CULLMAN —
The howl of contempt directed at the Supreme Court of the United States’ stamp of approval on President Obama’s national health care plan is reaching shrill levels across the nation.
Fears of death panels to euthanize the elderly have been joined by the long-standing chants that Obama has led the country into epic socialism have been recast with the high court’s ruling, which was led by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts. Some conservatives believe that he is now the resurrected Benedict Arnold.
The more reasonable voices in the fallout of the court’s decision will not be heard for some time. Those who are carefully studying the decision for its impact on state budgets and small businesses have quite a task ahead of them. The 193-page document is something that most critics haven’t read or even attempted to digest.
Let’s be fair about this issue. A lot of people voted for Obama and supported his health care initiative from the beginning. And certainly many others were skeptical or downright opposed to his plan. Clear enough.
With the warming of the presidential election campaign, the chimes of rhetoric and dramatic pontificating are not unexpected. But the tone of all this verbal matter is becoming as repulsive as one of television’s late-night horror flicks.
At this point, the weary public may expect to see swarms of flies unleashed from the mouth of the president, or that he will ride through the night down Pennsylvania Avenue on a flaming chariot of ghastly fanged serpents spreading fear and gloom across the land.
Let your imagination go where it will, but Mr. Obama is only the president. He has a point of view and a passion to direct the country in one direction, while his opponent, Mitt Romney stands on an opposing hill of political thought.
Few people disagree that the nation has a problem with health care. Obama has given his plan. Romney and his supporters pledge to wipe out the plan and explore another direction. Make your choice in November. The debate over health care has long been needed.
As for Chief Justice Roberts, there is some speculation that he did conservatives a favor when he essentially declared the health mandate a tax. Lawmakers know that taxes can be eliminated as quickly as they can be passed.
Can you really say with certainty which player in this issue is the bad guy?
Editorials
Editorial: He’s just the president
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Taking the lead in education
The once-heralded ‘No Child Left Behind” education initiative from the federal level has just about run out of gas.
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Moving into the future
Hundreds of local high school seniors are accepting their diplomas and preparing to turn the page in the next chapter of their lives.
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Editorial: Seizure of AP phone records insult to independent press
This amounts to spying on an American news organization -- common practice in dictatorships but scary conduct in a democratic system that prizes the public value of an independent watchdog press.
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EDITORIAL: The IRS' Turn to Answer Questions
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Editorial: The house of death
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Editorial: Murder, insanity and guns
James Holmes, the accused movie theater shooter in Colorado, would like for the public to believe he killed a dozen people because he was insane.
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Lasting partnerships
Economic development officials have long noted the importance of expansions by existing industries and businesses in a community to lead growth.
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COMMENTARY: Why does young adult fiction keep giving its heroines makeovers?
Over at This Ain't Living, s.e. smith (who, full disclosure, has guest-blogged for me at ThinkProgress) has an excellent post about one of the most pernicious trends in young adult fiction.
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A spirit for moving forward
This weekend marked the two-year anniversary of a deadly day of tornadoes that streaked across Alabama, claiming lives and property and changing the landscape of many communities.
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Faith and bombs
The investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing is pointing to the all-too-familiar theme of religious faith playing a major role in violence.
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