Not a big surprise to any TSM followers, but my husband and I are a bit on the nerdy side. We are big NPR junkies and have been for more than two decades. (I still miss Bob Edwards doing Morning Edition.) Our dedication to NPR grows fever pitched on Saturday mornings, when Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me comes on the air. In fact, we don't pick up the phone or attend to any demanding tasks until after the program has finished. You can't imagine how thrilled we were when we attended a live taping of this week's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me show here in Portland, OR. We had a tremendous time and were fortunate enough to attend a small soiree with the cast after the show. Peter Sagal and Roy Blunt Jr. commented on the past week's Republican Debate when Wolf Blitzer asked Representative Ron Paul what we should do if a 30-year-old man who chose not to purchase health insurance suddenly found himself in need of six months of intensive care. The response from the Republican crowd sent chills up my spine, which I felt again while watching the taping of one of my favorite radio shows.
Ron Paul replied to Blitzer's question with a very flippant, "That's what freedom is all about - taking your own risks." Spoken like a true privileged white, heterosexual, man of power. But wait, it gets worse. Blitzer followed up with should, "society should just let him die?" Here is where I almost threw up in disgust. The Republican crowd erupted and shouted "Yeah," in response. Are these people Death Eaters straight out of Harry Potter? Please someone help me here. Have we really devolved into a culture of such avarice, ignorance, and selfishness, that we cheer for Death?
Peter Sagal compared the Republican mob cheering for Death to Rick Perry having the Grim Reaper as a running mate, as, he noted George W. Bush had done, to which Peter Grosz quickly retorted: "Hey, that's not fair to the Grim Reaper. He has a family." Roxanne Roberts then chimed in, "...and the Grim Reaper has a heart." All of us in the audience were laughing, as were the people on the panel, but it was clear by the look on Roy Blunt Jr.'s face, as with the faces of us all that we were laughing to cover up the grotesque knowledge that there is a population of vocal Republicans that think it is acceptable to scream out you would rather see someone die than make sure people have health insurance.
Looking just at where the current 21st century Republican stands on the issues, the following people would be diagnostically insane to vote Republican:
- Anyone in the LGBT community
- Anyone dependent upon Medicare/Social Security (I guess there are no poor senior citizen Republicans)
- Anyone believing that women should have the right to make their own health care choices regarding their bodies
- Anyone believing that Government works to protect all citizens, regardless of religion, color, gender identity, sexual orientation,socioeconomic status, or age.
Is it just me, or does that seem to be an exceedingly large population that the current crap, oops, sorry, I mean crop of Presidential Candidates excludes? You know the GOP is way off track when life-long Republicans like Clint Eastwood leave the party.
Fortunately, despite the darkness provided by the GOP Death Eaters, we had a lovely evening with the cast of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Despite having a very long day of travel and doing a show, they were generous enough to spend time and visit with us after the show. What a very genuine and kind group of people. Each person we got to meet with I would want to have as a friend and or invite to dinner. And I got to meet and have my picture taken with The Carl Kasell.
Now I just have to get him to leave his voice on my message machine.