation's contributor Alex Cockburn's article (on his website CounterPunch), "Health Plans and Death Plans" at http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn08142009.html.

    When will the rest of The Nation's writers & editors stop being mouthpieces for the DNC, White House and the Pelosi/Reid congress. The purpose of the left should be to speak truth to power not parrot the power. The Nation did a great job of truth telling during the reign of Bush/Cheney, but now under Obama/Emanuel/Reid/Pelosi regime all The Nation seems to be able to do is to discover that there is a vast right-wing conspiracy. I think we knew that. The Nation's readers deserve better. Americans need the real truth, not the same old lies of the conservative vs. liberal paradigm that we see in every blog on this issue on this website. Otherwise, in the end there can be only one and that one will be the same old power running health care in this country. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

    Posted by perryfellwock at 08/17/2009 @ 07:19am

78. Instead we get terse ad hominem attacks on posters. Posted by sntauri at 08/16/2009 @ 1:10pm | ignore this person | warn this person

    I will be happy to tone down my ad hominem attacks when Rush does.

    Posted by emile duBois at 08/17/2009 @ 09:28am