BETTER DEAD THAN RED - REFLECTIONS ON CONGRESSMAN SCHIFF'S AGITPROP TOWNHALL

The eminent sociologist of religion Peter L. Berger tells a humorous but apt story about Communist Russia from Soviet times that perhaps reflects what happened at U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff's agitprop Health Care Townhall meeting in Alhambra Tuesday night:

"I read somewhere that there was some usual anti-religious campaign by the Communist Party and an agitprop (propaganda) person was sent to a Russian village and gave a one-hour lecture on scientific atheism; all the villagers had to listen to it. At the end of the lecture the Communist Party operative said, "We are very tolerant here. The priest can have five minutes for a rebuttal." (Laughter.)

The priest went up front and said he didn't need five minutes. He turned to the assembled village and said, "Christ is risen."

And the villagers replied in the liturgical formula of Eastern liturgy: "He's risen indeed." That's all he said, and that was all necessary to say."

Schiff's Townhall meeting was originally to be held in a small theater where only about 200 could be accommodated.  Due to the huge turnout, estimated between 4,000 to 6,000, the meeting was instead held outdoors on a stage in front of the Library in Alhambra. By the sound of the crowd, those opposing the proposed health care reform were in much greater numbers than the proponents. 

The meeting was not an American Townhall format. It was more like the Soviet propaganda meeting described above. Health care experts all with affiliations with the Democratic Party and pro-Obama-care shared the stage with Schiff.  They were all given microphones and given time to filibuster the first half of the meeting with lectures and propaganda in support of Obama-care.

Questions were taken from the audience but none of the questioners was given a microphone. Instead their questions had to be translated by moderator Dr. Bruce Hensel. Their voices and their rage were muted out and marginalized because no one could hear them over the sound of the crowd. Their voices were relegated to heckling, shouting over the speakers from afar, waving signs, all to no avail. Schiff and his entourage of elitist experts propounded the advantages of "scientific" health care and "computerized" medical records which would lower costs and shift health care delivery from quantitative care to qualitative care.  Faith was to be placed in technocracy and bureaucracy. The Hippocratic Oath and the doctor-patient relationship was to be replaced with the House of Representative Health Care Reform Act.  It was as if the Nicene Creed could be replaced with HR 3200.   

Neither Schiff, nor any of the technocratic experts, dared to mention the proposed health care reform would inevitably entail the end of chemotherapy and tumor removal surgeries for those with cancer. Shifting to outcomes based health care would mean the end of costly cancer treatments with a low probability of cure. It might also mean the end of angioplasty and stents for those with blocked arteries.  Instead, patients would be assigned "preventive" care and a vegan diet.

The message from Congressman Schiff was unambiguous. Effectively, Schiff might as well of said to his constituents who oppose Obamacare "your comments on the proposed health care bill before the House of Representatives are unimportant to me. The "experts" are all in favor of reform and we know what is best for you. I've got my mind made up and I'm going to sign the health care bill as proposed.  Now you can go away mad, but just go away."   

Like the Russian peasants in a rural village given a lecture on scientific atheism the American peasants could only recite their muted protests and wave their signs.  If I hadn't been at a so-called American Townhall meeting in Alhambra tonight I could have sworn I was at the Soviet era Communist Party lecture in a rural Russian village described above.  The nomenklatura (ruling class) has signaled they are taking over and you better like it.

Certainly, the above reflections are not to label Congressman Adam Schiff a "commie," thus relegating myself to the category of the "crazies" on the political right, many of whom were in attendance. But somehow I got the feeling that these Townhall meetings were historical, much like some of the scenes in the movie Dr. Zhivago where the Bolsheviks have finally ascended to power in old Russia. We are witnessing a cultural shift of historical proportions.  Now the phrase "better dead than red" had taken on a whole new meaning.    

   

Comments

[Bob]

Thanks to the disruptive efforts of the so-called crazies you mention, we can't have an effective townhall meeting or discussion. And as a result of that, you compare the change to the USSR? Could you be a little more desperate in your attempt to portray your disagreement with the proposed plan? How about some facts other than "so and so is a member of a liberal organization, Democratic party, etc."? Seriously, whether or not you agree with Obama's plan, we all know healthcare needs reform. If the Republican party has a viable alternative, we're waiting to hear it. Oh that's right, their alternative is "accept status quo." In other words, stay mute, peasant.

[Wayne Lusvardi]

Gosh Bob, thanks for telling me to "shut up" all in the name of "democracy." You prove my point. Read the article about Obama's appeal to technocratic competence and therapeutic populism over democracy posted at Sub Rosa.

[Lorena]

This entry is just spot-on the truth. I was also there at the townhall, beside myself in grief and frustration, feeling like a slave that was screaming against the stone walls of my cell. I will go so far as calling Schiff a commie. And everyone that supports this bill.

[Dissertation Abstract]

Blogs are so informative where we get lots of information on any topic. Nice job keep it up!!

[Wayne Lusvardi]

Bob, the coward, won't tell us who he really is, and leaves straw man arguments on this blog on health care reform. OK here's a fact for you Mr. "Sponge Bob" - as reported on this blog: in many parts of Europe health care is free, but jeans cost at least $100 each (to pay for the health care). How do you think that would fly in America? You want your free but mediocre bureaucratic health care? Well, you won't be able to afford a cheap computer, just like many people in Europe I know personally. The book The True Believer by Eric Hoffer documented what happens when such believers are presented with evidence to the contrary, their beliefs just get stronger. The social psychological term for this is "cognitive dissonance." So there are no facts that would persuade Bob anyway. In California EVERYONE is potentially already covered by Medi-Cal unless their assets make them ineligible (excluding a home). Even then, there is the Catastrophic Care program run by Blue Cross and funded by Big Tobacco taxes for those who have too many assets for Medi-Cal. And if you are fully disabled for 2 years from cancer or a stroke or injury, you are then eligible for Medi-Care plus SSI benefits. If you are a "true believer" all these facts are meaningless to you.

[jay]

We r in deep trouble people. These big program retreads are taking us off a cliff all because many needed some "hope". Well HOPE = DOPE in my book and if we do not take this country back come 2010 we are done as "free" people.