No Runny Eggs

During this past week, the grass roots fervor against health care reform has stepped up. It’s no longer possible for a Congressperson or Senator to have a townhall meeting without this issue being at the forefront. If the particular legislature attempts to support the health care reform in any way, they are challenged directly. In some cases, the idiocy of their defense has been met with derisive and dismissive laughter.

This week, President Obama became very concerned that you’re not getting the straight scoop on health care reform.  He’s so concerned that he sent Linda Douglass out to tell you that just because the President said something at one time, it doesn’t mean he’d stand by it today. 

Because it’s not about him but about you, President Obama is asking you to help him identify and ferret out misinformation about his health care reform.  To that end, the White House has established an email address for you to send information; name, address, social security number, the normal stuff, about any website or email that has “fishy” information about health care reform.  The email address for reporting your friends and neighbors is Flag@whitehouse.gov.  Of course, the information is being gathered only so that President Obama can get you correctly educated.

When I heard about the “flag” email address, I immediately thought it was spelled “Flagg.”

Of all the various characters that came and went during the run of MASH, one that I really enjoyed was a character known as Colonel Flagg.

Colonel Flagg was an Army intelligence officer.  Overzealous and egotistical are just a couple of words that describe Colonel Flagg.  Each time that Colonel Flagg showed up he was on some mission that was required to preserve “The American way of life.” 

Flagg’s investigations were typically focused on some conspiratorial endeavor.  Typically, the conspiracy existed only in Flagg’s mind.  Flagg’s episodes often ended with Hawkeye or Trapper turning Flagg’s conspiracy theory against him, often sending him out of the camp as a likely target of some other intelligence officer’s investigation.

The Democrat’s health care reform efforts have been thrown so far off message and so taken aback by the notion that their subjects are not acquiescing to they omnipotence of Democrat leadership, they’ve resorted to name calling against those who dare to challenge them.  “Nazis,” “Astroturf,” “Brooks Brothers” are just some of the phrases being used in attempt to create the notion of a conspiracy of rightwingers as the source for the dissent on health care reform. 

Like Colonel Flagg, the only conspiracy that the Democrats have to fight is the one created in their own minds.  Like Col. Flagg, facts showing that there is no conspiracy are no stumbling block for the Democrats.  As Hawkeye and Trapper often did, I propose we turn the Democrat’s imagined conspiracy against them. 

President Obama is looking for “fishy” information being dispelled about health care reform.  Might I suggest that each of us send an email to Flag with a link to the House bill being proposed.  I can’t think of anything more fishy than that smelly, rotting, pile of garbage.  To make it easy, here’s the link to the bill:  http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3200/text.

Oh, an just in case you’re worried that the White House may be compiling some sort of an enemies list with the “flag” information, I don’t think you have to worry about it.  President Obama ascribes to the same practice as Colonel Flagg when he said, 

We’ve got files on people who haven’t even been born.