Party of moral failures: Why Obamacare foes are about to pay a price

[DonViejo]

With Obamacare's benefits becoming tangible, opposing it on ideological grounds will create a new set of problems

SIMON MALOY

The Atlantic’s Molly Ball wrote an interesting piece on Tuesday’s Republican Senate primary in North Carolina and how it became an intra-party proxy war pitting the GOP establishment against the Tea Party. Ball went to a Tea Party rally in support of candidate Greg Brannon, and came away with one hell of an anecdote about a woman who under any objective calculus would very much benefit from health coverage, but is deliberately keeping herself uninsured:

I struck up a conversation with a woman with spangly gold fingernails named Sharon Doyle, who spends her free time holding “Impeach Obama” and “Remember Benghazi” signs on highway overpasses a couple of times a month. A caregiver for the elderly who’s had cancer and back surgery, she can’t afford health insurance through her employer, but she refuses to visit the federal health-insurance website for ideological reasons. Of the Republican frontrunner, state House Speaker Thom Tillis, she had only disdain—”He’s a RINO. I don’t trust him”—and said she wouldn’t vote in November if he became the nominee.

There’s a lot to mull over here. Obviously she’s made the decision that adherence to principle outweighs the benefit made available to her by the Affordable Care Act. You could make equally coherent arguments that she’s behaving admirably and being irresponsible. In the end it comes down to what you consider more important: the intellectual value placed on ideological consistency, or the moral value in access to healthcare.

That’s why it’s a bit puzzling for her to call Thom Tillis, the victor of Tuesday’s primary who will face Sen. Kay Hagan in November, a RINO. Tillis made the same calculation she did: Ideology trumps moral value when it comes to expanding access to healthcare. The differences are that Tillis didn’t actually give up his health security, and his decision affected the entire state of North Carolina.

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/05/08/party_of_moral_failures_why_obamacare_foes_are_about_to_pay_a_price/

[Vogon_Glory]

1. But Never Underestimate The Power Of Doublethink

Before I start my rant, I'd suggest that puzzled readers look up the definition of Doublethink in George Orwell's novel 1984--the ability to hold two contradictory thoughts in your brain at the same time and believe that both are true.

With a very few intellectually-honest exceptions, most Radical Righties are quite adept at doublethink. The pensioner on Social Security that oppose "Big Gummint," the Medicare patient who opposes "socialized medicine," the driver who uses public highways and curses gas-tax hikes are just a few examples.

If more Righties lost their ability to practice doublethink, the GOP and its Tea Party Siamese twin would be facing decades of electoral catastrophe at the hands of their former adherents.

[rafeh1]

2. great point re doublethink

The reason they do double think is that there is underlying themes of race and class that the Republicans and FOx play on. This visceral and emotional reaction trumps objective thinking.

[Vogon_Glory]

3. I'm Not Sure Race And Class Explains It All

I'm not sure that race and class are the predominating reasons. A lot of these sorts of voters aren't happy with the ways that the country is changing in regards to that "leave It To Beaver" and "American Dream with white picket fence" vision they grew up with, but they aren't able to see that the vision of the family they adhere to is under sneak attack by the banksters, speculators, and cold-hearted CEOs under-writing many right-wing politicos and that their fears concerning their faith are allowing them to be exploited by hordes of latter-day Elmer Gantries.

Religious belief and love of country can be good values in the right contexts. Unfortunately, those values are being exploited by hordes of liars and thieves.

[greymattermom]

4. Eventually she'll show up in an emergency room

and the hospital will sign her up for Obamacare, especially if it happens during an open enrollment period. They'd rather pay for insurance than have to eat the cost of care.