I keep wondering why the health care "debates" are occurring now. Why now? They take up so much time in our media, I am concerned that this issue is a smokescreen for other things. I wonder what that would be. I am totally of the mind that our health care in the U.S. sucks big time, so I'm for big time changes. But what was it that made this big now? And why all of the focus when...
...we are sinking in debt
...people are losing their jobs like crazy
...our country is KILLING people in other countries
...our soldiers are dying in the "war on terror" that cannot be won (See icausualties to find out how more and more soldiers are dying in Afghanistan - and these numbers are a drop in the bucket against the numbers of Afghan citizens that are dying.)
...we're messing up our own nests in so many ways I don't have the time to put them down here
... I could go on, but I won't
Why does anyone give attention to people who act like violent children at "town hall meetings"? Why does anyone give attention to talking heads whose focus is to rile people up with whatever blather they can come up with? It must be a powerful feeling to know that you can spew some kind of untrue hatred out into the world and people will believe it and act on it while you sit back and watch.
I don't even watch television, and still, stuff like this gets onto my radar.
I'm not sounding very peaceful, am I?
I'm okay with sitting with these observations and questions. I can't control the media and I have no power over the actions of others.
To lighten things up and to give some perspective on life, since there is way more going on than the the circus of the political arena, here's a photo of a butterfly (or moth or whatever it is) that had a thing for Mr. Carol For Peace's shoe while we were in Glacier Park.
Ahhhhh... it's the little things...
We get overwhelmed with the craziness of the world too. At times it feels like no one cares and no one is doing anything, but then you read the blog of some stranger 1200 miles away...and you see hope.
ReplyDeletestay peaceful
I'm with Adam and Nicole on this one!
ReplyDeleteLove the photo of the butterfly although I am wondering whether you had to lie on your stomach for that picture too?
A & N,
ReplyDeleteThere is tremendous peace in feeling a connection with others like you who care and think and love. Thank you for commenting.
Thanks Dancing,
ReplyDeleteNo, no belly this time. My lens and some bending did the trick. Oh, and some cropping. ;-) The butterfly was kind enough to pose for a very long time, so I got a lot of shots.
Nice to see this "why" question re. media coverage because it is a question I ask myself often (and equally often: "why not?" as in why isn't this getting coverage. But I hadn't thought about the "why" for health care, assuming that it is a big push in Congress now. I think lots of the coverage is fueled by the $1.5 Million/day the insurance companies are pouring into the lobbying effort. Nice butterfly.
ReplyDeleteIndigo Incarnates
ReplyDeleteI totally get where you're coming from. The current president is making the same kinds of mistakes the last president makes. All I hear on the news are lies and distortions. Meanwhile, our standard of living just keeps sprialing down and down and down.
B.E., maybe I'm getting to cynical or paranoid. Time will tell. Maybe. ;-)
ReplyDeleteIndigo,
ReplyDeleteI think that it's too hard for a president to not think of his own re-election and the future power of his party. Thus, he is stuck doing mediocre acts. W had audacity and look who's prez now.
I hear you, Carol. How anyone can NOT see that our health care is a mess is beyond me. A client of ours recently visited from France. He said that in his country they cannot believe how stupid Americans are, with the talk of "too much government" and the blindness to how inhumane things have gotten. It really troubles me.
ReplyDeleteSan,
ReplyDeleteDid you see Sicko? More of what your client said.
In Denver, police officers just voted to keep their raises for next year, knowing that that vote would mean that 91 officers would lose their jobs (the poor financial health of the city won't allow it to pay for both raises and all current officers keeping their jobs). When we think of ourselves first, we all lose. I think it's similar to the thinking of those against helping others to have health care. "As long as I have mine..." "Oops! What happened to mine?"