a digression.

recently, there's been increased MSM coverage of health care reform, or "obamacare" for the conservatively bent. the crappy state of the US health care system has been a concern of mine long before obama's election and i bristle at the mention that i have just jumped on the bandwagon and "drank the obama kool-aid". many folks have been advocating for reform, more specifically a single payer or *gasp* a federal health care system long before the elections even started. the truth is, obama isn't even advocating for single payer, which is a big disappointment to me.
those who are so defensively against this type of reform must have stable jobs, decent incomes and have never been seriously ill and denied coverage. with fifty million uninsured people in our country there is an undeniable problem. beyond that, just having insurance in the US doesn't mean that your serious ailment will be covered when you really need care. what if you lose your job? or what if you have a crappy job that you "have" to keep to maintain your (likely minimal) health insurance?
the for-profit health care system favors the insurance and pharmaceutical companies who are trying to increase their dividends, not the health and well-being of people. our current system doesn't promote preventive care, only illness treatment. i know many with insurance who skip annual visits because they can't afford the co-pays or are afraid of needing follow up appointments, only to end up at with a more urgent issue later.
i'm fed up with all the myths and mis-truths about what a single payer health care system will bring. if it's gotten to the point that protesters are hanging effigies of health care reform advocates, then this has become yet another issue with which you can announce your political affiliations. unfortunately, this reform should be about the health of humans and not about politics. can we really afford to do nothing and what will be the result if we remain scared of change?