Americans are better than that by Jennifer Hill

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Americans are better than that

by Jennifer Hill | 21, Add your Comment | Sep 10, 2009

We Americans love to pat ourselves on the back about the smooth transition of government following elections and lauding it, rightly, as evidence of the strength of democracy in action. Presidential campaigns could be hard fought, but when the dust settled and votes were counted, we as Americans, because we respected the office, respected the man who was president. It is a basic lesson most of us have taught our children — you don’t have to agree with someone, but you respect them as an individual and a fellow human being.

Republican Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina shouts as President Barack Obama addresses a joint session of Congress on Sept. 9, 2009

I have watched in appalled wonder recently as adults behaved badly in public meetings on health care and wondered what kind of example they felt they were setting for their children about how to resolve conflicts. Until this summer, I thought such behavior was reserved for sports arenas at best or street mobs at worst.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about how the United States must appear to the rest of the world. Only nine months ago, we were being admired around the world for the progressive leadership we showed in electing the first African-American president. How do we look now I wonder? What do Jews around the world and others who felt the real life oppression and deadly cruelty of the Nazi government, think when people here call the president Hitler because they disagree with him politically? What do Afghans think as they await the recount of their recent election as Americans — both private citizens and elected representatives — unhappy with their own election’s results, turn to lies, distortion and disruption, at every turn.

Last night’s indecorous display by Rep. Joe Wilson from South Carolina, reached new lows. I was embarrassed for Wilson and my country. We are better than that.

Image credit: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images / Time

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Jennifer Hill

Jennifer Hill is the communications director at a private school in Atlanta. She is a former editor and reporter for The Atlanta Journal and Constition, where she worked in business news and features. She and her two sons live in Avondale Estates, Georgia.

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Brenden

I really don’t understand this petulant line of argumentation. Because Bush wasted X dollars on Y failed gov’t initiative, Obama has the right to match that failed expenditure and regulation on another failed program. Too many of you here think I come to this site to defend George W. Bush’s legislative record. I do not. He did a lot of bad stuff. I think the time is right to roll up the carpets in Afghanistan and Iraq if the political leadership is not willing to suffer the bad publicity that it will take for the job to be done correctly; if you want to win the war sometimes you must bomb the village. End the war on drugs, OK by me. Let’s pass those free trade deals to Columbia while we’re at it.

But in light of all the mismanagement you referenced, why do you think now is the time for an expensive and intrusive gov’t misadventure into our bodies? What about the history of gov’t welfare programs leads you to the conclusion that this will costlessly benefit the entire country? What about Obama’s college lecturer and community organizer past leads you to believe he has any expertise in healthcare? What about the Democrat plundering Congressional leadership leads you to believe they could be honest brokers of anything? What is their record on exposing and preventing waste, fraud and abuse? Your utter faith in the honest of Democrat leadership seems to me based entirely on the partisan label — the GOP is no better, most likely. This strikes me as painfully naive. I’m not here crying partisan foul play. I just don’t want the federal gov’t under any administration controlling the healthcare system in this country.

You’re absolutely wrong about this: “Also, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if private insurance companies endured lower profit margins by making access to their products available to more people (people who will be paying premiums), a portion of those who are considered a potential drag to the bottom line.” The gov’t allows these monopolies to exist by preventing interstate competition. If you take away their monopolist profit, then they will simply go out of business and force all their policy holders onto the public system.

That’s where you all are so far off on the opposition movement in this country. It’s about Constitutional limits, promoting free enterprise and the private relationship between patients and doctors. It’s not an entirely partisan movement. It’s about fundemental principles of right and wrong.

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