As we try to advance the cause of healthcare for Americans, we are being warned of danger to our democracy by the voices on the right.
There is, indeed, danger to our democracy so eloquently demonstrated by the results of the latest NBC poll. The news media is sucessfully convincing the public that healthcare reform will kill grandma, provide free abortions to illegal aliens while forcing the rest of us to wait years for an aspirin.
Corporate profits pour into the coffers of politicians who in turn cast votes that lead to greater corporate profits. This really isn't all that new in America. Certain politicians have always been for sale. In the past, the rampant greed was kept in check, to some degree by the press. The voices that protected our democracy are legend, Upton Sinclair, Will Rodgers, Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite.
Today those voices have been nearly silenced. The same corporations that buy our government have bought our news media. Our democracy hangs in the balance when people are convinced by that media to vote against their own best interests. The McNiel News Hour is only available on PBS. Opinion/news shows like Maddow and Obermann are on a channel that is not even available in many major markets. And while their news may be slanted, they at least present some facts to bolster their opinions.
The real threat to our democracy is an ill informed, poorly educated populace taught to fear and hate by monied interests that are stealing, not only our wealth, but our freedom.
The right is correct, our democracy is in danger, If healthcare reform goes down in flames, the greatest country on Earth will be on the expressway to third world status.