The irony, or hypocrisy, is pretty thick at most of the town hall meetings being held around the state and nation. The hottest topic, of course, is the proposed health-care reform.
Take a good look at the photos of the crowds. The latest one, Wednesday, was taken at a meeting held by Second District U.S. Rep. Dan Boren. It was a big crowd and the majority of those in attendance looked to be in their 60s.
I saw one photo of a woman who was well into her 60s holding a sign that read: "No government-run health care," or something like that. Am I the only one who sees the irony? She most likely is a beneficiary of Medicare. A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH PROGRAM! And a pretty good one at that.
Of course, the elderly have been duped into believing that any health-care reform will cut their socialistic Medicare payments. They have bought into the lie that "death panels" will determine when they should die. The only provision concerning end-of-life issues was initiated by a Republican, and is likely being removed, and only called for voluntary counseling concerning end-of-life issues.
That's something lawyers, families and doctors urge us to do as we age anyway. And it is something we all should do. The controversial provision would have made such counseling voluntary and Medicare would have paid for it. That's all.
Of course, the other irony is that we have members of Congress, who are privy to the best health care in the world paid for by the taxpayers, making the decisions about our health care.
Here's an idea: How about sticking a paragraph into the final health-care reform bill that says that members of Congress will have to give up their taxpayer-funded health insurance and pay for the same stuff we get?
I'll wager that it would be a much more comprehensive and inclusive program.
And I also want a provision that says that Medicare is too socialistic and ought to be abolished. I want to see some retirees protesting about that. Are our seniors (and I'm almost one) so selfish that they won't help out those without any health insurance because they are afraid that they might lose a little of theirs?
There are many questions about President Obama's and Congress' health care reform proposals. They need to be honestly and thoroughly debated. But the entire process has been hijacked by a loud and either dishonest or ignorant group.
I'm just sorry that it's a lot of senior citizens who are doing so much shouting that they can't hear the message. And they can't see the irony in their actions.
