Who are the Impalers?

With Obama’s healthcare plan coming, a local newspaper fired an opening salvo with its caption contest. I’m referring to a contest where the newspaper provides the cartoon and you supply the caption. This cartoon depicted a man impaled with an oversized screw, standing in front of President Obama, who is dressed as a doctor sitting at a desk in front of an Obamacare sign.

That was the first part of the two pronged approach to project a negative image of Obama’s attempt at health care reform. The second was selecting the caption entries, of which the newspaper selected only entries that supported the negative visual. Having a negative visual in the first place, it made it is easy to invite captions negative to health care reform. A visit to the contest webpage showed many entries that supported Obama’s health care plan and suggested it is the current for-profit health care system that is the cause for the screw-impaled patient. Entries that strongly suggested the screw impalement was caused by the current system were ignored.

I admit that I submitted a few also, such as:

I see you’ve been treated by a for-profit health care plan, we’ll get you right in!

We specialize in insurance company screw removals

We have a remedy for that; it’s called a public plan

Though I was disappointed none of my cool caption entries were selected, I was angry that none of the other more deserving entries that supported Obama were used.

Fueled with dollars, the corporate manipulated commercial media is a fine and efficient art, especially when attempting to crush independent thought. Whether it’s a newspaper caption contest, a Harry & Louise television commercial, or an Obamacare-bashing radio talk-show host this three-headed monster will be in full rage. We’ll see the same perpetuated myths and half-truths about national healthcare, perhaps with a gentler tone. An unprecedented amount of money will be spent by those most opposed to healthcare reform, the insurance and pharmaceutical companies, even while they pretend to welcome such change. Why? The answer is simple, profits. Who are the real impalers?

Will those in favor of health care reform (polls show most Americans) be able to get their message out? We need to try. Sending in letters to the editor, calling Governor Rell and asking her to sign the two health care bills, Sustinet and the Pooling bill (860-566-4840 or toll free 800-406-1527), contacting our representatives, or talking to our friends and neighbors are all ways we can blunt the abundant negativism we are going to see surrounding THE biggest fight for President Obama, health care reform.