# Sarah Palin on This hour has 22 minutes **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 25, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866 "2009-11-25T02:53:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/1 "2009-11-25T02:53:09Z")
[http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/091124/entertainment/palin\_marg\_delahunty](http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/091124/entertainment/palin_marg_delahunty) So Marg Delahunty, Warrior Princess talks to Sarah Palin about Canada’s health care and Palin says we need to dismantle our health care system. I can’t tell if Sarah Palin is kidding or not. Surely nobody would actually think that? So she must be kidding around, right? I’m not sure if I’ve been whooshed or what. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/2 "2009-11-25T03:41:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Palin strolled over, looking down on Walsh and her crew to tell them that “Canada needs to dismantle its public health-care system and allow private enterprise to get involved and turn a profit.” > > “Basically, she said government should stop doing the work that private enterprise should do,” Walsh said. I think this is consistent with what Palin believes is the best system for health care. She thinks you guys have it all wrong. According to our conservatives, public subsidy of health care is a missed opportunity for someone else to amass wealth from the misfortune of others. It’s the American Way! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/3 "2009-11-25T04:08:00Z")
She hunts moose and stuff, and her husband is big in snowmobiles. We thought she’d be right up your alley. Ungrateful Canucks. ---
**Author:** ![Livardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/43a26b/32.png) [@Livardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Livardo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/4 "2009-11-25T04:51:16Z")
oh OK Sarah, we’ll get right on that, right away… thanks for opening our eyes with that blurb. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/5 "2009-11-25T05:02:28Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > I’m not sure if I’ve been whooshed or what. Oh, Sarah doesn’t mean that. She’s just kidding around! [/Cathy Jones] ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/6 "2009-11-25T06:35:21Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Oh, Sarah doesn’t mean that. She’s just kidding around! > [/Cathy Jones] 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/7 "2009-11-25T11:22:44Z")
What are the odds that the Palin later uses this as an example of Canadians telling her what they think of Canadian health care? Time for a poll: Mary Walsh / Sarah Palin (dismantle Canadian Health Care) v. Rick Mercer / George W. Bush (Prime Minister Poutine). ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/8 "2009-11-25T11:29:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Canada needs to dismantle its public health-care system and allow private enterprise to get involved and turn a profit. FTR, I agree with this. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/9 "2009-11-25T13:57:23Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > FTR, I agree with this. FTR, I disagree with this. Had some bad experiences with Canadian health care in Ohio, did we? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/10 "2009-11-25T14:38:16Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/11 "2009-11-25T14:56:30Z")
Canada is already taking Palin’s advice. There’s a pretty strong shift towards private health care going on in a number of provinces. Private clinics are taking up a growing percentage of health care delivery. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/12 "2009-11-25T15:23:47Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Canada is already taking Palin’s advice. There’s a pretty strong shift towards private health care going on in a number of provinces. Private clinics are taking up a growing percentage of health care delivery. So the private sector can reasonably compete with a public option? Great! What’s a “strong shift”? What is a “growing percentage”? ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/13 "2009-11-25T15:24:39Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Canada is already taking Palin’s advice. There’s a pretty strong shift towards private health care going on in a number of provinces. Private clinics are taking up a growing percentage of health care delivery. Hasn’t Canada’s system always had private for profit health care included as part of the mix? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/14 "2009-11-25T15:43:47Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > FTR, I agree with this. FTR, I’m fairly certain Canadians are not interested in taking advice on healthcare from people who want to retain the least efficient healthcare system in the developed world. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/15 "2009-11-25T16:28:09Z")
Frankly, I doubt that Palin recognized that THH22M is satirical in the first place, let alone that she was getting into the spirit of things by satirically offering a ridiculous-on-the-face-of-it suggestion. My take: she was in deadly earnest because she’s not smart enough to realize she was on the spiritual ancestor of _The Daily Show_. ---
**Author:** ![This\_Just\_In\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@This\_Just\_In\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_Just_In_2)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/16 "2009-11-25T16:31:20Z")
That Going Rouge dummy is still just sore about the Canadian Masked Avengers calling her up during the presidential campaign and pretending they were French president Sarkozy. I’m sure she’ll have it in against Canada for a long time. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV_IphAIGPg) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/17 "2009-11-25T16:39:17Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Canada is already taking Palin’s advice. There’s a pretty strong shift towards private health care going on in a number of provinces. Private clinics are taking up a growing percentage of health care delivery. Well, no, Sam, that’s just false. Allowing private health care to expand does not amount to **dismantling public health insurance**. That’s logically equivalent to saying that allowing companies to hire private security guards means you’re dismantling the police. You know as well as the rest of us do that Canada has no plan to dismantle, or even significantly cut back, public health insurance. You know as well as the rest of us that there’s not a single politician in Canada who has seriously proposed it and that anyone who did would be out of politics in weeks. Now, as for the OP, I don’t understand the pitting. Palin is opposed to public health care (well, unless it’s for old people.) This is hardly news; it’s the standard position of her party and has been her position, so far as I am aware, for her entire career as a public figure. She was asked a straightforward question on a matter of policy and answered honestly. She’d be a liar if she had responded in any other way. One might disagree with her, but that’s hardly a pittable matter. For that matter it hardly constitutes interference in Canadian affairs, it’s just an opinion. If you asked me “What should the United States do with regards to capital punishment?” I’d answer, honestly, that they should not have capital punishment. It’s not my decision to make but that happens to be my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/18 "2009-11-25T17:42:22Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Canada is already taking Palin’s advice. There’s a pretty strong shift towards private health care going on in a number of provinces. Private clinics are taking up a growing percentage of health care delivery. Here is the problem with that. I don’t know tons about Canada’s government on this issue, but I assume if they are doing this it is because they thought the issue through intelligently and decided that privatizing certain aspects would improve quality and productivity. Palin says it because she is incapable of comprehending complex issues and reverts to soundbites and simplistic philosophy as a cure-all to all of the world’s problems. Palin is incapable of explaining why public enterprise is good, and why private enterprise is bad (or vica versa) when it comes to health care. So its not the same thing. One likely involves intelligent debate among pragmatic people looking for ways to improve quality of life. Another involves someone with the mental capacities of a 12 year old parroting a simplistic philosophy that helps her answer questions she doesn’t understand. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/19 "2009-11-25T18:07:00Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Palin is opposed to public health care (well, unless it’s for old people.) This is hardly news; it’s the standard position of her party and has been her position, so far as I am aware, for her entire career as a public figure. She was asked a straightforward question on a matter of policy and answered honestly. She’d be a liar if she had responded in any other way. But – but, hasn’t it already been pretty well established that she _is_ a liar? So the logical thing to expect of her is that she _would_ respond in another way. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866/20 "2009-11-25T18:19:24Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Now, as for the OP, I don’t understand the pitting. Palin is opposed to public health care (well, unless it’s for old people.) This is hardly news; it’s the standard position of her party and has been her position, so far as I am aware, for her entire career as a public figure. She was asked a straightforward question on a matter of policy and answered honestly. She’d be a liar if she had responded in any other way. One might disagree with her, but that’s hardly a pittable matter. This didn’t start in the pit. I didn’t pit her. I thought maybe I was being whooshed and that she was just kidding around. This started in imho. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-on-this-hour-has-22-minutes/518866.md?page=2)