From a comment thread over at John Cole’s place:
I’m sorry, I’m trying to be an adult about this, but Sarah Palin has to be the dumbest, least-competently-managed figure in politics today. At this point I can pretty much use her as a litmus test to gauge someone’s intelligence and seriousness about solving problems in America. As in, if you really believe Sarah Palin is the answer, then I can tell immediately that you’re 1) not very bright, 2) not serious about solving America’s problems, or 3) 1 + 2.
Cy-kick brought up a great point. Plenty of serious people are concerned about issues on the table now. No doubt. But there has to be a better way to discuss things than that advocated by the presumed spokesman of the party. As David Frum notes-things are beyond silly now, they are getting downright dangerous. For all of us and for the Republic. Yes the left has their loons too-but as my Canadian counterpart reminded us some weeks ago, the Republicans were supposed to be better than this.
Look at the Top 10 Republicans supposedly waiting in the wings for 2012 and things are way beyond silly.
Have you considered that it takes a loon to deal with a loon? Just asking.
Let’s look at what Frum has to say but with a little bit of zest…ie, we’ll substitute a word or two and then have you read it and decide if Frum really is the idiot crank he appears to be.
As revenues dwindle, democratic politicians feel compelled to intensify universal health care media exposure, hoping to win speedier passage of idiotic legislation with more extreme talk. It’s like the early days of the pornography industry: At first a naked woman is thrilling enough, but soon a jaded audience is demanding more and more, wilder and wilder.
For the democrats of both houses of Congress, it’s all mostly a cynical marketing exercise. But the audience? Not all of them know better.
In April, the Department of Homeland Security released a report warning of the danger of right-wing political violence in the United States, and mainstream conservatives erupted in offense when the report named Veterans as the most likely source of this right-wing political violence which, so far, has remained an illusion. A black man was sentenced today for posting hate speech and death threats against other blacks while passing himself off as a white supremacist.
Oops,
I meant to ask you and your friends what are America’s problems and would ask that you answer using the Constitution of the United States for context and justification. You know, just cite the applicable delegated powers clauses for each of your problem areas that require an “American” solution. You know, global warming, abortion on demand, universal health care, gun control, free high speed mass transit between hicksvilles, voting the state of Alaska off the planet and shit like that.
You and you ilk are utterly convinced that all of these are problems that demand government solutions and none of them are. Ever ask yourself who built the railroads and why they would bother if they were huge money losers? Ever wonder what passed for health care here for the last 200 years and wonder why in the hell the government ever got involved in the first place? Ever ask yourself why you have a specific amendment that guarantees your/mine right to bear arms and then let a jackass like Cole start to qualify that right just because another citizen of the United States shares some proximity to a man openly wearing an item of apparel guaranteed under the Constitution?
Well its clear we view the rights posted under the Constitution differently. The role of government is to provide for the freedom and well being of its people. That is what provides the legal context for the need to fix the problems in the country today-crime and healthcare being among them. Furthermore-I believe that access to decent healthcare is a fundamental HUMAN right.
The Constitution was meant by the founding fathers to be a living document. Take the second amendment for example. I remain convinced that the amendment would not be in the document today-and it was only there 234 years ago because of the need for a militia. Which is the more important clause, not the I have a right to keep a gun part. Its outlived its usefulness a long time ago.
Not all of the problems demand government solutions-but they do demand solutions that work. Take health care. The Netherlands has universal care and they do it all with private insurance. The point is that they demanded and legistlated that the companies behave responsibly and that everyone buy insurance. There is nothing in the Constitution that prevents us from doing the same.
Nobody said anything about voting Alaska off the island. Its about exposing Sarah Palin as the fraud that she is. She needs to be put down for being the pompous ass that she is. She is not serious about anything but making money for herself.
So it’s a living document? That means that who ever is in power can interpret it as they deem needed?
The second Amed. is even more important today than it was 200+ years ago!
Cy-kick,
Doesn’t that happen already? And did happen throughout US history. The Constitution allowed slavery. Mankind out grew that, and the interpretation and the Constitution were changed.
But getting to the second amendment-and fully realizing that only a damn fool would propose changing it-why is it so important now?
-Unlike the frontiersmen of 234 years ago, I’m not out hunting for my dinner every day.
-If I were part of the National Guard, my gun would be issued to me when I showed up for duty.
-Self defense? Maybe, but many times having a gun simply ups the ante and gets innocent people killed. If you are going to own a gun for self defense-you better have thought out when you will or will not use it, long before the burglar shows up. Otherwise having the gun is doing you no good.
-Defend against the government? A fantasy if you ask me. We either have some faith in our constitutional processes or not. And if the government ever does decide to go off the deep end-your owning a weapon or two will not stop that.
The simple truth is that our desire to have guns is psychological. We want them, and we then create reasons to keep them. The cost of that is a gun crime rate that outstrips every other nation on the planet. Its the overhead cost that the nation has chosen to accept because people love their guns.
I understand it-but truth be told-guns never did anything for me. I qualifed on them when required, I know how to use them, and hope not to ever have to use one again. I own one-and I have not used it in over 20 years. It stays in my brother-in law’s gun case. When I return overseas, it will not be coming with me. And I’ll be safer over there than I am here.
Without the Second Amed. we would all be slaves!
I look at that Constitution and what I read greatly differs from what you read. I read a document that deliberately set out to limit the powers of government. The Bill of Rights was added because a lot of the founders were worried that at some future point some idiotic morons would vote themselves into office and decide to pass laws banning “Hate Speech” Ooops! Your RIGHT to free speech gets abridged and you say nothing. They also were concerned that at some point the morons would decide to declare some religion the STATE RELIGION and so we get morons who read into that that any expression about religion is not to be tolerated. They were concerned that some idiotic jackasses would decide to order American citizens to behave like slaves and subjects. What gives the government the RIGHT to tell me I have to buy insurance? WTF did that come from in our Constitution? That living document forbade any income tax but some morons actually passed an amendment to put that in place.
You prattle about UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS to healthcare. Where does it stop? Do we need to go build hospitals in Gaza and India until everybody gets the same healthcare?
I see deeply stupid people everywhere.
I see black helicopters everywhere.
One world order anyone?
Curtis,
The government tells you have to buy liability insurance for your car. Where did it get the right to do that? Because it is in the governments charter to regulate travel and commerce for safety.
I did not say WE had to build hospitals in Gaza and India. I did say though that if , collectively, the nations of the world do not close the gap between rich and poor worldwide, we are asking collectively for trouble.
I’m not sure how my rights to free speech have been abridged. Speech may be free, but it is not without consequences. E.G. if I walk out into the street in the Hill District and scream “Nigger”-I may be free to do that, but I’ll certainly pay a price for it.
Maybe we should look at the bright side instead of the bad side. We live in a country where people can show up and call the President of the United States every name in the book and they don’t go to jail. That’s probably the best sign the Republic is not going under anytime soon.
But you are fooling yourself if you don’t thing the concensus about what is right or wrong under the law is not going to change. It will, and the Consititution and the Republic are strong enought to deal with it. I surely hope so.
Skippy, it’s your state not the Fed government that mandates insurance for your vehicle. As we allow the Fed to mandate more and more upon us, our freedoms erode and the controlling is done from a place that gets more insulated from the people with each passing day.
BTW. How well is that auto insurance deal doing? I can buy across state lines. I can choose the coverage I want. I can shop for a new policy if I choose. I can buy UIM to cover me when the people that are here that get away with driving without coverage. And if I choose to not own a car and not have a driver’s license, I don’t have to have Auto insurance.
Our host and his friends never appear to stick around and debate a point. Spout the dem talking points and move along, nothing to see here.
I have to comment and write posts too-plus get up at 0600 to get ready for work. Sometimes, its just easier to let you whine in peace.
I have health insurance on top of my Tricare-its gone up for the last two years by 20% year. The difference between health insurance and auto insurance is that my company only offers one choice-if I want to shop around the premium costs are too high compared to what they offer.
The difference between auto insurance and health insurance is that you don’t get to DIY for fixing your body.
I never sleep.
My company offers a choice of Aetna or Kaiser. I’m happy. Tricare sucks and my ex hates it since none of the pediatricians that are worthwhile accept new patients. They tend to treat it like Medicare. Can’t imagine why.
Gosh, you claim that your GOVERNMENT premium for TRICARE has gone up 20% for the past 2 years. Have you considered emigration? I know, it was just poor sentence construction and you meant to imply that your private insurance went up but seriously look at what the initial projections for Medicare costs were and what they are today. I’d rather let a rabid badger run healthcare than government bureaucrats.
oh, and Skippy-san,
I do prefer to wine in peace. Get it right.
Oh heck Skippy-san
What kind of deal does your company offer you on your auto insurance and your home owners insurance? Now just why don’t those plutocrats that employ you have any insurance for these critical areas? What do you think? Should you be required to buy flood insurance even though you live in the Rocky Mountains atop a mountain? I think you should be a payer into the vast pool of insurees to cover the morons that live below the flood plain or in New Orleans. You owe it to them! You personally need to underwrite the idiots…..oops, homeowners that build their seaside beach mansions in the path of totally expected hurricanes in Florida et al. Only a complete fascist would deny his obligation to underwrite plutocrat homeowners living in the floodplains and footprints of most hurricanes!
Oh yeah, you live in Huntsville. Got tornado insurance? Did you chase down every resident in Huntsville and force them to pay for your tornado insurance at gunpoint?
If not, why not? You claim the right.
Actually, its funny you should bring that up. USAA has an exclusion for us residents of Hicksville that raises the deductible due to hail damage-its no less than 1.5% of the appraised house value. No chance for reclama, no notice in the mail-I only found it out when a co-worker tried to get his house repaired. Tornado damage is covered under wind damage-but we do pay an extra premium because of where we live. I had to get house insurance-my mortgage holder is kind of funny about that-don’t ask me why.
There is a big difference between healthcare insurance and house insurance and you know it. Sometimes I think you just poke me just to see if you can get a rise out of me.