FREEDOM & LIBERTY??? Uneducated…Uninformed…Intentionally Misleading

Recently an editorial opinion was published in my hometown newspaper in Louisiana regarding President Obama’s Affordable Healthcare Act…I was appalled, but not surprised.

The title of the editorial: “OBAMACARE THREATENS OUR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY” (http://www.americanpress.com/AP-Editorial-7-7-12)

The basic theme of the article, which was co-written by six members of the Lake Charles American Press Editorial Board, canned be summed up in the following paragraph:

    “Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Obamacare is the impact it is having on religious liberty. Religious leaders, institutions, and individual Americans across the nation are loudly protesting the provisions in the law that force them to do things in deep conflict with the moral tenants of their faith.”  (LCAP)

This whole thing really got to me. Once again I was reading personal opinions presented by the editors of a major news publication about federal policy…and written in a way clearly intended to emotionally influence the thinking of its readership about a highly charged political issue.

I don’t have an issue with opinions about political issues, that is a right of every American citizen. What I absolutely deplore, however, are those opinions that are based in clear falsehoods and biased ideologies that intentionally skew facts and introduce outright lies into public discourse.

Well I decided to respond to this editorial. I did not focus specifically on the religious argument. I wanted to present a balanced “opinion” for readers to consider. So below are the comments I posted…some very simple, yet FACTUAL, points that anyone interested in this issue about the Affordable Care Act should  know…

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     If you research the history of the individual parts of this law you will find that this "wool-over-the-eyes" rhetoric and talking points about referencing religion and so-called liberty intrusions are completely false…AND much of the ACA was originally derived from Republican/Conservative ideas and ideals. So what changed? The President is what changed. That’s it. That is the only reason that editorials and arguments like the one above are presented. There is an inherent and forced fear that is skewing the common sense of people, the majority of whom will benefit from this law.

     The government will NOT control the health care decisions of citizens. If you have health insurance already, absolutely NOTHING will change…except your premiums will likely decrease. If you must purchase insurance, you do so on the private insurance market, not some government run entity. And think about it — without this law YOU, the TAXPAYER, is footing the bill for folks who require medical care but do not have insurance or cannot otherwise pay. Talk about a "welfare" complaint that I don’t hear being raised now. I could go on and on, but it is not my personal responsibility to educate the readers of this newspaper, many of whom probably don’t want to know the things I have written here anyway.

     Consider, for instance, this editorial opinion and the ludicrous and dangerous attack on the personal health decisions of females…this religious argument holds no water and was resolved for the most part, except for continued complaints by clergy who simply do not like this President. So if Conservatives want so badly for "the government" to be removed from personal health decisions, why are they forcing invasive policies on the very same female constituency? The GOP and Tea Party essentially want to DICTATE the health care decisions of women in the name of religion…doesn’t make sense…does it?

     Last…all the hootin’ and hollerin’ about some false notion of freedoms being taken away will mean nothing to those senior citizens in Lake Charles and throughout the state who cannot get health care because Jindal is declining federal funding for Medicare and Medicaid. I guess you will pray really hard and ‘religion’ will fix it…right? This would be comical if it wasn’t so serious…

     I grew up in Lake Charles, traveled the world, got an excellent education, but I learned how to critically think for myself. What I see as the intent of this editorial is to sway the opinions of as many as possible with false information and using religious references as an influencing factor. And yes, there are many who will be influenced because your "opinion" sounds really good and educated. But in the end, you do have the right to your own personal opinions. Thank you…

~Derrill R. Guidry

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