We need a mental health break from the health care debate

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I realized yesterday that I am sick of writing about the health care debate, sick of reading about it and hearing about it. I sense that I am not alone in this feeling.

Tempers are fraying. Name calling is reaching new highs and it’s not just angry talk radio hosts and loudmouthed Congressman. Just scan through the editorials on the Huffington Post and if you can’t find a few pundits calling health care opponents nasty names your blind. I am not even going to provide sources for either side’s remarks. There should be no need. Even Facebook friends are snapping at each other over the debate.

Folks, this is not good.

Did you know the Russians are objecting to stronger sanctions against Iran? This is occurring while Venezuela’s leader (dictator?) Chavez is drawing closer to Moscow. Meanwhile, Afghan leaders have found caches of Iranian weapons, that would be the Iran that is getting weapons assistance from Venezuela, the Iran that the U.S. says is not being responsive on the nuclear issue (note, this is a headline from Voice of America posted September 10, 2009. Obama is President, not Bush). Oh, by the way, this is the same Russia that will help Venezuela build nuclear weapons. That is the Venezuela that has 77.5 billion barrels of oil, roughly half the supply in the entire western hemisphere.

Does all this making you nervous? It should.

We’re fighting our friends and neighbors over health care and the world around us is getting more dangerous. The United States needs a break from the health care debate. I get that we need to fix health care, and I am sympathetic to the need to get it done fast. But keep in mind that if the Democrats force through a bill that Republicans don’t like the Republicans will turn it all around when they come back to power. Wouldn’t it be better to come up with something people can agree on? Or at least something the vast majority of Americans can at least agree not to disagree on?

To get there I think we all need to take a mental health break from the health care debate. Can we take a month off and focus on some of the other issues that have been all but ignored during the health care debate? Based on the timing of the President’s plan, one month is not going to hurt anybody. One month. Everybody relaxes, a few weeks of innocuous Facebook posts, some good old fashioned commie bashing at the water cooler, all while we become friends again.

Then in a month, when everyone has relaxed, remembered a little bit about what the United States is about, remembered why we value our friends, we can start talking again.

Tagged as: Health care, health insurance, insurance, medicaid, medicare, obama, Obamacare, single payer option, single payer plan, town hall, universal coverage, universal health care