The United (?) States of America

The year 1965 was an auspicious one in the USA. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare Bill as law of the land. For the first time the USA had a form of "socialized medicine" with our government as the single payer engaged in providing health care for seniors above the age of 65.

If you listened to the doomsday politicians then we were headed for communism and the end of democracy. After many years of effort by the Democratic Party since the Roosevelt era that brought Social Security, the next step to assure health care services for the retired older people of our country was taken. About 55 years had lapsed since Social Security had been signed into law. The voices opposed to both Social Security and Medicare are echoing today from the tongues of those who seem threatened by any Government social program for our citizens.

Seems to me many of us have forgotten or do not truly realize that our country fought together shoulder to shoulder to preserve life, liberty, and happiness about 25 years before Medicare was enacted. Blood was spilled by all who fought against the Nazi hordes that Hitler, Hiro Hito, and Mussolini led during World War II. Americans of all races, religions, ethnicity's, sexual preferences, genders, and skin colors became "almost ONE" and defeated the German/Japanese/Italian Nazi war machines. We and our allies finally prevailed and most of us who lived during that time shared a common bond as Americans, even overcoming some ingrained bigotry in the process. For many years after World War II ended in 1945 our country retained some semblance of bonding and gradually enacted laws that protected the voting rights of all citizens and secured health care for our seniors.

Today the same form of demagoguery that threatened the end of American liberties and rights under our Constitution are at it again. This time instead of Social Security and Medicare their voices rumble against Health Care Reform with vitriolic words used about 75 years ago against Social Security and about 45 years ago against Medicare. There are some differences today as members of Congress and the public who were born more recently than World War II, or the year of enactment of Medicare in 1965, have now embedded fear of social change in their hateful rhetoric by claiming that President Obama is Hitler-like and that death squads will get you if Health Care legislation is passed.

Can you imagine the hate that these utterings symbolize? What would the more than 400,000 US Military personnel who died during World War II think if they were able to raise their voices silenced to preserve our country from the wrath of Hitler and his allies? Hitler and the Nazis were responsible for the deaths of over 6 million human beings during and before World War II. How can anyone in their right mind compare President Obama to Adolph Hitler. Those comparing President Obama to Adolph Hitler must be deranged or as Congressman Barney Franks questioned someone who made such a comparison, " What planet do you live on?".

The death squads that Adolph Hitler used were real and used poison gas, medical experiments, and firing squads to liquidate their innocent victims. Why doesn't the Republican Party officially disavow the hateful dishonest statements that they use to attempt to discredit health care legislation and our President? Are they part of the problem? Have they lost whatever moral compass they had? Democrats and everyone of us are far from perfect, but such disgusting remarks about our President have only been forthcoming from Republican voices opposed to Health Care reform. Does the Republican Party favor hate and dishonesty over rational discussion?

From a Country of hope and solidarity during and after World War II we have morphed into a society divided by hatred and fear of change. We have lost whatever civility we possessed since our nation defeated the greatest threat to democracy and forgot what we once were. We are a broken Country shattered by hate and distrust of one another.

Those of us who are about 80 years old or older can look back at our personal experiences while our country passed through turbulent times. There were and always will be disagreements about social programs and virtually everything else. But when we resort to hateful and threatening actions against one another because of opinions and positions on social issues, we have certainly lost our way as a nation.

Perhaps we must all revisit USA history over the last 100 years, back to President Theodore Roosevelt at least, to renew what we stand for. If we lose our heritage as a country of vast cultural and ethnic difference bonded together by a stronger commonality we are destined to lose everything we once stood for.

Think back long before you were born and seek knowledge about how our country overcame overwhelming differences and even shed blood together to protect each others liberties and our collective freedom. Perhaps we will regain our bearings and move together regardless of when we were born or the socio-economic status we claim. We must if we are to remain "The United States of America"