So I travel a lot (it sucks), and I've learned not to try and talk to the person next to you until near the end of the flight. On the first leg of a one-stop, I put my work down as the plane was approaching the runway and asked the guy next to me where he's going.
Answer -- to DC to join a march about health care reform.
We talk about other things for awhile, and I find out he's a Pentecostal preacher. Then I begin to suspect he's a Tea Bagger, so I say, "I hope you're going to march for health care reform."
He says, "We want health care reform. We don't want socialized medicine."
So I say, "Even though most of the countries in the world who have socialized medicine have better health care than us."
To which he says, "That's a matter of opinion."
To which I say, "No. It's a matter of fact."
To which he says, "Both sides say their opinion is fact."
This is what really pisses me off. Can I just say that I'm sick to death of this stupid attitude? Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but they're not entitled to their own facts.
The Facts are The Facts. They don't change depending on where you stand. That's what makes them facts.
So I say, "Well, if you ask Canadians and Americans the same questions in the same way, you find out that Canadians say they're happier with their health care than Americans."
And he says, "Show me the study."
So I say, "If you give me your e-mail, I'll send you the reference."
He says, "I'm not going to give you my e-mail."
And I say, "Why not?"
He says, "I don't want you to have my e-mail."
So I say, "You don't want facts cluttering up your inbox?"
He says, "I just don't want e-mail from you." (Fair enough).
So I say, "Well it's not just a matter of opinion. The US spends more on health care than any other country and we get worse outcomes. Canada does better than we do. Part of the reason is that about 1 in 6 Americans doesn't have health insurance."
His answer, "Well I know some Canadians who come to the US to get health care."
(My brother-in-law went to Canada to get an eye operation. People fly to Costa Rica for medical tourism. Why, exactly, do Tea Baggers think this is a relevant point?)
So I say. "Babies in the US have lower birth weights and higher death rates. Health care reform could go a long way to fixing that."
He doesn't answer.
I don't remember where it went from there, exactly, but when we're getting off the plane, the woman in front of turns around and says to him, "I'm from Canada, and believe me, health care is much better up there."
And he says, "I know some Canadians who come to the US to get health care."
So I say, "You know that we rank really low in terms of live births and live birth weights. Those are kids dying." He doesn't respond, so I say, "Where's your Christianity man?"
This is the question I want to ask all the Tea Baggers who call themselves Christians. Show me where it says in the Bible that you should oppose socialized medicine? I'll show you where it defines what pure religion means. It sounds to me like socialized medicine is the embodiment of pure religion.
I bought a smoothy on my layover and I was starting to feel a little better, but on the next leg of the flight, three of the four people on the row in front of me are Tea Baggers. They're loud and obnoxious about being Tea Baggers and since there are three of them, they think the plane is full of them. So the woman says to the young man next to her (not already identified as a Tea Bagger), "Are you with the Tea Party?"
He says politely, in a long southern drawl, "No ma'am."
They start to quiet down after that.
Here's the punchline. There's a march of the Tea Baggers tomorrow on the 12th against real health care reform. Joe Wilson is their hero.
Right now, Washington, DC is being invaded by these radically misinformed creatures.
There's another March on September 13th at noon for real Health Care Reform. Please come, if you can, and leave your signs home that say anything stupid. This is a march about the one domestic policy that matters more than any other, so bring your pink hair, your boring duds, your kids, or anything you want, just be sure to stay on message. I'd like it if there were 100 good guys for every Tea Bagger.