Let me begin this blog by assuring you that I will not be putting across my opinions on health care reform. Rather, I’d like to take a look at how this whole debate is unfolding in isolation of the actual issue being discussed. So, I write this not to elevate democrats over republicans or liberals over conservatives, but rather the rational over the irrational and the moral over the immoral.

It seems to me that the failure in this debate stems from the lack of common ground established by the different sides, and the complete and utter absurdity of the coverage by some of the mainstream news programs.

First, would it be too childish for us to take a few steps back to figure out what we agree on before launching assaults on those with different opinions? Surely no moral human in favor of having the option of a government plan wants “death panels” to prevent wasting of taxpayer money just as no moral person in favor of the status quo wants people to die from treatable illnesses. I stress the term “moral” in these sentences because, unfortunately, I believe that there are a few powerful, immoral people controlling what people see and hear in the media.

Is it too much to ask that the television media bring together experts from each side and allow a debate to unfold without the show’s host screaming at the guest whose opinions don’t match the network’s target demographic? Are we trying to learn something from these shows, or just feel more confident that our opinions are shared by other people? There are excellent supporting arguments on every side of this discussion, yet some “news” shows prefer airing people screaming in town hall meetings as if that helps the viewer at home understand the issue better. No, instead it seems that *some* of the hosts of these shows would rather entertain people than inform them. That, to me, is what makes them immoral people. Perhaps I’m being too harsh here, but would you sleep well at night if you were purposefully misleading people all day long when you had a golden opportunity to help the nation move forward?

You only have to look at the fickle nature of some of these shows’ hosts, how they do full 180’s on issues in a matter of months, to realize that they cannot be trusted. Yet, these are the loudest voices in our democracy. They shape more public opinion than the most educated experts, they speak bolder and more often than our elected officials. They hover above every issue because they are never truly affected by any of them. They are the self-proclaimed authorities on everything, they are all-knowing omnipotent beings… and then they mindlessly read you the latest fan posts from Twitter and Facebook.