I think I just threw up a little...

Sarah Palin has taken her one woman clown show to Facebook. Yes, that's right. Facebook. She has her own official Facebook page and on that page she has a note. A note, in Facebook parlance, is a lot like a blog posting.

In this note she says the following:
"And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."

This is fear mongering at its worst. Apparently, Palin resigned as Governor of Alaska (a position her Facebook page says she still holds) so she would have no restraints on her speech. No more worries about being politically safe. Now she's free to say whatever she wants. In appears that she's setting herself up to join the ranks of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity.

This incessant talk of government rationing of health care really pisses me off. We already have rationing of health care. It's called those who can't afford to pay, don't get the care they need.  

You want to talk evil? Let's talk about an insurance company that refuses to pay $6,000 for care for your premature infant because this days old infant has a preexisting condition.  As if a newborn could have a preexisting condition. 

The system we have is broken. Completely and totally broken. Yet the health care industry has such deep pockets that they're able to buy pundits and congressman alike. They in turn strive to stir up fear and we end up with shouting matches at town halls across the country. And outright lies from the likes of Sarah Palin.

The Right don't want rational discourse. What they want is power. If the only way they can regain that power is through violence, I think they're is okay with that. I'm afraid of where all the rhetoric and fear mongering is going to lead. 

Sarah Palin seems to be right in the thick of it once again. For the life of me I cannot see what people see in her. I happen to know two people who are supporters on Palin's Facebook page.  They're smart, educated women who, in their heart of hearts, think I'm the one who is deluded. 

I can't discuss with them about anything remotely resembling politics. We simply don't have a common basis to start such a discussion. The assumptions that we begin with are so diametrically opposed that it's simply not possible to engage them in calm, rational discourse. 

If I can't talk to people I know about this kind of thing, how can I connect someone I've never met? The utter disconnect that's present in this "dialog" on health care seems insurmountable. Neither side is willing to seek middle ground. The loudest voices on both sides deride and denigrate their counterparts and nothing of substance is said. 

I'm afraid for this country. The talking points and vitrol that spew forth on the airwaves remind in me no small part of the build up to the Civil War.  If those invested in maintaining the status quo keep the fires of discontent burning bright, I fear that we will find ourselves enmeshed in an increasingly dangerous and violent atmosphere that will push us to the brink of destruction. 

Hope seems a rare commodity in this climate.

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