Health Care
Here's a shock that is, as usual, no shock at all: Americans want their government o provide health insurance. A majority in this recent poll want it, and 80% say it's more important than tax breaks for the rich. How is it, again, that the Repub party ever won an election?
I mean, their values run counter to those of a majority of the country. Yet their behaviour - bellicose insistence on a non-factual version of reality - makes them more individually appealing to American voters.
And perhaps that's the lesson the Democrats need to learn: don't just be right. It's not enough to be right and offer what their constituents really want - like health care. The rightists and their lap-dogs in the media will hammer back with a made-up version of what they want and it will be an effective counter to the realist of the Democratic position.
As Josh Marshall has described, it's 'bitch slap politics.' The rightist comes out with a frontal assault - will the Democrat hit back and prove equal toughness? Too often, the Democrat appeals to the judges - "that's a lie!" And it is a lie, but in the mind of the voter, the Dem got slapped and didn't hit back.
On the playground, that's 'running to the teacher.' "Tommy hit me, Mrs. Johnson!" And it might work or it might not, but it won't get the respect of the other kids.
Which brings us back to health care. Already, the Times and others are reminding us of the debacle of 1993 when then-first lady Hilary tried to bring health care to Americans but was scuttled by a right-wing campaign on behalf of their friends in the for-profit medical world.
Just stop and think about that: for-profit medicine. Doesn't that seem obscene on the face of it? "I'll help save your life - for a price."
Anyway, the HMO's and the proto-Junta broke it up. Granted, Hilary and the Dems could have handled it better, but why does it come back as their problem now? Why isn't it a problem for the rightists who went to strongly against the wishes of the nation?
That's one of the mysteries of the universe that Glenn Greenwald is so brilliant at exposing, and I'm sure he'll take this one on as well. He's been well ahead of everyone asking that question about Iraq. Things like: "since polls show that Americans are completely against the war and for bringing the troops home, why does the media treat pols like Murtha who also want those things as 'fringe?' Why are they considered outside the lines and not the rightist warmonger who are advocating more war?"
Mars Update:
The repudiation of national health care is definitely part of the Martian program. Bu making health care less available to people, specifically children, or Martian-NeoCon overlords ensure that people will be less capable of thinking and learning and rising above their station in life. Keeping people sick and poor is a great way to keep them 'in their place.'
I mean, their values run counter to those of a majority of the country. Yet their behaviour - bellicose insistence on a non-factual version of reality - makes them more individually appealing to American voters.
And perhaps that's the lesson the Democrats need to learn: don't just be right. It's not enough to be right and offer what their constituents really want - like health care. The rightists and their lap-dogs in the media will hammer back with a made-up version of what they want and it will be an effective counter to the realist of the Democratic position.
As Josh Marshall has described, it's 'bitch slap politics.' The rightist comes out with a frontal assault - will the Democrat hit back and prove equal toughness? Too often, the Democrat appeals to the judges - "that's a lie!" And it is a lie, but in the mind of the voter, the Dem got slapped and didn't hit back.
On the playground, that's 'running to the teacher.' "Tommy hit me, Mrs. Johnson!" And it might work or it might not, but it won't get the respect of the other kids.
Which brings us back to health care. Already, the Times and others are reminding us of the debacle of 1993 when then-first lady Hilary tried to bring health care to Americans but was scuttled by a right-wing campaign on behalf of their friends in the for-profit medical world.
Just stop and think about that: for-profit medicine. Doesn't that seem obscene on the face of it? "I'll help save your life - for a price."
Anyway, the HMO's and the proto-Junta broke it up. Granted, Hilary and the Dems could have handled it better, but why does it come back as their problem now? Why isn't it a problem for the rightists who went to strongly against the wishes of the nation?
That's one of the mysteries of the universe that Glenn Greenwald is so brilliant at exposing, and I'm sure he'll take this one on as well. He's been well ahead of everyone asking that question about Iraq. Things like: "since polls show that Americans are completely against the war and for bringing the troops home, why does the media treat pols like Murtha who also want those things as 'fringe?' Why are they considered outside the lines and not the rightist warmonger who are advocating more war?"
Mars Update:
The repudiation of national health care is definitely part of the Martian program. Bu making health care less available to people, specifically children, or Martian-NeoCon overlords ensure that people will be less capable of thinking and learning and rising above their station in life. Keeping people sick and poor is a great way to keep them 'in their place.'
posted by fiduciary at 7:05 AM
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