Comments on: Why don’t pro-health care rallies get any coverage?

By: Tristan Tandberg

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 17:30:12 +0000

here is a funny joke I saw about employee medical benefits and dating, http://ponderingstuff.com/2011/04/02/employee-medical-coverage-dating/

By: davidlosangeles

davidlosangeles — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:24:42 +0000

Hello Ms. Maton,

I am not sure I agree, it sounds like a lot of fun to dress up as “Zombies for the Public Option”. The motto “By whatever means necessary” seems to be applicable.

By: jasong

jasong — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:57:58 +0000

"I have a pre-exsisting condition and am a currently a student, so myself, along with millions of other Americans, would greatly welcome a series of reforms that wouldn’t deny me care because of something outside of my control." And those reforms will not come from conservative Republicans -- they offer no real solutions because they see no real problem. The Republican leadership can't be taken seriously when their worldview has become so completely detached from reality:

Sometimes in politics you will have enemies, and they must be democratically defeated. The political system cannot be gummed up by a need to reach out to the maddest people or the greediest constituencies.

By: Michael Preston

Michael Preston — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 01:32:22 +0000

vertias,
I thought the Pelosi calling folks who are concerned about reform un-American was terrible. But people HAVE been bringing posters of Obama with Hitler mustaches to events, you have Republican legislators (not activists, not concerned citizens) but elected representative saying that they president is a borderline socialist. Both sides are using overheated rhetoric; I’m with you on that. But I think we’ll just have to agree to disagree about who’s taking more liberties. I fully admit to you that my blinders are on, but more so for reform rather than for Democrats, per se.

I’m very wary of calling opponents of health care reforms racist, unless the facts support it. The real split on health care isn’t even really about Democrat or Republican (I agree this shouldn’t be partisan) but rather, if you believe Matt Bai’s argument in the Sunday NY Times magazine yesterday, it’s more about age. Seniors tend to not support reform whereas younger Americans do.

You’ll also get no argument from me that the Democrats are about to engaged in some shameless hypocrisy on filling Ted Kennedy’s seat. I don’t approve.

You mention that you often find Democratic politicians to be a bit condescending, and that can be true, but we were treated to the flip side of that during the election when we were told that the “real America” isn’t made up of people in coastal cities, but of simple, hard-working folks in the heartland. I’ve lived in two big American cities (SF and NYC), but I grew up in a small town in Virginia that has its own NASCAR track. I’m familiar with both and think that there are good Americans all over, so I can tell you that I found those arguments, deployed by conservative politicians, to be incredibly offensive.

Partisanship, while corrosive,is sadly here to stay I think.

By: Twitter Trackbacks for Michael Preston - Deep Background – Why don’t pro-health care rallies get any coverage? - True/Slant [trueslant.com] on Topsy.com

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 01:20:29 +0000

[...] Michael Preston – Deep Background – Why don’t pro-health care rallies get any coverage? – True/S… trueslant.com/michaelpreston/2009/08/31/why-dont-pro-health-care-rallies-get-any-coverage – view page – cached Deep Background » Why don’t pro-health care rallies get any coverage? Comments Feed Deep Background What ‘Gatesgate’ says about the mainstream media In the GOP? No health care for you! The most odious lie yet in the health care debate — From the page [...]

By: veritas3

veritas3 — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:45:06 +0000

Thanks for your worthy response- I am quite a big Democratic supporter- at least I was. How I wish it was only Bill Maher creating the divide. All year I have attended Democratic fund raisers and there was not one where the politician-whether it was Al Franken or John Kerry – didn’t refer to “the others” as “the stupid people”. Politicians (probably on both sides but I don’t attend Republican fund raisers) are constantly making rude jokes and basically using Republicans to sell themselves. During the primary I traveled around the country and often sat at night with reporters and chatted about what was happening. It was shocking how little-especially those at the “elite” papers like the NY Times- knew. Whether they are overworked and their blinders were accidental or they were just lazy and started with a viewpoint and furthering it was there only objective- the outcome was the same. I have rarely attended or been a part of anything the press reported accurately- This has always been the case but never as much as the last few years. I know I’m not alone in being disappointed. The political system and the media is broken- both left and right- One not more then the other- Much has to do with ones ideology and whether you believe the ends justifies the means. The Dems may be up now but that pendulum is swinging and ready to hit us in the butt. Just as Ted Kennedy wrote a scathing letter to the MA state legislature to change the law to take away the choice of interim Senator from the governor when it looked like we might lose Kerry and we had a Republican Governor- Kennedy’s (although I don’t personally think he wrote it) recent letter is unbelievably hypocritical asking to change it back so a Dem governor can choose. How does anyone justify that hypocrisy? OY-
As far as healthcare is concerned- the media story I get (my smartie pants papers & news reporters) is that Republicans are nutty and toting guns- they are scary and they are racist- If only they were smarter and didn’t feel threatened by a black President we would have an intelligent health care bill. Sure there is still some racism-no doubt- but blaming those opposed to the present bills for being bigots is not the answer-in fact I think it one of the main reasons for their anger.

As for Palin being more manipulative then Obama I think that’s more because of your viewpoint- It is possible that the other side may well have some valid points and we just discount them. Nancy Pelosi calling healthcare protesters unAmerican and suggesting that lots of them are bringing Nazi signs is also a manipulative tactic used to marginalize the opposition. This should not be a partisan issue. The media feeds it but so do the politicians – I have two suggestion for starters- term limits-and get rid of the big money.

Partisanship is the enemy – it took me many years to get to this point and I’ve never felt freer.

By: LeeAnn Maton

LeeAnn Maton — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:09:12 +0000

Hi David. If I can jump in, I’d like to say that I think you have a valid point. One interesting phenomenon,though, is that pro-reform groups are starting to use what might be seen as sensational and outlandish efforts to make themselves more visible, too. For example, my post today was about the town hall meeting in a nearby Chicago suburb tonight at which pro-reform protesters will be dressing up like zombies to support universal single-payer coverage.

Sure, they could protest the same issue without fake blood and ragged costumes, but their tactic — gimmick-y though it may be — has already caught the attention of the local media and I bet you that tomorrow’s headlines will run some mention of the pro-reform zombies in the coverage of the meeting.

In a sense, it’s disappointing that people have to come up with such outlandish hooks to get eyeballs nowadays, but it’s worth pointing out that both sides are equally capable of playing the same shock-value game to get noticed.

By: Michael Preston

Michael Preston — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:01:47 +0000

I totally agree with everything you’re saying. I took a class in the spring and we spent three classes working through the NYC budget. Exciting right? Well, actually, it was. You can find a ton of great stories in a budget! It’s not even that hard to read once you understand the contours of it.

By: Michael Preston

Michael Preston — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:59:13 +0000

veritas,
Thanks for your comments. When I’m talking about the kind of coverage we’re seeing (or not seeing), I’m mainly referring to the major national papers and news networks. I’m certain that there have been reasonable pro and anti-reform town halls and meetings. My point is that the national media only seems to be reflecting the anti side, and that’s not the fault of the protesters! It’s a fault of the media.

I agree with you that Palin’s probably smarter than she’s being given credit for and that Obama may get too much credit for the same thing, but I don’t think it’s unfair to say that Palin is far more cynical and manipulative than Obama has been on this issue. You are right to call Obama to the mat for the deal w/the pharmaceutical companies and I think that’s an important story that made a splash for a few days then kind of fell by the wayside.

But I think we’re going to disagree over the idea that Democrats are not trying to help “the working man”. Does Bill Maher talk down to people? Sure and I don’t like it, but I also don’t consider Bill Maher to be a national spokseman for Democrats. I’m sure that quite a few of those 46 million uninsured are working men and women who have never been able to afford coverage for one reason or another and I think that (some) Republicans are being entirely disingenuous when they start talking about things like “death panels”. I have a pre-exsisting condition and am a currently a student, so myself, along with millions of other Americans, would greatly welcome a series of reforms that wouldn’t deny me care because of something outside of my control.

It was going to be damn near impossible to reform a system as entrenched as the one we have and have everyone like it. And you are 100% correct that President Obama needs to engage more, be honest and truthful and really set the terms of the debate. But I think that, in the main, the debate has tilted more one way than the other.

By: veritas3

veritas3 — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:25:32 +0000

Hey Michael- I’m a Democrat and I care very much that reform has been so poorly handled (my mother died after a 2 year illness when I was 5 and instead of feeling the pain of loss I spent my time worrying about my dad and the bills). I’ve been married to a doctor in the Harvard medical community so I believe I have some balance on this issue. What has happened is that something as complicated as healthcare reform has been pathetically turned into talking points for both sides. If you only read the NY Times and listen exclusively to Keith Olberman and Ed Schultz you’d think the GOP was full of crazy, racist Americans who want to destroy the moral fabric of our country. If, on the other hand you read the NY Post and listen only to Rush & Sean Hannity-you think that Obama et al wants to take away your freedom. So far I’ve only heard John McCain explain it logically. If you watch C-Span hearings and town halls you get to decide yourself without editorialized facts. Both sides would like to change the system- Since the Obama administration has made a private deal (about which they lied) with big pharm- we have taken an important chip off the table- not to mention basic trust from both the right and the left. Since Obama is the guy at the top he is the one who must speak clearly. At the moment there is nothing to sell- and he has been trying to sell it while almost 10% of Americans are unemployed. This is also about fear- You may not have to worry about putting food on your table or sneakers on your kids for school but millions of Americans who have worked hard their entire lives- the ones that we Democrats (Bill Maher et al) call morons- keep this country running. They drive the trains, work in the coal mines, defend our country. If we Dems would stop the good v. evil meme perhaps we could find some common ground. Sarah Palin isn’t quite as dumb as the media made her out to be and Barack Obama is not quite as smart either.
For the first time in my life (60 years) I am embarrassed by my party. It used to be the party of the working man- aren’t they the ones we think we’re trying to help?
By the way- there have been plenty of anti-health care rallys that have been quite subdued with folks who actually read the House bill- There are also reports, stories and plenty of photos of pro-health care rallys with really big Organizing for AMerica Obama buses- and lots and lots of heavy handed union types. Not sure where you and Krugman etc are getting your news- maybe you should cast your net wider and check out both sides?