Maddow on RW extremists behaving badly--and terroristically.

As she often does, Maddow covers this issue about as comprehensively and soberly as I think can be done. When I hear this "revolution" language, this "Civil War" language, this "reload" language (that is from Sarah Palin--who has gone from accusing then-candidate Obama of "palling around with terrorists", to practically inciting terrorists) from political leaders--I think they aren't being especially responsible.

What they've done in this health care debate is ginned-up accusations of "death panels" and "fascism" and "backroom deals" and "socialism" and "novel innovations" in legislative procedure: and every single bit of it is cynical, hypocritical, and above all, untrue. The death panel lie was nothing more than a right to coverage for consultation about patient preference for their end-of-life--they could say "hook me up 'til the judgement trump!" just as easily as say they don't want heroic measures. The "death panel" thing was a lie. And rationing--well, goddamn! We already have that from corporate health care, which is for-profit and has more incentive to watch the bottom-line than a public system would--and for that matter--we aren't talking about a government takeover of health care because there is no public option--which means anyone who calls this socialistic is a dumb ass! Also--I can't even figure out how expanding health insurance availability to, for example, covering kids who might have been screwed because of "pre-existing conditions" is comparable to Nazi Germany--so anyone who is going there should hope they get better mental health coverage under Obamacare--because they need it! And the backroom deals are getting stripped out mostly in reconciliation and the so-called innovations like "deem and pass"--that didn't even get used! Are by no means novel.


So people are riled up to the point of terrorism because of lies. Some might think they are patriots for undermining the civil order--because of lies. And people might even get hurt because of lies--and this is not acceptable. What the congress-critters and other political hacks types might see as rhetorical flourishes are being taken literally. That is definitely when you need to quit it for the common good if you have any decency in you. That's when you need to own the truth and get real. Because first of all--what you do in government has real-world consequences, and if you don't know that--you don't belong there. But secondly, you need to care about the people you serve enough to serve them well--even if that means giving them truths they don't want to hear, and even if it means you lose some of your base--its better to be right. That is leadership--not cheerleadership. Not forming a cult of personality--just doing your damn job.