Socialized Health Care in the USA

[Jester]

Having squandered his high approval rating, and witnessing a genuine "grass roots" (as well as other political) organization mounting against his Health Care (as well as other policies), the administration is going to attempt to do what politicians usually do, which is move in a third direction which will be marginally palatable to some, but will outrage the extremes on all sides.

Genuine grass roots movement... sure.

This is astroturf. The one time they tried to get a real turnout (the "tea parties"), it was underwhelming at best, eclipsed by even the average one-issue rally from the left. Subsequent "tea parties" have been no larger than backyard barbecues.

So, having failed at that, they decide to put the "mob" back in "flash mob" and show up in small, but very angry crowds to overwhelm town hall meetings, turning democratic discussion into bizarre, nonsensical rants and rank intimidation. Rush, Beck, and their ilk whip up the enthusiasm, Fox lists the locations, and pharmaceutical and insurance corporations provide the organization and cash. It doesn't take much more than a few lunatics and a lot of disruption to give the impression of a popular movement, but neither the polls nor the rallies show that any such movement exists.

If you can't tell the difference between that and a genuinely popular grassroots movement, then I think you need new glasses.

-Jester