Health Care Facebook Wars Over A Million Strong!
The Health Care debate still doesn't want to go away. Democrats resurrected the reform time and time again on their push that ended in a convoluted tit for a tat voting process. The House passed the Senate bill in exchange for the Senate passing a house reconciliation bill. That is where the story ends for many Americans but there is one place you might not expect the debate to be thriving. That place is Facebook. I coin this leg of the debate “The Facebook Wars” for the sake of hyperbole. This isn't to confuse anyone with Mafia Wars or Farmville or other imminent wastes of time. The Facebook wars are very real.Facebookers against this health care bill formed the group “I bet we can find 1,000,000+ who disapprove of the Health Care Bill lead by Peter Dawson on March 15, 2010. It took twelve days to surpass that goal. Since then the page has continued a slower but steady climb bringing its membership to 1,276,316 as I write on April 10th, 2010. The group bands together doing action alerts like contacting Congress and most recently supporting Ed Lynch in Florida. The group rallied around rejection of the health care bill but there is a healthy dose of the tea party spirit if you ever visit. The un-official mantra for the group seems to be this.
“I am THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. I love my country. I love my Constitution. I love my freedom. I am angry. I am not racist. I am disillusioned. I am determined. I am THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. I will support you as long as you stand up for me. I want choices. I want the consequence of my choices. I NEED the consequence of my choices. It is those consequences that show me whether I chose rightly or wrongly. I am charitable but I am not a charity. I have money to give but not to take. Some members of Congress have taken something from me. Their consequences will be felt at the polls. I am THE AMERICAN PEOPLE and I will not be ignored.”
The largest group in opposition “I bet we can find 1,000,000 people who support the health care bill has 59,191 members but to be fair the “dark side” hasn't solidified support into one group. When you add up the big three groups supporting health care the total is around 100k members. The numbers are a little astounding considering the documented liberal lean of youth today and Facebook's popularity among the younger generations. Polls are still showing health care reform as unfavorable but according to facebook, healthcare is downright abhorrent.
Small numbers by the “dark side” hasn't kept them from making an influence. A significant number of trolls (people who instigate argument and fight for sake of it) have reared their ugly head in groups for those against health care. Some spout off racist remarks hoping to be confused as a real group member. The tactic is similar to that we have seen being used on the Tea Partiers. Some just make nonsensical inflammatory posts to incite anger, and some just bate members with posts unrelated to the health care subject. Lately many have even been organizing their efforts to ban and block members who are there for the sake of the cause. The battle of ideas is really all that is important and there is a healthy debate on Facebook right now.
There are lots of people in this country who would like to repeal this bill. To do so it is going to require a huge push to get like minded representatives elected culminating in electing a conservative president in 2012. Accomplishing this is an uphill battle but one that can be won. A lot of the fire has left the media but if you honestly and truly want to repeal this bill you need to work to keep the energy up. The conservative base, Tea Partiers, Constitutionalists, Libertariars, Republicans, and Democrats and Liberals who value their rights as Americans needs to stay active and keep this convoluted legislation at the forfront of everyones minds. Facebook is a great way to keep people actively engaged. The winner of the “Facebook Wars,” will help determine the chances of this legislation being repealed in 2013.
Tyson Bam
