The Unclad Soul

The Affordable Care Act, which the Tea Party Republicans named ObamaCare, is law, is so popular that at its opening last week it overwhelmed the system with some 8 million people looking for coverage. It had some glitches but is up and running. The glitches are fewer. The program is doing well. More and more are signing up and the people signing up seem pleased. Meanwhile, the Republican Tea Party, led by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, remains puzzled and disoriented and delirious and berserk and weird and infantile and enraged because the frame-up is not working, the blackmail has fallen apart, and the swaggering bullying is no longer a scare tactic the Democrats pay any attention to. This brings to mind Captain Ahab’s dictum in “Moby Dick”—“I don’t give reasons. I give orders!” The perfect cry of the Tea Party Republican leaders. Mr. Cruz, why do you keep fighting ObamaCare? “I don’t give reasons. I give orders!” Mr. Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner, ...

I find it astonishing that in this country we have political and religious leaders who seem perfectly fine creating a society that dismisses the poor, the sick, children in crisis, and the frail elderly who don’t have enough resources for their many medical and prescription needs. These leaders have no interest in providing a safety net for the most vulnerable people in our country. They talk about cutting social spending but are fine with bloated defense budgets.  They want the government out of their lives but are happy to get Medicare. They want to pay little or no taxes but then scream the loudest when the system doesn’t work for them.  They are fine shutting down agencies of care for people desperate for help, all the while they tell us how righteous they are. They quote random Bible verses and use them as validation for their indifference to others. They lift themselves up in pompous claims of religious fervor even as they detest those who differ from them in co...