Dead Ted

Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy * 1932-2009

I just love irony. In August 26^th Austin American Statesman, the news of Senator Kennedy’s death appeared on the front page, the left side above the fold. Prominent placement in newspaper terms, especially since his death was announced in the early morning hours.

The brief story, from The New York Times, gave a synopsis of his life and work in the United States Senate. The headline reads “Liberal lion was champion of health care and civil rights.”

On page seven of the Statesman, there is a full page advertisement whose headlines read: “Barack Obama and the Democrats did not inherit the bad economy; they caused it and made it worse.” This six column full page lists the “leading culprits who actual caused the subprime mortgage collapse which then caused the current worldwide deep recession.” They are: 1. Jimmy Carter 2. Bill Clinton 3. Janet Reno 4. Franklin Raines, 5. Chris Dodd 6. Barney Frank and 7. Barack Obama.

The advertisement asks one to sign up and join a non-profit organization made up of “U.S. Citizens” called appropriately enough, U.S. Citizens Association. www.uscitizensassociation.com.One gets a free membership kit that will instruct you on “how you can change the government to benefit you.” I thought that was called voting.

But you also get continuous information (just what I want continuous dribble) that I will not get in the “leftist news media.” Would that be any news other than Fox News? This is my favorite part. “You will be educated on how you can become an Empowered Citizen.” It does not say how much you have to donate to receive these outstanding conservative benefits and what exactly one is empowered to do. Is one a more empowered citizen with $5000 donation versus a $5.00 donation?

The advertisement has some quotes such as: “In capitalist countries, only 10% of the people temporarily live in poverty.” What about those who permanently live below the poverty line? According the article, “99% of the people in socialist countries live in permanent poverty. In most cities those people live on the other side of the tracks in places with colorful names like The Projects or The Barrio.

The crux of the advertisement is the concept that the United States is moving toward socialism. “Socialism means government controls everything and no freedom for anyone else.” Actually, I think that is closer to communism, but you have the right to freedom of the press and freedom of speech. Unless, of course ones gets shouted down by those who disagree at information gatherings called town meetings or tea parties.

And the evidence of such a move toward socialism can be found in the proposed health care reform which “they will eliminate private healthcare, which will leave only government healthcare, which is socialized medicine.” I think that is called Medicare and you get it when you turn 65 years of age and I suspect many of the backers of the ad fall into that age bracket.

As you turn to page nine of the paper, you find an article written by T. R. Reid. The special to The Washington Post is a three-quarter page article whose headlines read: “5 Myths about health care around the world.” http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/2009/08/26/0826healthmyths_edit.html

This article, obviously written by the leftist media, counters the points of the previous article by comparing the US current health care plan to countries around the world. Countries such as Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Britain, New Zealand and Canada. Basically, this article says, the most persistent myth regarding health care is “that America has the ‘finest health care’ in the world. We don’t.”

And last, but not least, on the back page of section one is an advertisement for a clinical research study for adults with memory lost or mild cognitive impairment sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb.

It seems that we are all suffering from mild cognitive impairment when it comes to health care reform issues. Get the facts on the issues, not what you heard from the leftist liberal media or the rightest conservative media. I understand it is a new concept for many, but it is called thinking.

As for the late Senator Kennedy, he is probably thankful he will not be around to see how the healthcare reform issue plays out. Ironically, that makes him better off Ted. Sometimes those without health care find themselves that way too.