God, Guns, Gays...and Health Care?

One of the non-surprises politically of the summer was the plaintiff wail from the red states and the conservative Christian right over health care reform.

You really have to hand it to Republicans though. When they have a cause, no matter how outlandish or wrong or detrimental to the nation or themselves, they can organize and spread propaganda with surgical precision. (Pun intended.) It still amazes me though how middle of the road people from the middle of the country with middle class "values" (whatever that means) can vote for, support, and be led towards something that is inherently against their best interests.

That is where the genius of the republican fear mongering machine lies. Getting impressionable people who may be reasonable in other aspects of their lives to rile against something that not only is against their deeply held religious beliefs, (helping the poor, treating thy neighbor as you would yourself, etc. etc.), but against their own physical and economic health is something truly cultish.

Drinking this form of Kool-Aid has some circular logic to it of course. The law-makers on the right and in the "blue", have their own horse in the race. That is keeping their job. Or, more bluntly: getting the money to campaign effectively to get votes to keep their job. The Kool-Aid in the form of millions of dollars being poured into the laps of these politicians is being passed down and distributed from those who have the most to lose: the insurance companies. And the deluge of sugar water finds its way into the talking points of the politicians (as far back as the 60's with Reagan, backed by the AMA), to the pundits and repeated over and over again in these "town hall" meetings. (I put "town hall" in quotes because they are actually just staged, scripted , shout fests designed to show up on Fox News to demonstrate the so called conscience of the nation.) So in essence, this comes back to not just health care reform, but the root problem of campaign finance reform. But I will address that glaring problem in our democracy at another time.

In previous election cycles whenever the GOP wanted to distract the base into voting against their best interests they went back to their tried and true forms of fear. God, Guns, and Gays. "Fear the atheists from the north, they are trying to erode your values with their liberalism!" Or the more familiar screed from another Kool-Aid mixer, The NRA, that the government wants to take your guns, then your liberty, then your life away. The slippery slope doctrine. Or that homosexuals are going to come into your communities and turn your children gay and maybe even (gasp!) get married!

But in this premature election cycle (The right's attempt to bring down a keystone policy and campaign promise from the newly elected democratic president in order to make gains in the 2010 mid-term election) it has been about something more than slippery slopes and unsubstantiated fear. We have been sliding down this slope for a long time now. Not only is our physical health at stake (for all of us, the insured or non-insured) but our national fiscal health is at stake as well.

This is where the true hypocrisy of the republican party shows through to those who are not blinded by Rush and Hannity and can think for themselves. When it came time for the Iraq war, and the huge cost of both our blood and treasure that would ensue, or tax cuts for the richest Americans who didn't need it, or the bailouts of the financial industry (both for the Bush and Obama administrations) there was hardly any outcry about the ballooning deficit. And there was certainly no outcry from the right for the more than $800 Billion prescription drug bill that did little more than reduce competition and put even more money into hands of pharmaceutical companies and the insurance industry while putting Medicare at risk of insolvency for later generations. Ask your Senior citizen relatives if they got any real benefit out of that bloated "government program" orchestrated by the ever fiscally conservative republicans.

All of the misinformation about "Death Panels" and "health care rationing" not to mention the illegal immigrant "lie", is just smoke and mirrors to protect a pol's job. It's the machinery that keeps the pundits and tea party goers with something to talk about and distract even them from something that is for the betterment of society, and yes, even themselves! In the "Me" world of conservatism, you would think comprehensive health care reform would serve both the needs of serving oneself and adhering to those Christian tenants they are so quick to quote but rarely adhere to.

So what this really comes down to is self preservation. For the politicians that is. Not the 18,000 people who will die this year because they don't have health coverage. Or the countless others who will die from being denied coverage from their insurance companies. These politicians have taken all the money they are receiving and directed it to telling people that you don't need something that can assure you that you won't go bankrupt and lose your house (or your life) if you get sick or lose your job. Spending money on far away wars that proved to be unnecessary is fine, but getting something tangible that can make a difference in your life, well, that is unacceptable and worth screaming on national television over. Whatever the fiscal costs may or may not be.

If these same people who fear the eroding of their moral religious values, and the restrictions on their beloved guns, and the infiltration of gays into their "straight" society would have that same fear over something that can actually destroy their lives, we would have had health care 16 years ago. No one is going to go bankrupt over a gay couple moving in down the street. No one is going to die from not getting proper care because you have to wait for a background check on the next gun you want to purchase. And whatever religious values you hold dear will not be affected by your neighbor having access to the same health care you do.

Maybe what democrats need to do is start feeding into these same fears in the same way the GOP does. It seems to be the only thing people know or respond to.

Damon Alexander is a freelance writer who lives in NYC.