Wednesday 16 September 2009

rebuke and ridicule


Enjoying extrapolating my own news stories out of a double-quick-time crawl of headlines, I am not so sure what to make of the name-calling and bruised egoes. Apparently in response to Obama voicing his shared-assessment of a performance artist who interrupted a certainly reflexive and self-referential awards ceremony--the president called him a jack-ass, a member of congress called Obama a liar, though not in defense of the performance artist, and was dealt the first official rebuke of the congressional branch. Ever. There's something wanting about the punchline and the delivery, but it is certainly a counter-balance to the un-funny and incredible chrous of fear-mongering that accompanies the headlines. The spectre of socialized medicine, the public option has become so demonized, I wonder what demographic is polled in support of these claims. NHS is a sinister government ministry of euthanasia, so I understand. Public health care in France contributed to the death of Princess Diana. Now illegal immigrants can receive socialized health care... It's a slippery slope to marxism.