Ok I haven't posted a blog in months, but I have something I need to say

What form US health-care reform should take and whether it is necessary or not are part of valid debate. What I've noticed, and what really pisses me off, is how that debate has been completely derailed by people who seem to have little or no understanding of the concept of factuality, who dismiss fact in favour of their opinion or the opinions of others and the media and legislative establishment who lend these cretins an air of legitimacy by making their voices heard in the name of "fairness" or "balance".

1. Fact is fact. It is not debatable. Whether health-care reform should be undertaken is debatable. Whether that reform should include a public insurance system is debatable. Whether "the Bill" contains "Death-Panel" legislation that would allow Obama and his bureaucratic minions to pull the plug on granny or Tripp Palin is not debatable. There is no one "Bill" at this point, and none of the proposed bills contain anything like a death-panel. End of life counseling has nothing to do with decided who should live and die, regardless of how poorly the former Governor of Alaska understands that. And for all the screaming about government death-panels are Americans forgetting that they already exist? Private insurers regularly deny coverage to those in need by pricing the poor out of the system, denying coverage to those with preexisting conditions, capping lifetime benefits and through the often arbitrary approvals process for treatments for the terminally ill and elderly.

2. Opinion and fact are not interchangeable. Fact is always superior to opinion. An opinion cannot be contrary to fact. An opinion which is contrary to fact is wrong. Yes, a person's opinion can be wrong. Everyone might be entitled to their opinion, but not every opinion is valid.

The fact is 2+2=4. You might feel that 2+2=5, but you are wrong. You can go through life claiming that 2+2=5 but you are wrong and you always will be.

We live in a time when everyone is right, even when they are wrong. We place far too much emphasis on the way people "feel" about facts. We are living in the time of Sarah Palin. Being loud has replaced being right. Intelligence and experience no longer matter.

But who is to blame for this? Every parent who thinks their average kid is exceptional, which is pretty much every parent. Guess what, most children aren't exceptional, and no child, not even those who are exceptional should be raised to think that they are more important and more deserving than everyone else. That is the recipe for raising the kind of irresponsible, selfish person with no regard for hard work or effort or experience who would quit a job halfway done while claiming success (Sarah Palin, again). What's worse, these parents have hijacked the educational system so that their little princes and princesses can be coddled 24 hours a day. Now every child in the classroom is the most important and smartest and most entitled and prettiest and funniest and coolest, all thirty of them.

3. The idea that media and legislative establishments have a responsibility to promote or hear all opinions in the name of fairness or balance is wrong and dangerous. Whack-jobs who promote ludicrous propaganda such as the idea that Obama is a nazi should rightfully be ignored. They might be entitled to their opinions but like I said earlier, not all opinions are equal. Some opinions should be ignored, and yes the people who try to hijack town-hall meetings with such inane drivel should be cut-off and removed. The first amendment doesn't give you the right to be heard. You can say anything you want, but that doesn't mean everybody else has to listen and it certainly doesn't mean you have to be given a platform to speak from by the media, government representatives or anyone else.

The media's primary political responsibility is to reveal the truth. Everything else is a distraction from that purpose. Sadly, most media outlets have abandoned that responsibility in favour of making stars out of their chosen masters of opinion, turning fact into fiction in the name of ratings and political expediency. The media failed miserably on Iraq, and it is failing again with this debate. The media continues to give voice to the most extreme anti-government and anti-Obama propaganda from the right while making little or no effort to debunk it. That is more than irresponsible, that is dereliction of duty.

And as far as the legislative establishment is concerned, it would be a great disservice to the democratic system and to American voters if Congress allowed this reform to fail because of a few loud dissenters at a couple of meetings. The public was aware of the desire for health-care reform when it elected Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate and Obama as President. Obama and the Democratic legislators were given a strong electoral mandate to pursue reform, and should abandon attempts for opposition support, otherwise what is the use for a majority? What's more, Democratic leaders need to bring pressure on the liberal and conservative fringes of the party to unite. With Obama's popular support and ability to raise money, it shouldn't be so hard to get Democratic House and Senate votes in line.