On Friday, we had the story of former Arizona sheriff guy Richard Mack, a wingnut Oath Keeper, who has also been a very public opponent of the tyrannical reach-around that is Obamacare. Mack and his wife do not have health insurance, because FREEDOM, but sadly both have suffered major health setbacks in the past several months, which has led them to experience the uniquely American wonders of getting driven into the poor house, due to ain’t got no health insurance. So, get this, instead of taking this as a lesson learned, and being responsible adults and purchasing health insurance under evil Obamacare, their friends started a GoFundMe, trying to crowd-source $30,000 out of the goodness of people’s hearts, so that the Macks might not have to face the consequences of their dumb actions.
It would easy to laugh off Mack’s dilemma as karma and leave him to rot…especially since that was his attitude towards the rest of American humanity. To Mack’s way of thinking, being driven into the poor house because of medical bills is just the price you pay for living in the bastion of freedom and liberty that is ‘Merica. ‘Course, it’s easy to feel that way when it’s other people suffering from lack of health care insurance. The equation becomes a fair bit different when you’re the one facing the mountain of medical bills.
I would have thought that many would have thought it wise to allow Mack to reap what he’s sown for so long…but then many Liberals decided to prove they’re far better people than I am and likely will ever be. People have actually donated to Mack’s GoFundMe, many leaving notes ranging from the kind to the preachy to the just plain mean. I suppose this is what one should probably expect when, as the GoFundMe page says, “the spirit of freedom to which Sheriff Mack is dedicated” is what’s allegedly propping Mack and his family up during this difficult time. If by “the spirit of freedom,” you mean “the right to die from lack of money and health insurance,” then you might be on to something.
The sad thing is that many of the people responsible for the GoFundMe effort to raise money for Sheriff Mack still don’t get it. They don’t understand that Obamacare isn’t about freedom or liberty (or the destruction of same). It’s about ensuring that no American goes without access to basic health care, which should be a basic human right.
[W]e asked people “to kill Sheriff Mack with kindness,” and to “[d]rop him $5 and a note reminding him what a shithead he’s been regarding access to affordable health care.” We asked, partly as a joke, but you all freaking DID IT, and the results are hilarious…. Some of you were GENEROUS. More than a few of you gave $50 or even $100 or more, all the while making sure to liberal up the guy’s page[.] And some of you just anonymously donated without even saying anything, because whatever, it’s not like this entitled welfare queen is going to learn his lesson anyway.
Mack likely won’t learn his lesson, of course; people like him seldom do. He’ll probably see his great good fortune as confirmation that he was right all along and that Obamacare is all about slavery and government overreach. After all, why should health care insurance be mandatory when one can simply go to the virtual begging bowl and depend on the kindness of others? Whey should a patriot have to be responsible for his own actions and decisions? This is ‘Merica, where only Liberals should be held responsible for the consequences of their actions and decisions.
The good thing about Mack’s GoFundMe effort is that it helped confirm that many people are willing to overlook his being an ignorant, short-sighted ideologue and demonstrate the power of kindness…something Mack has evidently suffers from a deficit of. Killing someone with kindness certainly beats the Hell out of killing someone for lack of health care insurance, which has been the tactic of Mack and his ilk.
The lesson to be learned here is that compassion doesn’t have to be the purview and property of losers and Liberals. Compassion isn’t a sign of weakness or ideological infirmity; it’s the recognition that we’re all in this together and that what harms one eventually harms us all.
I’d like to think Sheriff Mack will learn this lesson…but I believe this is a case in which actions will speak louder than words. I’m not yet convinced that Mack will change his self-absorbed, I-got-mine-you-can-damned-well-get-your-own thinking…but I cab certainly and sincerely hope to be proven wrong.
