Life Imitating Art

The only thing better than the invention of television was the television remote control. It's a window on the world, a time machine and a peephole all within a few channels. I like t.v. It asks nothing of me other than a little alternating current and a cult-like devotion to all it has to offer. There isn't a situation I can't relate to something I saw on t.v. I'll even throw out a quote or two from M*A*S*H or The Office to illustrate something going on in my day. My wife is a good audience and we've shared many punch lines together. Saturday Night Live has had many faux-presidential skits that we remember and refer to from time to time. Recently, one skit from the 2000 presidential election came to mind after listening to ever shrinking Republican party ranting (a more gentle way of saying lying) about "death panels" and "death books" in their craven mission to abort health care reform before it comes to life. Whoever said Republicans were against abortion? You could say the Republican party was one big death panel but that would be rhetorically hyperbolic and I wouldn't want to do that.

Moving on. One memorable line from SNL in 2000 came out of a "faux debate between George W. Bush and Al Gore".

Al Gore: ...Jim, let me tell about a friend of mine. [ holds up a picture of an elderly woman ] Her name is Etta Munsen. She's 94, she's a widow living on Social Security in Sparta, Tennessee...Now, under my plan, Etta's prescription drugs would be covered. Under my opponent's plan, her house would be burned to the ground. And that is wrong. That is just wrong!

Sound familiar? Congressman or Senator (Insert Republican): "Under our plan, patients would get the care they need. Under the Democrat's plan they would be dragged in front of a death panel and made to beg for their lives." That's even worse than the fictitious SNL debate since Etta wasn't presumably required to actually be in her house when it was burned to the ground.

You could say the recent health care debate is life imitating art imitating life. That would be the genteel/social commentary way to describe the irresponsible fear-mongering and psychotic hate speech devoid of any moral boundaries engaged in by the Republican party. But latter is so much more satisfying and accurate.