The Reality Gap
As I take a keen interest in US politics, it has been kind of interesting the last couple of years or so. The rise of Barack Obama from comparatively nowhere to beating the might of the hitherto impregnable Clinton electoral machine. Then the race against John McCain. I kind of felt sorry for McCain - a genuinely good guy in his 2000 run for the Republican nomination, until he was beaten by lies from Karl Rove and the Bush campaign. McCain is a bona fide war hero of the kind most flag waving patriots only dream of being. Of course his main failing was that he was the head of a rump of far right nutjobs, Christian lunatics and creationists - the perfect embodiment of which was Sarah Palin.
And what has been incredibly interesting since Obama won is the attacks from the American Right. To be honest, they have acted like a bunch of five year olds - and to be honest, have been throwing tantrums that five year olds would be proud of. They have sought to delegitimise Obama in any way possible. From the rise of the laughable "birther" movement, which claims he isn't a US born citizen, to calling him fascist, Marxist, Leninist, Socialist, Trotskyist, Stalinist, Communist, Muslim, Terrorist...
Who knew there were so many ways to avoid saying "black"?
The latest has been the fight over healthcare in the US. As the rest of the world looks on aghast, the combined might of the US healthcare industry has tried to stop Obama extending healthcare to 30 million Americans. People who will die to protect their right to have a gun are willing to die to prevent others having a life saving operation. And to be honest, it got personal, with attacks on the NHS - you can have a go at many things the UK does badly, but picking on the NHS is an absolute no-no in my book. Having known plenty of close relatives whose pain and suffering has been eased by wonderful people and good facilities, I don't mind paying my share of National Insurance. Sure, the NHS isn't perfect, atfer all, what system is, but it is a thousand times better than the US healthcare system, where the system is set up in such a way that making the patient better is the last thing they want.
As I've often done before, I've looked at the disconnect between the truth and the media - whether it is the hysterical ranting of a Rush Limbaugh or a Faux News, to the blogosphere where any old crank can set up a webpage and get noticed. ("Guilty, your honour!")
Given that a large part of the success of the Obama campaign was its use of the Internet, it is surprising just how incredibly good The Republican Party are at utilising blogs and forums to disseminate information. I mean, seriously good. Their best tactic is to plant a specific quote or idea and then let the many blogs, who spend their time complaining that they don't have a voice, take over.
The latest to hover on the radar concerned the recently passed Health Care Bill. The quote in question is
"it shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection."
This quote is being used as "evidence" that the evil Nazi that is the current President has not only passed the Bill, but done so in such a way that it is impossible for subsequent Governments to overturn it in the future. According to the right wing blogosphere, once this is made law, it cannot be overturned... ever.
The LaRouche Public Action Committee in a blog posting entitled Reid Did It! Nazi "Eternity" Section in Health Bill Put in Secretly Behind Closed Doors says "The fascist secret clauses in the Senate health-care bill — attempting to forbid any future Congress from changing any of the provisions relating to the dictatorial, genocidal Independent Medicare Advisory Board — were inserted into the bill during closed-door meetings in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office, not by an amendment duly considered by the Senate."
The blog at The Weekly Standard - "Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) pointed out some rather astounding language in the Senate health care bill during floor remarks tonight. First, he noted that there are a number of changes to Senate rules in the bill--and it's supposed to take a 2/3 vote to change the rules. And then he pointed out that the Reid bill declares on page 1020 that the Independent Medicare Advisory Board cannot be repealed by future Congresses:"
You can Google for 12,500 references to this by clicking here.
My Spidey Sense tingled like crazy. Blimey, this is pretty huge, even if it is impossible to pass a law that cannot be overturned. So I went to the Library of Congress, clicked the link to search legislative information, and had a look for H.R.3590 - atient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Engrossed Amendment as Agreed to by Senate). Right, now search for "Sec. 3403 Independent Medicare Advisory Board" or similar and click on it - it should take you to that part of the Bill. This part of the Bill is about oversight, what has to be reported, finances and so on. It is about the legislature checking that the Bill is working as it should. And sure enough subsection (d) (3) (C) says:
`(C) LIMITATION ON CHANGES TO THIS SUBSECTION- It shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection.
Wow. Blimey, so it is true then. They put this in and it can't be repealed ever. Ever, ever, ever.
Except...
Except...
Let's look at the quote.
"`(C) LIMITATION ON CHANGES TO THIS SUBSECTION- It shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change"
Pretty heavy, eh? The Senate nor the House of Representatives can change this bill. Ever. Shit. That's a lot. Does this mean that it can't be changed?
Well, no, because it ignores the President or the Supreme Court. But still, pretty shitty?
I admit it. I've tricked you. I've pulled the same trick the bloggers have, except in a more blatant way. I've taken the quote out of context but also I've omitted one very, VERY crucial word. I deliberately cut it out when I quoted it above.
"Subsection"
That quote in full:
"(C) LIMITATION ON CHANGES TO THIS SUBSECTION- It shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection.
If you read it properly, you realise the clause only applies to Subsection 3403. This doesn't apply to the entire Bill. That is why it says "subsection". It specifically mandates the oversight part of it cannot be changed. It enshrines that the legislative MUST ALWAYS be able to change the Bill.
The right wing crazies ared jumping up and down, trying to tell people that black is white. That this clause means the Bill cannot be changed, when in fact it solidifies that the Senate/Congress must always be able to change it.
This is how the media works - they decide on a sound bite, take it out of context and jump up and down about it. It is like when you see a quote on a cinema poster that says "EPIC - Some Twunt, Sunday Mirror" when the review actually says "The director has served up an epic turkey, a pile of rancid pus that darkens the cinema screen."
SO what can we conclude from this? Well, first, that truth is the first casuality. Most people know that. But we can also conclude that instead of one or two newspapers telling people what to think and vote, we can see hundreds, possibly even thousands of people getting together and distorting the truth, making up seem down and left seem right in a million different ways. It is revisionism on a scale that Orwell could only dream of.
As Mark Twain said, "A lie can be halfway around the world before the truth has got its boots on". Checking all this took time. Not long - 10 minutes or so, but in a world where blogs simply cut and paste from each other, such misinformation can result in well, 12,500 Google hits and a whole bunch of screaming and shouting and hissy fits from people just willing to believe what you tell them.
Those who care about the truth, about those facts, about reality, just get lost in the hubbub.
Edit: Apparently the bloody comments system is still broken. Should you try to post a comment and it fails, email it to me with your name and URL of blog/website if you want and I will post it manually.
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