Did You Hear The One About The Talking Dog...

A guy, driving across the country saw a sign in front of a small house: 'Talking Dog For Sale ' Curious, he stopped and was directed to the backyard where he found a Labrador retriever. "You talk?" he asked. 'Yep,' the Lab replied.

Totally shocked, the guy said, 'So, what's your story?' The Lab looked at him and said, 'Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was young and I wanted to help my country, so I told the CIA. In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping. I was one of their most valuable agents for eight years. But I got burned out from all the jetting around and since I wasn't getting any younger decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the airport to do undercover security. I just wandered near suspicious characters and listened in. I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals. I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired.'

Amazed, the guy went back to the house and asked the owner what he wanted for the dog. 'Ten dollars,' the owner said. 'Ten dollars? This dog is amazing! Why on earth would you sell him so cheap?'

'Because he's a liar' said the owner, ' He never did any of that stuff.'

When you stop laughing, consider for a moment the skewed thinking needed to place more value on what the dog said than on the fact he was able to say it. This is the kind of misdirected thinking the insurance companies and their paid minions in Congress have been orchestrating to defeat health care reform.

It is impossible for anyone who is conscious and capable of thought to be unaware of the horror stories and statistics that prove without a doubt that the health insurance companies do not serve the health care needs of our society. There is no logical or rational explanation why anyone, except those who profit from the current system, would fight against real health care reform.

Even those who are satisfied with their own coverage, if they are honest, will admit that there are many, many people who do not have that same security. And, again if they are honest, they will admit that the solution to this lack of health care security cannot be relegated to the catchall categories of "pulling themselves up by their bootstraps" or "taking responsibility for themselves."

It is incredibly foolish to believe that the health care industry will suddenly make a real effort to fulfill the actual purpose of health care insurance. Not after decades of gouging the public to increase their profits, of promising to change the way they do business without actually making any changes, of spending millions of dollars to keep congress in their pocket to thwart reform and regulation. Giving them more time, such as the proposed four year trigger on a public option, is at best extraordinarily naive and gullible and at worst, just another congressional give away to corporate greed.

Who can possibly believe that the government would do a worse job of supplying health care coverage than a profit motivated, greedy industry that has already proven, over and over, that they will allow people to die rather than cut into their profits or deprive their executives of million dollar salaries and bonuses. Why would anyone believe their lies in the face of hard facts that claims are denied, coverage is refused, and people die, so that insurance companies can prosper and grow.

If you buy into the lies, half-truths, and scare tactics that are being peddled by the health care industry and their bought and paid for Washington politicians, then you must be one of the silly people who would sell a talking dog for ten dollars. As Adolf Hitler once said, "How fortunate for leaders that the masses do not think."