On the afternoon of Sunday, March 21st, I watched the heated debate between House Republicans and Democrats reach an uncomfortably impassioned precipitous. There were plenty of heated exchanges, one of my favorites taking place between Congressman Dreier (R-California) and Congresswoman Slaughter (D-New York,) as a gavel-wielding Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. played mediator.
I met up with some friends at a bar shortly before 10 p.m. Four big-screen televisions were placed around the bar, showing some soccer game about which nobody seemed to care. My friend asked the bartender to change the channel to CSPAN, to which she received an appropriately skeptical look (but a channel-change nonetheless.)
CSPAN has never been described as “captivating,” but every individual in that bar shifted his or her chair and attention towards the lone television screen as it reflected the progressing votes.
In a 219-212 victory, the Democrats passed health care reform with not a single Republican vote. Some people in the bar clapped. Others shrugged and looked into their beers. I took my Blackberry out of my bag to exchange celebratory texts with friends and check up on Facebook. I realized as I updated my news feed, that Facebook statuses seemed to be experiencing a level of frequency, exaggeration and intensity rivaled only perhaps, by postings during last December’s Florida-Alabama Championship game.
The next morning I’d hear more detail about the heckling, the breaks in decorum and the less-than-civilized discourse. On their morning shows, CNN, FOX and MSNBC were debating the symbolism of the bill’s passing, predicting the end of world and celebrating the defeat of the GOP, respectively. The only thing I didn’t see much of (except for a 15 second spot on CNN) was information.
It struck me that despite a year of debate over the issue, a good portion of America probably has very little concept of what this bill means for them. And instead of explaining the bill and disseminating its consequences, the media was busy being E! for political gossip junkies.
Over the course of this debate, a lot has been said. One political party has explained that this bill is going to bring insurance to millions of Americans and prohibit the discrimination of preexisting conditions. The other political party has cautioned that this bill will increase the deficit, kill your grandmother and provide government funding for abortions. And still another, more extreme interpretation provided by the Tea Party, has warned that this bill is the beginning of the end of civilization.
In America, we are entitled not only to our own beliefs and ideologies, but also permitted considerable means of expressing these ideals. The past year of health care debate has been an impressive exercise in the freedom of speech; however, it seems about time to come terms with the facts.
To our friends, families and fellow American citizens: Let’s get back to the issues and forget the distractions. Let’s return to a logical debate and disregard scare tactics. To our media: Let’s take a break from opinions and get back to reporting. To our politicians: Let’s return to legislating and take a break from campaigning.
Because whether you are a Republican or Democrat, we are all Americans—and as Joe Biden so eloquently put it, “This is a big f*cking deal.”
