tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post3447325570540269438..comments2024-03-25T07:29:08.216-04:00Comments on 2 Political Junkies: Ok, NOW I'm Sold! SIGN. ME. UP.Mariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10439330154875628083noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post-26746170415333017082010-03-05T13:30:30.265-05:002010-03-05T13:30:30.265-05:00wasn't her schtick on SNL standing on her head...wasn't her schtick on SNL standing on her head while reciting bad poetry?Ol' Frothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11001073150811372903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post-72471634504691558142010-03-05T12:03:37.698-05:002010-03-05T12:03:37.698-05:00Yeah, just to echo your astute reader's point,...Yeah, just to echo your astute reader's point, I am fairly amused that conservatives are resorting to cold war phrases and images in attacking Obama. Of course, the actual communist phrase that Ms Jackson should have referenced is "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need". The attack on Van Jones because at one point he announced he is a communist is a good example. We now know that there was a huge gap between communist theory and its implementation in the twentieth century. So I would question the intelligence of any political person who said they wish to work toward a communist system of government. And just to extend the point, we know that in fact minorities tend to suffer more in communist countries (such as the former USSR, China and North Korea) as well as in more laissez-faire capitalist systems (us?). <br /><br />Socialist countries, or more accurately capitalist/socialist mixed countries with a greater emphasis on socialist policies than we have, tend to treat their minorities better than we do. So yes, Obama would be wise to pursue an agenda that includes socialist ideas if he wants to help Afican-Americans. Now, perhaps the American version of socialism is populism, a phrase Obama would be wise to co-opt. <br /><br />I could not watch the whole of the Victoria Jackson video, it was so annoying. I want to be someone who respects (compared to agreeing with) most if not all points of view, but, ... it is such a shame to see someone who sincerely believes in a (what I think is a) fantasy like that.EdHeathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09109361235271107574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post-28450160932378480252010-03-04T21:14:01.675-05:002010-03-04T21:14:01.675-05:00An astute reader wrote in with this:
I was intrig...An astute reader wrote in with this:<br /><br /><i>I was intrigued by the fact that Miss Jackson adds Obama's "spread the wealth" remark as proof of Obama's communism, saying it comes verbatim from The Communist Manifesto. I've read the Manifesto a number of times in college while doing papers on Marxism and its various histories (it has a large one in western Pennsylvania) and could not recall such a quote. That's because there is none, at least in the manifesto. Now, there is no doubt that Marx advocated redistribution of resource, ownership and wealth. His closest reference in the manifesto using either term was a critique of socialist theory:<br /><br />"This school of Socialism dissected with great acuteness the contradictions in the conditions of modern production ... the misery of the proletariat, the anarchy in production, the crying inequalities in the distribution of wealth, the industrial war of extermination between nations, the dissolution of old moral bonds, of the old family relations, of the old nationalities."<br /><br />So who actually used "spread-the-wealth" as a coda? Miss Jackson should look southeast and turn back her calendar by a mere 76years. Huey Long, governor of Louisiana, and a great enemy of Franklin Roosevelt, inserted a speech into the Senate record that became known as the "Spread the Wealth" speech. This, of course, does not disprove Victoria Jackson's thesis anymore than a snowfall in July disproves that it is July. But when the clock strikes 13, it might not disprove the preceding hours, but it sure calls them into question.</i>Dayvoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06971560627535402858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post-68071787841124871712010-03-04T14:43:33.268-05:002010-03-04T14:43:33.268-05:00Try as I might, I could not embed the video that I...Try as I might, I could not embed the video that I wanted....It kept embedding a different one with Will Ferrell, so I deleted the post.Mariahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10439330154875628083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post-85300548853589022112010-03-04T11:05:45.800-05:002010-03-04T11:05:45.800-05:00Yes, HTTT, that Funny or Die video was quite amusi...Yes, HTTT, that Funny or Die video was quite amusing; Ron Howard directing and Chevy Chase still has it ....<br /><br />Oh, I'm sorry, were you making a point? <br /><br />Blue Tew, yeah, the bill as I understand it now will be a boon to health insurance companies. I mean, they will not be able to discriminate based on pre-existing conditions, but they will see lot of new members. And there is nothing in the bill that I am aware of that forces health insurance companies to lower the amount they charge for overhead.EdHeathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09109361235271107574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post-32099198099338656972010-03-04T10:48:24.175-05:002010-03-04T10:48:24.175-05:00Thank GOD for Victoria Jackson. I shudder to think...<i>Thank GOD for Victoria Jackson. I shudder to think of where my life would have gone had I not stumbled over her youtube clip.</i><br />And yet in my RSS feed shows your coblogger post a link to<br />Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion<br />http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/f5a57185bd/funny-or-die-s-presidential-reunionSocial Justice NPC Anti-Paladin™https://www.blogger.com/profile/14533575674043719198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post-42437104014485972432010-03-04T10:24:03.083-05:002010-03-04T10:24:03.083-05:00Tell me this. If the healthcare plan as it stands ...Tell me this. If the healthcare plan as it stands now is such a boon to the insurance industry and will also greatly increase demand for healthcare services since more people will be "flooding the system", won't this create an awful lot of jobs??<br /><br />Insurance companies are going to have to add people to deal with the influx of customers and we will need a lot more healtchare workers...which are positions that can't be outsourced.<br /><br />Won't this be, in essence, another stimulus?Blue Number 2https://www.blogger.com/profile/14409428988649440272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post-33826148086020021952010-03-04T08:21:52.088-05:002010-03-04T08:21:52.088-05:00Because with our current private system there are ...Because with our current private system there are no limitations on choosing your doctor or when you can see him or her, no waiting once you get ot your doctor's office or the emergency room, no large amount of paperwork to fill out or incomprehensible notices from your insurance company, there are no limitations on which specialists you can see, your insurance company would never look for an excuse to drop your coverage when you get sick, your insurance coverage, even if it has deductibles, would never have insurance caps on how much they pay in a year or over the course of your lifetime, your employer covers your health care and pays only a very small amount in premiums (plus your modest contribution) and that amount has no impact on the costs your employer passes onto consumers of your companies products....<br /><br />Victoria Jackson and who ever is behind her is describing a hypothetical future in absurdly alarming terms. But our reality, the system we have now, is absolutely terrifying to many people. Just not anyone we should care about.EdHeathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09109361235271107574noreply@blogger.com