George Graham

The Quality of Mercy

Who would take a trillion dollars from the poor and sick to provide billions in tax cuts for the richest Americans?

And do it openly for all the world to see?

The answer is 217 Republican members of the House of Representatives. And Trump.

These people are prepared to let the poor sicken and die so that the rich can buy a new Lexus or spend an extra week on the Riviera.

Surely they must have a moral defense? But what?

They might respond, as Shakespeare’s Shylock did, that there is no ccompulsion to be merciful.

But, as Shakespeare’s Portia explained, “the quality of mercy is not strained.” It comes naturally to decent human beings.

Apparently not all Americans are decent. Some are selfish and cruel. And they don’t mind being seen as selfish and cruel.

The health care bill approved by the House yesterday as replacement for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) will show me how many Americans are decent human beings. If this draconian bill becomes law, kicking millions off Medicaid and leaving millions more without affordable health care, it will show that the quality of mercy no longer rules in America.

Surely, this travesty cannot be allowed to play itself out. Surely, the public will rise up in revulsion to force the bill’s rejection by the Senate. Surely, the time has come for decent Americans to take to the streets.

If this vile law passes, I will know that the country I chose as my home, the  land where the Statue of Liberty extends a loving welcome to those “huddled masses” – that wonderful country – no longer exists. I will know that this culture has become so depraved that Americans are either so merciless or so uncaring that the cruelest and most craven among us now have total control of the levers of power.

It’s sad that the basest elements of society have managed to acquire political supremacy through guile and deceit. It would be tragic if these wretched creatures succeed in reshaping America in their own image.

Click for the news story.

An analysis of the bill

How your representative voted

About the author

gwgraeme

I am a Jamaican-born writer who has lived and worked in Canada and the United States. I live in Lakeland, Florida with my wife, Sandra, our three cats and two dogs. I like to play golf and enjoy our garden, even though it's a lot of work. Since retiring from newspaper reporting I've written a few books. I also write a monthly column for Jamaicans.com