If you don't practice, you cannot play.

Yesterday we had an event known as the Bi-partisan Health care Summit. The idea was to get members of Congress together to discuss their differences with regard to health care reform and try to find some common ground. At some level it was also an opportunity for each side to try to appear as though they are not the ones holding things up.

As I listened to people commenting after the fact, I was angered at how clearly you could tell the people that actually paid attention from those that did not and those that may have paid attention, but just don't get it.


One person called into C-SPAN explaining that there is no way that anyone could have watched the summit and reached any conclusion other than that the bill is a waste of time and money. As justification, he complained that he would be forced to buy insurance while for the past 20 years he has just paid for his health care out of pocket. He could not see how short-sighted this argument was.

While it is wonderful that right now he is healthy and wealthy enough to not need health insurance, what bothered me was how he could not see beyond his own current situation. What about those that are not so fortunate and cannot afford health coverage? What about those that can barely afford food? What about when he needs something more than a routine trip to the doctor?

Yes, if you do not care about anyone in this country but yourself, and your situation is currently fine, then there is no need to change anything -- but do not come running for assistance when the tables turn and you need someone to care about you. This is a case of some simply not understanding the full scope of the problem.


Another person called in (on the Republican line) and said that the bill should just be scrapped and they need to start over. This type of comment bugs me because it clearly shows that he does not actually know anything about the issue. He is strictly taking the Republican talking point and spouting it as though it were his own. If you cannot form your own opinion on the matter, then just keep your mouth shut.

On the O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly was talking to Michelle Bachmann. She claimed the summit was no more effective than the Beer Summit. She then reverted to the standard Republican talking points -- scrap the bill, it is too large, President talks too much. She is no better than the man that called into C-SPAN. She has no opinion of her own, she just spouts what the party newsletter tells her to.

Bill O'Reilly then made a comment that is at the core of the problem. In referring to the process of watching the summit, he said, "..it's my job to do it so the viewers don't have to." That right there is the problem. Too many people do not get the information themselves and reach their own conclusions. They simply trust others to tell them what to think. And the people they put their trust in are not journalists, but commentators who have a clear biased in one direction or the other.

Now, I see a lot of people complain, "I do not have time to read the bills and watch C-SPAN. I'm too busy." That is fine, but if you are too busy to educate yourself and form your own opinions, then you are also too busy to comment on the situation. DO NOT stand up and spout some talking point that someone else gave you and act as though it is your own. If you do not have your own opinion on the matter, then keep your mouth shut so that those who actually care (on both sides) can get stuff done.


It is very common in sports for there to be a policy that if you do not practice during the week, you cannot play on game day. This make sense. You practice for a reason. To get better at playing the game and to play better as a team. If a player does not practice, it is more likely that they will be out of sync with the rest of the team and will not perform as well.

This can be applied to all of those people who take what Rachel and Bill and Keith and Sean and Glenn feed them and run with it. Watching C-SPAN and reading the bills and being able to separate news from commentary is the practice. This is what you do day in and day out so that you can understand the issues. By practising, you form your own opinions because you have gained experience with the subject matter.

On game day, such as an election or a Tea Party rally or a town hall meeting, you then have everything you need to ask meaningful questions and provide relevant commentary. You deserve to have your voice heard and not drowned out by someone who talks very loud, but cannot offer any real insight because they have not educated themselves beyond the talking point that some pundit game them.

It is no different than buying a term paper. Someone else did all of the work, you presented it as your own, and collected the grade. But at the end of the day you know nothing more about the subject than you did before you started. Just having the grade does not qualify you to talk about the subject. It is the experience, the practice, in working with the subject matter that is the key. If you are going to take a strong position on something, then you have to do your homework.

I am not saying everyone has to go out and educate themselves on all the issues this country faces. But if you don't, then just keep your mouth shut so that those who did can have a meaningful discussion.

Do as I say, not as I do

Today's entry is kind of a collection of thoughts that I needed to share.

If there were one thing that ticked me off about government, oh how I wish there were only one thing, it would be hypocrisy.

It comes from both sides. Both Democrats and Republican's each trying to make themselves look better by saying the other side does something -- but then never sharing that they do the same thing.

Republican's love to spout about how they have such great fiscal responsibility and that Democrats want to spend us into the poor house. But they never mention that since 1978, the federal debt has grown 4.2% under Democratic Presidents, but 36.4% under Republican Presidents. During that same time, federal spending increased 9.9% under Democratic Presidents and 12.1% under Republican Presidents. So it is actually the Democrats that spend less, not the Republicans.

To be fair, it is estimated that Obama's policies will increase the national debt by the largest amount ever, but 1) he is trying dig the country out a huge financial hole by putting the burden on the government rather than Joe the plumber and 2) since Reagan, the only time the debt to GDP ratio has dropped was during Clinton's second term.

I just don't see how Republicans can say they are so fiscally responsible when they always spend more than Democrats.

I saw a comment recently where Cheney was listing out things we've learned about Obama in his first year. One of the things he said was that we learned Obama will not govern from the center. This would seem to indicate that Cheney wants the President to be a moderate. But, is he actually suggesting that he and George W. Bush governed from the center? Does he believe the Tea Party movement, which represents about 10% of the country, is 'the center'?

And speaking of Cheney. I distinctly recall him calling people unamerican for criticizing President Bush's policies during a time of war. Yet he rarely misses an opportunity to do just that with President Obama.

In the past couple weeks there has been much talk about how Rahm Emanuel used the R-word in a meeting. Sarah Palin continues to call for his resignation. Rush Limbaugh then used the word 40 times while speaking about the incident, but in that case Sarah Palin claimed he was using satire so it was okay.

To me you are either against something or you are not. You cannot be against it when it suits you. And how do you explain the recent Family Guy incident? The Family Guy had an episode where Chris was dating a girl with Down Syndrome. There was a crack about her being the daughter of the former governer of Alaska and there was a song that could be considered bad taste. First of all, the Family Guy is known for skewering everyone they can. I have never heard Sarah Palin come to anyone else's aid. In this case, her Facebook page says she was so mad that she had Bristol issue a statement. But wait. Wasn't the Family Guy using Satire? I thought that was okay? I am confused.

And what about her being so mad that she had her daughter issue the statement. What does that say about her mental state if she were President and she gets a call at say 3am? Shouldn't the President be unflappable?

Then there is John McCain. During the campaign a question was asked of what does he despise the most in Washington. His answer, Hippocrisy. Right on John. I hear ya. There is nothing I despise more either. But then why is it that during the campaign he also said he would consider abolishing "don't ask, don't tell" if the senior leaders of the military recommended it, but now that they have actually made the recommendation he not only is not considering it, he feels it is a travesty and must be stopped?

Lest I be accused of piling up on Republicans, I do have a piece of Democratic hippocrisy that I wish share. Partisanship is a major issue in Congress right now. It is actually the only issue because until members of Congress actually start working together, nothing will be done. President Obama had a meeting with Republican's and they put together a jobs bill that included many things the Republican's wanted. When it got to the Senate, Harry Reid immediately scrapped it and went with a Democratic bill. Uh. Harry? If you want bipartisan support for anything, then it is best if you do not stomp on anything that comes from the other party -- especially if it was also put together by the Democratic President.

All that being said, I have just one thing to say. Members of Congress, please shut up. You were hired to do a job. That job is to work together, find middle ground, and move the country forward. How about you just shut your mouths for a little while and actually get something done.

Good day.