There is so much to say about the speech last week to the joint session of Congress. And while Joe Wilson was inappropriate, I can certainly understand the frustration of listening to liars lie to the point that you just HAVE to call them on it. Much has been written already, so I won’t restate it here. I just want to make one point. Obama’s constant and completely inappropriate use of the Sucker’s Choice ploy.
In the midst of the speech last week he said, “Everyone in this room knows what will happen if we do nothing.” He has repeated that phrase often. Earlier this week he said, “I will not accept that we simply do nothing.” NO ONE HAS EVER SUGGESTED THAT WE DO NOTHING. Read the book Crucial Conversations and see what I mean. He puts that straw man up there as if the Republicans are saying that we should do nothing. Are you aware that there are SEVERAL bills pending that have been proposed by the Republican side of the aisle? Take a look at HR 3400 was introduced on 7/30/09. Yet Obama outright lied (as the SC congressman pointed out in the middle of his speech on the issue of illegal immigrants getting free health care) when he said earlier this week that the Republicans have not submitted any proposals. The man is a pathological liar! I am certain that if he were put to a lie detector test regarding the lies he has told, he would pass. He actually believes what he is saying. He is so narcissistic that he knows he is anointed.
He is correct that doing nothing is inappropriate. But we are not faced with a choice of either/or. There are more than two solutions on the table. And doing nothing is NOT one of them. He poses it as if he is a huckster sales man – “Do you want the blue one or the green one?” Who said I wanted one at all? And blue or green are not the only choices.
Yes – we need to reform health care. It’s been in need of reform for some time. There are disincentives to the insurance companies; there is a lack of competition across state lines; having 51 different regulatory bodies for one industry makes no sense; the billing process is a fraud; and doctors are going broke from malicious tort lawyers getting rich. Just to name a few. The choice is NOT, as Obama suggests in his continuing campaign of fear mongering, simply between doing nothing and having a full government takeover. There are many, many other options. But the ruling party has issued its edict – agree with us or be a Nazi (as Nancy Pelosi has called the protestors). Once again, those are not the only two choices. Things aren’t always black or white. There are many shades of grey.
