You turn on the TV and you see people say no, universal health care is not the way to go. Not one word about catastrophic medical emergency being the number one cause of bankruptcy. Not one word about the impossibility of such a thing occurring in most countries. Not one word about President Bush signing a bill that ensures you'll still be liable for Visa payments after your catastrophic medical emergency.
And then they roll out their big guns--It's "socialized" medicine. Socialism. That's bad, right? Well, you'd certainly think so if you listened to demagogues like Bill O'Reilly or Randi Weingarten, who vilify their opponents by tossing about scary names. But they do that only because it's easier than putting forth a viable argument.
What would such people say if women today were trying to get the vote?
Well, in Canada women vote. And what happened there? They speak French. That's right. French. Do you want to speak French?
Well, what if they're having their time of the month or something? Maybe they'll hang the wrong chad and end up voting for Pat Buchanan instead of Al Gore.
What if they get in the booth and can't make up their minds? Do you want to spend a half-hour waiting for your chance to get in that booth? Waiting time is a huge issue.
It's feminist! Wait, no, it's radical feminist! Yeah, that's the ticket.
Well, in Ohio women voted, and in 04, people had to stand in the rain for ten hours waiting in heavily Democratic districts (Oops, sorry, that happened here).
If you're determined enough, you can make up an argument for anything. Still, it's incredible in this day and age that Americans stand up and argue against systems that provide decent health care, reasonable work hours, affordable child care, and higher education that doesn't require a second mortgage.
In 1984 I spent some time in Communist East Berlin. They sold Pravda on every street corner but nobody bought it. They had TV channels showing tedious meetings and great reverence to their highly reppected comrades from the USSR. If Rupert Murdoch had been running Pravda in the style of Fox News, with Wilhelm O'Reilly, there'd still be a Communist East Berlin.
Posts
