"Give Me My America Back"

I was watching the Daily Show the other day when I saw a clip of a recent town hall debate on health care reform. A woman held the microphone and, while sobbing, pleaded, “This is not my America. I don’t know what you’ve done with my America, but I want my America back! Give me my America back!” As Jon Stewart quipped in reply, "Go tell that to the Indians." To see the actual crazy person-ahem...excuse me-crazy citizen, click here. The aforementioned clip begins around the 1:10 mark.

Obviously, she didn’t want “socialized” medicine, “government death panels,” “hostile government takeovers of our entire health care system,” or whatever else Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck or any other Fox News talking head had been telling her the President’s reform measures would bring.

My question immediately was, “What and where is this America that she was talking about?”

The root of her fear, it seemed was that the government would invade every facet of our daily lives and ruin all that is good with “her America.” Fear of the government, as the Great Beesh would tell you, is a very healthy thing. But, fear based on blatant misinformation can be completely destructive.

Now, I don’t know this woman. I don’t know what her exact political views are. But, I think it wouldn’t be too irrational to assume that she longs for the days of Republican/George Bush power. Power that brought warrantless wiretapping, secret CIA prisons across the globe, torture, Dick Cheney and Halliburton tomfoolery, waterboarding, even more torture, the Patriot Act and the politically-motivated firing of US attorneys.

Programs and acts, it appears to me, expand government’s role far, far more than a public option so forty million of Crying Woman’s fellow citizens can proceed without fear of being tossed into financial ruin because of a broken health care system.

These programs fly in the face of the sacred document each President swears to uphold. Those are forgotten, though, when a Democrat takes office. Bigger government role in social programs? Nay…it is socialism, we’re told.

Fear, when kept in check, is a healthy thing. The fear of the Lord, for example. But fear of Uncle Sam in a SWAT team outfit kicking your door in and killing your grandmother because she is unproductive is destroying democracy.

In a blog written by my man Bob, he tells that it’s time to get back to school, where you don’t speak unless you raise your hand and are acknowledged. If I had shouted down Shannon Jones in third grade like some of these “grassroots protesters” (sarcasm implied), I would’ve been strung up…literally. It’s about respect…respect for the Constitution, respect for your fellow man, and respect for the democratic process…all things that are a part of “My America.”

This woman’s? I’m not so sure.

***For a much better and more well-written response to this video and sentiment, visit THIS blog.