American Maggie

The summer of 2009 will go down in the history books as the time when America was deeply divided, polarized even, on one single issue: healthcare. The partisan divide over what one side called “healthcare reform” and the other called “socialized medicine” became so deep that Democratic lawmakers took to labeling protesters at town hall meetings as “fringe,” “Astroturf,” “fear-mongers,” “un-American,” and compared them to Nazis. So much for Obama’s campaign promise that assured Americans a new era of bipartisan politics was on its way.

But though the summer has been winding down, the debate around healthcare reform has not. That much was evident by the fact that protests at town hall meetings on said subject persisted throughout the August recess. That’s right. Despite (or maybe because of?) being derided, disparaged, and disdained, Americans turned out in overwhelming numbers to protest the Obama so-called “plan” for healthcare.

So what does this say about the current political climate? Are we finally- as Nancy Pelosi would have you think- uncovering the fascist Nazi underground in America? Or is the total lack of support and enthusiasm for government-run healthcare a product of racism in America?

If that connection doesn’t make sense to you, that’s because well, it doesn’t. Yet some on the left believe that opposition to Obama’s vision of universal healthcare stems from a deep-rooted inclination toward racism, a fascist fringe, and lies spread by radicals on the right.

Race simply doesn’t resonate with Americans like it did 50 years ago, despite what countless politicians, journalists, and other various pseudo-intellectuals say. We do after all, have our first African-American president, and Hispanic Supreme Court Judge. Making an immediate jump to racism when faced with criticism over public policy doesn’t make the left sound intellectual, just ignorant.

And ignorant is exactly how Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) sounded when of the town hall protests, he said, “It is a fascist tactic. That’s exactly what they did in Weimar, Germany.” It’s interesting that Nadler would bring up the city of Weimar- the birthplace of the German constitution that made it so easy for Hitler to come to power in the 1930s. Shortly after Hitler’s ascendance, he all but physically destroyed the constitution, and launched a campaign to silence all opposition.

That is fascism. Middle-class Americans protesting, or even disrupting town halls is not; disorderly, sure. But fascist? Even when you do include the fringe elements of the protests, it is not even close to the lengths Hitler went to stifle the other side. But, is silencing those in favor of nationalized health care even the goal of these protestors?

The Americans protesting are there to simply get their voices heard. And after a drawn-out war, unpopular president, and the trillions spent on bailout programs, it’s no wonder these protestors feel they must take drastic measures to get their representative’s attention.

But the reaction by the Democrats in Congress who in theory, are supposed to answer to their constituents, has been troubling. Instead of listening to the concerns and engaging in honest debate, the left resorted to attacking the messengers rather than the message.

But more than anything, the national debate about health care reveals a fundamental distrust of the government that was present even last November. If Americans had really wanted an ideological shift to the left, they would not have voted for Barack Obama, who during the campaign supported tax cuts, the war in Afghanistan, off-shore drilling, ending earmarks, and a string of other moderate stances.

A recent McClatchy headline asked, “Why is America So Angry?” The answer is because Americans wanted a president and Congress who would restore the country back to the not so distant past, when the limited government was somewhat expected from Washington. But instead, they got a president who continued the runaway spending, took control of General Motors, proposed a massive tax increase disguised as environmental policy (cap & trade) and wants to nationalize health care.

But pushing something as radical as the public option so soon has done little but reveal the dark, ugly side of American politics: aggressive (but understandable) outrage on one side and name-calling and intolerance on the other.

Meanwhile, President Obama is responding to this unprecedented outpouring of vocal outrage and dissent with the only tool in his arsenal he seems to have mastered: a speech to Congress loaded with more rhetoric. But words alone will do little to placate the unrest at home, especially when the record shows his actions don’t correspond with his speeches. The president has awakened a sleeping giant in the conservative movement. The sooner he realizes that, the better.

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Amanda Carey is currently a student at Clemson University where she is editor of the newspaper The Tiger Town Observer.  She has been published in Reason, The American Spectator and previously worked for Robert Novak.

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