Now I remember why I was an independent all those years.

[bleedorange]

Exactly. If I was polled today, I'd probably say that I disapprove of the president's handling of the issue--but not nearly as much as I disapprove of the way Republicans are handling it.

 

I can't remember where, but earlier today I read that national polls suggest roughly 70 percent favor a Medicare-style public plan as part of health care reform.

 

I think that was a CBS poll. It probably depends on the poll and how the question is posed...although that CBS poll said Obama's approval numbers are at 63%, which seems very high for most of the numbers I've seen through Rasmussen and Gallup which hover around 50-53 percent.

 

Here are some Rasmussen numbers from Saturday on health care.

[ikol]

So most of the people being polled on this healthcare bill haven't had a chance to read it yet?

[Beltmann]

So most of the people being polled on this healthcare bill haven't had a chance to read it yet?

[Good Old Neon]

So most of the people being polled on this healthcare bill haven't had a chance to read it yet?

 

I’m becoming more fond of the idea that maybe we shouldn’t offer an opinion or respond to polls unless we know at least a little bit about the subject we’re being asked to comment on. I, myself, haven’t actually conducted a poll, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that the percentage of Americans that have either read, or at least taken a good hard look at the proposal hovers somewhere in the neighborhood of, like, 2% - with a margin of error of + or – 2%.

[M. (hristine]

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-august-17-2009/poll-bearers

[Good Old Neon]

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-august-17-2009/poll-bearers

 

This:

 

Cable news polls might not reflect public opinion so much as the ability of viewers to repeat the ideas they just heard.

 

is exactly the problem. I’m at work, and cannot watch the video, but that little byline says it all – and that’s true for both democrats and republicans. Critical, independent thought is now rarer and more difficult to come by than that supposedly extinct giant assed woodpecker Sufjan Stevens is so damned fond of. Republicans are against it because they’re supposed to be against it, democrats are for it because they’re supposed to be for it, and the majority of independents don’t know what the fuck to think. And rather than report on the actual contents of the bill(s), the nightly news programs spend 70% of their time reporting on the surrounding circus, 28% of the time on voter confusion, and roughly 2% of their broadcast to delving into the bills themselves.

 

Meanwhile, more and more asshats find it appropriate to attend presidential symposiums accompanied by their automatic weapons/dates.

 

Man carries assault rifle to Obama protest -- and it's legal

 

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/17/obama.protest.rifle/index.html

 

If you recall, folks wearing “inappropriate” t-shirts were frequently harassed and/or forcefully asked to leave events at which Bush appeared.

[Atticus]

I'm going to buy you a snow cone

[Good Old Neon]

I'm going to buy you a snow cone

 

That would be wonderful. Rather than a splash of fruit flavor, could I perhaps get it doused with two or more oz. of hard liquor? And you know how some of them have little gumdrops down there at the bottom for you, as sort of like a reward for all your hard work, well, rather than a gumball, could mine may have like, 4 Percocets waiting for me?

 

I'll be back in a few with a Fed Ex account number.

[Atticus]

I'm afraid I can't help you with that. But if you decide you'd like an old-fashioned snow cone, I'll be here.

[M. (hristine]

I could go for an old fashioned sno cone.

[Atticus]

I love the cherry ones, with extra goo

[jenbobblehead]

I never heard of little treats at the bottom of a snow cone! Gum drops? Gum balls?! Wha??

[M. (hristine]

This:

 

Cable news polls might not reflect public opinion so much as the ability of viewers to repeat the ideas they just heard.

 

is exactly the problem. I’m at work, and cannot watch the video, but that little byline says it all – and that’s true for both democrats and republicans. Critical, independent thought is now rarer and more difficult to come by than that supposedly extinct giant assed woodpecker Sufjan Stevens is so damned fond of. Republicans are against it because they’re supposed to be against it, democrats are for it because they’re supposed to be for it, and the majority of independents don’t know what the fuck to think. And rather than report on the actual contents of the bill(s), the nightly news programs spend 70% of their time reporting on the surrounding circus, 28% of the time on voter confusion, and roughly 2% of their broadcast to delving into the bills themselves.

 

 

 

Increasingly the citizens of these united states are inflated with corn syrup and Farenheit 451 type information. Critical thinking? That fell out of favor starting in Bush era kindergarten. We just want to teach our kids to do well in standardized testing.

 

The people who scream about socialism don't understand that ALL insurance is a form of socialism. Insurance companies don't pay for medical bills, people who buy insurance do. The healthy paying for the unhealthy. Insurance companies just get to pocket the difference. Their pockets are bulging.

[Dick Ctionary]

so·cial·ism

Pronunciation: \ˈsō-shə-ˌli-zəm\

Function: noun

Date: 1837

1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods

2a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property

b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state

3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

[M. (hristine]

Sorry Dick, I meant to say philosophical collectivism. "Socialism is the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles." Health insurance is only capitalist in that the surplus goes into shareholders' pockets. The surplus is generated through a collectivist model.

 

We attempt to separate for profit corporations from government. That line has become so blurred as to be non existent.

[bleedorange]

We attempt to separate for profit corporations from government. That line has become so blurred as to be non existent.

 

I don't understand why the solution to that problem is to continue down that wrongheaded path.

[kwall]

I don't understand why the solution to that problem is to continue down that wrongheaded path.

it's not a problem. it's progress.

[M. (hristine]

kwall, your sarcasm is showing.

 

 

 

OpenSecrets.org, has some illuminating numbers concerning lobby dollars: "Obama, who made health care reform a large part of his presidential election platform, brought in $18.8 million from the health care sector in the 2008 election cycle--far more than any other presidential hopeful. Money follows power as the industries ride the tides of Obama-styled change."

 

I wish this issue would bust open the dark box of squigglies, but as per it will be reduced to a bunch of hyberbole and incendiary buzzwords.

 

I think Atlas shrugged.

[Atticus]

I wish this issue would bust open the dark box of squigglies, but as per it will be reduced to a bunch of hyberbole and incendiary buzzwords.

 

I think Atlas shrugged.

 

could you please dumb this down for me?

[jakobnicholas]

Another good reason to be indepedent...

 

 

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/For-the-Left_-war-without-Bush-is-not-war-at-all-8119694-53506047.html

[Atticus]

the commentary under that story is great. We could all save ourselves a lot of time and copy and paste much of it here.

[bleedorange]

Government agents at work:

 

Girl Fined for Selling Lemonade

[M. (hristine]

could you please dumb this down for me?

Sure.

 

kwall, your sarcasm is showing.

 

kwall was being sarcastic as he generally is, without offering any insight. Also a Sponge Bob double entendre.

 

I wish this issue would bust open the dark box of squigglies, but as per it will be reduced to a bunch of hyberbole and incendiary buzzwords.

My desire that the citizens of this country open their eyes and understand that the 'state', yes even His Holiness Obama, is in a conjugal, symbiotic relationship with corporations. At this point the interests of for profit corporate America and the federal government are one in the same. As it relates to the physical health of it's citizens, this fact is particularly disturbing.

That last bit is the pablum (high fructose corn syrup?) we get fed to keep our tiny minds from eating the truth.

 

 

I think Atlas shrugged.

 

A nod to Ayn Rand. Every one with half a brain has left the building.

[kwall]

OpenSecrets.org, has some illuminating numbers concerning lobby dollars: "Obama, who made health care reform a large part of his presidential election platform, brought in $18.8 million from the health care sector in the 2008 election cycle--far more than any other presidential hopeful. Money follows power as the industries ride the tides of Obama-styled change."

That's because no one hates capitalism more than big businesses. It's much easier to spend a little money lobbying the government to pass favorable policies than it is to actually compete. Furthering socializing the government only makes such rent seeking more prevalent.

[Beltmann]

Another good reason to be indepedent...

 

 

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/For-the-Left_-war-without-Bush-is-not-war-at-all-8119694-53506047.html

That inane article seems to think that "libruls" ought to feel exactly the same way about Iraq as they did four years ago--as if the facts on the ground in Iraq are exactly the same now as four years ago. What made sense four (or three or two) years ago is pretty much irrelevant to what makes sense today. (The article might as well accuse the left of not being serious about civil rights, since they lost interest in protesting segregation.)

 

The left's changing relationship to the Iraq War is more complex than simply looking the other way because now it's Obama's war. Those who read it that way are guilty of a simplistic and serious misunderstanding of what happened. (They also overlook how those changes started to occur long before Obama was even elected.)

 

The above is not a good post, but I don't have time to elaborate. (I'm taking the kid to Ponyo.)