10 Lessons for Tea Baggers

This is a great list.  It really does drive me crazy that opponents of health care reform can get away with the crap they shovel.

I find it amazing that some people, who consider themselves more "patriotic" than liberals, will defend a health care system that is grossly inefficient and immoral while talking about our government like it is the most incompetent on the planet.  Ironically, many of these same people supported George W. Bush trying to export our system of government to other countries.  Our government is not perfect - far from it - but it does a lot of things incredibly well:

- For 46 cents, you can send a letter across the country in about 2 days.
- Our interstate highway system revolutionized transportation in this country over the last 50 years.
- The federal government created the internet.  Case closed!
- Many of our most important technological innovations of the last half century are the results of our space program and defense research.
- Medicare is a highly-regarded and very efficient health care program - and, yes, it is run by the federal government!
- Flawed strategies and goals from our political leaders have turned the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan into the messes they are.  But our military can beat the crap out of anybody else's conventional army, and unmanned drones are proving to be another effective military innovation.

I could go on, but I think the point is obvious.  Stop demonizing our government.  Admit that the existing health care system is an embarrassment full of waste and inefficiencies.  Then, let's have a serious discussion about how best to fix it.

Unfortunately, the Republicans have decided that they are best served by trying to defeat this reform effort in order to deny Obama and the Democrats any kind of victory.  They hope such a huge defeat will doom the Dems in 2010 and Obama in 2012 (and maybe render him a  lame duck for the remainder of his term).  That means Obama and the Dems need to focus on passing the best possible bill that will actually insure everyone, make the system better and reduce costs.  Forget bipartisanship.  If Obama can sign a good health care bill this year, there will be moderate Republicans knocking on his door the next time around.