Should the Pres go on TV and calmly explain and debunk the hysteria re: health care?

I feel he should. He's a voice of reason and calm in a sea of insanity. Your thoughts?

Now that would go a long way to calming people down.

Like FDR. Explain and ridicule.

Candidate Obama had the right stuff.

#2. These right winger idiots are not going to believe anything that he says. They've been trained that Dems are evil.. that they are not God's Chosen party... that because they have this mentality towards Dems, they believe Dems harbor ill will and intent towards Pukes... AND there's the racist aspect to this as well. Many of the Puke, God Patrol, are racists... they fear the black man in the Office.. they fear he's going to come after them... they fear retribution for their racist ways... they fear and hate. When you live your life in fear and hatred, what kind of life must you live... Its the reason they end up crazed, mouth foaming dangerous people. Its will be a wonder if we don't have another horrible incident like Timothy McVeigh.. We've already had the murder of Tiller. There was the shooting at the Holocaust museum. The violence may only get worse.. especially if the unemployment numbers continue to hover as they are.

that to explain the health care bill would take forever. it is over a 1000 pages of legalese...heck, i have read a good bit of it and some of it scares me...but i am not a lawyer so i really cannot interpret it properly so i am trying to keep my head screwed on about it. but if someone wants to read some real evil into it, they can and will.

there is just too much of it and the language is complicated and easily twistable.

sP

You can't sell what you don't know. Bottom line is there's we're not close to a final bill...there's still a ways to go in this debate before there's a final vote. Anything he says at this point could jeopardize things he's doing behind the scenes. It's a balancing act as there's sure to be lots of horsetrading done and more ahead.

I expect when we get a bill out of the House & the Senate that he'll weigh in during the reconciliation process (if you don't know what that is, please watch the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEJL2Uuv-oQ

His voice now is needed behind closed doors...then when there's a bill that looks like it's going to move forward, that'll be when we will see him sell it and sell it hard.

There's a big reason the GOOP and its corporate shills want to shut things down now...they don't want a final bill...or any bill.

Yes...debunking is needed and is going on. Right now, the imporatant battles are being fought behind close doors. In the committees and the caucuses.

And the hysteria doesn't need debunking as much as it needs exposing. It's the motives of those who oppose health care reform that need to be exposed, not just to make sure this legislation passes but to destroy the GOOP noise machine. They know if this bill passes they're screwed for decades to come.

As far as I've seen the President HAS been debunking the lies, but the corporate media is bought and paid for. It's a distorted view of what's really going on. 70% of Americans want health care reform, millions either have no insurance or face losing theirs for the flimiest of reasons. These people don't have teevee shows and many aren't buying the scare tactics.

because policy speeches are boring as hell, riots get on the news. he needs to leverage the press these idiots are getting. turn it on them.

Yep...details are boring, but that's what people want to hear. You can't talking point health care. Many are trying. The only way it can and should be sold is by person to person...not sold as a teevee product.

Unfortunately, the President doesn't own the press...the corporations do and they have succumed big time to their bottom line...the money from the insurance companies and big pharma and other corporates that distort what is covered or how its framed.

We're starting to see a backlash against the hysteria. By making such fools of themselves the teabaggers and rushpublicans are exposing themselves as shills for the corporates as well as having no alternative. Of course the corporate media can't show this, but it's the message many are now taking away.

If you don't think the videos of people going whacko at these meetings isn't hurting rushpublicans...think again. It sure didn't help them in last year's election.

President Obama knows its not who gets the first word that wins the day...it's who gets the last...and we're a long way from that last word.

i just think we need to be counter messaging earlier than you. i think we should shut this BS down before it goes on a whole month.

That would help.

he can also show that people are bascially aasking the same 4 questions over and over again.

i think it would be hilarious and defuse the ugliness.

Though the bill is not completely formed yet, there are many, many lies that can be debunked right in one fell swoop aired over and over again. KO did this last night and it was hilarious and factual at the same time.

and their canned RW talking points- no one could accuse him of making people look bad/ stupid... they'd have done that themselves already.

They have already been brain washed.

... if not to quiet them, then just to reassure us. That he is aware of what is going on and is ready to
respond.

& can't be explained away.

Other than those things handled better by single payer?

hit to "80 billion" - as calculated with their yardstick.

but just read DU.

I can't wait to hear this

explaining the benefits of health care reform and the wingnuts would call him a Commie sympathizer. Right wing talk radio has the sheep so worked up they can't be reasoned with. They won't come around until their insurance company drops them and they're out in the cold with the rest of us.

I think when it appears there's no quelling of the screaming and a lawmaker cannot speak, the screamer(s) should be thrown right out so that those who want to engage can. I don't understand why classrooms I've been in do not tolerate unruly kids but these people are allowed to be as immature as they want to be.

for the sake of the sane, those who may not have Internet access or who pay that much attention but are not necessarily "anti-government." The average person just does not know what's going on, but might be getting the impression that whatever "it" is, it's not good. Obama's lack of response to the chaos makes him look weak and wishy washy. Obama needs to directly address their bullshit points, and he needs to flat out say that they have wealthy sponsors who are bussing them around purposely to disrupt what is supposed to be a democratic process.

But he might have to be really assertive here, and so far he has not been that. It's as though he trusts the process to come out okay in the end. We need some leadership to prevent a complete takeover by insurance companies. Can he do that, or not?

I was thinking about that this morning. These town hall things are NOT working, not for the purpose of discussion and gaining information.

What about a televised discussion about the various issues, with representatives (not political) the various segments of the population trust?


Not sure who would be a reasonable voice to represent the wingnuts.

I'm not even sure who would be a voice of reason for progressives.


Everything is so polarized; if we like someone that automatically means the wingnuts hate them and won't listen, and vice versa.

Colin Powell. He seems to be one of those moderate people respected by many on both sides of the aisle.

Isn't that awful that it's hard to think of public figures who are respected by the majority of the citizenry? I'm drawing a complete blank.

Everything is just so very, very polarized.......

:(

pie charts. Show them just what will happen if we do nothing.

did the last time - they do not tell the truth

level, use very simple one-liners. Maybe use that Geico Caveman to splain it to em. How about some adds showing Insurance executives making decisions of life and death for them. Show an insurance company building and cut to a board of bean counters picking peoples doctors or what treatments will be cost effective for their bottom line. There is about 25-30% of Americans you will never convince. You got to convince that 25-30% of average Joes that can tell you every Quarterback on every NFL team but when it comes to politics they have a 5 second attention span.