American...in black and white.
An actual encounter today at the lunch counter:
I was seated at Wild About Harry’s today in Dallas (If you don’t know
it, it is the best ice cream in the solar system and the hot dogs are
good, too.) when two men next to me got into a discussion about
Obamacare. They both rather loudly proclaimed it was the government’s
duty (The meant Congress) to wipe it away. It was about to ruin America.
I decided to ask how?
They sat and looked at me like I had two heads.
How is Obamacare about to ruin America? I asked it again.
“Well, ah…hum…ah…”
“Once more. You said Obamacare is about to ruin America. How?”
The younger of the two (that made him about forty-five) said “It just is.”
“Because it is going to keep people from getting life-saving care?” I asked.
“Oh no. Not that.” The older man was about seventy. they could have been father and son.
“Because it is going to allow people who have pre-existing conditions to get insurance and can’t be turned away?”
The elder one said, “No. That’s a good thing.”
“Is it that prescription drug costs will come down?”
“No. I suppose that is okay as well. Yes. When you think about it that is good.”
“Well, maybe then it is going to ruin America because now you and I
don’t have to pay so much in local tax to treat indigent users in local
hospital ER rooms for things they could go to a regular doctor with?”
The younger one, “No. No that’s a good thing. A very good thing.”
"Is it the mandatory coverage?”
The older guy spoke up here. “Nope. I actually understand that.
Everyone has to be covered for it to be fair. Supreme Court opened my
eyes to that one. At first I thought it was kind of like communism, but
now I see it is just like car insurance. Everyone has to be covered for
it to be fair.
“So, guys, I’m not getting it. Less cost, more
people covered, cheaper insurance for us all and even the dead beats
have to get covered. And people who have been sick can’t be denied
coverage and kids coming out of college can get coverage without going
into the poor house. It all sounds good. So how is this ruining
America?”
They looked at each other and said, “Obama is ruining America. That’s how.”
“If this were Romney’s insurance plan…say like the one in Massachusetts… would you be in favor of it?’
Older guy. “You bet.”
“You know this is almost his exact plan. And it was devised by the
Heritage Foundation, which the Kock Brothers support. A very
conservative think tank.”
Young guy. “It’s still Obama’s plan.”
“So, he is the problem?”
“Yeah.” The both said that together.
“Okay. Why? You just told me his healthcare plan was basically okay.
You told me that if it were Romney’s, you’d support it in a heartbeat.
But because it came from the Obama administration, you are against it.
Right?”
The both nodded.
“Why?”
The older guy. “He’s ruining America.”
And so were back to the beginning. Only now we know that they really
don’t dislike Obamacare. They just hate Obama’s guts. They were white
and rich and live in Highland Park and they don’t want their nest egg
taxed more than the 12-15% it is. (I pay close to 30% for the sake of
being transparent–open and fair in this column).
I then looked
at the two and asked, thinking I knew how they would weasel out of the
questions –“If President Obama were white, would you like him?”
The younger one shocked me. “If he were white he’d be seen as a good
leader. I’d say he would have done a very good job considering what he
inherited from George.” (Note “George”…they probably know the W
personally.) But he’s not. We don’t need one of his kind in the White
House.”
America…there is your problem. There is your 2012 election.
The ice cream is good at Wild About Harry’s. The conversation was civil
and open. It just made me see we really are still two societies split
by race. In some ways it is still 1964. Only now, for a shot time, we
have universal health insurance.
No comments:
Post a Comment