Unintended Irony?

Out of all the reasons why conservatives (Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats alike) propose why we should not have publicly funded health insurance, this has to be the weirdest. This meme reminds me of the classic movie Soylent Green. The movie is based in a futuristic dystopia where food is in short supply but Soylent Green, the miracle wafer, comes to the rescue. Given the movie stars Charlton Heston, a cheerleader of conservatism in his later years, and how the plot progresses to its famous last line, "Soylent Green is people!", I can see why opponents to health care/insurance reform decided to inject this air embolus into the bloodstream. To me, it's not a big leap.

If the movie Soylent Green prompted these opponents to claim government funded health insurance will steer the elderly toward systematic euthanasia, there is a slight flaw. Soylent Green was not a product of the government. It was a product of the Soylent Corporation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cigars, Bananas, and Short, Blunt Swords

The three objects mentioned in the title refer to a line uttered by Dr. Niles Crane in an episode of Frasier . In that episode, the main plot involves Dr. Frasier Crane working to analyze a persistent dream he has (where he finds himself in bed with a male colleague). When Frasier relays the details of this dream to his brother (a fellow psychiatrist) Niles wryly asks, “Are there images of cigars, bananas, or short, blunt swords?” This deadpan joke about Freudian latency in my opinion describes the source of some people’s animosity and criticism of President Obama. The vitriol goes back nearly two years when Senator Obama began his run for the presidency. People all over the country during the primary season and through the general campaign expressed their concern about the possibility of someone like Obama becoming President. Once he was elected, these feelings metastasized into the Birther movement for those people whose bigotry stands out overtly. For others who congregate in Tea P
Read more

Hamster Wheel of the Day

Remember the apocryphal story circulating the news and internet about Clinton staffers performing all sorts of pranks as they left the White House? While people still argue the veracity of that incident, I doubt it reaches the level of pettiness exhibited by President Bush towards President Elect Obama.
Read more