Health care, schmealth care!

I hope I’m not showing my partisanship too much when I say I find it harder to complain about politics since Barack Obama has become president. He’s been in office three months short of a year if you can believe that. The BBC America homepage informed me it’s already been a year since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. This is one of the many things that got us into the economic mess we’re in now. It arguably propelled Obama to the presidency.

Turning on any news program this summer seemed to lead to one of two things. Democrats hailing the president and Republicans demonizing him. Thank your respective gods for the return of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report after a three week hiatus. Yes, I am a journalism student and my favorite news anchors are comedians. The real anchors have become nothing but jokes.

We have a president who constantly speaks of bipartisanship, so why is it every so called respected person in politics is choosing sides like cliques in a high school lunch room? It’s like watching Revenge of the Nerds or one of the terrible sequels.

Obama’s health care address to congress was a great example of this behavior. The Republican’s, or as I like to call them; the Stubborn Party just sat there looking mean while the Dem.’s sprung up like whack-a-moles every time the president opened his mouth. America is built on dissenting opinions but come on; Obama even got John McCain to smile during the address. Let the record show McCain has the smile of an elderly, pedophile, jack-o-lantern but it was a sincere one.

How is it the Republican’s have become so good at the things they used to hate the Democrats for doing? No one ever yelled ‘You lie,’ during a George W. Bush address, except for me of coarse. I mean old George practically had ‘I’m a liar’ tattooed on his forehead. In 2007 Rep. Wilson’s outburst would’ve been called treason by Sean Hannity.

They’re even better at protesting then the Dem.’s were! Or they are at least as good at it; holding up signs of Obama portrayed as Hitler as Bush was previously. If it feels like I’m repeating myself here it’s because I said the same things when I wrote about Obama’s first 100 days in office four months ago. Basically mass political polarization is getting us nowhere slow. The real truth is if you ask everyday citizens for their views they are not nearly as extreme.

Our political representatives are setting a bad example for our country and portraying a less then admirable image to our peers across the globe. They are behaving like children.

There is nothing Obama can do to please the right. It’s amazing how the same people who admonished dissent for Bush on 9/12 are so quick to adopt what have been deemed liberal practices for so long. Great job Republicans, you’ve become everything you hated for so long.

Now as a journalism student I’ve been working hard to look at both sides of these things. The Democrats have also become everything they’ve hated for so long, the president’s patsies. Obama is like every Dem.’s cool black friend.

Everybody needs to grow up! Of coarse race is a factor in this political environment. Former Prez. Jimmy Carter knows this saying, “There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president.” It’s amazing how Obama dodges questions of his race whenever they come up. It’s a shame Carter is being admonished for his remarks.

To believe racism doesn’t play a role is just plain ignorant. I’m not calling the Republican Party racist, don’t get it twisted. I mean the party chairman is Michael Steele after all. But try telling the African-Americans whom were viciously beaten by white McCain supporters after the election results were broadcast that racism isn’t an issue.

Alright, let’s switch gears. No one else will tackle the race factor and I’m not about to be the one to do it. How about the hot topic crises of the day; healthcare?

I’m so glad Obama held the address and outright debunked pretty much all of the lies being passed around by the right. There has yet to be a perfect answer to this problem but Obama has offered a plausible solution.

In this debate there is also a need for collaboration amongst our congressmen. Obama is correct when he says we are the only one of our peers who does not practice national health care. It has worked arguably well in other countries.

Canada for example has what’s called a two tier system similar to the one Obama has in mind. Some people have private insurance and the rest have public health care. The two ends compete and those with private insurance receive arguably better care. However, everyone is still covered. One would argue this would be a step in the right direction. Of coarse it is truly hard to compare the U.S. and Canada if you factor in the population difference.

The Obama bill may not be flawless but congress is not being helpful. Our congressmen are allowing their party lines to define them more than the people they represent. The way things are going nothing will be solved.