[LINK] Elf Sternberg on imagining Obama laughing at white premature mortality

[rfmcdonald]

El Sternberg, in his "Imagine if Obama laughed...", imagined on World AIDS Day what if Obama reacted to premature mortality among whites in the same way that Reagan's press secretary in the early 1980s reacted to AIDS.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs:Someone in the back. RollingStone. Matt?

Matt Taibbi:Mr. Gibbs, recently the media has been tracking a rise in deaths among poor, white Americans. They're the only group that has seen this rise. What, um, what reaction does President Obama have to this issue?

Gibbs:Why, Matt? Do you have a reason to worry?

Taibbi:No, I don't. But don't you think it's frightening that so many poor, white Americans are dying this way?

Gibbs:I'm not poor and white. The president sure isn't poor or white. [The rest of the press corps laughs.] This isn't our problem.

Taibbi:Do you think, maybe, the White House could put out a statement encouraging poor, white Americans to get better healthcare?

Gibbs:[Sighs audibly.] Matt, this isn't really a problem that the rest of America wants to deal with. Let's move on.

That white Americans are actively resisting health makes it all the more tragic.