President Obama, It Is Time For A Little FDR!

In reference to the previous rant, "Democracy in Peril," I think I may have discovered four phenomena that have led to all the irrational behavior on the part of many of our citizens. First, I believe that a sizable portion of the population is policy-ignorant. Notice I did not say stupid, I said ignorant. People who simply do not know something are ignorant of the facts. People who are given a reasonable explanation of those facts, and still do not know are stupid. People who do know, after being informed, and persist in ignorant behavior are liars.

Regarding the debate (which may be too civilized a word for what is actually transpiring) over health care reform, an uninformed citizen may not know that there is no provision in any of the bills in Congress to create a government "Death Panel," whose job it is supposedly going to be to decide if elderly Americans get care or are allowed to die. That rumor was started on the floor of the House by Minority Leader, John Boener in a blatantly irresponsible speech, and later trumpeted by the queen of the nutballs, Sarah Palin, on her Facebook page. Anyone who cares to look will find that the only thing in the bill that is even remotely akin to euthanizing granny is a reimbursement schedule for Medicare physicians who counsel their patients on end of life issues. Further, the bill stipulates that the patient, not the physician, must initiate the discussion. Right now, private insurnace companies and Medicare will not cover the cost of a doctor's visit for this kind of a discussion. In fact, most Americans who can afford it, usually have this discussion with an attorney while drawing up documents like living trusts. I know, I went through this with my mother and it cost just under $5,000 to make sure my mom's wishes about end of life care would be honored. It would have been wonderful to have been able to have that discussion with her primary care physician instead of n attorney. Does anyone really believe that AARP and the AMA would support a bill that did what John Boener and Sarah Palin are claiming?

The second cause of so much of the yelling and screaming going on at Congressional town halls is fear. During his inaugural address in 1933, Franklin Roosevelt told the American people that, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." A teaspoonful of FDR would be a perfect elixir for so much of what ails us today. Leaving out the truly crazy, like the Obama "birthers," rational people under great stress can act, well, irrational. Since September 11, 2001, the American people have had to face the fact that they are not impervious to peril. Hurricane Katrina and the government's pathetic response did not help. Add to that, the never-ending war in the Middle East, uncontrollable fluctuations in energy prices, and of course the disastrous state of the American economy, and one could not find a more fertile ground for fear.

Before FDR ushered in what came to be known as the New Deal, he took the time to reassure the American people that he and his team were on the job and that all would again be well. For example, before the passage of the Glass-Steagall Act, which created the FDIC and reformed America's banks, FDR called for a "Bank Holiday" to slow down the panic withdrawals that were wiping out our financial institutions. Roosevelt, who conquered fear in his personal life while battling polio, understood that no government program, no matter how well crafted could succeed if panic rather than reason governed people's behavior. Under this much stress, a normally reasonable people can succumb to the rantings of demagogues. Is there any other way to explain how the master of factless hyperbole, Rush Limbaugh, can get away with calling President Obama a Nazi?

For the last eight years the American people have been bombarded with one body blow after another, while an incompetent leadership team in Washington performed so badly that our collective fear has been exacerbated, rather than dampened. But it takes more than ignorance and fear to mobilize people into raging mobs. A willing and enthusiastic partner in fanning the flames of irrational behavior has been the media. As far back as the 1890s, newspaper moguls like William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer discovered they could sell more papers by sensationalizing stories, or out and out lying, rather than merely reporting events truthfully. Without a full-frontal lie about the explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor, the Spanish American War might never have been fought.

Following this journalistic ploy, today's major electronic news outlets have been leading night after night with visual images of members of Congress being verbally assaulted and threatened by irrational citizens. Little or nothing is said about the veracity of the mobs' accusations, and even less time is given over to the fact that a significant majority of the American people still support health care reform. Instead, the visceral images are poured on, as the networks reap the profits from higher ratings. Responsible journalism, which was never profitable for the networks, has given way to "Oprahism" and become fat with advertising cash with their new philosophy of "Shock and Awe." So instead of leading with a fact like, the American Association of Retired Persons, endorses health care reform, Brian, Katie, and Charley,the Moe Larry and Curly of network news, lead with a Facebook rant from Sarah Palin on "Death Panels!" Could anyone over fifty even imagine Walter Cronkite or David Brinkley wallowing in that slime?

Finally, a significant portion of the blame for all this must be laid at the front door of the White House. Rather than articulating and promoting a clear plan for reform, the Obama team decided to leave it up to Congress to come up with a plan. Say What? So far we have at least four different bills floating around in the House and Senate, and no one really knows what they contain. The president keeps talking about a health care reform package, but he cannot definitively tell us what any of the specifics are. Thus, the crazies get to make up whatever they want. And instead of promoting the elements of a specific plan, the president is spending his time warding off attacks from the lunatic fringe.

As a former professor of Constitutional law, President Obama should be quite familiar with Article Two, Section Three of our founding document, which states, "He (the President) may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or either of them." And if this is not an extraordinary occasion, then none will ever exist. So, Mr. President, call the Congress back into session, present them with a clearly articulated piece of health care reform legislation, use the "Bully Pulpit" to explain your plan to the American people and pressure the Congress to pass the bill. Then in a magnificent White House ceremony, befitting this monumental piece of legislation, sign it into law. Then you can move on to one of the hundreds of other pressing issues facing your administration. In other words, stop reading about Abe Lincoln for awhile, and start acting a bit more like Franklin Roosevelt.