By Craig Long
While I was watching the recent Republican debates (it seems like there is one on every other day or so), I saw some very disturbing things. No, I'm not talking about Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, or Mitt Romney. The most disturbing thing to come out of the debates has been the reaction of the crowd.
Two distinct events stand out in my mind. The first one was regarding a question dealt to Ron Paul, asking a question that relates to healthcare. The hypothetical situation dealt with a critically ill, uninsured person. When asked if the person should be left to die, several members of the crowd quite disturbingly yelled "Yeah!"
The second event was the crowd's reaction to a soldier asking a question about the recently changed American policy on gay servicemen and women serving openly. This is a soldier who has served in Iraq, placing his life on the line. After his question was asked, members of the audience booed.
Thankfully, it was only a few audience members who reacted in each situation. However, even a few people reacting in the way that they did gives a sad, sad image for where this country is and where it is heading. In the first instance, members were advocating the death of a person, assumedly under the pretense of wanting a smaller government. However, most arguments for smaller government rapidly progress to wanting lower taxes. 47% of people didn't pay taxes in 2009 (according to NPR), so there is basically a 1-in-2 chance that those who yelled don't even pay taxes. Even if they did pay, the impact of the government assisting one person with unexpected health costs on their specific taxes (or the national deficit, for that matter) is negligible. In the aggregate, I understand that healthcare is expensive, and some people may not believe that it is the government's job to pay for individual healthcare. That's fine. However, they didn't yell "Bill him!" They yelled in support of the option to let him die.
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