BIGOTRY

with regard to the virulent, irrational and downright twisted attacks on the adminstration's health care proposals, and in particular on the president's every word and move, WHY IS NO ONE STATING THE OBVIOUS -- rabid claims of obama's being everything from a socialist to a nazi are nothing but thinly disguised RACISM. if it were a republican making these proposals, the heavens would part and we would hear the sound of harps and trumpets -- just as it took a republican president, richard m. nixon, to finally establish relations with communist china, when such overtures by a democratic president would have resulted in his/her being tarred and feathered.

yes, i know that obama was elected by a significant majority. so what? the electorate was (and remains) in a state of shock and disgust over the excesses of the bush presidency, and in a rare fit of good sense, sent an intelligent and progressive man to the white house ... only to realize after the fact that "OMG, he's black !! he can't possibly have anything positive to contribute to the status quo."

i am sickened by the recent display of slander, lies and deceit by conservative politicians, talk show hosts and right wing wackos. the orchestrated torpedoing of public debate by organized screamers and liars drives me to homicidal ideation. is this the most enlightened discourse to which we can aspire in a democratic republic?

and where are the democrats? i've often thought of republicans as corrupt, and democrats as inept. i've seen nothing to dissuade me from this perception in recent days.

and the corporate media? utterly disgraceful --"reporting" on cheap hyperbole, rather than on the meat of the issue. i can only smile bitterly when i hear the term "liberal media". in the u.s. what passes for news has always been filtered through a conservative bias so effectively as to be nearly useless. anyone who believes in that particular red herring is either barking mad or deliberately delusional.

i believe barack obama to be an honorable, immensely intelligent and deeply perceptive man. i believe that the health care system in this country is driven by greed and profit, not by the desire to foster health. the u.s. has the most abyssmal health care system in the industrialized world, with the highest infant mortality rate, the highest incidence of "accidental" death in hospitals, the highest incidence of morbid obesity among both adults and children, and the poorest response to those in dire need. whether we're talking about pharmaceutical companies, health insurance companies, hospitals, physicians, or any other arm of the for-profit system, the result is the same -- pay or die.

i can only hope that wiser, more thoughtful heads will prevail in this and other debates. the years since the reagan era have been ugly enough. it is long past time that we started to gather our wits and rationally plan for a sustainable future for our children, and for the planet which sustains us. the time is NOW.