Denver-based editorial cartoonist Ed Stein has some interesting things to say about why people are opposing reform that would be in their own self interest:
I shouldn’t be any more, but I’m still surprised when people argue vehemently against their own self-interest. The health care debate has taken this disconnect to new levels. The states that seem to have the strongest polling against health care reform are those where people would be helped most by the reforms. The arguments I hear tend to be more political than practical, involving deep suspicion of government in general and Obama in particular, fear of some sort of socialist takeover of the economy, and the truly loony equation of health care reform with Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
I've seen a several political humour bits that echo his thought that opposition to health care policy reform is less about policy and more about politics.
Certainly, there are many protesters who have gotten quite personal in attacking the President rather than the bill itself. It's impossible to look into men's hearts and minds and separate out political power motives and party allegiance from true concerns about legislation. If we could create an alternate universe where John McCain had won and went on to propose similar legislation, it would be fascinating to see if the same people would be opposing reform.
What do you think? While you're pondering the heavy question, take a peek at these funny bits from Saturday Night Live and satirical website The Onion.
Class Four - Comedians take on Unions, Immigration and Health Care
It's time once again for the funny bits. Sure, these are serious issues, but American popular culture folks love to poke fun at everything.
Stephen Colbert's staff over at Comedy Central's The Colbert Report has assembled a medley of pieces he's done on labor unions. You can check it out here.
Have you ever seen The Onion? It's an elaborate parody newspaper and website with satirical video news reports dubbed ONN - Onion News Network. Writers have produced several humor pieces on immigration, which you can view here, here, and here. They also did a piece in which an illegal immigrant from Mexico replaces a Lucent Technology executive because he's willing to work for less:
I discovered a site that compiles clips from various places, metacafe.com. Here are two commercials on the site labeled funny - health insurance:
Perhaps we should have a class in the future that just focuses on social/political issues in commercials! Then again, maybe not...
Have you seen any amusing takes on the subjects of immigration, healthcare, or labor unions? It's time for show and tell! Click on the comments and share.
Exploring the boundaries of planet Earth while raising two very excellent Earthlings. In search of the perfect caprese salad. Gravitating toward warm, swim-worthy bodies of water.
