UPDATE – additional info at the bottom –>
After watching the usual fare this morning on television, I settled in to watch Meet the Press, which I have become less enamored of since the death of Tim Russert. It has become a place where the same old rhetoric, and, I will dare say it, lies, keep getting spread, under the auspices of fair reporting. I really have become a non-fan of David Gregory, both because of what I have observed onscreen, and also because of what I have read about his dealing to get guests on the show. I wrote about it when the big brouhaha concerning the governor who was said to have been walking in the Appalachians, was found to have been visiting South America instead.
But that is old news.
If NBC is trying to revive Meet the Press with a band of guests that will ignite, and thereby re-ignite the ratings of this venerable program, they might have done it today.
This morning, a battle royale, of sorts, was observed by those who tuned in to see a debate about health care. Rachel Maddow, someone whose on-air style I am totally unfamiliar with, pretty much called out former Congressman Dick Armey on the lies he was spreading about the proposed health plans coming out of Congressional committee. He continues, as many Republicans do, to call it the Obama plan, when in fact, the President has had little to do with it. That is a problem I am having with the President. He continues to try to appease all, and that is surely a road to ruin, as his falling numbers show. He needs to put forth his ideas on healthcare, succinctly and unequivocally, and then task Congress with getting on with making the necessary changes.
The President seems to be suffering from the same problems that The American President, played brilliantly by Michael Douglas in the Rob Reiner film, did. He is worrying so much about keeping his popularity (and job), that he is forgetting to do his job. The Democratic Party has a large majority right now, they were sent to Washington upon the strength of their ideas. Now it is time to do the job they promised. If kicking ass and taking names is what it takes, so be it. The Rush Limbaughs will never be silenced – that man is paid to talk, as are a host of similar, but lesser known loudmouths. The Chuck Grassley types will continue to spread distortions, if not outright lies, as it is their job, as they define it. A look this morning has seen the ugly menace, in the form of Dick Armey, arise once again, spreading lies, half-truths, and all served up with a measure of malice, fueled by the many insurance companies in this nation, that are certain to be losers if sensible health reform takes place.
The President has taken time on television for many less serious problems, why not do it now, with health care? The time to be cautious, and mince words has long gone. It is time to explain, to the American people, what is planned, what is needed, and why the town-hall intolerance will do nothing but inflame the people who are on the periphery. Those on the periphery who are too disinterested to try to understand the facts, but are certainly ready to partake in a good shouting match. It’s too bad they are not fully aware about what it is they are shouting.
The health care debate is something that should be covered, on network television, perhaps handed off between ABC, NBC, and CBS, so that those who don’t wish to watch won’t have to (though they obviously should, and we won’t wonder further about their raw intelligence), and also so that the networks won’t all whine too much about losing ad dollars. (It’s amazing, so soon after the changeover to digital television, and all of its problems, with the government pushing them to do so many expensive things, that the networks have forgotten that the government regulates the airwaves they use.)
The debate and instruction should take at least 30 hours, put at 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. for a two week period, Monday through Friday. That won’t allow coverage of everything, but, without commercials, a good amount of the material could be presented. Many will say how outrageous this is – they are precisely the ones who have no clue how important, and wide reaching this is.
After the two-week event, perhaps a time of periodic refreshing and updates could be given during nightly newscasts, and then, running concurrent to the census early next year, to save money for the nation’s overburdened economy, a healthcare survey can be taken, so that the nation’s people, not their improperly-lobbied elected officials, could have their say.
Then, the simple majority wins. Plan enacted, on to the next order of business.
UPDATE: I wrote this post well before I became aware that the President had written an op-ed piece in the New York Times. I think everyone who has any questions about what his plans are should read it – http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/opinion/16obama.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=opinion
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Inside of a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong.Muhammad Ali |