Cenk Uygur writes about the importance of questions, rather than answers, in changing the conversation in a way that is favorable to Democratic ideas, and also praises Alan Grayson and Michael Moore for bringing up two questions that have changed the political conversation in ways that put the Republicans on the defensive. In saying that the Republican health care plan is “If you do get sick, die quickly,” Alan raised the question:

”Do Republicans Want People To Die Quickly”?

Cenk points out that Republicans really can’t gain anything from this conversation, whatever answer people arrive at, so it is a good one for Democrats to have out there. It replaces the earlier conversation about whether or not the Democratic health care reform plan is a Government takeover of health care. And as Cenk says:

”. . . now the conversation we’re having is whether the health care system is acceptable or if it leads to killing people for profit. Mission accomplished.”

The second question, arises out of of Michael Moore’s film Capitalism: A Love Story. In it he charges that “being on the side of the rapacious rich is unchristian,” and also that the Republicans are being bad Christians because they side with the rich against the poor. This raises the question, as Cenk says:

”Are the Republicans bad Christians?”

Again, this is not a conversation the Republicans want to have, because it distracts attention from their claims that they are the more Christian party, and they can’t possibly gain anything from it.

Now in reading Cenk’s column, I have to admit I found myself thinking about these simple questions. On the first, I don’t really believe that Republicans want sick people to die quickly, but I do believe that their first concern is the ability of their business allies and friends to keep up profits, and especially the value of their stocks, and that they also think that pursuing one’s self-interest at the expense of others is perfectly legitimate and commendable, and that if sick people die, or die quickly as a result, then that’s the way the cookie crumbles, to use an old expression.

So, I guess I’m saying, based on my interpretation of their behavior, and not their words, that they only seem to want other Americans to die quickly, and that what they really want is for other Americans not to cause profits and stock prices to fall. Of course, my interpretation of their behavior may be wrong, and perhaps they do just want sick people to die quickly. Or, maybe, yet another theory about their motivation is the right one. But, given their behavior, any further discussion about their motivation is likely to come up with other unflattering theories about what it actually is. So the more we talk about the question of whether Republicans really want sick people to die quickly, the better off Democrats are in discrediting Republicans in the debate over health care reform.

A similar dynamic applies to the question of whether Republicans are “bad Christians.” In thinking about the answer to that question, I have to admit, even though I am no expert on Christianity, that the idea that Republicans are bad Christians is a conclusion I came to when I was a teen-ager, many years ago, now. After all, when you always go around proposing, and sometimes passing, legislation that actively screws poor and middle class people, so the wealthy can get richer, how can you be anything but a bad Christian? I know it’s not polite to say this, and I guess Michael Moore, Cenk Uygur, and I are being impolite. But, as Alan Grayson has said, in the context of his claim that Republicans want sick people to die quickly: “truth is an absolute defense.” Always.

(Also posted at the Alllifeisproblemsolving blog where there may be more comments)