On Tuesday, Oct. 27, a French court ruled that certain practices by the Church of Scientology were classified as fraud under French law, imposing a number of heavy fines and threatening jail time to a few church members.

The ruling did not restrict the practice of Scientology within France, but warned church officials that they should be aware of and operate under French law.

Of course, bloggers from all corners of the internet celebrated upon hearing the news in their traditional way of mass tweeting and, honestly, I’m with them, but let’s hold on one second and go over why France’s condemnation of Scientology’s practices is a good thing.

Note: Whether Scientology’s teachings are legitimate will not be debated within this article. I’m not a theologian and, so, frankly it’s none of my business or expertise to root through one group’s faith trying to show how they’re wrong. Instead this is a look at why Scientology’s loss in France was an important, and ultimately good, blow to the church’s current operating structure.

So, sorry there will be no Xenu, South Park or Tom Cruise references here–no mater how hilarious they may or may not be.

Anyway…

So, trying to use twitterers to take a look at the French ruling on Scientology is actually quite difficult. Some time ago, for whatever reason, it seems the entire mass of voices that comprise the internet decided to take up arms against the Church of Scientology.

Which is actually pretty cool–usually no one can agree on anything–but it’s a real pain if you want someone to say something more than “The Church of Scientology is convicted of organized fraud in France. YAY!” as detentiondnb did along with many others following the news from France.

However, good for me there was at least one twitterer who took the time and spent the money–bless her–to buy a Dianetics DVD and then tweeted about her experience with it–thanks WrongEyedEar!

After viewing of the first DVD installment of Dianetics, WrongEyedEar made two conclusions.

First, that the church was making blatantly false statements about psychology and misleading vulnerable viewers–again I’m not going to go into that–and second, that the DVD seemed to be a marketing/money making tool.

AH! There it is!

For every line WrongEyedEar tweeted about false statements and misleading facts there was invariably also a tweet about product placement and production value.

WrongEyedEar’s concluding statement about the DVD I think perfectly captures the underlying issue here, “conclusion: Scientology is a pyramid scheme.”

She also added, “..also I’m disappointed there was nothing about Xenu–okay one Xenu reference–on the DVDs. How much I gotta pay to get some Xenu–maybe two–action?”

So, what does this mean?

WrongEyedEar’s observations about the introductory Scientology DVDs shows that the French ruling is probably not the “modern inquisition” Scientology officials are painting it out to be.

Instead it’s a rational conclusion about an organization that is structured to make a profit marketing their “monopoly” on the answer to happiness.

Scientologists have to pay to be tested in order to find out what’s troubling them, they have to pay for an introduction to the answer to their troubles, they have to pay to move up in the church and–as WrongEyedEar explains–they have to pay to learn all the aspects of that oh-so-important answer.

This is actually not that unusually of a scheme. Many of the world’s major religions developed similar structures at one point in time, but forced reform changed them from money making scams into a legitimate religious organization, focused on solving man’s problem of finding answers to the major lessons of life.

Anyway, getting back to Scientology, one twitterer advocating for the end of the Church of Scientology I think has the absolute right idea.

As they state in their first tweet, the IFreezoneAssoc–the official Twitter account of the International Freezone Association–promotes the Scientology Standard tech as an alternative to the out tech church–meaning, primarily, that they are promoting a free Scientology church.

The account simply tweets news about the organization’s activities as well as deemed important lessons from Scientology, including passages from Dianetics and quotes from Scientology’s founder L. Ron Hubbard.

It’s an interesting account that puts one of the first Scientology splinters groups on display, a major crack in Scientology’s total legitimacy.

What, then, I hope comes from the French decision is a fundamental change.

Whether that means a group like the IFA taking over as the legitmate Church of Scientology or the death of Scientology altogether is unimportant to me, the point is no organization should ever operate under the guise of “the answer” and simultaneously drip vulnerable people dry so that they can make a profit.

Earn that tax exempt status Church of Scientology; libraries can dole out answers for free why can’t you?

Tweets Referenced in Column

1. 
   IFreezoneAssoc Welcome to the International Freezone Twitter page. We promote Scientology Standard tech. An alternative to the out tech church. 28 Jun 2009 from web
2. 
   detentiondnb The Church of Scientology is convicted of organized fraud in France. YAY! 28 Oct 2009 from Seesmic
3. 
   WrongEyedEar http://twitpic.com/nwmam – Ah, Sunday evening…time to curl up with my Dianetics DVD! 01 Nov 2009 from TwitPic
4. 
   WrongEyedEar 3 minutes in, they say memories/experiences from before you were born can have an adverse effect on you now – LIE, physically impossible. 01 Nov 2009 from Seesmic
5. 
   WrongEyedEar 8 minutes in…branding spotted so far: Apple, Blackberry, Sony… 01 Nov 2009 from Seesmic
6. 
   WrongEyedEar conclusion: Scientology is a pyramid scheme crock of shit wrapped in easy-to-understand concepts stolen from legit psychology… 02 Nov 2009 from Seesmic
7. 
   WrongEyedEar …also I’m disappointed there was nothing about Xenu on the DVDs. How much I gotta pay to get some Xenu action? 02 Nov 2009 from Seesmic

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As reported by CNN, former Alaskan Governor and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has recently posted her resume to the social networking site LinkedIn.

I thought that considering Sarah Palin–often criticized for her inexperience–finished second in her bid to be the next American Vice President and that I concurrently have finished a disappointing second in a number of job interviews, a comparison was in order between her public resume and mine using the thoughtful points made in the Twitterverse as a guide.

After all, the former governor is now my direct competition and I feel it necessary to see where I stack up.

So without further adieu…

drunkencobra tweets: “Special skills: winks and u’betchas”

Not actually mentioned on her LinkedIn page–maybe you should mention these skills to Palin before her next interview–but I’ll concede Palin’s strength in them. I have to say, I’m pretty sure I take down the special skills category.  While I can see the individual flair that “winks” and “u’betchas” give a potential job candidate, I think my proficiency in video editing software, multiple camera models, HTML, Microsoft Office and AP style edge me out as a more well-rounded interviewee–note, however,  that I am not opposed to working some “ya’lls” into my regular conversation if it will make me a more attractive candidate.

42bkdodgr tweets: “How come Palin only listed one college she went to, I thought she went to 5.”

True, Palin for some reason did leave off her stint at the distinguished Hawaii Pacific University as well as the two community colleges she attended, North Idaho College and Matanuska-Susitna College, but since she only listed her B.A. degree in communications from the University of Idaho on her LinkedIn page we’ll just deal with that. the U.S. World and Report ranks the University of Idaho as a tier 3 school amongst other national universities while my alma mater  Gettysburg College is listed as a tier 1 school with a higher degree of selectivity. Now before you Idaho Vandals start coming out of the woodwork to defend your education, the University of Idaho is a fine institution with all the…wait you’re the Vandals? Never mind, Bullets beat Vandals every time, case closed.

Dean_Rathbone_ tweets: “I am sick of you peeps hating Sarah Palin just because Her daughter got pregnant at least she doesent have a sex tape…you know who you are”

Well, I think we’re pretty even on this one. While I can say I never have campaigned on the platform of strong family core values at the same time my teenage daughter was going through her first pregnancy, that might only be because I don’t actually have a teenage daughter. However, I can definitively state I have not made a sex tape. So I guess it’s a draw here, well played Palin.

JPWP tweets: “Sarah Palin’s LinkedIn profile name is /governorpalin despite fact she resigned as Alaska’s governor in July ‘09″

Whoa, don’t get too angry there JPWP. Palin just seems to be highlighting some past achievements, nothing wrong with that. As for Governor of Alaska, running the 49th state is a pretty impressive line on a resume and I can see why employers might jump at the chance to hire the former leader of America’s forgotten winter wonderland. However, I was a weekly movie critic for Gettysburg College’s campus newspaper, the Gettysburgian, for nearly the same amount of time Palin served as Alaska’s governor and I’m pretty sure the stress level was comparable. Consider the the other jobs and responsibilities I had at the time and I count this one a win in my column.

kathrrrynn tweets: “My grandparents live next door to the lady who bid $63,500 to have dinner with Sarah Palin. I love Alabama”

I also am a fan of Alabama, but that doesn’t save me here. No one has ever, in any situation, placed a bid for any amount of money in order to win the right to spend an evening with me, let alone a $63,500 bid. I am open to offers though, and for the paltry sum of $63,500 I’ll spend the whole day with you not just dinner.

palininfo tweets: “Sarah Palin linkedin: Palin Posts Resume On Social-Networking Site linkedin-Palin had over 500 connections”

Wow, my 122 doesn’t seem to match up well here at all. I do have a few quality connections though–Politico’s managing editor Bill Nichols and Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Torok look pretty impressive–but I don’t think I hold a candle to Palin’s +500, no matter who they are.

Well there you have it, with the score 3 to 2 and one tie I barely edge out possible 2012 Presidential candidate Sarah Palin as a more qualified potential employee, according to the important criteria laid out by a few choice Twitterers.

I can rest easy now knowing that one more competitor doesn’t spell doom for my future employment options…whew!

Tweets Referenced in Column

1. 
   kathrrrynnn My grandparents live next door to the lady who bid $63,500 to have dinner with Sarah Palin. I love Alabama 16 Oct 2009 from txt
2. 
   42bkdodgr @GottaLaff How come Palin only listed one college she went to, I thought she went to 5. 18 Oct 2009 from TweetDeck in reply to GottaLaff
3. 
   palininfo Sarah Palin linkedin: Palin Posts Resume On Social-Networking Site linkedin- Palin had over 500 conne… http://bit.ly/2s4C8F 19 Oct 2009 from Tweetbots
4. 
   JPWP Sarah Palin’s LinkedIn profile name is /governorpalin despite fact she resigned as Alaska’s governor in July ‘09 http://bit.ly/14Q31 19 Oct 2009 from TweetDeck
5. 
   drunkencobra Sarah Palin needs a job. Special skills: winks and u’betchas: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/ 19 Oct 2009 from web
6. 
   Dean_Rathbone_ I am sick of you peeps hating Sarah Palin just because Her daughter got pregnant at least she doesent have a sex tape…you know who you are 19 Oct 2009 from web

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I love a good rally.

Hundreds even thousands of people marching as one for a singular purpose gives me goosebumps a little bit.

I’m young, opinionated and often very vocal so although I couldn’t actually attended the National Equality March —a march meant to lobby for full LGBT rights in America—I was excited to see what was being said on the ground.

One of my close friends, Jai, who was covering the event for the Washington Blade, tweeted that around 250,000 people had turned out—although she also stated she was wary of that number.

A quarter of a million is an impressive number and many in twitterland were absolutely ecstatic with the march’s success.

“I am soaking up the million images and memories from the National Equality March. This is the beginning folks, not the end,” stated nemtx. “No more assimilation! We want liberation!” added themelking.

Many more reiterated march organizer Cleve Jones’s powerful words, “There’s no such thing as a fraction of equality.”

And I have to admit I got wrapped up in their statements.

Yes PatriciaCausey! “We R closer today than we were yesterday!” And yes Happentolikeny! Many will talk about this day for “the rest of our lives.”

However, I then read a tweet that put everything in perspective, “Between Harwood’s offensive comments and the vandalism of the HRC building, I end the #NEM weekend rolling my eyes.”

The tweet’s author, josephio, had obviously left disheartened, perhaps even drained because one day of powerful demonstration hadn’t changed the world in a single instant.

And so that’s what I’m afraid may be lost in the march’s glorious moment of hope and togetherness, marching is ultimately meaningless until the spirit of the demonstration is applied to the creation of legislation and the voting of elected officials.

I think StonewallDems tweeted it nicely when they wrote, “Great enthusiasm at the #NEM. Now let’s continue the spirit and hold Congress accountable for #LGBT equality!”

Equality was never won in one day, and I think gay and straight allies alike shouldn’t forget this fact.

Tweets Referenced in Column

1. 
   jaischock RT @GAYTWOGETHER First unofficial numbers upwards of 250,000 #NEM – National Equality March. Don’t know if I believe that… 11 Oct 2009 from web
2. 
   StonewallDems Great enthusiasm at the #NEM. Now let’s continue the spirit and hold Congress accountable for #LGBT equality! #samesexsunday 12 Oct 2009 from web
3. 
   PatriciaCausey YES!!! @survivorqueen amen!! RT @broadwaygirlnyc Dreaming dreams of Equality! We R closer today than we were yesterday, y’all. #nem 12 Oct 2009 from web
4. 
   nemtx RT @bear54: I am soaking up the million images and memories from the National Equality March. This is the beginning folks, not the end. #NEM 12 Oct 2009 from UberTwitter
5. 
   josephio Between Harwood’s offensive comments and the vandalism of the HRC building, I end the #NEM weekend rolling my eyes. 12 Oct 2009 from web
6. 
   themelking “No more assimilation! We want liberation!” Back from #nem and so drained. 12 Oct 2009 from web
7. 
   Happentolikeny Yesterday @matthewjames88 said, “we’ll be talking about this day for weeks” I said, “For the rest of our lives. And at your wedding.” #nem 12 Oct 2009 from Echofon
8. 
   cuffington RT @jessetyler “There’s no such thing as a fraction of equality.” – Cleve Jones #nem 12 Oct 2009 from web

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Let me premise this by saying that I live in Chicago and went to college within easy driving distance of both Washington D.C. and New Jersey, so by now I’ve become pretty numb to political spending scandals.

If tomorrow, for instance, a governor or congressman was caught passed out in a five-star hotel with thousands of taxpayer’s dollars worth of blow and hookers I honestly wouldn’t bat an eye.

I get it; it’s part of the culture of politics and has been for as long as we’ve casting ballots and taking our cues from others. As the oft quoted John Dalberg-Acton famously put it, “Power tends to corrupt,” words that make complete sense to me.

That being said, if my elected officials are stealing from me, I would at very least like their gross abuse of power to make sense.

This brings us across the pond to a recent tweet made by The Daily Telegraph stating that according to a recent poll the MP’s expenses scandal is the “most shocking story of [the] last 50 years”—crazy if you consider how much has happened in the last half decade.

Don’t know what am I talking about?

Well, in the United Kingdom Member’s of Parliament, or MPs, are permitted to claim reimbursement for any purchase they make as long as it is, “wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred for the performance of a Member’s parliamentary duties.”

Now that’s a statement that boarders on the obscenely vague, so if I told you that in 2009, following an interesting parliamentary squabble, MPs’ expense reports would finally be open to the public you probably would expect to hear that there was quite a bit of wallet padding on the list.

Nothing too sinister, some campaign contributions perhaps, a payoff to other officials here and there, maybe even a shinny new car or three, but ultimately nothing to far out of the traditional realm of political jobbery that we’ve come to expect.

However, following some decoding and fact finding by The Daily Telegraph, the facts of the actually expenses came through, revealing some beyond bizarre expenditures.

For instance, Conservative MP David Heathcoat-Army was caught making a total of 19 claims over the course of four years, for a grand total £388.80. Where’d it go? Well the good Mr. Heathcoat-Army needed to keep-up with his garden and spent the nearly 400 quid on hundreds of bags of quality horse manure to fertilize his precious plants, not to mention other horticultural necessities like mouse poison and a chainsaw.

Or how about Heathcoat-Army’s fellow Conservative Douglas Hogg, who claimed reimbursements of £40 for piano tuning, £671.17 for a mole catcher and £2,115 for clearing his moat—that’s right a moat.

Hogg’s expenses even prompted the creation of a satirical twitter account, DouglasHoggMP. Some fun clips include, “Digging out my own bloody moat now.. you pestering buggers!” and “And now i’ve got mud in my bloody keyboard….I don’t see why I should have to put up with this shit,” both posted on June 18.

Maybe the most interesting case is the £1,645 expense claim of Sir Peter Viggers, who spent the £1,645 on a little man-made floating island modeled after an 18th century Swedish building that was built to house his ducks.

A duck island? Are you serious? That’s a level of corrupt spending totally beyond anything I’ve ever seen stateside.

For that matter, piano tuning, moat cleaning, mole catching and gardening? This is a type of ill advised political spending that I just don’t think American politicians are creative enough to even conceive.

So, let’s get back to the tweet by The Daily Telegraph, stating that the expense scandal was the “most shocking story of the last 50 years.”

I think the effect of such a scandal isn’t just a set back in public perception because of the shear number of MPs called into question—more than 50—or the fact that politicians were fudging the system—as we already went over that’s not new—it’s the exorbitant spending on seemingly inane services.

It gives the impression of a massive disconnect between the mindsets of the leaders and the people.

In other words, cleaning a moat might not be at the very top of most individuals’ list of things to spend new money on and could be looked at instead as highfalutin snobbery.

The results of this massive blow to the MPs’ images can already be seen in twitterland, not only with the fake twitter account of Douglas Hogg but with constant critiques of MPs’ decisions by twitters who make a point of always referencing the expenses scandal.

Twitters like Barada35 who tweeted on September 18, “UK MPs think government public-spending should be cut – maybe a 50% cut in their own ’salary’ might help!”

So take a brief pause in reverence for the UK’s Members of Parliament, masterminds of a scandalous feat more shocking than any other scandal of the last half decade…good luck at winning back your reputations, you’ll need it dearly.

Tweets Referenced in Column

1. 
   DouglasHoggMP Digging out my own bloody moat now.. you pestering buggers! 18 Jun 2009 from web
2. 
   DouglasHoggMP and now i’ve got mud in my bloody keyboard….I don’t see why I should have to put up with this shit. 18 Jun 2009 from web
3. 
   Barada35 UK MPs think government public-spending should be cut – maybe a 50% cut in their own ’salary’ might help! 18 Sep 2009 from Echofon
4. 
   Daily_Telegraph MPs’ expenses scandal ‘most shocking story of last 50 years’ poll http://bit.ly/aicTI 20 Sep 2009 from twitterfeed

– this quote was brought to you by quoteurl

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When President Barack Obama concluded his speech on health care in front of a joint session of Congress this past Wednesday, Americans had learned two things.

First, unfortunately, we learned who represents South Carolina’s 2^nd district when Congressman Joe Wilson shouted “You lie” during the President’s speech—an outburst that netted the passionate congressman over one million dollars in campaign contributions. But secondly, and much more importantly, the whole of American society was exposed to Obama’s ideas on a comprehensive health care reform plan.

Well, when I say the whole of American society I of course don’t mean those who had been counting down the minutes until “So You Think You Can Dance” season six premiered or those who were absolutely ecstatic about the premise of the new musical comedy “Glee.”

Confused?

Let me share a few tweets with you…

Last Wednesday, September 9, the major television networks’ Twitter accounts were abuzz in preparation for Obama’s speech to Congress.

ABC News advertised the event as “President Obama Calls for End of Partisanship on Health Care Reform,” NBC News tweeted that Obama would be explaining the specifics of his health care reform plan in detail and PBS posted links of news videos so that viewers could “prepare” for the speech.

Both ABC News and CBS News posted excerpts from the President’s speech and links to videos showing the entire address immediately after the event concluded.

Even locally, NBC Chicago, ABC El Paso and CBS Philadelphia tweeted links to their own excerpts and videos from Obama’s historical statement.

Conversely, Fox Broadcasting’s official Twitter account’s major postings on Wednesday previewed the upcoming premiers of “So You Think You Can Dance” season six and “Glee.”

To me, the tweets speak volumes of where Fox is compared to the other major American networks. While, NBC, PBS, CBS and ABC—which pushed back its game show “Wipeout” to a later time in order to carry the Presidential address—decided Obama’s speech was too important not to broadcast live in primetime, Fox felt a worn out reality TV show and a musical “dramedy” trumped arguably the most important political speech of the year, if not the most important of the past few years.

This was the third time this year Fox refused to carry a Presidential Speech from Obama, a fact that is completely unacceptable considering the vast amount of uncertainty that many Americans feel about health care reform.

I know that Fox has been criticized time and again for their conservative leanings, but I guess I’ll risk sounding like an echo in order to air out my grievances.

I don’t care if a network doesn’t agree with the President’s political stances, in fact critiquing our politicians I believe is ultimately healthy for our society as a whole, but the arena for negative sentiments is the op-ed news hour not primetime.

Instead to remain “fair and balance,” as Fox calls it, networks must at very least let the President address the American people on issues of incredible importance—and no pushing a primetime Presidential statement to your sister cable news stations is not good enough.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the President’s address to Congress attracted 32 million viewers.

Absent among that 32 million were many Fox viewing regulars that missed out through no fault really of their own. Instead the “fair and balanced” network decided health care reform, President Obama and a joint session in Congress were trivial compared to the musical stylings of frankly stale and recycled television.

I guess I’ll just state the obvious then: Wrong Fox…just wrong.

——-

Fox Tweets Referenced in Column

1. 
   FoxBroadcasting Season 6 of So You Think You Can Dance premieres TONIGHT at 8/7c! #sytycd 09 Sep 2009 from HootSuite
2. 
   FoxBroadcasting It’s countdown time! #GLEE premieres TONIGHT at 9/8c!!! 10 Sep 2009 from HootSuite

Other Tweets Referenced in Column

1. 
   NBCNews Obama seeks momentum with speech: President Barack Obama will tell the nation in a prime-time address precisely .. http://bit.ly/dnsWS 09 Sep 2009 from twitterfeed
2. 
   PBS Pres. Obama will address Congress about health care reform tonight. Watch our video collection to prepare http://tr.im/yhLH #PBS ^LS 09 Sep 2009 from CoTweet
3. 
   abc7breaking President Obama’s speech: Live on-air or on-line starting at 6pm. Tune in to ABC7 or www.kvia.com 09 Sep 2009 from web
4. 
   cbs3 Watch LIVE: President Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress http://bit.ly/QSnig 10 Sep 2009 from TweetDeck
5. 
   ABC President Obama Calls for End of Partisanship on Health Care Reform: The president will push for public insuranc.. http://bit.ly/7RZiM 10 Sep 2009 from twitterfeed
6. 
   CBSNews President Obama addresses Congress on health care reform. Watch live: http://bit.ly/maWTs 10 Sep 2009 from TweetDeck
7. 
   CBSNews Obama outlines vision for health care http://digg.com/d113lCk 10 Sep 2009 from twhirl
8. 
   ABC WATCH: Obama’s FULL Health Care Address http://bit.ly/2EjTiG 10 Sep 2009 from twitterfeed
9. 
   ABC Obama’s Health Care Speech Met with Praise, Skepticism: GOP still wary of public option, but distance themselves.. http://bit.ly/tsJVU 10 Sep 2009 from twitterfeed
10. 
    nbcchicago We’re live streaming Obama again right now. He’s addressing the press about health care, check it: http://snipurl.com/rqdiq 10 Sep 2009 from web

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When I think of a town hall meeting I picture some Hawthornian worded scene from the mid-18^th century, where a board of town elders has convened to listen to the grievances of the ordinary townsfolk regarding a moral peril that threatens their tiny closed community.

So you can see why I was excited when I heard that the healthcare reform debate had moved to this theater of discussion.

Being one of the nearly 50 million uninsured citizens in the United States, and a young journalist who often gets roped into covering community meetings, I felt it wise to sit in on one of these town hall meetings to see how the debate had evolved.

The answer: surprisingly ugly.

What perhaps started with the best intentions quickly devolved into a shouting match between two clearly demarcated sides.

I saw grown men, red-in-the-face with anger, being held back from attacking other attendees over the meeting’s preceding. I witnessed others, their voices drowned out by a choir of hisses, sit back down in their seats with looks of pure defeat and sadness. And all the while there were the politicians that helped organize the meeting, the board of elders if you will, sitting stoically silent, letting the melee proceed in front of them unabated.

Needless to say I was surprised I won my honor bet against some random attendee resorting to his fists to prove his point.

The most disappointing thing about the whole fiasco, however, was the fact that the two sides weren’t debating healthcare reform at all. Instead the debate, from what I could discern, was over whether they should be even talking about healthcare reform to begin with.

I can understand liking the system in place—the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t I guess—but to shut down all discussion entirely is kind of befuddling to me.

I think of an 8-year-old child with his hands pressed hard against his head, shouting the national anthem because he doesn’t want to hear someone disprove his point with sound logic and reasoning.

With the meeting’s chaotic shouting as my starting point I decided to back track a bit and read up on the opinions of the major players involved in the debate to get a better idea of the issue.

So, turning to cyberspace…

On October 4, 2008, exactly one month before his Presidential win in November, Barack Obama posted on his official Twitter account that he had just spoke in Virginia about reforming America’s healthcare system. A link to a video of this speech was also posted.

In the video, the future President Obama stated that he was unsatisfied with the current healthcare system and that a government paid option may allow the United States to finally create an affordable and good healthcare option that would be available for all American citizens.

Obama concluded his speech by saying, “You have my word, I will never back down, I will never stop fighting until we have fixed our healthcare system.”

Some might consider this a bold statement on the future of American healthcare, but considering the demand, one New York Times poll found that 85 percent of the American public supported a change to the current healthcare system, others might see this call for reform as overdue.

On May 20, 2009, Obama put his plan in motion online by Tweeting a call for healthcare stories from private citizens so that he might be able to show to Congress why healthcare reform was such a pressing issue.

Predictably, with President Obama now calling for a massive reform to America’s healthcare system and also publically supporting a government run health option, two opposing sides immediately formed in Congress.

Most Democrats, again predictably, came to the President’s aid, voicing their support for a radical change.

Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, acting chairman of the Senate committee on health, education, labor, and pensions and at one point a serious candidate to be Obama’s 2008 running mate, became extremely vocal online regarding healthcare reform, Tweeting on July 31, “My hope is that we will pass the Health Care bill so that every American can have the coverage they need.”

Earlier this summer, on June 25, Dodd posted to his Twitter account a link to a video where he discussed how thousands of Americans had lost their insurance and were now at risk, painting a rather grim picture of the American healthcare system.

Junior Senator from Colorado Michael Bennet lent his voice to the debate as well, posting a video to his Twitter account that stated that over the past few years the medium family income in the United States declined while healthcare costs had increased by 80 percent. Bennet went on to state that this change over the last few years had directly affected the American economy, leading to the current financial struggle.

Bennet then advocated for a plan that covered all Americans to help combat these costs stating, “We should cover everybody because it’s the right thing to do.”

Even Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid got into the online act, Tweeting on July 23, “On health care reform, I agree w/Obama. I want to get it right. I want to get it done promptly. We need a quality bill.”

As the Democrats ran to the side of their President, Republicans, perhaps just as predictably, voiced their opposition.

Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, known for being a rather vocal conservative stalwart in the Senate, Tweeted on August 27 that America does not need a healthcare change right now.

Earlier in the summer, Brownback had Tweeted that a change in healthcare policy would hurt both senior citizens and industry, prolonging the economic downturn.

Republican Senator from Louisiana David Vitter added his opposition to the President’s healthcare reform idea by Tweeting a link to the now famous diagram describing how Obama’s plan might work, a complex web of arrows and bubbles that resembles a handmade Chutes and Ladders game, on July 21.

The strongest Republican voice, however, has not been in the Senate but in the House. Texas Representative and trained physician Michael Burgess has time and again spoken out against Obama and the Democrat’s healthcare reform plan.

Both on his official Congressman’s Twitter account, michaelcburgess, and on the so-called House Health Care Caucus Twitter account, HealthCaucus, Burgess has listed his doubts about healthcare reform.

Burgess claims that the push for healthcare reform seems remarkably similar to President Bill Clinton’s failed attempt at universal healthcare in the mid-1990s and that a single-payer system, i.e. a government managed one, was irresponsible.

As Burgess Tweeted on July 22, “I disagree with that premise, a single payer, whether it be gov’t run or for profit insurance, only adds to the inequities already prevalent.”

However, beyond a few Congressmen who have suggested possible alternate options to Obama’s plan the vast majority of the Republican Tweets regarding healthcare reform have been hostile, supremely negative and ultimately meaningless.

Unfortunately, Democrats apparently felt threatened by these statements and many have begun to release their own negative Tweets, blog postings and video links.

See where this is going?

The pointless chaos I had witnessed at the town hall meeting I discovered was also playing out in cyberspace amongst the movers and shakers of our society.

I have not created this piece to debate healthcare reform with anyone and I am not going to add my own ideas to the already jumbled mess that is this issue—I have no health expertise and have done little economic research into the matter so don’t see why you would want my opinion on the matter anyways—instead I want you to see that the major problem here is our own divisions.

We seem to be so supremely divided upon party lines that organized debate is almost impossible.

Even an immensely important topic like…oh I don’t know… healthcare reform quickly regresses into a mash of incomprehensible calamity.

I encourage ideas and debate, for without them institutions would never be perfected or reformed, but I also encourage intelligence and understanding—the intelligence to listen to all points, and the understanding of when it’s best for the American people to concede a point and move forward.

——-

Tweets Referenced in Column

1. 
   BarackObama Spoke early today in Virginia about changing our health care system. Watch the full speech at http://tinyurl.com/43vzzf 05 Oct 2008 from web
2. 
   BarackObama President Obama needs you to tell Congress why health care reform can’t wait: http://bit.ly/5Ahqi #obamahealthcare 21 May 2009 from Power Twitter
3. 
   SenChrisDodd Counting the number of Americans who have lost their health insurance: http://bit.ly/ZnfTn 25 Jun 2009 from TweetDeck
4. 
   BennetForCO VIDEO: Michael recently discussed the principles he believes should guide the reform of our broken health care system: http://bit.ly/PfTJg 16 Jul 2009 from web
5. 
   DavidVitter Expensive, inefficient, bureaucrat-run healthcare is not the solution. Take a look at the diagram on my blog at http://blog.davidvitter.com 21 Jul 2009 from web
6. 
   michaelcburgess I disagree with that premise, a single payer, whether it be gov’t run or for profit insurance, only adds to the inequities already prevalent 23 Jul 2009 from web
7. 
   SenatorReid On health care reform, I agree w/Obama. I want to get it right. I want to get it done promptly. We need a quality bill. 23 Jul 2009 from web
8. 
   SenSamBrownback Op-ed: Don’t Kill Business To Pay For Health Care http://bit.ly/198peV 28 Jul 2009 from twitterfeed
9. 
   SenChrisDodd My hope is that we will pass the Health Care bill so that every American can have the coverage they need. 31 Jul 2009 from txt
10. 
    SenSamBrownback Op-ed: Don’t Punish Seniors for Health-Care Reform http://bit.ly/qMPti 03 Aug 2009 from twitterfeed
11. 
    SenSamBrownback Brownback Says No Massive Health Care Overhaul Now http://bit.ly/Fslx8 27 Aug 2009 from twitterfeed

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