Let’s become conspiracy theorists. Next, let’s imagine the worst of Obama. What I am about to write is not fact, nor did it come from Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck or any other wing nut. It simply came from inside my paranoid, conspiracy-laden mind.
If you turn everything you believe inside out and upside down while asking the question: Could Obama have intentionally corrupted his own medical bill? you may end up traversing the same unchartered cranial crevices I have traveled. The unthinkable will become imaginable! And the imaginable will morph into the plausible. How dare I, a ranting liberal, even conjure up such a notion? Shouldn’t I, a true believer, immediately wash my keyboard off with lye soap and sit in the shame corner?
So before you hit the delete button, should we not give this idea some intellectual debate? After all, this bit of whimsy may not be that preposterous. To start, let’s examine all the well-though-out, detailed strategies Obama and his cronies have executed. During the early days of his run for office, he overcame terrific obstacles through great forethought and stealth to win the nomination. His campaign did it against all odds and a formidable opponent, and he was only a junior Senator.
His team knocked front runner Hillary Clinton from her first place perch without resorting to the usual mud slinging and all the while he maintained his very presidential poise. This was no small feat. Then, without a pause, his team turned around and secured Hillary’s endorsement and her agreement to become Obama’s Secretary of State. They even persuaded Bill Clinton to endorse him. Smooth, very smooth!
Just the other day Obama gave a well-crafted speech that thoroughly outlined the problems in Afghanistan and ticked off a detailed plan to solve one of our most vexing quagmires. There is no question Obama and his team are thorough, detailed, strategic and organized. But, make no mistake about it, they are also deftly political.
Then why did Obama fumble his long promised medical bill so badly? Maybe he did not fumble it, after all. Maybe he intentionally created the shambles in order to take the real teeth out of the “public option” for the benefit of the insurance companies. And, all the while he made it appear as if the conservatives and the Republican party were the bad guys.
Trace things back to the beginning. Remember when Obama made his desires a bit amorphous, instead of giving clear leadership to medical reform content? Obama magnanimously said: “Why don’t you boys shape the bill and tell me what you want to do?” Does that sound like a guy who knows where he is going and has a plan for almost everything?
If I were a conspiracy theorist, I’d say we’ve been flim-flammed by the very best of them. Naturally, medical insurance companies and big pharmaceuticals need to fight any kind of reform. It a beautiful plan. Right wing tea baggers and talk radio crazies did their part. In fact they performed better than expected. For a short time they literally took the conversation away from the administration’s team. And let’s not forget the town meetings. America rose to the occasion.
Perhaps it hit its peak when one miniature-minded person yelled into the mike “Tell the government to keep its hands off my Medicare!” And to really muddle things up, the administration spewed forth with a host of confusing names. The best of the blather was “public option.” Remember, during the election, Obama’s team concocted the political pearl “change you can believe in” and masterfully drove it home.
Now, you may ask: “Why would Obama intentionally destroy his own medical reform bill?” Obama is currently laying the groundwork for his second term. By the time that election rolls around, he will be an unpopular sitting president. Money will not be rolling in like it did from hios now withered grassroots. This time disenchanted Americans will not be so inclined to support a candidate that appears to have sold his soul. This time public disappointment will go against Obama. in the changes they expected. Obama will no longer be the counter-establishment. He will need some other deep pockets to fund his re-election. That’s why Rahm Emanuel has already been going (with hat in hand) to the very insurance companies that oppose medical reform.
It’s a shell game, folks. The Republicans will get the credit for being the “party of no” by opposing the medical bill. Obama will look innocent and the insurance companies will have a bill that will mandate that every American must have medical insurance (no matter what preconditions exist). Yes, there will be a sort of, kind of, public option provision. But, it will have extreme limits. And best of all, there won’t be any specifics capping the costs on these new coverage policies. They will simply not be affordable. Some insurance costs will go down, but there will be many more customers required to have mandatory insurance. And large companies will not be required to offer group insurance.
Mind you, all this is just my ungovernable imagination going wild. Politicians are good people. They wouldn’t trade our better welfare for another term in office. That would be too cynical, even for them. After all, they work for us, right?
Hi, Neil. Read it and wept. What say you about the latest decision by the Supremes?
Cheers,
Jean