There’s on old Chinese saying, "May you live in interesting times." And, certainly, no one could argue that these aren’t interesting times. They’re some of the most interesting times of my life and, personally, I love it . . . non-stop political campaigns, international intrigue, amazing personalities, mind-boggling technological advances, break-through medical advances, and, well, unforgiving relentless change. I’ll admit, though, that, while I find all this very exciting and challenging, many people are petrified at the thought of change.
I honestly believe many of the people who lost their cool about universal health care during the recent town hall meetings did so out of fear, rather than any prejudice they may or may not harbor. How many sound bites showed senior citizens hysterical about the government getting into their lives while equally concerned that universal health care will somehow affect their Medicare benefits. You can’t overlook the irony.
Former President Jimmy Carter is a great American, but his comments about these people being motivated by racism is a gross overstatement. After all, President Barack Obama was black when he was elected.
That said, many people were deliberately panicked by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, ad nauseam, who have been poisoning the public with their hate-filled lies and mean-spirited half truths, passing it off as real "news." What’s more, they do it for the ratings, which brings in huge revenues to make them richer. Trust me, if he were alive, Ronald Reagan would tell you these aren’t his conservative Republicans!
The lunatics that continue to question the President’s birth right, the politicians who claim the health care plan includes "death panels" when they know better, and the wackos who show up at Presidential visits with guns and rifles strapped to their bodies are abusing their right of freedom of speech and destroying the opportunity for genuine free speech dialogue in the process. They say they’re defending their right to bear arms, but no one’s threatening to take away our Second Amendment rights!
We need to tune out and turn off these people who are getting super wealthy spreading hatred and division in this country. And we need to demand that our politicians work together for the good of the country, rather than sell us out so they can get rich, get reelected, and control power for themselves and their cronies. This is the "change" President Barack Hussein Obama promised, and its the "change" a substantial majority of Americans voted for. Shame on the people who deliberately undermine this "change" for their own personal gain at a low point in our country when we so desperately need our leaders to work together for real solutions and for the future of our children! Jim Schmitt, Editor and Publisher (Editor's Note: In an NBC-TV Today Show interview, aired over three days, November 9, 12, 13, Rush Limbaugh confirmed as stated in this editorial that he did his radio show for the love of money, not for the love of politics or the spirit of debate. ”My audience, my ratings,” Limbaugh replied when asked who he does his show for. “For ratings, I will admit it. Let me shock the world right here on NBC. I am doing my show for ratings. I want the largest audience I can get because that’s how I can charge the highest advertising rates. Which means what else do I want? Money,” Limbaugh said while vehemintly denying that he was the voice of the Republican Party,)