Editorial
The Miserable State of American Media
Bill O’Reilly, Host of the O’Reilly Factor on Fox News. PHOTO/Fox News
There is a huge difference between the American media and the rest of the world. We – and here, ‘we’ means the rest of the world – seem keen on getting to the heart of any matter, while the American media is, apparently, more interested in keeping the news cycle going. On the other hand, the media could just be a reflection of how ignorant the American public really, REALLY, is. Perhaps, nothing better illustrates the despicable state of affairs than what is happening with this so called Obamacare Debacle.
In the first place, while he was campaigning to become leader of the Free World, Barack Obama adopted a plan to re-invigorate the way Americans received health care. To change the trajectory of this Leviathan, Obama and his people had to, basically, affect the gravy train that is the insurance industry. In simple terms, while the Americans have some of the world’s most qualified doctors and advanced medicare systems, the vast majority of America has gotten used to not receiving the best that their own land can offer.
Only in the U.S. is one a heartbeat away from bankruptcy. If you do not have adequate health insurance while undergoing extensive procedures – like cancer – you might as well roll over and die. Not only will the medical bills kill you; you will also have to grapple with the different bill collectors calling to demand payment for the ambulance that got you to the hospital, for the hospitalization and even for the laboratory that found out that the Onco virus was disseminating your body.
But all that ended after the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare was enacted in 2010. With this law now in place, insurance companies have to make sure you are adequately covered; that you can never be dropped from your provider just because your son is born with a hole in his heart, or because your daughter suddenly develops a skin condition.
But like the Stockholm Syndrome, it seems as though the Americans fell, head over heels with exactly what was wrong in the American landscape: Because they do not know any better, they fell in love with the status quo because, in their eternal wisdom, this was the best their capitalistic society had to offer.
Conversely, while this might be too simplistic, can someone explain how anyone can focus on gutting a law that just wants to ensure that people are healthy? And here, our accusation is simple: The American media is aiding and abetting the Republican Party and conservatives. Various Republican law makers continue to go to the various media outlets – including CNN – and do not necessarily get challenged on the fact that they are wrong in wanting to kill Obamacare.
Although some journalists have asked pertinent questions like: ‘What is so wrong with providing affordable health insurance to people?’, this is not a consistent meme. Various Republicans spew abject nonsense about the dire nature of Obamacare; right now, their pivot is towards Barack Obama being a liar of Nixonian proportions. Basically, because the president assured most Americans that Obamacare would not affect their lives, the Republican Party – egged on by conservative media outlets – is haranguing Obama and his so-called ‘minions’ about many Americans who are losing their insurance coverage.
Not many journalists are actually focusing their fire on the insurance companies that are dropping millions of Americans from coverage. Neither is the focus on the fact that these insurance companies are dropping Americans because their policies were miserably inadequate to cover those Americans not able to get insurance from their employers. Instead, the media is focusing on how horrible www.healthcare.gov – a government website – is performing, and many – including members of President Obama’s own party – are calling for a delay of a law that is already in full effect. They forget that because the boat has already left the port, the costs of going backwards would be immeasurable.
Summarily, people such as ourselves can only look on and weep. Watching nightly broadcasts and editorials from so-called ‘commentators’ is painful. We bemoan the state of the American media. Basically, it is more third world than the third world media.
Editorial Board | The Habari Network
November 4, 2013