This is none of your job!
What are we afraid of?
Oh man, they play the part of stupid southerner to a T.
The problem is that the far right wing nutjobs are distracting from the “nice” Republicans and conservatieves. And they have their mouthpieces in Glenn Back and Rush Limbaugh getting National stages. Why? because crazy sells. Crazy is interesting. The Republican party instead of trying to moderate this side has embraced it. That is not the fault of conservatives, it is the fault of a desperate political party that has concerned itself more and more frantically with trying to defeat the other side and not engage in coherent ideas with those they could really attract, the moderate conservatives.
Here’s an interesting clip where you can see some of these “conservative dicks” up close. Pretty interesting stuff.
Well, it’s 12 minutes long, it has a vapid host and a “guest” up in the corner, but I’m not sure where the interesting part is. Could you suggest what’s interesting and where I should focus in particular?
There’s a two click rule for porn.
I’ve met lots of people like her in my life. They make exceptions for the people they know. People they know don’t fit the larger, horrible categories. It’s the “some of my best friends are…” mindset.
I’m really confused about something she says early in the interview. She says, roughly, “The fact that the DNC thinks people would go through all this turmoil and strife for money says a lot about them.”
I don’t get it. The tea party rallies ARE about money. Is indirect money different than direct money? An accusation about socialism is a money argument. Arguments about taxes are money arguments.
The whole thing is for money.
It’s not just Republicans, or politicians, or the media. I’ve said a million times that if you post moderate thoughts right here on the SDMB you’re received by crickets. Only brash/extreme/“crazy” ideas from either side are paid attention. Things that can be responded to with “you’re a fucking idiot,” “do you REALLY believe that?!!” and “I’ve always wanted to say that myself.” I’ve posted my fair share of “extreme” opinions here that have gotten me jumped all over at times and heartily agreed with at times, but I’ve posted 10 times as many moderate, middle-of-the-road opinions that have been completely ignored. Human nature, I guess.
Bush
Rove
Cheney
Bolton
Rush
Beck
Fox News
Palin
birthers
disruptors
Where is the voice of reason expressed in Repub politics?
I think the question of whether or not you get more conservative with age depends on what happens during the course of your life. I doubt many of these ardent anti-health reformers have had problems 1) getting insurance, 2) being turned down for vital services with their current insurance, 3) or know anyone sympathetic enough who has been in these situations.
All they can think about are the leeches of society being treated as equal as “hard-working Americans”. To them, that’s socialism. What they don’t seem to get is that the current problems of health care aren’t being carried on the backs of the “leeches”. They either have Medicaid or VA or make use of free clinics, or they are treated as indigents when they get hospital care. If I were poor, I wouldn’t worry at all about my health care options. They don’t have the filet mignon level of health care, but they’ve got it. These crazy conservatives think health reform is for the poor. No, dummies, it’s for the rest of us!
The pizza delivery guy making $9 an hour is too rich for for Medicaid, while too poor to afford a Blue Cross premium, especially if he’s got pre-existings. Isn’t the pizza delivery guy a “hard-working American”? Why aren’t the protestors and shout-downers, many of which look like they’ve made plenty use of pizza delivery, standing up for him and demanding that we help him out? Woe to him if he has a bad accident and needs to go to the emergency room for stitches. He not only has to pay for his own services, but also the services the bum on the corner receives for his schizophrenia and drug-dependency issues. It seems like only the Democrats can see how unfair this is; the conservatives are essentially saying it’s okey-dokey that Pizza Delivery Guy shoulder all those costs. Isn’t that kind of… bizarro-worldish?
If socialism means paying for someone else’s care above what that person puts into the system, then that’s what we already have. But apparently conservatives are fine sticking it to the hard-working American who’s not lucky enough to be able to afford a job with benefits.
Many conservatives are Jesus-lovers. Jesus laid hands on anyone who beseeched him and he made them well without asking for money or that they demonstrate how hard-working they are. Now I’m thinking, what would Jesus be in favor of? A health care system where a person has to choose between food/rent or an exorbitant monthly premium to a corporation that runs all treatment options through a profit calculator, nickeling and diming until a person dies? Or a health care system where simply being a tax-payer entitles you to a doctor’s attention from time to time and high quality treatment when your health goes to pot, all without worrying about the bills that are stacking up.
Jesus, why don’t you come on down and tell us which you would prefer? Because your foolish people are confused.
I’d settle for him rapturing them up and away from me.
If he really were hard-working, he would be brokering deals and trading stocks.
In their eyes, the pizza delivery guy should go back to school, study hard and get a better job so he can afford to buy health insurance (never mind that in this economy, a number of pizza delivery guys already have bachelors or even masters degrees).
I don’t believe in Jesus-as-God anymore, but I do find him a good way of highlighting the Republicans’ hypocrisy. Christian values, my ass. If they had Christian values, they would be the party supporting social welfare spending, no matter how much it hurt their precious pocket books. But it’s like they couldn’t be any more opposite! I don’t understand how they can’t see the contradiction there.
When I see their blubbering angry faces at these town meetings, I just get so disgusted. As an earlier poster said, these faces appear throughout our history, constantly thwarting efforts to improve society and make it fair for everyone. It’s almost like they’re Pennywise the Clown, cropping up on a regular cycle to wreak havoc. I’m so sick of them. I would wish their God would beam them up, but I can’t stand the thought of them spending eternity in heaven. Hateful, greedy, angry-for-no-good-reason people don’t deserve heaven.
And, of course, the problem with that is that you simply cannot have everyone “get a better job.” Who will deliver pizzas then? Or sell you clothing, or aid you in technical support 24/7? Someone’s got to do the menial jobs that the affluent depend on and take for granted.
Not for this conservative, it’s not. For instance, when I think about giving the government even more control over health care, it bugs me that it will cost us lots of money. But we’re a wealthy country. So it’s no big deal.
But what scares me and infuriates me is the lack of freedom and the inevitable inequities. Have you checked out the survival rates for breast cancer in the UK vs. US? Or the waiting lists for cancer treatment? That to me is a lot worse than having to live at a slightly lower of wealth.
Leftists have a lot of stereotypes about conservatives: like that we’re obsessed with money, or that we’re against sex, or…or that we’re all dicks. And it just isn’t true.
You might want to surf around some of the responsible conservative websites and count how often we refer to money and how often we refer to other things.
If no one forces you to use government health care, and private insurers are still around to provide tip-top, johnny-on-the-spot, consierge-level services, then doesn’t that make your fear unfounded?
I wish it did. First of all there’s no guarantee that private medical care will be available to all of us. It doesn’t have to be outlawed to destroy it. Just tax and regulate till it stops moving. And the government has a lot of power to screw things up, even if they don’t get 100% of the control.
BTW, what are you doing having a conversation with a dick like me?
Are there any countries with universal health care that DON’T have private insurers?
It’s not a rhetorical question; I honestly don’t know.
Seems like with all the fear health insurance companies are drumming up, those like yourself with ensure their survival. That is, if the glorious free market allows them to survive. If the government is able to do what it promises it can do, and people flock to it, then the destruction of private health care would be a good thing, no? Isn’t that the argument used by school-choice people? If the private sector can do it better and people use it to the exclusion of the public sector, then we should rejoice because things are just following a natural course. Don’t see why the reverse should be viewed as a worse outcome.
And I never said all conservatives are dicks, but a lot of them are acting dickishly. If you think the government is turning all socialistic and fascist and OMG!! Let’s flood the streets as angry mob!, then yes, you’re a dick. But if you simply have concerns about what’s being put on the table and you’ve thoughtfully considered the implications of health care reform, then that doesn’t make you a dick. It may make you someone I disagree with, but that’s about it.
You can still drive a car in cities with public transportation. A public option, however flawed, isn’t going to kill private health care - although I won’t be surprised if any insurer that reports a smaller profit blames it on the public option.