Embarrassed and Narrow-Minded: Worthless American Political Theater

It’s Barack Obama’s baby. The lifeblood of the president depends on it. It is “Obamacare,” Obama’s health care reform program. The 51-year-old’s most important domestic political project should turn the ailing, anti-social system upside down. Patient care for everyone, by law — something that has been generally agreed upon in Germany — is considered by American ultraconservatives to be the socialist work of the devil.

Among other things, the fundamental argument over Obamacare has caused the transitional budget to fail. The government is paralyzed for the first time in 17 years. Museums and national parks are closed; the freedom-loving country is standing still, embarrassed. The narrow-minded arguments and the constant wars of opinions are getting on the nerves of U.S. citizens. The fact that compromise is a virtue of democracy still hasn’t gotten through to many politicians in Washington.

The tea party mob is raining particularly heavily on the government’s parade. But it’s quite possible that they might get a stomach ulcer from their efforts. Seventeen years ago, the conservatives tried to show up Bill Clinton, the president at the time, in a very similar way, but their efforts backfired: The scandal-encumbered president won in the end. For Obama’s sake, I hope history repeats itself.