No Screaming at Greenspring. But...

Well, at least there didn't appear to be any screaming or Randall Terry-style insanity (click on the link, you won't believe this!) at Gerry Connolly's Greenspring Community forum yesterday, but there still is a lot of ignorance (and misinformation, disinformation, etc.) about what health care reform entails. First and foremost, it's this notion - as one resident said (incorrectly) - that this reform means we'll be "throw[ing] out our present health care [system]" and institute "a whole new government system." As Gerry Connolly correctly noted, the Democratic reform plan will build on our current (private) system and not "federalize" healthcare, yet the myth persists (thanks in large part to lying demagogues like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, etc.).

Another fear, that somehow health care reform will harm seniors' Medicare coverage, is also flat-out false, as the executive director of Virginia's AARP pointed out to Greenspring residents. Unfortunately, as the pro-reform senior interviewed in this story says, that probably won't change the minds of people who have "closed minds" and simply "don't want to pay taxes." Which is why, in the end, Democrats are probably going to have to do this largely or totally by themselves. It would be better if we had a reasonable Republican Party at this point, but the fact is we don't.