For the past few weeks, we have all been “treated” to the latest in a long list of RW talking points: “The president and his party are trying to shove healthcare reform down the American people’s throats.”

There’s no way you could have missed it – because, as always, the exact same phrase has been used by every GOPer, on every newscast, on every TV/radio political program, in every statement to the media.

This is, as we’ve all come to know, par for the course when the Republicans want to shove their own agenda down our collective throats. Needless to say, such statements would come across as a spontaneous personal reaction if paraphrased rather than repeated verbatim. But that would require a bit of imagination and creativity, something the GOP lacks in abundance.

Well, if we’re going to talk about shoving things down people’s throats, let’s talk turkey – specifically a plastic turkey, served with all of the traditional synthetic trimmings, a dish perfected by the POP (photo-op party), who had no shame in declaring their “strong on national defence” credentials after the attacks of 9-11 happened on their watch.

For eight years, what I had shoved down my throat was the idea that a scatterbrained idiot was legitimately elected to the presidency, that his ignorance and downright stupidity was an example of down-home charm, that his inability to prove fulfillment of his military service was of no consequence, that his drunken displays in public forums were a matter of an unfortunate misunderestimation of a complete and utter failure who had finally achieved his rightful place as a cowboy-booted frat boy who made good – thanks to a well-stacked-in-the-GOP’s-favor Supreme Court, and a complicit mainstream media that – despite it’s legendary liberal bias – was all too willing to look the other way.

I had it shoved down my throat that the invasion of Iraq was justified due to weapons of mass destruction that never existed, that purple thumbs were proof of success despite hundreds of thousands of casualties, that the photos from Abu Ghraib were demonstrative of a “few bad apples”, that the Constitution was merely a piece of paper that shouldn’t be given too much weight in a democracy founded upon its principles, that deficits don’t matter, that regulation of institutions like banks and insurance companies was a stranglehold on honest people trying to make an honest living, that taxing the wealthy was counter-productive when we can simply “borrow” money from foreign nations to foot the exorbitant bills run up by an administration intent on waging wars that, coincidently enough, resulted in personal financial gain through the awarding of no-bid, no-questions-asked contracts to corporations that just happened to have administration friends as major shareholders.

I had it shoved down my throat that certain self-proclaimed “good Christians”, following devoutly in the footsteps of the Prince of Peace, had come to believe that torture is acceptable, while the denial of equal rights to gays and lesbians is an abomination before the Lord Jesus Christ (and yeppurs, that’s the same JC who, according to the New Testament, never spoke word one condemning homosexuality – go figure.)

And even now, the throat-shoving behaviour continues – and my gag reflex is in overdrive.

I am told that the Teabaggers are a grassroots movement, meaning that people who can’t even spell the words on their protest signs had the intellectual wherewithal to organize nation-wide protests of – well, they can’t really explain what it is they’re protesting – but, God-damn it, they mean it. I suppose that passion alone explains why the MSM shoves coverage of their every event – as poorly attended as they may be – down my throat, while having completely ignored worldwide protests of the War in Iraq as being of little consequence.

I am told that the “Best Political Team on TV” is comprised of people who wouldn’t know a fact if it bit them in the ass. I am also being led to believe that the MSM has always been on the case, keeping ‘em honest and all – although they still can’t provide any proof that they were on W’s case when he was selling a nation down the river while strummin’ the ol’ gee-tar as an American city drowned.

In addition to the aforementioned down-the-throat-shoving with a fuckin’ backhoe, I have been told repeatedly that FOX-News is a legitimate news source, that a drug-addled tub-o’-lard like Rush Limbaugh is a patriotic American, that Glenn Beck has his country’s best interests at heart, that a woman who couldn’t name a single newspaper that she regularly reads was the stuff great vice-presidents are made of, that in-your-face whack-job Orly Taitz actually knows whereof she speaks, that Liz Cheney is someone whose opinion on anything should be front-and-center on every Sunday political news show, that global warming is a hoax because it still snows in the wintertime, that the Earth was created 6,000 years ago (and just might be flat!), that separation of Church and State was a momentary whim of the Founding Fathers and was never meant to be taken seriously, that racism doesn’t play a role in RW politics when newsletters to the faithful include a photo-shopped image of the President as a white-faced “Joker”, that the mainstream media isn’t complicit in spreading RW propaganda despite the fact that it is only interested in keeping ‘em honest when it’s a Democrat in office as opposed to a Republican.

While I’m on the topic, let me add a few more things I have had shoved down my throat, repeatedly: the current POTUS is a secret Muslin, intent on destroying our country by simultaneously handing it over to socialists and profiteering capitalists all in the same breath. Unemployed Americans are ecstatic over having hit the financial jackpot every time they get a check that represents a fraction of their earned income – and immediately retire to life in front of the afternoon soaps, bereft of any desire to work again. Jesus hated the Gay Agenda, and vociferously said so – unfortunately, his sermons on the subject didn’t make the final edit of the Good Book.

Union members are blood-suckers out to ruin our economy, the homeless got where they are by being lazy malcontents, those who protest our country’s participation in warfare are Islamofascists in league with terrorists, veterans who have put their lives on the line while in service and then expect proper medical treatment once returned Stateside are traitors of the worst kind, teachers are intent on ruining our children’s minds while profiting by it, scientists who warn of global disaster due to catastrophic climate change are involved in some money-making pyramid scheme spearheaded by Al Gore, the current economic crisis is the result of overly-restrictive government oversight that curtails true entrepreneurship like that of Bernie Madoff or Ken Lay – oh, and insurance companies who make obscene profits based on the suffering and death of fellow citizens are just a bunch of misunderstood do-gooders who are simply the victims of a lot of bad press.

So now the RW want to lecture me about the evils of the Democrats shoving healthcare reform down the throats of the citizenry? Well, to quote the most ignorant, inane, you’ve-got-to-be-fuckin’-kidding-me RW asshole (and believe me, there were A LOT to choose from), “You betcha!”

If shoving the truth (“The Truth” – a concept as yet unknown to the GOP) down the throats of American citizens is the only way to bring our nation into the 21st Century when it comes to healthcare legislation, I’m all for it. And if the average citizen finds themselves gagging on the idea that healthcare is a right, not a privilege for those who can afford it, at least they’ll be able to visit a doctor for a proper diagnosis on what’s causing that choking sensation every time they try to swallow the bullshit that’s being passed off as Republican concern for their wellbeing, RW-insanity disguised as patriotism, or mainstream media propaganda being passed off as objective journalism.

So keep shovin’ it, Obama et al – sometimes a lump-in-the-throat, when caused by a forced-feeding of the facts, can be just the cure the doctor orders in pursuit of saving the ill-advised, misled patient.