Huffington Post contributor Michael Shaw posts three Tea Party photos (a "Bury Obamacare with Kennedy" sign, a hearse with "Obamacare" written on it, and a guy dressed like the Grim Reaper holding an out-of-frame anti-Obamacare sign) and concludes:

The wingnuts don't consistently merge health care reform with Obama's name just because it's catchy.

Actually, it's EXACTLY why they did it.

It's human nature to take linguistic shortcuts to save a syllable. That's why people sometimes call me "Harv" instead of "Harvey". In this case, "Obamacare" is a LOT shorter than "Obama's proposed health care reform legislation", and it means exactly the same thing. Why WOULDN'T they use it, especially since space is at a premium on protest signs?

As for his suggestion that "Obamacare" + death symbolism = "I want to kill the President":

The most chilling and sickest thing about the Teabaggers' presentation strategy is the way their exploitation of death symbolism, merged with their hatred of the President, cross-fertilizing a "death to/of Obama" suggestion.

If that were true, that hearse would've said "Cap & Trade". But it didn't, because carbon offsets aren't a matter of life & death.

What they're saying is that the end result of poor medical care is death, and that government interference will lead to poor medical care.

Look, Michael, I know you're bitter, but try to remember that wild exaggerations work better in comedy sketchs than in ostensibly logical argumentational essays.

Posted by: Harvey at 10:28 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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