St. Louis, MO—
Comedian Jimmy Kimmel has delivered several viral monologues this week against Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare and replace it with nothing worthwhile or effective in regards to reforming our broken, for-profit healthcare system, and Republicans are unsurprisingly butthurt about it.
The phase “Jimmy Kimmel should stick to comedy” has been employed by conservative pundits and right-leaning news companies all this week, but Kimmel is not backing down from his assertion that Republicans are attempting to make healthcare dramatically worse for tens of millions of Americans.
It is ironic to note that the conservative commentators who think Kimmel should stick to comedy routinely allege that evolution is made up, climate change is a hoax, and vaccines are dangerous. The GOP is not keen on listening to scientists, economists, or experts of any kind. In fact, being conspicuously intelligent about a subject immediately earns disrespect from Republicans, who cannot help but be suspiciously offended by people who have taken the time to understand what they talk about.
Nothing is more anathema to contemporary conservatives than the elitism of expertise. Since Mr. Kimmel’s newborn son was born needing corrective surgery, Kimmel has contemplated firsthand the difficulty so many families who aren’t rich like him have regarding healthcare.
Kimmel’s empathy has really gotten under the skin of Republicans who think Obamacare’s protection for the sickest people in America are really getting in the way of tax cuts for already rich people.
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