Responsibilty

The Devil made me do it.

There are none so blind as those who will not see.

Half truths can equal whole lies.

   If everyone is required to have health insurance, purchasing it on the open market, companies will find ways to make it profitable. So why is the GOP bastion of private enterprise opposing a business opportunity?

   A  favorite tactic used by those who are losing arguments is to blame opponents for failing to grasp the truth and logic of their positions. They blame others for their own losses and failings. It's never their fault. It's always someone else's responsibility.
   It's a variation of the Big Lie technique. Say something long enough, loud enough, to enough people, while out-talking or shouting down those who disagree and eventually -- as people hear no other message -- they begin to believe it.
   Shouting down the opposition doesn't make what you say true.
   Chanting relentlessly a political position that favors a minority at the expense of the majority -- for example, "The people don't want health insurance" -- doesn't make it true.
   Moreover, news media share blame as they provide platforms for a mouthy minority to broadcast their chant without challenge.

   The techniques of rhetoric can be learned; they can also be abused.
   Half truths can equal whole lies, especially when important parts are left out.
For example, saying that UPS dropped spousal health care insurance, as Sen. Ted Cruz did on a TV interview program Sunday, is only partly true. The company did do so, but only for those spouses who are working and have their own policies through their own employers. The company can thus avoid duplication.

   As the nation hurtles toward a government shutdown at midnight, both sides blame the other for the pending disaster, claiming inaction by the other party is responsible for lack of a vote on raising the debt ceiling, approving a federal budget and funding national health care reform.
   Reality check: The health care reform measure was passed by Congress, signed by President and approved by the Supreme Court months ago. It is, in fact, law. Yet the House of Representatives, led by a small cadre of arch-conservatives, has voted more than 40 times to overturn it, knowing that such votes are futile. Even so, they hold the entire federal government hostage by refusing to deal with the debt ceiling and the federal budget unless they get their way.
   Some ransom demand.

   Here's something to keep in mind. The law stipulates that everyone have health insurance. But they are to buy it on the open market. Those who already have medical insurance policies, including those on Medicare and Medicaid, are not affected.    
   The problem with those who continue to talk long and loud long after the argument has been lost is that they antagonize others, who soon stop listening, and the talkers are marginalized.
   Except when the news media continue to provide microphones and cameras for demagogues. But that's what demagogues do; they are skillful manipulators of the media, and well talented in the techniques of persuasion.
   
   Universal health care does work, and is essential to society. To claim otherwise, holding the entire nation hostage just to get your way is irresponsible.