At intervals in the timeline of mankind's history it has been a necessarily unavoidable task for some in society to forcefully drag the neanderthals kicking and screaming towards human progress. Then again at other times enlightenment comes in the form of personal life experiences that pierce the bubble of lies and doctrinal bullshit that one has been dwelling in.
Observe:
Clint Murphy, a 38-year-old former GOP staffer, offered a surprising message to his conservative peers last week, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. After his own battle against testicular cancer -- and subsequent struggle to obtain health insurance coverage -- he now supports Obamacare, the very program against which the Republican Party has fought for months.
"When you say you're against [Obamacare]," Murphy posted on his Facebook page, "you're saying that you don't want people like me to have health insurance."
As the Journal-Constitution notes, Murphy worked on various GOP campaigns and for several Republican organizations, starting in 1990s. In 2000, then a 25-year-old staffer for the Republican National Convention, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Murphy received four rounds of chemotherapy treatment, all covered by insurance, and his cancer was in remission by 2004.
After his mother's death, Murphy decided to take a break from politics in 2010, becoming a full-time real estate agent. It was then, he said, that he finally understood the burden of seeking health insurance with a pre-existing medical condition.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/19/clint-murphy-obamacare_n_3781538.html
The Gadfly is sincerely happy for Mr. Murphy's recovery from his illness and wishes him well.
While Mr. Murphy's story has a happy outcome, the more pressing reality is that there are 40 million Americans who are currently living on the cusp of life ruination because they have no health insurance at all or are so under-insured that a catastrophic illness such as Mr. Murphy experienced or a major injury would ruin them economically and drive them in to bankruptcy. That should not fucking be happening in the wealthiest nation on the planet, and The Gadfly doesn't give a rat's smelly ass about all of the free market, capitalism will sort it out, libertarian bullshit arguments. When it comes to people's lives and livelihoods - those arguments are petty and selfish and immoral and have proven to date to be utterly and miserably wrong and disastrous for too many Americans.
Medicare for all or a single-payer, Canadian/European style national healthcare system is the only answer to this crisis that should not be.
The Gadfly feels terrible for thinking it, but perhaps if more right wingers were afflicted as Mr. Murphy was, perhaps this country could at long, long last take that important step forward to guaranteeing that all of it's citizens have access to decent healthcare. There -- The Gadfly said it. Be disappointed in The Gadfly for having those feelings, but know that they are stated with deep hope that lessons will be learned, and the lessons learned will result in a healthier, fairer and more prosperous America for all.
----TFG
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