Last night I was a guest on Big George’s radio show on the BBC.
What was meant to be an hour-long interview on music, culture, AND politics, turned into a one-hour debate about American and British health care.
Patient in an American Hospital
One thing that stood out to me as callers phoned in was that Brits don’t hate socialized medicine (in London at least) as much as it would seem from American press reports. Still, misinformation on their side was shocking. Many callers assumed that in the United States that if you are poor and break your leg it will stay broken because of the meanness of the pre-Obama American system of health care.In the end, the politics of Londoners calling in to the radio and Americans on the left were strikingly similar. One caller, Lynn, would be right at home on the defunct Air America. To paraphrase, she said that Obama was the greatest President ever because of all that he has “already done.” When pressed by Big George to get specific, she said that what Obama has done on “health care, the banks and,” and I’m not sure if she said “to” or “for” the “terrorists,” made him tops in her opinion.
Really there is no rational argument with the above.
One British caller said that the Democrats did the right thing regardless of the polling numbers in the states. I pointed out that CNN, hardly a right wing media tool, put opposition to the bill at 59% on the day of its passage. The caller basically said tough, the Democrats know better than the polls, and I guess the American people.
What is interesting is, the show has many American listeners who tune in via the web. It’s become a bit of a sensation. An emailer from the “southern United States” argued that I was a racist for being against ObamaCare. I pointed out that I supported the President of my country irrespective of skin color. I further noted that, race politics aside, the Democrats have handily divided our country by pushing through an unpopular bill without one GOP vote. To the caller, my anger over this further division was based on not wanting to “give black people health care.” Nonsense.
I wouldn’t dream of knocking our President publicly while overseas; however, I am in fact ashamed at his behavior over his “politics first, will of the people second” approach to the health care bill. There is no precedent for tearing apart our country in order to build a statue to yourself and a power base for your party. Then again, I guess that would make me a racist to people who think that what Mr. Obama has “already done” makes him by far the greatest American President ever.
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- Straight Talk on the United States Debt Problem
John Romano is the publisher and editor of Yes, But However!, a musician, a former political correspondent for BBC Radio London, and a serial web entrepreneur. Follow him on twitter: twitter.com/yesbuthowever or John Romano on Google+John Romano article archive.
