A small reflection of the President’s utter failure to deliver any semblance of a message on health care reform
Hey, remember when Barack Obama was all, I know how the Facebook works, and Internet this and email that and here, let me communicate some relevant information to you! Remember that?
Okay, now pretend, say, you have no idea what the hell this “public option” thing is. And you want to know. You want to be informed. You want to get angry when the guy on cable news says something outrageous and, well, you want to know when he’s saying something outrageous. You think to yourself, that Obama — he probably has a website that will tell me what this “public option” thing is.
So you switch on the Internet Explorer and click on over to the whitehouse.gov and there’s a search box. Confident that your civic curiosity is about to be satisfied, you type in “public option.” And this is what comes up.
First result: a list of people who attended a White House Forum on Health Reform. No info on the reform, or ideas discussed, just some names. Next result: a speech about the relationship between the United States and Turkey. Third result: a speech about the relationship between the United States and Trinidad and Tobago. Next: a transcript of a press briefing that begins with Robert Gibbs asking if people like his tie. Followed by: a press release concerning the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009. Hey, you think to yourself, where’s my relevant information?You’re about halfway through the results now. The next one is another press briefing transcript, and — oh good. Robert Gibbs has something to say about the public option. He says, “a strong public option is necessary to ensure competition.” Well, that’s something? Right? And so on.
But that Obama, he’s always one huge step ahead of the game. He’s the Bobby Fischer of presidents. He knew you’d go to the wrong website. In fact, he probably has a special reform-specific website somewhere with all the relevant information you will ever want. Why, you’ll be deluged with so much information you’ll need to build an ark to survive.Sure enough, you find it. HealthReform.Gov. Brought to you by the Department of Health and Human Services. And it has a search box. So you type in “public option.” The excitement builds. Enlightenment is on its way. Ignoramus, no more!
One result.
Seriously?
And you have to scroll down for it.President Barack Obama’s health secretary told reporters that Obama strongly supports a national “public option” insurance plan. “The president supports a true public option that would be a (health) benefits program run by the government that can compete side-by-side with private insurers, and help hold down costs and offer some choice to consumers,” said Kathleen Sebelius.That’s it! That’s everything the health reform website has to offer.
Sigh. You turn on the TV and there’s the cable news guy saying how the Democrats are wavering on the whole “public option” thing and might drop it altogether. This is terrible! someone says. No, it’s smart! says someone else. Whatever. It’s probably not that important, anyway.
