A pair of quick notes for those in the Los Angeles area. At 6pm, Jennifer Rubin of Commentary Magazine will be speaking at the Beverly Hills Library. After that, at 8pm, I will be speaking at Jerry’s Deli in Westwood.
Now for the main event.
In a USA Today column, The Pelosiraptor attacked my patriotism.
Now I could dismiss this as the rantings of a woman that is seeing herself preparing for life as a minority member of Congress in 2010, but that would let her off the hook.
Sure, I could say that the statements were meaningless simply because Nancy Pelosi said them. That is the Joe Biden defense.
Being clueless is not a defense.
At least Barack Obama won 52% of the vote of all voting Americans. Nancy Pelosi won a majority of votes from a few thousand people in the most wacked out city in America.
So why is the leader of the Friscotics (oh cool, I think I invented what Rich Little referred to as a “sniglet.”) full of Pelosi?
Because she knows that honesty does not sell when the product itself is not worth buying.
I have said for some time that political fights should be based on policy, and only based on policy. That is exactly what this health care fight is about.
The president believes his health care plan is a net positive. I believe it is a net negative. We disagree, and I am supporting those that are trying to defeat his plan in its current form.
Those that claim that President Obama has a mandate to blow up the health care system because he won the election are grossly mistaken. He has a mandate to fix the economy. He did not say anything about health care during the campaign except for the fact that he wanted “change.”
Unlike his predecessor, who did what he said, Mr. Obama got elected by saying absolutely nothing. He got a lead, and ran out the clock. Disagreeing with the details was impossible because specifics were non-existent. The man is a human generality with a splash of bromide and several cups of platitudes.
Now he has to govern, and he has no experience running anything. Yet one thing he does know how to do is community organize. He knows how to win blood fights. While conservatives are worried about taking down Al Queda, Obama and Pelosi are interested in taking down me and other mainstream conservatives.
I never mailed a dead fish to anybody. That would be Rahm Emanuel.
I never abused people trying to peaceably assemble. That would be leftist agitators. I never wrote or idolized a book about how to polarize and personalize. That would be the left.
I never questioned the patriotism of other Americans. That would be those that see any disagreement with Barack Obama as an act of war.
They play the race card from the bottom of a marked deck.
When Barney Frank is shown to be a corrupt official, the left calls his critics gay bashers.
Howard Dean, whose very existence is synonymous with hate speech, heads the Democratic National Committee.
The issue is the same issue that has infected the left in this country.
They are simply bullies.
Whether it be the anti-Semites at Code Pink or the terrorists that make up the Earth Liberation Front, the left is simply abut the ends justifying the means.
When the right fringes speak, mainstream conservatives disavow them. When the leftist basket cases act like…well, themselves…they get celebrated.
A conservative protester was recently beaten at a rally. The man was black, which would lead to charges of racism had he been a liberal.
Now I am sure there are plenty of liberals out there that would say they would object if an elderly lady was knocked over and her wheelchair broken. Yet would they loudly condemn the behavior, or would they make excuses?
I know what it is like to be subjected to left wing violence. My hate mail inbox has been the recipient of some vile comments that I occasionally publish. Don’t tell me that conservatives have a right to speak in this country. From my college days to too many Synagogues, I have seen the leftinistras attack conservatism as morally repugnant.
The solution for conservatives is to hit back ferociously. That means I took on my college classmates. I take on Synagogues, letting them know that their tax exempt status is on shaky ground.
I take on monsters like the Pelosiraptor who dare to have the gall to criticize Americans for engaging in democracy.
The voters are not to blame. The Republicans are not to blame. The Democrats are in control, and they have the votes. What they do not have are guts. They are more interested in placing blame than passing laws.
They are simply the same failed human beings that have watched America move to the right despite the occasional election hiccups.
They have the political numbers. They do not have the American people. Like two year old versions of Barbara Boxer (or 62 year old versions for that matter), they cry, kick, scream, and throw the mother of all tantrums, all because they can’t get what they want. They scream at military leaders, play the race card against a Chamber of Commerce leader who happened to be black, attack police officers as racists for doing their jobs, and use thugs such as ACORN to steal elections when honest tactics fail.
This makes sense, since what are acorns anyway? Acorns are collections of nuts.
I never thought I would live to see the day when Hillary Clinton would appear to be more reasonable than anybody, but the Pelosiraptor is succeeding in this endeavor.
Attempts to portray conservatives as bad people simply will not stand up to reality.
I was at Sean Hannity’s Freedom Concert. Some people there were Democrats. They were treated in a friendly manner. I shook their hands. This is because I am capable of disagreeing with people without despising them.
I don’t throw eggs or tomatoes at MSNBC trucks. I engage in civilized discourse.
Sometimes civilized discourse can get heated. Passions run high. Yet one would have to be a complete fraud or completely insane to think that senior citizens are political operatives. One would have to lack integrity or common sense to think that asking tough questions of elected officials is morally wrong.
Only a complete disgrace of a human being with no connection to reality would question the patriotism of me and my friends.
Welcome to the world of the top Friscotic (Wow, I really do like that word. Neato).
Like the forces of Augustus Caesar taking on Brutus and Cassius, our side has true believes while the left offers paid mercenaries. We offer ideas, and they respond with verbal suicide bombers.
We have senior citizens and veterans. They have agitators, union thugs, political hatchet men, college students, and radical professors. They are the mob. We are the people.
If the left wants to have a peaceful discussion, don’t question my patriotism.
As for the Pelosiraptor, I will quote the words of President George W. Bush.
Bring it on.
eric
The other day, I had a conversation with a liberal, whose relative is
a dentist.
She said that we (US) need a single payer health system..cause, most US families cannot afford medical care at it’s current cost. Parents simply
don’t, or won’t, go to doctors and dentists, due to the high costs.
I mentioned bankruptcy (chapter 7), or chapter 13, that is available
under our legal system., AND the majority of which are due to
the expensive medical costs sometimes incurred.
I also mentioned that under socialized medicine, her loved ones
in medical practice, will have their salaries capped.
In other words, they won’t be able to afford the Lexus, Harvard education,
cruises, etc.
She admitted that there will be rationing, if a single payer, or gov’t
sponsored umbrella system of medicine.
I asked whether someone aged 80, should have life support when
hospitized, if the outcome is unclear (typically)? I wondered whether
a heart bi-pass is appropriate if a shunt won’t work, and if so,
would it be recommended by a bureaucrat, civil service employee
authorized to make these decisions?
She didn’t know.
So much for gov’t medicine. BTW, for those pundits and journalists who
decry the latest antics by some at meetings, and who are themselves
recipients of medicare…..guess what, THEY PAID FOR IT OVER THEIR
LIFETIME..it’s called the medicare portion of social security. Get it!
Nothing comes for free.
As far as calling Eric and others unpatriotic, oh come on.
The left’s demonstrations since Vietnam, has paled in comparison the
right.
I’ve always wondered what would happen if he RIGHT, or Conservatives
decided to take to the streets?
I am not talking about David Duke, or the fascist types. They
deserve no place in our society.
Eric is so correct about Obama. I have watched him since he first
campaigned against Hillary, no fan of mine. But at least Hillary
had a record, like it or not.
I mean, this guy Obama is to date, the worst President we have ever had.
I ask my Democratic and Independent friends, what in heavens name
has he done?
Vernon Jordan was interviewed on TV. He said Obama is a leader.
A leader, of what?
Take every campaign promise, every debating point with John McCain
and Hillary..and look at them closely. How has he lead?
His entire campaign was about CHANGE. He was going to reach out
to the Republicans. He was going to change govt from the bottom up.
Sure!
I am not against progressives per se. I don’t see things in black and
white. I am not inspired by leaders..I am inspired by their policies.
I don’t care about intelligence…I care about character and truthfulness.
That is what my bible requires of me.
You don’t care about intelligence? Wow. That’s a little disconcerting.
In the column, Pelosi and Hoyer were spefically referring to those loons who’ve been going around shouting down adult debate at townhall meetings around the country. They obviously were not referring to our good host. Not everything is about you, ya’ know. ;) Also, they didn’t even say the people acting this way were “un-American” but rather that their actions were “un-American,” and those actions are. These stupid loons have been employing all sorts of sleazy, underhanded tactics, from bringing up inane wedge issues like abortion, immigration and euthanasia – which have nothing at all to do with the healthcare reform debate – and catchwords like “socialism” and “Hitler” and “lynching,” to derail any intelligent train of thoughtful debate.
IMHO, these people are not just un-American, they are sleazy idiots.
JMJ
“IMHO, these people are not just un-American, they are sleazy idiots.”
Which makes Erics point for him exactly.
Thank you Jersey.
You reinforced everything Eric speaks of in this post with you degredation and name calling of decent people with legitimate concerns.
It is “socialism” on many levels when you have 46 million people who either dont want, dont have, cant afford, or dont deserve health care being given it at the cost of the majority who feels they’ve given enough.
If I’m correct for 8 years and even up til now we have had to put up with visions of Bush having Hitler style moustaches photoshopped to his face, swaztiskas on his arm, nd him being called “Bushitler”, Nazi, more times than I can remeber.
Soo… I guess that would make guys like you and your ilk who paint horns on Bushs head just as un-American seeing as how Hitler is a close as the planet has ever come to seeing the devil take human form.
Weve had to put with Pinkomoonbats tossing bloody hands up in front of Condi, little ole ladys having their crosses ripped out of their arms and stomped on, soldiers called “not all that bright” and on and on and on.
They are not stupid for bringing up immigration as the bill would afford benfits to those that donr deserve it on the American dime.
They are not stupid for bringing up abortion because the bill is so vague and incomplete the worry is that theres plenrt of opportunity for it be placed later by virtue of amendments.
They are not stupid for bringing up euthanasia just because its not in the bill. The reason the bill says absolutely nothing about is why its so concerning, same as with abortion.
The bill does not say that theres no way any of these policies will become effective in the bill, thats what worries us.
Since you messiah himself has said that it might be better for mom to take a pain killer instead of using vital resources it gives us “AMERICANS” plenty to worry about.
The Messiah;
“At least we can let doctors know — and your mom know — that you know what, maybe this isn’t going to help. Maybe you’re better off, uhh, not having the surgery, but, uhh, taking the painkiller.”
By the way, they were shouting down being bullsh*tted, there was no adult debate going on there. They were being asked to accept all the crap they’d already heard and p*ssed because they were told they could speak and upon arriving were instead told to sit down and shut up.
It works both ways baby. But when its us doing the protesting you guys get your panties so far up your crack its a wonder you can think at all
Well, Micky, they may be “decent people,” but they’re also screaming idiots. Most of what they say doesn’t even make sense. They speak in these broad, wierd terms about how “their America is being taken away.” They complain about spending, but were utterly silent as the GOP in the Bush years doubled the debt and left the country in ruins. They say their “fredom” is being usurped by the government reforming healthcare, but cared nothing at all about the usurpation of our freedom by the war/fear-mongers and their government “secrets,” classification of everything under the sun, tyrannical rise of the executive branch, and exponential expansion of the police and military states.
They’re ALL idiots, Micky. I hope they all get hemmoroids.
JMJ
LMAO guess what? Obama does the very same thing and he never eva answers any one question straight up. Oh, he smiles, he points and goes into his “blah, blah, blah, voice as he skirts the questions/issues sometimes using, cough, “stepford wives” members of society as props. I have to laugh hysterically as he struts his “stuff” on the stage. You will never get one direct answer from this fool, such is his game of shame. Sits back and puffs my fine cigarillo (while I still can Pact Act 1147)…I support my troops 100% right or wrong (wasn’t their choice to go to war, but…they serve and protect proudly as my parents did in WWII!) Pulls my panties outta a wad and celebrates the “rabid, un american, mobs!
If this guy thinks Obama is a fool, I wonder what he thinks of GWB? Functionally retarded?
Obama speaks directly when he can, and in generalities when he has to. that’s politics. All politicians do it. But the higher the office, the more diplomatically vague they have to be. After all, the higher the office, the more constituencies you represent. So higher officials have to be careful not to alienate or offend to many constituents. One of Obamas big problems in this healthcare debate is that he’s trying to appease a constituency that is simply unappeasable – irreconciliable, illogical, irrational and just plain stupid. He should just ignore them. In fact, all the representatives should just call off the townhalls and deal directly with constituents through internet teleconferences and such, bypassing the screaming idiots entirely. They do nothing to enhance the debate. They simply want to wreak havoc. Screw them. They’re useless curmudgeons who’ve taken their Medicare and Social Security, sucked the national coffers dry, and whored America off to multinational corporations. They’re morons who’ve voted for sleazy thieves like Ronald Reagan and GWB, who’ve left this country in ruins. Ignore them. they are a minority and Americans will only remember them with loathing in the future. Obama and the Dems should take the reins and just get this done. To h@!! with the un-American “no we won’t” dittohead morons. They’re useless and becoming more and more a minority every day. Why Obama is trying to please them is beyond me. I understand why the Blue Dogs are – they represent erstwhile “conservative” districts. But it doesn’t matter. The GOP has purged itself of it’s moderates. They’re running drooling idiots and radical morons. They won’t get the majority back for years. Why play politics with this? There’s just not enough to lose. I say to h@!! with the rightwing rabble. Pass a d@mn bill!
JMJ
Ok guys, the moderator is stepping in. Referring to either Mr. Obama or Mr. Reagan as a “fool” or a “sleazy thief” is not civilized discourse, and not what this blog is about.
I like you all. Now everybody keep the gloves up. Stick to policy.
eric :)
My sincere apologies to our good host and the rest here on the blog. Sorry about that, gang.
JMJ
Well, Micky, they may be “decent people,” but they’re also screaming idiots. Most of what they say doesn’t even make sense. They speak in these broad, wierd terms about how “their America is being taken away.”
They are taking away America jersey, bit by bit.
They may bescreaming, but they’re not idiots for doing what any concerned American should do when faced with this kinda crap.
Its not a weird term to say that ever since this bum came into office weve seen more circumvention of constitutional practice than ever before.
And I’ll give you a perfect example of the BS everyone is sick and tired of and should be screaming their heads off about.
THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF got up in front of everyone and said that we have to put all this dis-information to rest.
Right after thet he proceeded to lie saying that the AARP is endorsing the bill and brings a little girl who was a plant from one of his affiliates.
You’re damn right we should be pee’d off. After all these town hall meetings that are full of it we then have president say hes going to fix it, try to calm things down, put some truth into the debate.
And what does he do ?
He insults Americans one more time in the biggest way possible how seeing it comes right from the CICs mouth.
If this bill is so damn great why all the hard sells at the town halls ? Why is he up there holding his own ?
It sucks, the country doesnt want it, 53% dont want it (rasmussen) 49% against 43% for(gallup) its vague, no one has read it, its another “emergency” that must be rushed through, so dont talk to me about “fear mongering” when its your man thats doing all the scaring with his “if we dont do this” and ” we must do this before catastrophy happens” crap.
What were seeing are these democratic run sales presentations where were supposed to just sit, be sold, gobble it up like idiots.
Some think Palins statements reflected some extreme by labeling “death panels” as some sort of “euthanasia panel” is pretty slick but the fact of the matter is we heard from Obamas own mouth that instead of the cure for an elderly being issued they should settle for some pain relief and just go away.
I’ll tell you what Jersey, when we see all of congress and those on the hill settle for the same plan they’re trying to ram down our throats then I’ll take you seriously.
When you can explain how the public sector wont squeeze the private sector out of business then I’ll take you seriously.
When its explained in a clear concise manner how all this will be paid for at the same time as everything else, then I’ll take you seriously.
When you can guarantee that my doctor and not the fed will determine the level of care I get, I’ll take you seriously. When you can explain why they dont just give a plan to those 46 million that dont have a plan and leave the rest of us the hell alone, I’ll take you seriously.
When you can explain why I should…
1) Pay taxes on my benefits.
2) Pay taxes for your benefits
3 Pay for my private plan at the same time as all above… I’ll take you seriously
4) be treated like an idiot at town halls and not raice my voice
5) Have to endorse a bill that no congressman has been willing to read yet
When you can explain to me why I should do any of that I’ll take you seriously.
And by the way. I’ll say it again.
The only reason I’m responding to you is because I’m keeping my word.
I said that I wont rrspond to you unless you clean up your act or say something really stupid that cant go un dealt with.
Guess which one this is ?
You have no right to bash these people when the things you say are far far worse in meaning and context than anything any of them have said.
You truly are a hypocrite of the highest caliber
AARP statement:
“While the President was correct that AARP will not endorse a health care reform bill that would reduce Medicare benefits, indications that we have endorsed any of the major health care reform bills currently under consideration in Congress are inaccurate.”
I have to disagree with you (I think this is the first time I’ve done so)…
Ref:”He has a mandate to fix the economy.”
It would be more accurate to say, “He has a mandate to break the economy.” It’s all in the plan but they cannot break it so it looks like it’s their fault. It’s what they talk about behind closed doors at the G20, G8, and SPP summits. If you noticed, Obama picked up where Bush left off…nothing has changed with the NWO group. In the latest talks in Mexico the talks most likely centered around the decision to drop the Amero in favor of the agreed upon currency hinted at by Gordon Brown a day or two after the G20 summit; “The New World Order is emerging.”
When the economy is where THEY want it THEY will save the world with the new global currency…THEY are constantly working on the verbiage for Obama to deliver with his snake-oil tongue… However he delivers his oratory I’m sure it will sound convincing but the real meaning will go something like this:
“My fellow Americans, we just screwed you and you didn’t even notice…now the guy with the funny name (me) will be pictured on your new currency so you will always remember where your money came from…” ~ barack obama
Well, Micky, in a way, I sort of agree with these people. I mean, “America,” our constitutional republic, has been undermined bit by bit for a long, long time. But I don’t see universal healthcare as in any way doing any undermining. It is the very forces that stand againt it that are part of the disease that is and always has been slowly killing our republic.
The only reason we don’t have universal healthcare, or federally mandated universal education for that matter, is that we are a very old republic with a very old constitution. Really, we are the oldest continuously existing republic on the planet. Our constitution was written long before things such as healthcare were considered rights. Just the same, our republic has endured because the Founders created a constitution beautifully succinct yet interpretively broad. There’s plenty of room in the constitution to allow for universal healthcare and I’ve never seen or heard a valid constitutional argument against it.
So, when I hear these protesters implying that universal healthcare, of any form or likeness, would somehow undermine the republic, I can’t understand why they believe that. It’s inane.
Efforts at bringing some sort of unversal healthcare in America date back to Theodore Roosevelt and beyond. He understood that such a system was not just constitutional, but a necessity to the security, stability, productivity, and progress of the republic. Simply put, a sicker public is a weaker polity, and less productive in every way than a healthier public. It is not just good for the republic, but for our international competitiveness, for the state. That’s why the military, for example, all get guarenteed public healthcare. There’s a good reason for that, and it’s not just some “reward” for service. Again, simply put, a sicker military is a weaker fighting force. They don’t just get healthcare for when they get wounded. They get all services they require at all times to be as healthy as possible.
Here we have yet another example, via the military, of progressive public investment. The military also proves Keynesian theory as well, but I won’t get into that here. Unfortunately, the military’s product is war and death, as opposed to, say, road building or school teaching.
I just don’t see what all the hubbub is about here. I see all these injustices, all this corruption, all these inequities, failures, ineptitudes, irrationalities all around us, but somehow these protesters don’t get up in arms about any of it. No, they get upset at the idea of basically just expanding Medicare, an extremely successful and popular program, to a few million more people. They get upset at the idea of reining in the insurance industry so that they can’t screw people quite as much as they do now. They get caught up in lies about abortion and euthanasia and taxes they will never pay.
I did apologize for my prior language regarding a certain prior president, but I don’t take back the sentiment about these townhall crybabies. I believe they are seriously misguided people.
JMJ
“Efforts at bringing some sort of unversal healthcare in America date back to Theodore Roosevelt and beyond.”
And still, you guys dont get it
Nuff said
Well if they’re crybabies then boy o boy do I have a list ofnames for the protestors I’ve seen on the left.
These are people with real concerns, not semi pubescent radicals who are clueless.
You didnt answer a one of my questions. All my questions/claims go to undermining our costitution.
Our money is our private property. Our health is our liberty that allows us the pursuit of happiness. Being a part of a collective takes away our individualism. We are being taxed without representation.
Its not just the healthcare bill these people are upset about, wake up !
After TARP, the bailouts the stimulus, the dictating to CEOs, the broken promises, the lies, the outrageous spending, this bill is the straw that broke the conservatives back, and many liberals too.
Yes, our country, constitution or not, old constitution or not, is being screwed up worse than anyone has ever seen in its history.
And you would be smart to pull your ideologically bogoted head outta yer rump and see that these are everyday good ole Americans who’ve just simply had enough.
There is no evidence of a “concerted” effort or people being bused in. Just because you saw a couple of union shirts doesnt mean squat. I saw quite a few peace signs too, so what ?
I think you’re just pee’d off because you know you really have no intelligent argument against this so you’re resorting to plain ole idotic meaness.
Otherwise you’d be able to at least answer one question.
Our constitution may be the oldest but we have a better system of health care, as screwed up as it is, thats way better than anyones. And we are a hell of a loy more stable than any other country in the last 200 years and richer and more powerful too.
So, now you want to “update” our constitution ? Just to make you right ?
The constituiton is the rules and liberals have always wanted it both ways and to make the rules up as they go along
I agree that often protesters on the Left can be quite detrimental to their ostensible causes. Code Pink was a perfect example. Ya’ just can’t get the general public on your side if you behave as if you are on it’s fringes.
I have the perfect example of this in action. Our federal represtative, from my district here in Florida, is about the useless, pandering, idiotic human being to ever be sent to Washington. This is a very “Red” district, though, in that most of the residents are elderly and their main political concerns are keeping their taxes low, keeping their Medicare and Social Security coming, and receiving unending praise for being the “greatest generation.” Our rep plays these concerns like Yanni. But, like Yanni, her approach is soothing but vacuus and corny. She’s beatable. Most of these retirees are old union blue collar and middle management white collar types who could be swayed to a Democrat if that Democrat plays to their issues with a little more substance and veracity. But the guy the Dems chose to run in ’08 ran a campaign that looked as though he was running for mayor of Hippytown! His campaign went on and on about the injustice of the War in Iraq, on the scandals of the Bush administration, on the the political concerns of the youth, and so on. The electorate out here just doesn’t care about these issues. Instead of running on issues that would appeal to this costituency – guilting these local retirees into allowing Medicare Part D to negotiate drug prices so as not to rob their children to pay too much for their drugs, raising the cap on FICA to ensure their children get Medicare and SS while supressing the tax burden on the working and middle classes, and more – this guy ran like he was Jerry brown and this was Oakland! Needless to say he didn’t come close.
If you want to win public support, you have to behave like the general public – subdued, mature, and civil.
Here is where these latest protesters are making a mistake. they are behaving very poorly. But the one thing they going for them is that they look and sound like regular, plain ol’ Americans. This time around, on the healthcare issue, Big Insurance, Pharma and the AMA have decided to fight fropm behind the scenes. Obama beat them to the “Harry and Louise” ads from the get-go, and people aren’t going to buy their arguments from 1993-4 again because they’ve already been proven false. So now they’re using this “astroturf” campaign of riling up the rabble with insane lies about healthcare reform. They know who to play this to – guys like “Norm” above. These are seriously disaffected people who believe all sorts of crazy conspiracy theories, like the “Amero.” These people feel that everything going on in Washington is so far above their heads that they just can’t grasp it or deal with it anymore, so they turn to lunatic rhetoricians who assuage their insecurities by feeding their paranoia – making them feel that it’s okay to believe they can’t grasp what’s going on around them, that it is ungraspable, a consipracy so deep, gone so far, that only the most ridiculous explanations can account for it. The protesters are thus motivated.
To your arguments about taxation without representation, I have no idea what you’re talking about. As far as I know, Hawaii has it’s full cadre of federal and local representation. So I fail to see how you’re not being represented. If you mean that you’d be paying for something you don;t want or need, that’s not a constutional matter. We all pay for some things we personally do not want or need. that’s the nature of representative taxation – some people want different things than others. I don’t want a 700 billion dollar a year military and completely fail to see how it has done anything for me in over 60 years, but other people want it, so what can I say? That’s not taxation without representation, just me not being happy about what some other people want. This is the case here with you. It’s not taxation without representation, just you not being happy about what some other people want.
“Our constitution may be the oldest but we have a better system of health care…”
The facts say you’re wrong. We pay far more than everyone else and our outcomes are mediocre at best. I have no idea why people believe this nonsense. This is just the sort of lie that is undermining our future. Americans are proving themselves very ignorant on this issue.
As for “updating” our constitution, there is a perfectly constitutional way of doing that. it’s called an amendment. And yes, we desparately need a few new ones to catch up with the rest of the world. But for healthcare reform, for now, we don’t need it. The constitution clearly already allows it. I guarantee that if reform passes, it will also pass muster in the SCOTUS if it is ever challenged there. I guarantee.
JMJ
This is one of the best post I have read in a long time. Savior it my subjects:)
http://www.goingjohngalt.org/blog/2009/08/03/sovereign-default/
“If you want to win public support, you have to behave like the general public – subdued, mature, and civil.”
Weve been thru this and I pointed out that these people went that route time and time again only to be shut out or down. Sure, they could of behaved better, but the point is that (as you tried to dodge) because they got a little out of hand while bringhing up very legitimate arguments doesnt make them “unAmerican” , “stupid” or “sleazy idiots”
It takes alot more for a conservative to resort to that kind of behavior than it does a liberal so I sugest you all stop worrying so much about the style and focus on the substance of the argument and then these things might not happen.
All polls show the presidents popularity slipping and that nobody(the majority) wants this healthcare reform in its present form.
Yes, we want reform, but we want whats in place fixed, more people distrust the government than they do the private insurers.
And we are not being heard.
“The facts say you’re wrong. We pay far more than everyone else and our outcomes are mediocre at best.”
And you believe that the fed will keep costs on healthcare low ? You’re high. As a matter of habit and course everything thing the fed always touches inevitably ends up tripling in cost.
Wise up.
Our outcomes are better than anywhere in the world considering volume and population. This fact says you’re wrong.
There is a logical fallacy in assumption that since mistakes and abuses occur in the present system, they will not occur in the system proposed.
The claim is ludicrous.
In fact, from my experience with govt., no matter whoas running the show, I see the number of mistakes getting greater, and the abuses getting far worse.
Have you ever had a contract with the government? If you’re gonna do contract work for the government you better have a really nice cash reserve to pay your bills, your employees, and even yourself. The government takes their a$$ sweet time when it comes paying on a P.O. Think about the laws that require banks to clear checks by a certain time. Wana guess who wrote them? Do you really think they would of subjected themselves to the same laws? Or will in the future ?
No way my friend, anyone who argues that a federally run healthcare system in America can be better than tweaking the present system really needs their head examined. And I sugest you try to get it done before this bill passes because instead of putting you thru the acceptance codes that insurance companies put you thru today they more than likely will just deny the claim right up front. Its not a life threatening condition, or your a liberal, so its wasted effort. Besides that, they’ll want you to thinking the way you do anyway.
Now, lets see, weve got brown shirts going door to door taking notes on who supported Obamas economic policies.
The White House trying to take control of the census.
A heathcare system that would give the fed all kinds of access to all our personal data.
A healthcare system that will undoubtedly ration care like the government does everything.
Trying to do away with the secret ballot.
Obama
” hmm well Mr. Micky, I see you were in favor of my economic policies, voted for the union, signed up for Obamacare and voted for me in the last election. Tell you what, as a token of my appreciation, your Mom gets to live and you get to have not one, but “two” kids. And we’ll just keep aborting the objectionable ones till you get the one you want”
One of the troubles, Laree, with Objectivists, is that in the REAL WORLD their little moral plays are extreme rarities.
Micky, their behavior is un-American in a number of fronts. One, rather than stake a real position and make their point, they use hyperbolic paranoia to stop others from making any point. Two, they would have us believe they are a grassroots movement but there are significant signs that they are not. Three, most of them are old people on Medicare and pensions, something they apparently would gladly deny the rest of us by squashing any reform, let alone allowing the very unions that guaranteed their future to be destroyed by the corporatocracy.
These people are the most un-American bunch since the McCarthyites.
JMJ
This is one of the few times I have to support what Obama is doing, or as much as a foreigner can support him, since I have received good quality care from the NHS whenever I have needed it. However, I have to make several observations:
1. The tactics Obama employed during passage of the stimulus programme – cutting a deal with the Blue Dogs and moderate Republicans and then reneging during reconciliation badly damaged trust. Similarly, the Obama administration’s tactic of saying one thing, and then doing completely the opposite, seems to have made the wider public more sceptical about his intentions. I also believe that there is still residual anger at the various bailouts (including “cash for clunkers”).
2. The bill itself isn’t particularly great considering the mess the American healthcare system is in (though better than the status quo). From my reading it contains all the downsides to the Canadian system, without doing anything to cut costs. At the end of the day the problem with the US system is the cost as much as the lack of coverage.
3. This might seem cynical but the GOP are essentially correct in saying that passage of this bill will be a major boost for Obama. To my mind Obama’s challenge is maintaining the large number of (very) mildly populist blue collar and middle class voters who were considering voting for McCain on foreign policy grounds, until McCain alienated them with his selection of Palin and his support for the bailout (as in “Rudycrats” and “Lieberdems” in the Rustbelt and North-East ).
My guess is that these voters are only willing to hold their noses on cultural and foreign policy issues if he delivers on the economic front. Of course Obama can still win if the Republicans put up a candidate who ignores foreign policy or stresses the wrong social issues, but even then believe there is an outside chance that either Bayh, Lieberman or some other Democrat could launch an effective third party challenge.
4. It is also true that the less popular Obama is, the less freedom he will have to pursue a McGovernite agenda in foreign policy. A falling approval rating will make it harder for him to negotiate with the Taliban or to allow Iran to get away with developing a nuclear weapon, though it is important the pressure be kept on Obama in this area in any case.
“rather than stake a real position and make their point”
This has been done not only in town hall forums but many other fronts as well.
How far up your rump did you have to reach to pull that doosey out ?
What a crock. People are voicing.staking there position in many many ways. They are much more American than people like you who call them that simply for speaking out of turn. If thats the guage you go by then you’re from another planet seeing as how you call them every name in the book and say they are stupid.
More hypocrisy from the man who calles Bush a Nazi and paints horns on his head like a two year old.
” they use hyperbolic paranoia to stop others from making any point.”
Oh, you mean like everytime Obama scares the crap out of us all by saying without this or that right away we will have a catstrophy ?
“Two, they would have us believe they are a grassroots movement but there are significant signs that they are not”
You still have not proved this.
There is no proof that theres any organized movement other than a few strays.
Please link me to some substantial info showing mass recruitment for these town halls
“Three, most of them are old people on Medicare and pensions, something they apparently would gladly deny the rest of us by squashing any reform,”
Bull, they are worried that what medicare they do have will be reformed to their disadvantage. Show me proof that they want to deny anyone anything “?I can show you proof that the main thing they dont want is more government slaming more debt and a crappy syatem o us.
You’re just a sore loser with such a weak position your only avenue is to bash them and call them names.
Get it ?
“These people are the most un-American bunch since the McCarthyites.”
Thats was really stupid.
They’re not the ones who are trying to shove something on the whole country for the sake of 46 million who either dont want or cant have health insurance.
The majority of this country doesnt want this. Just because they didnt get up an hollar are they just as un American, are hecklers un American ? People blocking traffic ? Assaulting ole ladies /
No, they’re just Americans that made a bad judgement so take your “hyperbolic paranoia to stop others from making any point” and try it on someone not quite as dumb as I am. I’ll bet you still dont have much luck in appearing like nothing more than a little kid throwing a tantrun full of nothing but empty baseless assertions
“A falling approval rating will make it harder for him to negotiate with the Taliban or to allow Iran to get away with developing a nuclear weapon”
If by some miracle thats true, then he should pull his head out of his butt and trash the bill.
They dont really think too much of him as it is, no matter how much he goes to the middle east a kisses their rumps.
I want him ousted, impeached, resign, hows that for un American ?
My bad, Eric. I just got carried away with all that testosterone (fans.) Stops to give Mickey a ^5. “First they ignore us, then they laugh us, then they fight us, then we win”
– Mahatma Gandhi.
Things are proceeding quite nicely. God Bless the USA!
I’m sorry Micky, but I haven’t heard any serious adult discourse coming from the townhall protesters.
JMJ
Jersey.
Then you’re either lying, dont have a tv, or are too dumb to know how to use it.
And since I’m sure you do have a television, I’ll leave you with that.
There are townhalls going on everywhere. For someone like yourself who clazims to be soooooo well informed you’d think you’d realize that of all the meetings out there its the ones that get loud that are going to make it to the screen.
I’ve already watched about a hundred on my computer and TV where people ask the same questions without screaming or talking over anyone.
Sorry bub, its you whos being sleazy by calling people un American simply because they employ their right as an American to question what will be law.
The same questions are being asked everywhere in a much more composed and civil manner. Are you saying its only the ones who are yelloing that are un American or all of them, yelling or not, for asking the same questions ?
Or are they un American simply because they dont agree with you and wont be led off a cliff like a bunch of mindless lemmings with their hair on fire /
Really, its people like you who think they have the grounds to determine what is American and what isnt that make me sick.
I dont have that much contempt even for those that have commited violence in protest.
It may not agree with you, and it may not be civil or diplomatic, but it is most certainly not “un American” to protest any form of government.
Like I said , if we apply your standard of what is and isnt American then what I’ve seen come out of you on your blog and here makes you from another galaxy buddy.
You guys are on the losing end of this, and tanking more and more everyday. Instead of making healthcare the way the people are saying they want it you’re still trying to sell them the same package.
Obama wont change it because hes not interested in having health care for everyone. Hes interested in power. And to change the bill to any form other than the one we see strips him of that power.
Regaulating and clamping down on the existing system is the last thing he wants because uit pretty much puts him completely out of the picture. And you guys on the end of a loss because you’re so mesmorized by this buffon you’d eat crap on a stick if he told you it were ice cream.
Oh, and you really failed on this one. You never went the heart of the issue but instead simply attacked the people and their methods.
What else is there to do when the rest of your arguments are failures ?
Again, I’m sorry Micky, but I haven’t heard any serious adult discourse coming from the townhall protesters.
JMJ