Don's Tuesday column

                THE WAY I SEE IT   by Don Polson Red Bluff Daily News   9/3/2013

Politicizing events; ObamaCare ‘real disaster’

Following the 50-year commemoration of the historic “I have a dream” speech by Martin Luther King in front of the Lincoln Memorial, I had inspiring, historically nostalgic, revealing and some outrageous, disappointing observations; little of what occurred last Wednesday rose to the level of uplifting, let alone inspiring. The meager, sub-20,000 person crowd seemed to convey the near-irrelevance of what happened 50 years ago to the current racial and political climate. For an uplifting account of that day, go to Powerlineblog.com and scroll down to the August 28 entry, “Remembering the Great Civil Rights March of 1963” by Paul Mirengoff, wherein he recounts the day he spent with his dad among the crowds and hearing the speeches on what would soon become a most significant day in American history. I’ve posted it at DonPolson.blogspot.com among today’s offerings. I also cherish memories of my own activities that advanced the cause of civil rights.

Most disappointing was the incorrigible tendency of Democrats to politicize everything; by that I mean the exclusion of Republicans at every turn (the Senate’s only African-American, Republican Tim Scott, wasn’t invited), and the appeals to blatantly Democrat issues and ideas, no matter how disingenuously presented (Bill Clinton saying, preposterously, that it’s easier to buy a gun than to register to vote).

What I found truly disturbing, and relevant to recent controversy over a rodeo clown donning an Obama mask, was the photo of an American flag with Barack Obama’s face replacing the 50 stars in the blue field. As I’ve shown, there is a mainstream acceptance, even celebration, of poking fun at our presidents; or at least there was until the current selective outrage by Democrats over such practices (Saturday Night Live—ok; rodeo clown—for shame).

However, President Obama’s face replacing the stars representing our 50 states seems to confirm the casual, even disrespectful, regard those on the political left have for our national symbol. I find only reprehensible motives for such a misuse of the American flag, suggesting that the core principle of our entire constitutional form of representative democracy—the United “States” of America—can blithely be supplanted with the visage of their “dear leader.” This is of a piece with a flag widely used by the left and Occupy partisans that replaced the field of stars with corporate symbols. No corporation has a blank check on mine, or anyone’s, monetary freedoms or political liberties, but Obama personalizes the supremacy of “rule by men” over “rule by law” and the apparent slide into soft despotism currently characterizing the executive branch.

On California’s implementation of ObamaCare—also known as ACA, or Affordable Care Act—there are some troubling developments. Mainstream news media have generally taken the “never is heard a discouraging word” approach, apparently believing fealty to the Obama-crat regime demands protecting readers and viewers of their incisive “reporting,” from unpleasant developments in the ACA rollout. The agenda, as demonstrated by the preponderance of political cartoons on this page, seems to be to direct or deflect everyone’s attention to a phony narrative that places all blame for any problems with ObamaCare implementation onto Republicans. Think of the Star Wars mind-trick: “These are not the droids you are looking for.”

However, California has no such barriers as Republicans are effectively neutered in Sacramento; hence, while “some Democratic officeholders warn of the likely disasters lurking in Obamacare” (Max Baucus calling it a “train wreck” in the making), all is proceeding apace here in the Golden State. Nonetheless, “With the recent regulatory declaration that the state exchanges need not verify income information for Obamacare subsidies, the Obamacrats opened up a huge potential for fraud that will most assuredly be exploited.” (Powerlineblog.com, July post “Invitation to a Defrauding, cont’d”)

Indeed, our Democratic Insurance Commissioner, Dave Jones, has raised red flags over potential ripoffs of actual consumers, reported by AP:

“As California prepares to launch its health care exchange, consumer groups are worried the uninsured could fall victim to fraud, identity theft or other crimes at the hands of some of the very people who are supposed to help them enroll. The exchange, known as Covered California, recently adopted rules for a network of more than 21,000 enrollment counselors who will provide consumers with in-person assistance as part of the federal Affordable Care Act. In some cases they will have access to personal and financial information, from ID cards to medical histories.

“But the state insurance commissioner and anti-fraud groups say the exchange is falling short in ensuring that the people hired as counselors are adequately screened and monitored. [Jones] also said the exchange does not have a plan for investigating any complaints that might arise once the counselors start work. That means consumers who might fall prey to bogus health care products, identity theft and other abuses will have a hard time seeking justice if unscrupulous counselors get hold of their Social Security number, bank accounts, health records or other private information, he said. ‘We can have a real disaster on our hands,’ Jones, a Democrat, said in an interview.”

To whom it may concern, I’ll not be answering loaded, hypothetical “gotcha” questions on “same-sex whatever” until said questioner stakes a position on the real violations of conscience in commerce I pointed out—people being forced to “celebrate” that to which they morally object. Are you for or against?