I am beginning to wonder: is the media the greater protester of the health care reform proposed by President Obama?  I observed a couple of things over the last two days as newscasters salivated over the antics performed by the birthers, tea partiers and fringe Republican party members at various town hall meetings and at least one meeting that had nothing to do with health care.  The protesters have admitted  that they aren’t interest in health care reform, yet most networks showed only those meetings where there was the worst in human behavior, happily scanning the crowd for signs bearing images of Hitler, ignoring coverage of the town hall meetings where there was actual discourse.  In one instance they even showed a woman(black) being shuttled out of a meeting as though she was one of the overbearing protesters, when in actual fact she was just defending her property from an angry man (Anglo) who snatched her Rosa Parks poster from her and ripped it up While the Wall Street Journal  frets over President Obama’s attention to detail, the fringers are looking for an outlet for their rage, and if the angry noise is not ratcheted down, there will be blood.

Out of context mediabytes have been rushed to the TV and monitor screens, with some networks not bothering to recant or correct misspoken commentary(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ab2ZNaJUqo)  against at least two congresspersons when their actions at two meetings were aired out of context. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/13/rick-sanchez-battles-rep_n_259059.html)  According to CNN interviews, Congressman Scott was in a meeting having nothing to do with health care when verbally accosted by the mob of protesters who thought it was a town hall meeting, after which a swastika was painted on his office sign.    Jackson-Lee and Rick Sanchez went head to head because he did not seem to understand that the phone call she was on was one that she’d made to get an answer to the question the woman with cancer had asked.    Lee stated that she’d told the group she was calling to get an answer, but apparently she did not speak loud enough, she said.  She also said that she and the woman spoke afterwards, they cleared the misunderstanding and she had even invited her to Washington.

What’s stopping the media from choosing to provide the general public with a clear understanding of what the health care reform bill really says?  Why can’t they simply tell the public what the latest iteration does and does not say?  Why keep fanning the flames of misunderstanding and anger, when all they have to do is state the facts?  It seems that most media who have control of the mike have become commentators, so when Sarah Palin releases more erroneous nonsense on her Facebook page, why not let people know that her views are completely inaccurate?

Perhaps it’s because at the end of the day, US media is corporate owned and operated.   The reality is that with the economic downturn, combined with the ongoing ratings wars that translate into winning or losing ad dollars, the networks can’t afford to lose the pharmaceutical ads.  Viagra and Cialis ads are just too valuable to risk losing to something as insignificant as the country’s need for real health care reform.  To date, I have seen only one journalist – Rick Sanchez – make an attempt to explain the health care reform to the general public, and even that program was aired in the morning on CNNI versus CNN.  And NBC?  According to leaked e-mails, CNBC went to the tea partiers looking for a good fight to put on tape.   How is that even remotely a part of responsible journalism? To the credit of a few who still seem to be works in progress as journalists, Katie Couric spoke out on the matter of the bully tactics of the so-called protesters and Rachel Maddow went head to head with Dick Arney on  Sunday

sMeet the Press. One of his comments about control struck me.  "We have lost control"-- if you stop right there, that is the real issue of the birthers, tea partiers, and right wing fringers. The notion that "they" have lost control of America and that they want "their America" back is the key and will continue to throw these temper tantrums until they have their way.  At least that seems to be the plan.  

There is a segment of the US population that has been waiting for an excuse to justify being really angry (they want “their America back” it seems) The truth is this was never really “their America “– the only real Americans in this country are Native Indians, the rest of us are descendants of the uninvited guests who ran over the true owners of this country and/or were kidnapped and brought here to create the America they say they own.  These right wing fringers are grabbing their collective guns and trying to figure out how to justify shooting whomever they think is in their way.  Their “America” is a country that is not presided over by a President who is of color and African American descent and as much as most would rather not believe, it’s what this is really all about.  When will Republicans follow Jack Kemp's example and put God and country before political party and stop the town hall bullying? It’s not likely to happen.  They are still stuck on the wrong strategy of bringing some white knight on a horse who will save them all.  So they will remain disengaged, hoping that the dissenters will create enough chaos to make you think that at least it was quieter when they were in charge. 

The White House Administration takes some responsibility for all of this as well by allowing the lies and misinformation lay out there in the public view for way too long before responding.  They are way overdue in taking a firmer, more aggressive position with Congress, even though there may be some fallout.  And then there’s that pharma handshake that needs much more clarity and explanation.  We just want a complete truth, after all.

Even though the “partiers” are continuing to sing their song of insanity, the media does little to assuage their continued mantra.   This mob of tea partiers admits that they aren't really there to protest health care reform. Their goal is simply to undermine EVERY bill President Obama wants passed. They are the avid supporters of the party of "NO", no matter who those "NOs" hurt. All the allegations, lies and name calling is intended to scare the general public into believing that there must be something wrong, since THEY are protesting it, no matter what "it" is. We live in a country where the media has been a perfect ally in development of the black man stereotype -- you know, if one or more black man is involved, something must be wrong, or some sort of evil is lurking. So we have the unending search to find something, anything wrong with our President, exacerbated by the constant name calling, the "isms" when the only real "ism" that is accurate is the racism perpetrated by those calling the names.

There is an iteration, in easy to understand format that pares the House Bill down to a 35 page overview.   For those seriously interested in talking to their congress representatives about health care reform, I would suggest you give it a read, and then write down what you have concerns about and let them know what you want.  Or you can continue to sit on the sidelines and let the tea partiers, right wing fringers and Sarah Palin speak for you by proxy.   How’s that working for you?