Real (And Fake) Pundits on Health Care

When it comes to smart, funny television, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart run neck and neck in the race for the lead. In a brilliant piece of satire and biting television, last night’s Colbert Report took on Insurance Companies. Absolutely genius:

I’m gonna digress for a second. Instead of simply asking what you think and sending this piece out to pasture, I’ll present you with some commentary that a “for-serious” pundit actually spit onto the airwaves.

When you’re going to have to make a decision because we can’t afford good healthcare for everybody, somebody’s not going to get a kidney transplant. Somebody’s not going to get heart surgery. Somebody’s not going to get kidney dialysis. Somebody’s not going to get that surgery. Who’s it going to be? Is it going to be the Millennial that doesn’t give a flying crap about anybody else but themselves because they’re special, look at all the trophies they won?

That was an actual recent quote from your favorite pundit and mine: Glenn Beck.

I find it ironic that Beck can go spout this sort of nonsense when youth are so engaged in the health care debate, as activists for a hundred different youth driven organizations or in more passive roles, as a segment of the American citizenry facing some of the highest rates of unemployment and lack of healthcare coverage.

Think about it this way: many young people are voting their confidence in progressive health care reform by consistently watching programs, such as The Daily Show and Colbert Report, which are lately discussing health reform every other night. These young people keep coming back: Jon Stewart isn’t the most trusted man in news for nothin’.

Alas, I’m taking a long road to a short conclusion: as much as the ‘RAWR I’M LOUD’ pundits like to say young people aren’t engaged, you and I – the engaged young people – know we are. We’re living with the health care crisis some like to think only exists in “REAL America” – the America where everyone has two-and-a-half kids, a picket fence, a dog and a yard – which is insulting and degrading to the diverse ranks of our society. But hey, you knew that.

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Steve Romain