So I'm doing my occasional foray into Freeperville to see what the teabagging coalition had to say about the "Values" Voter summit and things like that. I did not find any posts re: "Values" Voters on my visit, but what I did find was illuminating, to say the least.
In a post titled Questions about healthcare: PLEASE DO NOT ZOT ME!, a distressed Freeper caught in a dual healthcare crisis with his/her two children pleads to his/her fellow Freepi for advice on this crisis.
You would think that the neighborly, Christian thing to do would be to offer a hand and/or some helpful advice, but quel surprise, I guess that didn't cross most of the Freepers' minds...more at the jump.
NOTE: To preface this diary, I'm going to need a little help from a FreeRepublic long-termer with these acronyms b/c I still can't figure out what the hell they mean: ZOT, IBTZ, and PING. I am inferring that these acronyms comprise some kind of right-wing code language for left-leaning trolls, but someone pls. correct me if I am wrong.
To make a long story short, the FreeRepublic poster, named 68gunswillneverdie, asked his/her fellow Freepi with some advice regarding the healthcare crises his/her two children were each confronting (some portions snipped for brevity):
- I have two sons that were sick. One had cancer and went through chemo. He was covered by my insurance as long as he stayed in college. He fumbled and is not in school at the momnet.
Interesting that the poster used the word "fumbled." Knowing the "high" standards of education that Freepers evidently have for their kids, I wonder if "flunked" was more accurate?
When this happened my insurance did not cover him anymore. He cannot get insurance now because NO company wants to do it becuase of the pre-existing clause. Is there any insurance company or way that you guys know of that he can get insurance. He's free of the cancer now but the insurance problem is so bad now that he is making plans to move to Seattle, WA so that he can get on their community insurance program.
I can hear a chorus of the supposed "helpful" Freepers screaming in unison": NOOOO, DON'T DO IT! Teh Seattle is full of teh GAY SOCIALIST COMMIE MUSLIM GRUNGE-MUSIC FREAKS!!!!one1111
- I have another son that has diabetes. My insurance still covers him. But once he hits 22-23, he will also be dropped by the insurance company. What can he do?
Guys dont ZOT me ok.
What is this dude's hangup on getting ZOTted?
Or at least give me some time to get some replies or FreepMail me. This is a post of desperation. Yes this is a vanity. But we have been looking for months now and the boys keep asking "Why is Obmama's plan so bad?" I would appreciate some postive replies or suggestions. Hey Jim, you run a great site. I love it and it IS the best. I voted Bush,Dole,W,MCain OK guys? GOD BLESS THE USA AND YOU ALL
So anyway, despite this Freeper's obvious attempts to prove him/herself a Member of the Freeper Tribe by proclaiming love for God and country, allegiance to Jim and his "great site," and pleas to PLEASE don't ZOT him/her!, I felt terrible for his/her children and their predicament. This family is the classic example of voters who constantly vote against their best interests due to ignorance, prejudice, bigotry, lack of knowledge about the issues, or all of the above--and it's saddening.
I was hoping that (as of this diary's writing) the 153 replies to this Freeper in need would be helpful and compassionate. To be fair, some of them were. However, the majority of the repliers confirmed what I already suspected:
One option would be for them to get jobs that include health insurance as a benefit.
"Why is Obmama's plan so bad?"
If you have to ask, you are not a true conservative, and you have not been paying attention here at all.
And without a bit of "socialist" irony was this "helpful" guy:
What state are you in? All states have programs for this situation.
In fact, I noticed that quite a few Freepers urged this poster to look into public and government health insurance. You mean they're encouraging this poster to get a SOCIALIST healthcare policy? Say it ain't so!
Also, quite a few Freepers posted replies like the first example I gave, callously telling the original poster to get his kids to get jobs (and how, pray tell, do these assholes know that they don't already HAVE jobs that don't offer health insurance??).
The comparison of health insurance to the high risk of homeowner's insurance here is breathtaking:
What state are you in?
Both kids can get jobs. There are high risk insurance policies in most states. It’s tough but it’s part of insurance. Like a fire in your house leads to higher insurance rates.
This lovely specimen is at least honest about him/herself in the beginning, but then goes about some pretty twisted logic re: Christianity and why NOT ensuring healthcare for all is NOT a contradiction to it:
I’m going to be a jerk and answer. I truly feel for you and your family. But nothing you’ve said suggests any reason why I should be forced to pay for your medical care. Medical care, or health insurance, is not a right. People get sick and it truly sucks, but the state has absolutely no right to take money from my pocket and put it in yours. Likewise, I have no claim on your property.
Importantly, though, Christians do have an obligation to charity and to support those in need. That is an individual moral obligation with which I am privileged to give back to God a portion of the resources with which He has blessed me. That includes sacrificial giving on behalf of those who are truly in need.
In that vein, massive state giveaways like Zerocare are guaranteed to reduce everyone’s standard of living (including the standard of healthcare they actually receive) while raising the share of my property that the state confiscates to pay for their corrupt version of charity.
And I just LOVE the implicit racism/classism inherent in this ass's reply (bolding mine):
If you want a very brief answer for why the obama plan is so awful, there’s plenty of information available on the Internet. Suffice it to say in the briefest way that the government’s previous experiments in taking over healthcare—here in the US with the VA, Indian Health Service, Medicare, and Medicaid—have been a disaster of ever-escalating costs and ever-declining care. No other nation has had success with the concept either, with the possible exception of Switzerland, a tiny, socially homogeneous, and very prosperous nation that accepts only the very rich as immigrants.
Translation: "Teh reason why it works in Switzerland, you see, is because it's an all-white country full'o RICH people, and only RICH people can emigrate to it--not like those poor brown people who try crossing our borders HERE!"
And this response blew my mind for its sheer heartlessness:
I don’t have a job right now.
Should the government be required to give me a job?
They give me unemployement checks. (They just print them I guess.)
My mortgage is kind of high.
I think Someone else should pay for it!
I don’t want to pay for gas either . (I am really tired of that.)
In fact I am tired of paying for food also you should buy my food!
Point is life cannot be completely fair.
People with your attitude are willing to lead everyone else off the cliff because of your own selfishness.
Maybe your sons should work and save money while they can
and than government.(Buck it up!)
Maybe an employer can afford to hire me if the Government would take their boot off of their back.
Yep, Freeper compassion in action. Like I said, more than 150 replies of varying, ummm, empathy (lack thereof is more like it) are included at the link above.
A lot of people do suspect this guy/gal is "not for real," but his/her story sounds authentic and compelling to me. As one of the repliers observed, it is possible that s/he had a "regular" username but chose to create a new one today for anonymity.
Several posters responded with simply, IBTZ! I'm assuming this is akin to "I smell a troll," but someone with greater Freeper knowledge, please confirm.