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Thread: Politics and religion.

  1. #1336
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    Praise God that SOMEbody on "the other side" gets it...

    Camille Paglia

    Buyer's remorse? Not me. At the North American summit in Guadalajara this week, President Obama resumed the role he is best at -- representing the U.S. with dignity and authority abroad. This is why I, for one, voted for Obama and continue to support him. The damage done to U.S. prestige by the feckless, buffoonish George W. Bush will take years to repair. Obama has barely begun the crucial mission that he was elected to do.

    Having said that, I must confess my dismay bordering on horror at the amateurism of the White House apparatus for domestic policy. When will heads start to roll? I was glad to see the White House counsel booted, as well as Michelle Obama's chief of staff, and hope it's a harbinger of things to come. Except for that wily fox, David Axelrod, who could charm gold threads out of moonbeams, Obama seems to be surrounded by juvenile tinhorns, bumbling mediocrities and crass bully boys.

    Case in point: the administration's grotesque mishandling of healthcare reform, one of the most vital issues facing the nation. Ever since Hillary Clinton's megalomaniacal annihilation of our last best chance at reform in 1993 (all of which was suppressed by the mainstream media when she was running for president), Democrats have been longing for that happy day when this issue would once again be front and center.

    But who would have thought that the sober, deliberative Barack Obama would have nothing to propose but vague and slippery promises -- or that he would so easily cede the leadership clout of the executive branch to a chaotic, rapacious, solipsistic Congress? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom I used to admire for her smooth aplomb under pressure, has clearly gone off the deep end with her bizarre rants about legitimate town-hall protests by American citizens. She is doing grievous damage to the party and should immediately step down.

    There is plenty of blame to go around. Obama's aggressive endorsement of a healthcare plan that does not even exist yet, except in five competing, fluctuating drafts, makes Washington seem like Cloud Cuckoo Land. The president is promoting the most colossal, brazen bait-and-switch operation since the Bush administration snookered the country into invading Iraq with apocalyptic visions of mushroom clouds over American cities.

    You can keep your doctor; you can keep your insurance, if you're happy with it, Obama keeps assuring us in soothing, lullaby tones. Oh, really? And what if my doctor is not the one appointed by the new government medical boards for ruling on my access to tests and specialists? And what if my insurance company goes belly up because of undercutting by its government-bankrolled competitor? Face it: Virtually all nationalized health systems, neither nourished nor updated by profit-driven private investment, eventually lead to rationing.

    I just don't get it. Why the insane rush to pass a bill, any bill, in three weeks? And why such an abject failure by the Obama administration to present the issues to the public in a rational, detailed, informational way? The U.S. is gigantic; many of our states are bigger than whole European nations. The bureaucracy required to institute and manage a nationalized health system here would be Byzantine beyond belief and would vampirically absorb whatever savings Obama thinks could be made. And the transition period would be a nightmare of red tape and mammoth screw-ups, which we can ill afford with a faltering economy.

    As with the massive boondoggle of the stimulus package, which Obama foolishly let Congress turn into a pork rut, too much has been attempted all at once; focused, targeted initiatives would, instead, have won wide public support. How is it possible that Democrats, through their own clumsiness and arrogance, have sabotaged healthcare reform yet again? Blaming obstructionist Republicans is nonsensical because Democrats control all three branches of government. It isn't conservative rumors or lies that are stopping healthcare legislation; it's the justifiable alarm of an electorate that has been cut out of the loop and is watching its representatives construct a tangled labyrinth for others but not for themselves. No, the airheads of Congress will keep their own plush healthcare plan -- it's the rest of us guinea pigs who will be thrown to the wolves.

    With the Republican party leaderless and in backbiting disarray following its destruction by the ideologically incoherent George W. Bush, Democrats are apparently eager to join the hara-kiri brigade. What looked like smooth coasting to the 2010 election has now become a nail-biter. Both major parties have become a rats' nest of hypocrisy and incompetence. That, combined with our stratospheric, near-criminal indebtedness to China (which could destroy the dollar overnight), should raise signal flags. Are we like late Rome, infatuated with past glories, ruled by a complacent, greedy elite, and hopelessly powerless to respond to changing conditions?

    What does either party stand for these days? Republican politicians, with their endless scandals, are hardly exemplars of traditional moral values. Nor have they generated new ideas for healthcare, except for medical savings accounts, which would be pathetically inadequate in a major crisis for anyone earning at or below a median income.

    And what do Democrats stand for, if they are so ready to defame concerned citizens as the "mob" -- a word betraying a Marie Antoinette delusion of superiority to ordinary mortals. I thought my party was populist, attentive to the needs and wishes of those outside the power structure. And as a product of the 1960s, I thought the Democratic party was passionately committed to freedom of thought and speech.

    But somehow liberals have drifted into a strange servility toward big government, which they revere as a godlike foster father-mother who can dispense all bounty and magically heal all ills. The ethical collapse of the left was nowhere more evident than in the near total silence of liberal media and Web sites at the Obama administration's outrageous solicitation to private citizens to report unacceptable "casual conversations" to the White House. If Republicans had done this, there would have been an angry explosion by Democrats from coast to coast. I was stunned at the failure of liberals to see the blatant totalitarianism in this incident, which the president should have immediately denounced. His failure to do so implicates him in it.

    As a libertarian and refugee from the authoritarian Roman Catholic church of my youth, I simply do not understand the drift of my party toward a soulless collectivism. This is in fact what Sarah Palin hit on in her shocking image of a "death panel" under Obamacare that would make irrevocable decisions about the disabled and elderly. When I first saw that phrase, headlined on the Drudge Report, I burst out laughing. It seemed so over the top! But on reflection, I realized that Palin's shrewdly timed metaphor spoke directly to the electorate's unease with the prospect of shadowy, unelected government figures controlling our lives. A death panel not only has the power of life and death but is itself a symptom of a Kafkaesque brave new world where authority has become remote, arbitrary and spectral. And as in the Spanish Inquisition, dissidence is heresy, persecuted and punished.

    Surely, the basic rule in comprehensive legislation should be: First, do no harm. The present proposals are full of noble aims, but the biggest danger always comes from unforeseen and unintended consequences. Example: the American incursion into Iraq, which destabilized the region by neutralizing Iran's rival and thus enormously enhancing Iran's power and nuclear ambitions.

    What was needed for reform was an in-depth analysis, buttressed by documentary evidence, of waste, fraud and profiteering in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and insurance industries. Instead what we've gotten is a series of facile, vulgar innuendos about how doctors conduct their practice, as if their primary motive is money. Quite frankly, the president gives little sense of direct knowledge of medical protocols; it's as if his views are a tissue of hearsay and scattershot worst-case scenarios.
    http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/...12/town_halls/
    "Unlike most of you, I am not a nut."

    - Homer Simpson


    "If the enemy opens the door, you must race in."

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  2. #1337
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    Quote Originally Posted by Puckstop31 View Post
    Praise God that SOMEbody on "the other side" gets it...

    Camille Paglia



    http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/...12/town_halls/
    Great article.

    Great summation-

    What was needed for reform was an in-depth analysis, buttressed by documentary evidence, of waste, fraud and profiteering in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and insurance industries. Instead what we've gotten is a series of facile, vulgar innuendos about how doctors conduct their practice, as if their primary motive is money.


    ------------------------

    Just got the news that an HMO is giving out 1,600 pink slips AFTER a 1.1 billion dollar profit report.

    House keepers, biz office and transcriptionists are part of the work force getting axed.

    Lovely.

  3. #1338
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    Quote Originally Posted by blue View Post
    You should try taking the high road sometime and see how it feels.


    I know how it feels, you should try it.
    I've Been Boo'd

    I've been Frosted






    Today is the oldest you've ever been, and the youngest you'll ever be again.

    Eleanor Roosevelt

  4. Quote Originally Posted by RICHARD View Post
    Just got the news that an HMO is giving out 1,600 pink slips AFTER a 1.1 billion dollar profit report.

    House keepers, biz office and transcriptionists are part of the work force getting axed.

    Lovely.
    This statement supports....we've gotten is a series of facile, vulgar innuendos about how doctors conduct their practice, as if their primary motive is money....

    Well done! You have made the best argument for healthcare reform - get the profit motive out of it....

  5. #1340
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    Sheila Jackhole Lee is a POS.

    I swear, When they flush her in the next election, I will drink until I pass out.



    Let Us Pray.

    Dear Republican Jesus,

    (Democratic Jesus won't go near this topic.)

    Please uncover the blind eye of the voters that put her into office. Let them see that THEIR rep has no respect for anyone she represents. I would like for her to become entangled with a scandal that chases her from office, But I'll get with my connections I have in Eternal Damnation, they have no problem with enticing morons to run afoul of what is good on the planet..



    Amen!

  6. #1341
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    Quote Originally Posted by RICHARD View Post
    Sheila Jackhole Lee is a POS.

    I swear, When they flush her in the next election, I will drink until I pass out.

    Let Us Pray.

    Dear Republican Jesus,

    (Democratic Jesus won't go near this topic.)

    Please uncover the blind eye of the voters that put her into office. Let them see that THEIR rep has no respect for anyone she represents. I would like for her to become entangled with a scandal that chases her from office, But I'll get with my connections I have in Eternal Damnation, they have no problem with enticing morons to run afoul of what is good on the planet..

    Amen!
    Richard, go take a Valium right now

    Are you referring to her talking on her cell while that young woman was asking her a question? I agree, she is a POS - and her day will come. Sooner, rather than later.

  7. #1342
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grace View Post
    Richard, go take a Valium right now

    Are you referring to her talking on her cell while that young woman was asking her a question? I agree, she is a POS - and her day will come. Sooner, rather than later.
    LOL,

    I have cold Tecate, limes and salt. And a vodka chaser for the meteor shower later on.

    It's all about the nerve??

    Of course, no one will call her out about it because that would be a "racist", eh?

    I don't encourage people shouting other folks down, but having people call her up - that may have been in the same room- screams about her callousness and disregard toward the people she represents.

    I am off to the medicine cabinet.

    I have to shave.


    ------------------

  8. #1343
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    Quote Originally Posted by lizbud View Post
    I know how it feels, you should try it.
    Ill stay in the median between the roads. Your idea of the high road means talking down to people and being condescending, as proven by your response.
    I have a HUGE SIG!!!!



    My Dogs. Erp the Cat.

    Quote Originally Posted by Thomas Jefferson
    Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry.

  9. #1344
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edwina's Secretary View Post
    You have made the best argument for healthcare reform - get the profit motive out of it....
    Paging Lady's Human....

    I made the same argument that insurance should be done by non profit corperations but others thought that was stupidly.
    I have a HUGE SIG!!!!



    My Dogs. Erp the Cat.

    Quote Originally Posted by Thomas Jefferson
    Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry.

  10. #1345
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edwina's Secretary View Post
    This statement supports....we've gotten is a series of facile, vulgar innuendos about how doctors conduct their practice, as if their primary motive is money....

    Well done! You have made the best argument for healthcare reform - get the profit motive out of it....

    In typical "Media Matters" style, you pick a line and take it WAY out of context. Lets see what the whole paragraph looks like, shall we?

    "What was needed for reform was an in-depth analysis, buttressed by documentary evidence, of waste, fraud and profiteering in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and insurance industries. Instead what we've gotten is a series of facile, vulgar innuendos about how doctors conduct their practice, as if their primary motive is money. Quite frankly, the president gives little sense of direct knowledge of medical protocols; it's as if his views are a tissue of hearsay and scattershot worst-case scenarios."


    Looks a little different in context, eh?
    "Unlike most of you, I am not a nut."

    - Homer Simpson


    "If the enemy opens the door, you must race in."

    - Sun Tzu - Art of War

  11. Quote Originally Posted by Puckstop31 View Post
    Looks a little different in context, eh?

    No

  12. Why A Change is needed...

    From yesterday's LA TIMES

    Hundreds of people spent the night outside the Forum in Inglewood in hopes of getting free medical and dental care.

    More than 2,000 sought services on the first day of the medical clinic -- and hundreds were turned away. People were lined up Tuesday night, hoping to get in. The MTA announced it was extending service of Line 115 because of "overwhelming demand" for service to the clinic, which runs for eight days.

    The Remote Area Medical Foundation is a trailer-equipped service that has staged health clinics in rural parts of the United States, Mexico and South America. It brought its health camp to urban Los Angeles County on Tuesday to begin a stint that the group's officials described as its first foray into a major urban setting.


    Organizers expected big crowds in a county with high unemployment and an estimated 22% of working-age adults lacking health insurance.

    On Tuesday, the turnout was so large that hundreds had to be turned away.

    "We're shorthanded," said the mobile clinic's founder, Stan Brock. About 100 dentists were needed, but only about 30 showed up Tuesday. Twenty eye doctors were required, but only about five were on hand, Brock said.

    The mobile clinic, based in Knoxville, Tenn., has staged 576 medical clinics over the last 25 years. They have treated nearly 380,000 patients and provided care valued at $36.9 million, said Executive Director Karen Wilson. The group raises money through contributions.

    Doctors, nurses and other medical workers who donated their time said most visitors' ailments were basic. But "many have chronic diseases -- high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma -- conditions we can't deal with in just one day," said Dr. Nancy Greep of Santa Monica. Some had problems, such as a recurring cancer, that demand long-term treatment.

    -- Bob Pool and Kimi Yoshino

  13. #1348
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edwina's Secretary View Post
    No

    ???


    "as if". As in she thinks it is wrong to assume that a doctors primary motive is money. Some? Sure. Most? I highly doubt it. Worse is the fact that this nonsense seems to eb an official government position... Who in the hell does he think we are?

    During my 35 years so far, i've been in and out of the medical system quite a bit. Being a hockey player and an outdoorsman. I can honestly say I have never felt as if they were rushing me through anything in the name of money. WERE they? Maybe. But if they were, so what? I got the care I needed and they made the money they earned.


    Now, of course something needs to change. The article you shared as case in point. But my God.... Have you read what they want to do? Why not bring the hammer down on insurance companies? Why not REQUIRE employers to provide some sort of coverage to employees? Why not REQUIRE insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions? Why does government always think they are the answer?

    The government either knows and does not care... Or, as I suspect, so bloody arrogant and out of touch as to REALLY think that the massive uproar over this issue is "fake" or "astro turfed". Made worse by, rather than trying to convince us of their plan's merits, they try to sidestep and shut it down.
    "Unlike most of you, I am not a nut."

    - Homer Simpson


    "If the enemy opens the door, you must race in."

    - Sun Tzu - Art of War

  14. #1349
    Quote Originally Posted by Puckstop31 View Post
    The government ...so bloody arrogant and out of touch as to REALLY think that the massive uproar over this issue is "fake" or "astro turfed".
    This would be my guess as is demonstrated by Lee on her cell phone, totally ignoring the constituent's question. Rather than apologize when called out for it and told that she was behaving rudely, she said "I am NOT rude!" Well, they can all keep up their insults and name-calling, their dismissiveness and their rudeness and condescension but come election time when they extend their oily hands and smile their Cheshire cat grins, we'll remember how people were treated and it will be reflected in the voting booths.
    Blessings,
    Mary



    "Time and unforeseen occurrence befall us all." Ecclesiastes 9:11

  15. Indignation over the conduct of some politicians at town hall meetings would ring more true if behavior such as this Rude? at a town hall meeting about healthcare elicited something more than deafening silence from those same people!

    Goose/gander anyone?

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