A PRELUDE to COMING ATTRACTIONS
ANOTHER SIDE of OBAMA CARE
The True Intent of the ACA Clarified
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| The Statue of Bigotry |
ANOTHER SIDE of OBAMA CARE
The True Intent of the ACA Clarified
What We Must Overcome If We Hope to Advance
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| Ignorance, Stupidity, Spite, False Pride |
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| False Images, Projected Fears, Malice |
In the Conservative-Libertarian failure to present any evidence whatsoever that there may be a redeeming feature or two in this monstrous albatross now hung around our necks –– and by studiously avoiding any hint of admission that one might exist –– we, conservative-libertarians are doing ourselves a great disservice. We are doing exactly what "The Other Side" does all the time –– i.e.
1) Admit no fault, however glaring,
2) Attack the character and impugn the motives of those with differing views,
3) Steadfastly maintain that black is white and vice versa no matter what evidence there may be to the contrary,
4) Persist in turning a deaf ear and a scowling face to any overtures from the opposition that may appear sober, rational or even faintly amicable.
That's what "they" do all the time –– and isn't it irksome? So why should "we" give "them" another excuse to continue the present impasse?
What good do you imagine "we" might do ourselves in establishing greater credibility in the Public's Mind by following "their" lead, and behaving just as "they" tend to do?
Gridlock Belligerence and Intransigence have become so established and so routinized as to be REFLEXIVE –– i.e. we now react –– like Pavlov's dogs –– without giving any THOUGHT to what we are saying.
ALSO, in constantly denigrating, constantly vilifying, constantly insulting our opponents without offering solid suggestions for CONSTRUCTIVE ALTERNATIVES, all we are doing is the moral equivalent of expelling HOT AIR –– a gas becoming increasingly noxious and malodorous with each stale recycling of its decaying chemical composition.
Please don't take umbrage, instead try THINKING for a change. Who knows? It might help impel us away from our present stasis of moral and intellectual decay.
In the next day or two let’s try to address the following:
What may be the possible GOOD effects of Obamacare as it now stands? Whom might it help? Do those elements who stand to benefit properly deserve help in your estimation? Why or why not?
What –– realistically –– are certain to be the immediate ill effects? Whom is it likely to hurt? Why? And to what degree? Could the damage be healed without eliminating whatever good may come of the new law?
COMING NEXT:
Suggested steps we ought to have taken to reform our system of medical care.
Prepare to add suggestions, and discuss the ramifications of each idea presented.
I have attempted to post two comments. However, Blogger claims I do not have access to this blog?
ReplyDeleteI am confused.
Andie
Look! It works! Now that my most pithy of comments has disappeared into the ether.
ReplyDeleteSigh.
Back to conjugating French verbs. I look forward to hear what others have to say.
Hoping you are well...
Andie
Free... good effort demands recognition... I saw your comment at Geeez... and the typical response.
ReplyDeleteWhile you and I may differ in approach and even how we interpret the problems we face, I think we both agree that until both sides can come to a way to address our nations problems with a little comity, we've got big problems.
That spans both congress and out in the hinterlands and blogosphere.
Now, now. David, thTs not exactly what you said on another blog about. FT is it?
DeleteDavid is a bit two faced!
That's absolutely right, Dave. All I seem to see wherever I go in the blogging world is shrieking, roaring, howling, scathing, snide, hyperbolic ACCUSATORY rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteIt's ironic that BOTH sides come down on me like a ton of bricks whenever I try to bridge the gap and suggest we might calmly and intelligent acknowledge the realty that BOTH sides have merit and serious failings, and try to proceed from there.
What I think I see is half-truths, and carefully selected "facts" designed to support an agenda purporting to be The Truth.
That this is nonsense should be obvious to any reasonably intelligent person with a good heart and a sincere desire to do good.
Apparently not, but that indicates all the more the need to cultivate such a virtue.
Thank you for you remarks. I hope you will contribute more, as I try to find evidence that the new law HAS in fact produced some good -- albeit for a very limited group. Most, I believe, will suffer varying degrees of hardship, but that still remains to be seen.
I just HATE one-sided reportage from ANY direction.
Andie,
ReplyDeleteSorry you got caught in the crossfire. I awakened to the most ungodly steaming pile of verbal doo doo dumped all over the place this morning, and wound up eradicating it after examining it piece by piece in hopes of finding something salvageable.
While generating this second post of the day, I decided o lock out participation till I could collect my thoughts, and start all over again.
Apparently, a LOT of people don't like me. I haven't your knack for winning friend and a loyal following, yet you and I are definitely kindred spirits. I am grateful for your friendship and value your opinion.
Please visit again -- soon.
Freethinke,
ReplyDeleteJust a brief note to let you know I have been kicked off of of liberal debate forum known to mankind.
I still have a stalker from the "old days". I had to block her from my google circles. They don't move on very well! LOL!
I have no patience for their ilk.
It certainly has freed up my time, however!
Andie
Oh. I am a loyal follower and a friend. I know of many more who admire and respect you, my friend.
ReplyDeleteAndie
There are no good effects of Obamacare. People will still be uninsured.
ReplyDeleteI say this with no malice, and I grant that the progressives who dreamed this up did so from a genuine sense of goodwill.
They should have either went straight a British-style single-payer system or left it alone.
This farce is nothing more than a subsidy to the insurance companies. No one benefits but the banks.
ReplyDeleteAndie
Anon, FT and I disagree... but we do not call each other names, or for the most part, question motives.
ReplyDeleteI don't use language with anyone that would typically offend my grandmother, and I think that is what we are both saying.
However there are people, both left and right, who for whatever reason, choose to communicate in a manner that seeks to personally demean, rather than persuade, or attack ideas.
David, My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries; my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.
ReplyDeleteAs I think that I've mentioned before, I'm reserving my own judgment regarding the ACA until I see what my premium will be. My anniversary date is April 1, and I could receive notification any time between now an then as to what my new premium will be.
ReplyDeleteBut I tell you this....If my renewed policy includes coverage for pregnancy, I'm going to have a fit! When I was of childbearing age, my policy included an added fee for maternity coverage. I see no reason to pay for maternity coverage now at the age of 61.
As one with no pre-existing conditions according to the long held standards of the health insurance industry -- never mind my recent eye surgery, the cause of which is "just one of those things" -- I'm hoping that my monthly premium doesn't soar to the moon. I've read that other people's premiums have taken off like rockets!
I'm also hoping that my annual deductible isn't much more that it is right now ($2500) and that my annual out-of-pocket remains at $5000. Those figures are doable provided that I don't get hit by the maximums year after year.
And now a word from me about the DISGUSTING blogosphere...
ReplyDeleteI resent that I came home from a terrible day at work -- only to find my own blog filled with so many vile comments.
In my view, one of the purposes of blogging is to get feedback and to have discussions. If the blogosphere doesn't settle down, however, I will close comments. I'd rather have an echo chamber or no chamber at all than have to deal with what I dealt with after I arrived home from work today.
As Forrest Gump pronounced, "And that's' all that I have to say about that!"
As stultifying as Obamacare may be as it rolls out across the nation by expanding the encroachment of the state deeper into the lives and choices of every American, there's a bigger problem that gets very brief mention by the punditry. The accumulated national debt that's approaching the unheard of levels of $17 trillion. This means in simple terms that any soul taking its first breath today in the land of the free and home of the brave will owe upwards of $50,000 as his/her portion of this disgrace.
ReplyDeleteObamacare will of course just be the icing on the proverbial cake as the country and the world teeters on the edge of the abyss of financial ruination. The enormity of this problem and its causes are beyond partisan politics, just simply there is plenty of blame to be shared as both political parties have contributed to this looming disaster.
P.S. Anybody else having problems logging onto certain Blogger blogs today, or is it just me? Seems to take forever to establish a connection.
I'm in denial about the ACA. Our premiums and deductible have gone up steadily for 15 years, and I don't see it changing.
ReplyDeleteTo Dave Miller, Silverfiddle, AOW, and FT. You are clearly not alone in wanting a more civilized blogosphere. I am with you on this. But a thought: The problems you've discussed are about more than blogging. It's a rigid mindset that permeates and isolates some folks. Don't take it personally, it's their own issues projected onto the world.
Although I agree, it stinks up the place. I rarely comment on politics anymore.
ReplyDeleteJen,
ReplyDeleteIt's a rigid mindset that permeates and isolates some folks.
True. The same spills over into society, too.
I think that three other factors play in as well:
1) Anonymity can result in lack of accountability and letting people "off their leashes."
2) Lack of upbringing.
3) Lack of training in the concept of stock issues.
Apparently, it is fashionable to rant at every opportunity, and he who rants the most and the loudest means winning the argument. I'm not sure when that particular fashion gained so much traction.
AoW: "I'm not sure when that particular fashion gained so much traction."
ReplyDeleteAntiquity at the latest: ancient Greece had her share of demagogues.
Endemic in human nature. Been there since The Fall -- and obviously before, or Eve and Adam would have been immune to the blandishments of the serpent. ;-)
ReplyDelete"Beware of him who promises you an easier, shorter, faster way."
Jez,
ReplyDeleteHowever, those confrontations were face to face -- not behind the curtain of the Internet.
Machinery in farms and factories, the telephone, the wheel of a car, the inercom, the loudspeaker -- all these artificial means of communication and conveyance have tended to alienate us from one another.
ReplyDeletePerhaps. On the other hand, I shudder to imagine the alienation available to those unfortunate to have lived prior to industrialisation.
ReplyDeletePeople lived within a much narrower sphere of influence before the Industrial Revolution, but the bonds that held families, friends, and parishioners together were of necessity much stronger and probably more meaningful than the endless superficiality and looseness of modern life. Also, thrown back as they were on their own resources, as they were, they were more given to meditation, rumination, and the pleasure of making their own fun.
ReplyDeleteLife in 1700's was hardly idyllic -- too much plain old-fashioned hard physical work required just to keep body and soul together -- but on the whole people's attitudes were more wholesome probably because they were ore naive. Sophistication is a thoroughly mixed blessing.
Television has turned out to be a great evil. It's influence overall has been pernicious. The computer and cell phones, etc. have already rendered the human race all-but unrecognizable from what it was when I was a child and a teenager.
I'd value your perspective on this one: how would you assess the sociological impact of recorded music?
ReplyDelete