29. The Party of Parrots

Yesterday I read an opinion piece regarding Obama's recent troubles getting legislation through Congress, especially his health care bill. After completing the article, I continued on and read many of the comments posted by other readers. Not surprisingly I read the same comments I've read many times before from other articles. The comments come from what I now call "The Parrots." A parrot, usually a leftist, is one who continually repeats the same phrase over and over without understanding what he or she says or even why he or she says it. Yet, repeat it they do.

The first parrot phrase I've found is that the Republican Party is the "Party of 'No'." Since conservatives reject Obama's socialistic agenda they have been encouraging their Congress men and women to vote against these policies. Of course, that vote would be "No." Do these same parrots see Democrats as the party of "Yes?" Hmmm.... Whenever conservatives try to push legislation for choice in education, allowing poorer parents the same priveleges to send their children to private schools as the rich, what does the left say? "No, No, No, No, No!!!"

What about privatization of Social Security? If you read my article "Jack Makes An Investment" you'll discover that privatization would conservatively lead to retirement benefits five to ten times greater than the current government controlled program. What has the left said about such a change? "No, No, No, No, No!"

These are just two examples of the supposed "Yes Party" stomping their feet, taking their shoes off, beating them on their tables and shouting, "No, No, No!" But does that stop the parrots from assigning that label to conservatives? Well, um... no, it doesn't.

The second label used against conservatives is that we are the "Haters." Hate, hate, hate - that's all we do on the right, we hate everyone and everything, well, at least according to the parrots. If anyone disagrees with any policy in any way of Obama's - they are a hater. No discussion, no debate, no give and take - just hate. Hmmm...... let me think, what did the left call George W. Bush? Nazi, Stupid, Racist...... I guess I just don't feel the love there. Sounds like hate to me.

Jesse Jackson has made a career spewing hate by calling people racists. Harvard professor Henry Gates was quick to decry his arresting officer as a racist. What about Obama's "Green Czar" Van Jones, saying "they [Republicans] are a**holes?" He's also made racially charged statements referring to "white polluters and the white environmentalists steering poison to minority communities." More hate. On any day of the week, visit the DailyKos and read the postings or check out the HuffingtonPost and read what the bloggers say about anyone who disagrees with the policies of the left. How any rational person can read that crap and see love and compassion is beyond me. It's hate - vitriolic hate. I don't know how many times I've been in a room with leftists and someone makes a political comment to which all I do is simply question their position, asking them to give supporting evidence for their views, and I am met with a litany of name-calling and hate. Hate, hate, hate. Hate and more parrot phrases.

The third parrot example is to me, the most interesting. I first heard this parrot line from MSNBCs Rachel Maddow. Ms. Maddow went to Stanford University yet she too is nothing more than a parrot. She was ranting on about conservatives standing up against Obama and Pelosi's push to ramp up this countries run to socialism. Her exceedingly brilliant parrot phrase was, "if these people hate socialism so much, why do they still draw Social Security and Medicare?" Wow, Rachel, you got me there. Ok, Rachel and the rest of you parrots - are you listening? I'll try to take this one slowly. Yes, as much as I would love to see both Social Security and Medicare phased out, I can't blame anyone, conservative or liberal, for expecting the government to live up to their promises. If I'm 65 years old and have been forced all my life to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars into both Social Security and Medicare, yes, I do expect a return, pitifully small though it may be. If I had been given a choice to contribute to Social Security or to a private program and chose the private program, no, I would not then expect to draw from the public option. The same is true for Medicare. For what I and my employer have paid into the system over my lifetime, I could secure private insurance for my retirement years. But, it didn't go into a private account, it went to the government. So, I do expect them, regardless of my belief in the program, to pony up. Just as I would expect the same from any organization, public or private, into which I've paid and who has guaranteed me a product or service in return. Rachel, let me opt out of these programs and put that same money into a private fund and you'll never hear me ask for government assistance. Is that fair? Are you ok with that? But the supposed "Party of Choice" has repeatedly said, "NO, NO, NO!! NO Choice for YOU!"

But if Rachel sees this as hypocrisy, let's take a closer look at the left. In 2001, the state Democrats in Arkansas wanted to raise taxes. Then Governor Mike Huckabee said "no." But, he did respect those that wished for such an increase and created the "Tax Me More Fund." This fund allowed those leftists who believed in the "public option" and higher taxes to put their money where their mouth was and voluntarily contribute to this fund. The result? Six months later the fund had only raised $1,900. I wonder how much Rachel contributed.

I'm all for the "public option" as long as the public who demands that option also pays for it. Obama and his followers want health care for an additional 50 million people. Great - tax them more!! Set up a fund to which they can contribute. Then use that money to purchase health insurance for all of the uninsured. What do you think Rachel?

I'm guessing Rachel and the rest of the parrots will say, "No, No, No!"