http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUPMjC9mq5Y

The bit about the czars towards the end is... cringeworthy.

No way. I want to take drugs when I want . Everyone knows Hiltler toked up Frankfurt on a whim and Stalin put LSD in the Kremlin watercooler for kicks. Thank god for these teabaggers

It's all based on…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UASS1qFAIQ8&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVgOl3cETb4&feature=player_embedded

I might remind people that if you take issue with James, I'd prefer you attacked his argument, rather him personally.

Can we make an exception for Ian Wishart?

“As far as I am concerned, this is not civics education – it gives the appearance of creating a cult of personality. This is something you’d expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq,” Russell said.

They also conveniently forget a speech Reagan gave to schoolkids which…

but the actual response last week was frequently hysterical, with people seriously using words like "indoctrination and "communism".

Yep, demented. There is a mountain of difference between some strongly stated unease, and the sort of inane verbiage that seems to spout from folks like this elected GOP official:

“As far…

The best thing about the town hall crazies is how they've told us that Obama is simultaneously a fascist and a communist.

That's because it's not a spectrum. And when you go to the extremes, they meet at the back in the middle. That's why the anarchists that are going…

the POUM militia...the communists purged them towards the end of the war

Oh, great. Thanks for, like, totally spoiling the ending for me. Wanna put a spoiler warning on that next time? :)

Don't worry, Rich. In the film version the fascists get their come-uppance and the POUM leader gets…

It's not on health, but on the President's address to school students, I think we had a thread somewhere, but I found this piece very interesting. It's from a publication with "examiner" in the title, so you may wish to take it with a grain of salt =) but:

It's…

but:

Yes, I find the antics on the left often just as unsettling as those on the right, but as I said on my blog a few days back, they tend to exist mostly on the fringe (no excuse made for Rep. Ford though, how bloody stupid, what a ridiculous…

when…

If we want the US to chill, are we gonna chill a bit more too?

https://forms.nzdf.mil.nz/defence/defencereviewonline.aspx

There's a built-in bias, in that speech-watchers are likely to be fans of the President, but it seems that he turned around quite a few independents.

. . . Islamists who have no concept of woman's rights that we would recognize, stone to death woman accused of adultery who are actually victims of rape and think gays should be killed . . .

This from a guy who thought it a splendid wheeze to parrot the…

the POUM militia...the communists purged them towards the end of the war

Oh, great. Thanks for, like, totally spoiling the ending for me. Wanna put a spoiler warning on that next time? :)

I might remind people that if you take issue with James, I'd prefer you attacked his argument, rather him personally.

Not one to say he said, he said, but it's worth pointing out that James has on more than one occasion attacked one or two of us personally as a…

So he subscribes to that odd, utterly irrational conspiracy (nothing in this whole circus is nuttier than the birther stuff, just fucking insane twaddle), but in DC this GOP Congressman is the one chosen to rebut this massive policy speech by the nation's President.

It's bizarre, isn't it? Even if…

the groups on the left, who were much more prone to cross-group mistrust, in-fighting and so on.

From what I recall of Homage to Catalonia, this was one of the things that drove Orwell out of the war (that and being shot through the throat) – he was a member…

Lest we forget

I've just started reading Antony Beevor's book on the Spanish civil war. There's a passage in the introduction that really jumped out at me, which I shall type up and post as soon as I can, as it seems to be pretty much on point.

Basically, he…

I don't need to look anything up myself, I can just go "what Russell said about that." I can even do it pre-emptively with confidence. "What Russell will no doubt say once he gets the chance to post it. Smacked down!"

Heh.

But, actually, I like James popping by occasionally…

Obama is simultaneously a fascist and a communist

The bizarre mindset of the right in the US was neatly summed up by the GOPs choice to rebut Obama:

But the most "surprising" aspect to the choice of Boustany is the fact that he is a Birther!

So he subscribes to…

the lengths to which people (often invisibly and dangerously) go to avoid being bankrupted and/or to keep their health insurance

And that all has knock-on effects. If you're in a job which, by some miracle, provides decent health insurance, you'll put up with anything to keep that job. Even illegal…

I like how when James comes on and makes his standard post, Russell always comes in with some helpful links and facts to point out how he's talking out his butt.

And then you wait for James to come back with some sort of linked and smart rebutt, but he…

Since SoonerCare is the only insurance that will accept Sophie, we have to meet their financial criteria, which means living at or below the poverty level. I have had to quit wonderful jobs because I made too much money to qualify for SoonerCare.

There's a perverse outcome…

This is just one story, but one that really struck me.

I thought the US healthcare system couldn't depress me any more, and yet.

This is just one story, but one that really struck me.

(NB it's not Ariel Gore's own story,…

Obama is simultaneously a fascist and a communist

McCain to base! Under attack by commie-nazi's!

Go, UNICEF pennies! Help zer puny children who need you!

I don't need to look anything up myself, I can just go "what Russell said about that." I can…

You lefties need to...

Why, thankyou for the advice James.

If I may offer some in return, 'you righties' need to stop sacrificing babies and drinking their blood by the light of the new moon.

But then maybe oversimplistic homogenising generalisations of large and diverse groups is not that helpful...?

I, too, sing America.

He is beautiful, are "they" ashamed yet?

That proposition is received knowledge and was made most eloquently here back in June.

I'd debate that it's received knowledge given the tone of much of the commentary since it was written, but that is certainly a very insightful piece.

Oh, sure, the insurers in the US are total fuckers. But don't think that NZ doesn't have delays in treating cancer patients. Flights to Australia for chemo ring any bells?

Really? That's TERRIBLE and shouldn't happen.

At the same time, I'd give excellent odds that a flight to Australia +…

*has to

"Up"!
and
"Ponyo"!
On these telling depp-creative things, human intellectual life depends-

-mine, anyway-

Maybe we could take this into another thread, but I was just astounded by the sheer heart of UP. The montage of Carl and Ellie's romance was a masterpiece of economy, as moving and perfect a…

-mine, anyway-

Oh, also, Matt Taibbi's 'we're all dooooooooooooomed' healthcare article in Rolling Stone was an interesting read, I thought.

Oh it's fantastic, up there with his recent piece on Goldman Sachs, not least because he points out for the contemptible and downright disgusting nonsense spewed by the extreme right over Obama's…

So, like, I'm not just making this up.

gosh, I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for James to come back with his withering demolition of all this, since, y'know, he's actually there and all...

Just read the article

I did. Hence the comment about strawmen.

From the US Disability Networks. This disabled woman is shouted down at a meeting recently.

By, need I add, a bullying right-wing nutbar who was obsessed with whether a women with a crippling auto-immune disease was more privileged than he was.

As I recall, Rasmussen was the most accurate polling organization in the last 2 elections.

His final pre-election tracking polls of voting intentions, yup. But most of the time on opinion polling, he's a consistent outlier. His Bush approval numbers were higher than the field, and his Obama approval numbers…

Just read the article

I did, and couldn't find anything of this ilk:

stripping people of a secret ballot, an utter abomination and it is dear to their leftie hearts, you just don't know that they wouldn't try this kind of shit.

Maybe it's not there or maybe I just…

I was gonna be sarcastic and everything, but meh. Do you actually know strawmen when you use them?

Just read the article

As I recall, Rasmussen was the most accurate polling organization in the last 2 elections.

You lefties need…

you just don't know that they wouldn't try this kind of shit.

I was gonna be sarcastic and everything, but meh. Do you actually know strawmen when you use them?

Oh good! You're okay. I was a bit worried about you, following the news this week.

Yep, but it was the biggest shake I've felt. We were on the 2nd floor of our office and quickly scarpered outside, carefully avoiding the normal advice to stand under a door frame, knowing…

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090910/ap_on_re_us/us_ap_poll_health_care

Ordinarily you would blow off the article below as too paranoid, but these guys in D.C today are just so left, they are hot for Card Check, stripping people of a secret ballot, an utter abomination…

So the Republicans have done a brilliant job of getting people to believe things they are not in fact true, and to oppose their own interests.

Meanwhile, the serious conservative critiques of ObamaCare aren't being made, because the American right is obsessed with Godwining itself and asking when Comrade Obama…

She said that TV channel is often referred to as Fox Noise (spoken) or Faux News (written).

but we're not all starting from the same place...

Perhaps not, but you don't have to drink the "the NHS would have left Stephen Hawking to die" Kool-Aid to observe that England's got its own very serious problems. And Michael Moore is just as prone as the rabid right to…

This is also why relatively small changes in wording can trigger dramatic shifts in support for the public option, which has been as high as 83 percent in some polls and as low as 35 percent in others depending on…

FiveThirtyEight has some useful observations on healthcare polling, in looking at the unfavourable WSJ/NBC poll:

"Also, while just 36 percent believe Obama’s efforts to reform the health system are a good idea, that number increases to 53 percent when respondents were read a paragraph describing Obama’s plans."

That's a…

Chorus.-O Whistle, an' I'll come to ye, my lad,
O whistle, an' I'll come to ye, my lad,
Tho' father an' mother an' a' should gae mad,
O whistle, an' I'll come to ye, my lad.

But warily tent when ye come to court me,
And come nae…

Iraq and Iran?

Sodom and Gomorrah?

Candyman candyman...

I think Sam F and Leopold can share the blame for the arrival.

We're selective in the pain we share.

True. Humans are often callous assholes.

(You tend to be more pain-sharey about things with which you have a personal connection, though. Thus, Katrina makes me more enraged/saddened than practically anything else for the last ten years, even though it's objectively not as…

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/september_2009/a_review_of_public_opinion_on_health_care_reform_prior_to_the_president_s_speech

One of the key points is that of the 85% of the population (307-45/307) that has health insurance, 70% rate it highly (only 6% rate it poor). Not many believe Obama when he keeps saying the…

But for all that, I've yet to see a thread here, or anywhere in the US, on the half a million or so who lost their homes, with little chance of a new one, or much else in the foreseeable future, in last week's earthquake in Java.

We're selective in…

get the US out of two major shitholes in the Middle East

Iraq and Iran?

and if that makes me sound like i'm invested in American health care in the same fashion as i might be invested in, for instance, the Darfur Conflict, then i'll have to plead guilty there...

But for all that, I've yet to see a thread here, or anywhere in the…

Am waiting for James Bremer to come in and tell you all off...

Candyman candyman...

Obama could take a significant step in fixing USA health care, and get the US out of two major shitholes in the Middle East. I'll take an interest in all three of those.

Agreed but the later two hold rather more interest for me, and I'm not thoroughly convinced that…

I must admit I am perpetually astonished at the extent to which local American politics is global news.

I think there is a growing feeling that Obama's presidency could be one which stands above the others in terms of being known world-wide for being significant.

Roosevelt for New Deal, Reagan…

The White House site appears to have transformed that into a transcript, complete with numerous mentions of (Applause) and the solitary heckle. Presumably they have caught up with any ad libs/deviations from text as well.

In this case, it's because it's fascinating, crazy and dramatic — and also because it appears to have been deemed that this is make-or-break for a POTUS in which the rest of the world is quite invested.

Also, whether you like to admit it or not, America's health care issues…

For me too, but I suspect it played pretty well in America across about 90% of Americans.

To be fair, I'm sure it was meant to be a (well-received) throw to the Democrats in the room and the party base at large, and as far as "partisan red meat" it…

I must admit I am perpetually astonished at the extent to which local American politics is global news.

i think that, in this particular case, there's a basic issue of empathy for the millions that can't get medical care in a modern democracy...

and if that makes me sound like…

Home and happy. (or drugged)

It's not really an either/or thing. I'm taking some scary amounts of pain relief right now. Hoping to not need to be permanently off my tits on codeine sometime in the near future.

I must admit I am perpetually astonished at the extent to which local American politics is global news.

In this case, it's because it's fascinating, crazy and dramatic — and also because it appears to have been deemed that this is make-or-break for a POTUS in which the rest of…

But Russell, and I mean this in a loving way — the…

"I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficit — either now or in the future."

Govt will be obliged to make spending cuts in other areas if anticipated savings don't materialise.

Very sneaky.

The standard US legislative procedure is:

House and Senate approve bill. Bill…

Eww... sorry, folks, but that's one section of the speech I'd have begged Obama to put a blue pencil line through. Way too much Oprah, and not enough of the grown-up thoughtful Obama I like.

For me too, but I suspect it played pretty well in America across about 90%…

The Doctor actually said "You've had every test known to…

BTW anyone heard from Emma?

Home and happy. (or drugged)

They so need a Walter Nash. And a Mickey Savage, for that matter. And a Peter Fraser. And a Harry Holland ..

The men are usually credited with the achievements but actually there have always been influential activist women behind the scenes on the political left. Fraser and Roosevelt were…

Oh, also, Matt Taibbi's 'we're all dooooooooooooomed' healthcare article in Rolling Stone was an interesting…

Live there for a while: you'll never hear anything on the news channels about any other country unless the story is something disastrous.

So it doesn't get better? I struggled to watch any channels (news included) during the 3 weeks I spent in NY earlier this year. In my short…

I would have thought military and prison spending came close, though prison spending is probably hidden in state budgets.

If a figure I just read in an NYT OpEd of 18% of GDP is correct, he's absolutely right that not even military and corrections come close. The US defence budget…

Yes, I'm great – as luck has it, my GP had completely botched the diagnosis

Good to hear the first bit, not so good about the second. (BTW anyone heard from Emma? Maybe they have taken her laptop away to aid her recuperation.)

Text of the letter from Ted Kennedy, delivered to Obama in his death.

Eww... sorry, folks, but that's one section of the speech I'd have begged Obama to put a blue pencil line through. Way too much Oprah, and not enough of the grown-up thoughtful Obama I like.

As for the abortion rule, I suspect anything else would transform the proposal from "controversial" to "un-passable". He's got to pick his battles.

Exactly. Abortion and illegal immigrants are just the not-so-subtle buttons the pundits can press to whip the crazies into even more of a foaming mob. It might…

Can I politely ask – are you OK now?

Yes, I'm great – as luck has it, my GP had completely botched the diagnosis. Which is not what shook my confidence, actually – it was the appointment made at the specialist's office for a timeframe that was knowingly unsafe according…

He just threw illegal immigrants under the bus + "no federal funding for abortions".

Sigh ... America.

Yes, because even legal migrants have such a jolly time with the health care system in New Zealand (see numerous recent reports on those on work and/or student visas being refused maternity care…

Wasn't that bizarre?

Not so much — isn't the point to get all the talking points out before the next ad break? Don't see how that had to relate to anything said or done in the actual speech.

minor WTF moment though, after Obama finished speaking and Brian Williams and Chuck Todd started talking... were they even listening to the same speech?

Wasn't that bizarre? The most newsworthy thing was that someone heckled once? Huh?

Really? the potus has the most defended door in bureaucracy.

Yes, and he seems to have a track record of listening to Republicans that have something to say. On the subject under discussion, we can safely assume the "why do you want to kill my disabled baby, Comrade-Furher" crowd aren't…

Well, you could play that game at home ...

Damn time zones!

I've had the experience this year of being scheduled for a specialist appointment three months hence, with the built in expectation that in the meantime I'd get so sick I'd probably have to go through A&E.

Can I politely ask – are you OK now?

minor WTF moment though, after Obama finished speaking and Brian Williams and Chuck Todd started talking... were they even listening to the same speech?

The reason that none of them know that socialised medicine is better is because they have a hugely insular news media and education system…

It's telling just how far some in America have slipped that Little Green Footballs is now a lone voice of sanity in the wilderness...

OTOH, look at some of the comments under the AmericaBlog liveblog of the speech.

I can't tell if it's real angry lefties or organised concern trolling.

though prison spending is probably hidden in state budgets.

Which are entirely separate from federal budgets and so not really part of the federal deficit problem. Separate states' deficit problems, now, that's another matter.

Every day is big block of cheese day!

Really? the potus has the most defended door in bureaucracy.

The repeated applause is a bit grating.

It's part of the drill. And he just got the Republicans to stand and applaud medical malpractice reform.

I'm thinking, Why couldn't they just take a drink each time?

Well, you could play that game at home ...

I'm thinking, Why couldn't they just take a drink each time?

Govt will be obliged to make spending cuts in other areas if anticipated savings don't materialise.

Then he slams deficit-funded Bush policies: the war, and tax cuts for the rich.

"If Americans can't find affordable coverage, we will provide you with a choice."

He just cited a couple of anecdotes about health insurers delaying treatment for cancer patients. Socialised systems don't do that ...

Not sure that that's quite true.

A socialised system will delay your treatment by means of a waiting list, citing resource constraints. That's why it isn't enough to have…

I would have thought military and prison spending came close, though prison spending is probably hidden in state budgets.

Sigh ... America.

There's certainly an argument to be made on that front, but I wouldn't over-state the influence that has on the vehemence and lack of substance of the health care debate.

OTOH, the House Democrats in particular messed up the stimulus bill with special-interest add-ons.

I think you can distinguish between the separation of powers and the practice they've developed around making law, though. It's really broken.

There's certainly an argument to be made on that front, but I wouldn't over-state the influence that has on the vehemence and lack of substance of the health…

He just cited a couple of anecdotes about health insurers delaying treatment for cancer patients. Socialised systems don't do that ...

Not sure that that's quite true.

That's not necessarily wise, since at least the people who are known to have cancer are also getting treated for it. While she waits, she's potentially got untreated cancer growth.

That's not great, certainly. But Obama cited the case of a man whose chemo was stopped y his insurer because…

Yeah, those Founding Fathers really screwed the pooch with their bi-cameral Legislature and separation of the Executive branch jibber-jabber.

I think you can distinguish between the separation of powers and the practice they've developed around making law, though. It's really broken.

Right now a friend is waiting for an MRI to determine if a cyst detected with an ultrasound is a…

A large part of the problem remains the crazy-assed way they legislate over there.

Yeah, those Founding Fathers really screwed the pooch with their bi-cameral Legislature and separation of the Executive branch jibber-jabber.

I feel for Barney Frank refusing to engage with the furniture, but the responsibility for this particular…

Sure, most countries with socialised health systems have longer wait times than the US.

He just cited a couple of anecdotes about health insurers delaying treatment for cancer patients. Socialised systems don't do that ...

Is there something in the water over there? Or do they actually, honestly, not understand that…

"We did not come here just to clean up crises — we came here to build a future"

Come to think of it, so do we.

How the rest of the world views the USA under Obama: "Your President is ace, but WTF is wrong with you people!"

Obama just making his way to the stage.

And yeah, that guy from the Greens really needs to learn to spell his name ...