Barack Obama's Staged Hug for Health Care Reform

Barack Obama has now adopted the role of fundamentalist faith healer in his quest for socializing medicine in the United States. In the days of yore, phony preachers would hold tent revivals in rural areas where the common folk would be bilked of their donations. The impetus to give was reinforced by "miraculous" cures of the lame and afflicted. Some old person in a wheel chair would be pushed over to the preacher, who would yell, "HEAL HIM!" and then smack the old guy on the forehead with his open palm. The old guy would then stand up, take his first shaking steps and exclaim, "I'm HEALED!" The weeping congregation would then load up the collection plate with cash.

The only problem was that the afflicted person was a fake, a member of the faith-healers troupe, and it was all just an act -- an act to manipulate the emotions and purse strings of the faithful.

Now fast-forward to 2009: Barack Obama holds a "town hall meeting" on national television to pitch his plan for nationalizing health care in the United States. He takes three "random questions" from the audience about health care and knocks them out of the park. One of those people asking questions was Debby Smith of Appalachia, West Virginia. The Washington Post has the story:

The president called randomly on three audience members. All turned out to be members

of groups with close ties to his administration: the Service Employees International Union, Health Care for America Now, and Organizing for America, which is a part of the Democratic National Committee. White House officials said that was a coincidence.

The most dramatic moment came from Debby Smith, 53, of Appalachia, Va., who was near tears as she described for Obama her fragile health, including a recently discovered tumor for which she cannot get treatment.

Obama waved her over and hugged her, saying, "I don't want you to feel like you're all alone." He promised to "find out what we can do within existing law" and called Smith the "perfect example" of the kind of person his health plan is intended to help.

"Coincidence" my foot. This was another staged presentation of Obama & Company, with questioners and questions chosen in advance. It was staged, and for the same reasons noted in the traveling preacher show: to manipulate the emotions and the purse strings of the audience.

Helen Thomas, a pro-Democrat reporter, newspaper columnist and member of the White House Press Corps, was disgusted by the attempts of Barack Obama to "manage the news" and said so this week. She said:

“I’m not saying there has never been managed news before, but this is carried to fare-thee-well--for the town halls, for the press conferences,” she said. “It’s blatant. They don’t give a damn if you know it or not. They ought to be hanging their heads in shame.”

Thomas told CNSNews.com that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the way President Obama is trying to control the press.

“Nixon didn’t try to do that,” Thomas said. “They couldn’t control (the media). They didn’t try."