Americans spoke loudly and clearly in electing Barack Obama and taking large majorities in both houses of Congress with the overriding message being that we are ready for Change.  Obama and the Democrats campaigned widely on many issues, but affordable health care for all, regardless of income or social status was perhaps the most important and highly visible issue of all.  This is not some hidden agenda that the Democrats conspired to push after their victory.    Everyone who voted Democrat in the last election did so knowing that real health care reform was a priority. 

Of course considering the wealth and power of the insurance companies, drug companies, and corporate health care system, implementation is not an easy matter but the concept is quite simple.  We are a civilized people and with that comes the responsibility to provide for the health of our citizens, just as is done throughout the developed world.  We are first in gross domestic product (GDP) and yet have the highest health care costs, rank 37^th  in overall health care performance, and 72^nd in overall level of health according to the World Health Organization (WHO).  And yet in the past weeks and months the far right has succeeded somehow in scaring the public into questioning the very basis for universal health care.  The reality is not why, but how.  Real reform will be a simple, single payer system, just as Medicare is a government run single payer system.  To appease the Republicans, Obama crafted a public option in addition to existing private health care as a compromise solution.  But rather than see this as a bi-partisan compromise, the right has refused to even consider any public option at all and has somehow painted even that as a commie-socialist conspiracy.

How have they managed to do such a thing?  They do so by generating a bottomless pit of false allegations that are broadcast so widely and rapidly that it becomes a full time job to refute.  They have taken Obama’s honest and sincere desire to work in a bi-partisan manner and sabotaged it by stalling in Congress with phony compromise legislation that now turns out was disingenuous from the start as

they never intended to pass any health care reform whatsoever. They do so by appealing to the  relatively small right wing fanatical fringe  (considerably further to the right of John McCain) who feel that all government is intrinsically evil and have seized on this issue as their latest rallying cry.  These right wing nuts have managed to organize themselves well and swooped down on the town hall meetings that many congressmen and women have been holding to discuss the issues in good faith and get input on how best to structure the reforms.  They are not there to contribute or exchange in dialog but rather to disrupt and discredit, making a mockery of the process as well as fools of themselves.  By manufacturing what appears like a grass roots movement they have intimidated the media into providing them a disproportionate voice.  At the recent town hall meeting of our local congressman, Tim Bishop, these anti government protestors were certainly out in force.  But the local media coverage (e.g., Newsday) only seemed to hear their voices when in fact there were probably more but better behaved supporters of health care reform present.    The media’s role is not so innocent here, however. During the eight year reign under Bush-Cheney, liberal voices of dissent were always marginalized, sometimes with the encouragement and cooperation of the administration.  For example, the administration made a habit of only talking with groups of pre-screened supporters and if someone with differing views managed to slip by and get to ask a tough question they would be escorted out with little or no media recognition.