“I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.” Howard Beale, Network.

As the fight over healthcare reform continues to heat up in the Senate and House, the mob mentality has taken hold over America.

From town hall meetings, protests and OpEds and to blogs, Tweets and Facebook postings, ‘I’m mad as hell’ is permeating the interwebs, airways, and pages of our life. Even a newly formed U.S. “religious left” has wandered into the debate. Everyone, it seems, wants a piece “of me/you/him/them.”

So what is it exactly that is fanning the flames of passion? And why is so much misinformation being strewn across America?

Interestingly, fear mongering took hold shortly after 9-11 and didn’t let go in the 7 years that followed.

Fear mongering is once again taking hold and riling up the crowds. And the arguments aren’t intelligent ones. Socialism, Nazism, Constitutional Rights being destroyed, Obamacare, death panels…where does it stop? And does the mob mentality actually interfere with our free right of expression when those of us who attend the town halls can’t hear the information because of the accusations being thrown around the room.

Frankly, I believe that the only ones who can rein in the angry mobs are the mobs themselves – that individuals need to turn a deaf ear and begin to intelligently explore the options being laid out on the table.

The Kaiser Family Foundation has developed a side-by-side, interactive comparison of the proposals being laid on the table. Do yourself a favor: visit the site, read through the proposals, and learn the truth. Then if you still feel angry, put down your dukes and express it intelligently and passionately, not angrily and ignorantly.

Education is power. Anger only serves to dilute it.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 4:47 pm and is filed under Health Reform. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.