COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Why is Ron Paul Not Taken Seriously?



When Paul’s victory was announced at the CPAC convention, many in the crowd booed. Why was that?

Ron Paul knows the issues. He speaks sense. He does so with humility and lack of bravado but with the passion of a man who clearly understands the facts.

He is direct and offers positive solutions to problems other politicians consider intractable.

Maybe I just answered my own question.


105 comments:

  1. Okay, I've changed my mind. Let's send this crazy old coot off the island.

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  2. Hmm, suspend the income tax for 3, or 4 years, huh.

    That would just add about $12 Trillion to the National Debt.

    Now, THAT'S some financial "responsibility."

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  3. BTW, the last I looked our "debt service" was about 3% of GDP. I don't think that would be considered "bankrupt."

    Especially for someone who owns the printing press, and gets to write the laws.

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  4. He's just a strangely charismatic old crank.

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  5. However, the Dow would go to $18,000.

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  6. You could cut the taxes but require that half the amount that would have gone to taxes to be used to purchase savings bonds.

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  7. And, please, don't yell, "unfunded liabilities" at me.

    They're going to increase SS by 2%, and call it a day.

    And, distasteful as it is, they'll put price controls on medical costs. Or, possibly, eventually, go toward the Swiss System. Which will lead to the same outcome, just by a different route.

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  8. I think it was Uncle Miltie that said, "it's the Size of the Government that's important, Not how you pay for it."

    We really don't want people buying Savings Bonds "right now." We want them investing in "Productive" enterprises.

    Of course, to do that, the "Bank" has to lend them the money; and, right now the banks are lending any spare money to the Government. That'll come to an end soon, though.

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  9. Most people that start new businesses (our traditional way of getting out of recessions) borrow money against their home. THAT is an iffy business model right now, of course.

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  10. The administration is, in all honesty, doing a pretty good job of "digging out." They're not doing anything Stupid (partly because the Congress won't let them - I'm thinking of Cap n' Trade, and "The Public Option."

    They could have done a better job at immediate expensing of Capita Goods, but they have loosened up the rules on that, I think.

    The fact is, we almost bit the freakin' bullet; and it's going to take a few years to recover from that lash-up.

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  11. China is probably going to start letting the Yuan rise a bit, which needs to be done. But, with gasoline getting ready to take off, again, we probably don't want all the goods down at WalMart to jump by twenty, or twenty-five percent right off the bat.

    If I were calling the shots for a day I'd go with the government financing 3,000 (on in each county) "Cellulosic" ethanol refineries, starting yesterday (But you know that.) Along with getting about 15,000 E85 pumps installed.

    It would, of course, bring those 30 Million Acres of idle "reserve" land out of retirement, and require 50,000 new pieces of farm equipment be manufactured.

    But, that's just me. :)

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  12. A Gigantic Victory Parade down 5th Avenue for the Troops returning from Iraq would probably be worth 2,000 on the Dow, and a Million Jobs.

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  13. Team Obama is really gettin' something done, over in Afpakistan.

    Team Obama is really gettin' something done, over in Afpakistan

    While I have been advocating a Victory Parade for 4 years, now.

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  14. BBC News - ‎17 minutes ago‎
    A senior leader of the Afghan Taliban has reportedly been detained in Pakistan, US media reports say. Mullah Abdul Kabir is widely believed to be a senior member of the Quetta Shura, the Taliban leadership council allegedly based in Pakistan.

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  15. The, seemingly intractable, problem with Healthcare is the Breathtaking Rate at which Innovation, and Breakthrough Science is pushing up costs.

    Every year there's a new Catscan that's twice as good as the one before, and four times as expensive. Well, the poorest dodger amongst us doesn't want "last year's" medicine. And, if the Doctor skimps, and the treatment goes pear-shaped it turns into another bad year.

    The fact is, we can't get a handle of costs without slowing the advance of medicine. You can't have tomorrow's medicine, at yesterday's prices. I don't give a damned Who is paying for it, or how they're paying for it.

    The politicians are just "baying at the moon."

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  16. That new Republican, guess he does not REALLY qualify, as one.
    Just a RINO.

    AP - A bipartisan jobs bill cleared a GOP filibuster on Monday with critical momentum provided by the Senate's newest Republican, Scott Brown of Massachusetts.

    Glad wi"m" sent him the money he needed, so as to pass this vital piece of legislation.

    More proof that Mr Brown is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, but a Federal Socialist, just like the other Republicans, in DC.

    With exception of Mr Paul.

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  17. He being about the only exception to the Federal Socialist rulers, in DC.

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  18. It's all about Confidence, and Optimism. You can't get out of the shits without'em.

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  19. We said it the day he was elected. He's a "middle of the road'er." And, he intends to "get reelected." It IS Massachusetts.

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  20. The bill was pretty small potatoes. He would have been crazy to paint himself into the "Rightwing" corner for a bill of that size.

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  21. Agreed, rufus, it just is another example of how the US and even the Republican Party is a Center-Left organization, now.

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  22. I mean it took the Supremes to save US from the un-Constitutional flavors of McMaverick-Feingold, which was bi-partisan attempt to silence opposition to incumbents, in America.

    There is the proof that there is no real space 'tween Pubs and Dems.

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  23. Just the thickness of a nickel.

    As they are two sides to the same coin.

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  24. And, THAT is a fact. People "talk" center-right; they "Vote" center-left. This country has Never been any farther right than dead-center. Not really.

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  25. I think at least 2/3rds of Americans view the Government, first, and foremost, as their Protection from Rich.

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  26. Washington Post - Cecilia Kang - ‎

    The nation's largest Internet service providers on Monday warned the Federal Communications Commission against any possible move that would put them more clearly under the agency's jurisdiction, saying that doing so could deter their their investments in broadband networks.

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  27. The Pubs point to Reagan. Shit, I wuz there. People didn't think of Reagan as "right." They thought of Reagan as a good guy, who "wasn't Carter."

    Most people just thought of Reagan (remember, he kept reiterating, "I'm a Union-Member") as a Good Guy, with a sunny disposition, that made sense. People did like his idea of a strong National Defense.

    But, then, the Dems used to be for a Strong National Defense. Roosevelt (both of them,) Truman, Kennedy - what's wrong with that line-up for Defense?

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  28. And, Obama's probably going to end up doing the same thing Reagan did. Raise SS taxes. If he doesn't the next Republican will have to.

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  29. Because he thinks we can get along without having relations with other countries.


    He is wrong in that.

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  30. Are we once again snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?

    Anger in Ciudad Juarez as Mexico Loses Drug War

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  31. What a waste. Legalize the damned stuff. Anheuser Busch (or, whoever owns them now) has enough money.

    The only thing California's done in years that makes any sense.

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  32. Basically, Obama's new Health Plan is about what I've been calling for since 2007. Key ingredient; A High-Risk Pool, ala SR22 Auto Insurance

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  33. Drug-Dealing for Jesus: Mexico's Evangelical Narcos

    By Ioan Grillo / Mexico City

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  34. I like Ron Paul.

    Unfortunately, there are a couple of his issue positions that the left can't buy (abortion, healthcare). And the same on the right (patriot act, national defense, possibly). And others that won't happen (Gold Standard, Income Tax.)

    From what I've seen of the man, he appears realistic in recognizing that even if he were president there would be things he couldn't accomplish (like the aformentioned reversion to the gold standard) even though he is for them in principle.

    Most people write Paul off as a strangly charasmatic old crank without looking at his positions over a broad range of issues.

    I believe that if more people laid out his positions on a piece of paper and compared it to the same-old same-old they can expect from the current crop of politicos, Ron Paul wouldn't look all that bad.

    And in the current atmosphere, he is making some progress in certain areas. The current legislation mandating periodic audits of the Fed now has a chance of passing primarily because of his efforts.



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  35. "Marijuana use increases by Americans 50 and up

    Miami -- In her 88 years, Florence Siegel has learned how to relax: A glass of red wine. Some classical music. And every night like clockwork, she lifts a pipe to her lips and smokes marijuana."

    Long a fixture among young people, use of the country's most popular illicit drug is now growing among the AARP set.

    The number of people 50 and older reporting marijuana use in the prior year went up from 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent from 2002 to 2008, according to surveys from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

    The drug is credited with relieving many problems of aging, including aches and pains, glaucoma, macular degeneration, and so on."


    (From Article in the Detroit News)

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  36. Rufus @ 4:40:00 am:

    The fact is, we can't get a handle of costs without slowing the advance of medicine.

    The fact is you'll never get a handle on costs without reining in the ATLA.

    One of the Democratic party's majority share holder is the ATLA.

    The politicians are just "baying at the moon."

    And you favor giving them the mandate to rewrite the book on medical care.

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  37. Your predictions are pretty good, Rufus. Tell us how long it will take fot his next visit to lalaland to appear here.

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  39. On Healthcare Mr. Obama Leaves the Hard Work for the Next President

    "Mr. Obama, following the advice of nearly every economist who has examined the issue, identified a tax on high-cost insurance plans as a key mechanism for curbing the growth of health-care costs. He was right. Unfortunately, in the legislative process the tax already was whittled down several times. Now the president proposes delaying it until 2018 -- long after he leaves office -- and raising the threshold at which it applies. Meanwhile, to recoup the $120 billion lost by the delay, Mr. Obama would apply the Medicare payroll tax to unearned income for the wealthiest taxpayers -- money that should be used to shore up Medicare's shaky finances rather than subsidizing cushy insurance."

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/22/AR2010022204715.html?wpisrc=nl_headline


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  41. Congress Look at NHSTA Officials in Toyota Recall

    "Toyota isn't the only one in Congress' crosshairs. The House energy and commerce panel also harshly criticized the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Monday for failing to do enough to investigate Toyota vehicles, especially on electronics issues.

    The initial blame for unintended acceleration was directed at mats that trapped the accelerator.
    New e-mails obtained by The Detroit News on Monday show that in August 2007, NHTSA considered expanding its runaway vehicle probe to other models, but decided to close the investigation that October.

    In an August 2007 e-mail, Chris Santucci, a former NHTSA official who is manager of technical and regulatory affairs at Toyota, described a meeting at NHTSA on the issue.

    "When I told them (I was there) for the ES 350 floor mats, they either laughed or rolled their eyes in disbelief," he wrote."



    Congress Looking for Targets Wherever They Can Find Them


    "Expanding investigations into sudden unintended acceleration complaints and suspect brakes on Prius hybrids are beginning to depict government bureaucrats charged with ensuring the nation's vehicle safety as slow, indecisive, technically ill-equipped and too willing to give Toyota the benefit of the doubt.

    Even worse, the record assembled by congressional investigators describes nearly a decade of sudden-acceleration complaints with Toyota vehicles -- long before the Bush administration paved the way for its successor, Team Obama, to bail out Detroit and grab controlling stakes in rivals General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC.

    All of which may explain why everyone from the Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, to the director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are publicly muscling Toyota: They're playing that time-honored Washington game of "CYA" because the mounting evidence is as damning for the bureaucrats as it appears to be for Toyota."



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  42. rufus said...

    "the banks are lending any spare money to the Government."


    Say what??? Are they really? How?






    trish,

    Costa Rica was nice - hot though but beautiful jungle nestled up against a big surf. My dreams of being a surfer continue to elude me as that big surf slammed my old bones pretty hard. Getting old sucks!

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  43. rat makes a dig at me, and name calls...

    "Glad wi"m" sent him the money he needed, so as to pass this vital piece of legislation."


    It's WIO, your post is misdirection....

    Look in the mirror....


    As for the people that sent Brown a donation? Your pointing out 15 billion for Jobs (not that I wanted that to pass) it smoke and mirrors...

    let's just point out a few issues...

    BUSH passed TARP, they used 350 BILLION and then came back and said, we got the job done and still want the other 350 BILLION and were not telling what we are doing with it...

    Obama/Pelosi/Reid passed stimulus bill and yet 500 BILLION still sits in a slush fund..

    health care is about 900 BILLION

    forget cap and trade...

    and the obama budget for THIS YEAR ALONE is 1900 BILLION in deficit...

    and you're getting your panties in a wade for 15 billion for highways?

    get real

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  44. That was no dig, "misdirection" that was reporting on the results of your publicly acknowledged political donations.

    You spent money to support the passage of the "Jobs Bill".

    You own that vote and the votes that Mr Brown makes in the future.
    You paid for them, in full.

    Don't try to run from how you voted, with your wallet.

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  45. desert rat said...
    That was no dig, "misdirection" that was reporting on the results of your publicly acknowledged political donations.


    Your constant ad hominem on me by CHANGING my "name" is the issue...

    I guess discussing any issue without rancor is something you are not willing to do...

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  46. I dont run from my vote from Brown, I question your sense of agenda, proportion and priority...

    I feel you have no sense of priority,

    I feel you have no sense of reason and conpromise

    and I know you have an agenda, as do all of us...

    It's just no one really KNOWS what you stand for....

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  47. "Hot" I could go for right about now, Ash.

    "Getting old sucks!"

    My husband has recently discovered that the body does complain in a way that it didn't used to. You may in some ways feel twenty-five, but you're really most certainly not.

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  48. The hot was nice especially with the respite offered by an air conditioned room, a pool in front of the living room and a gorgeous ocean 60 meters down the hill. Even nicer when contrasted with the gray snowy cold I'm currently experiencing.

    Ever since I was a kid I wanted to surf. I did a bunch of body surfing over the years but it wasn't until the last two years that I've been in a place where I could actually surf. I took lessons (young buff kid who taught me last year said "age is just a state of mind" when I complained about the physical problems encountered while trying to surf. "riiiight, I said, you'll see."

    Anyway, to surf one needs to be quite physically agile (you go from prone position to standing in balance in a second) and you must spend a lot of time trying and falling, and falling. It is incremental learning. I managed to do it years ago while learning to snowboard but doing in now while trying to surf is....a fading dream. I can stand up after a wave breaks but surfing where they break is a whole different story especially this year as the waves were pretty darn big. This years instructor said "you'll get killed out there". I tried anyway and damn near did get killed.

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  49. I find it interesting that given the amount of electronic controls in today's cars, that NHSTA, the federal agency tasked with monitoring auto safety, does not have an electronics engineer on staff.


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  50. "misdirection" you have attacked me with the most vulgar language and sexual insinuations imaginable.

    I respond by addressing your debating technique, in the title I by which you are addressed with.

    And you say it is I that refuses to be civil.

    Get real, bozo. The clown act is not convincing.

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  51. NHSTA is just another example of a government agency in which we are not getting our money's worth.

    It isn't even an issue of outsourcing critical services to private contractors (security, etc) which can have its own problems.

    It's an issue of federal agencies tasked with certain responsibilities abrogating those responsibilities. Basically, allowing the people they are supposed to regulate write the regulation and self-determine whether they are meeting those regulations. Why do we need these people when we could get by with a couple of clerks just to push the paper and get the same result?

    Typically, Congess has operated the same way in writing bills. Hopefully, with some of the changes Obama is putting in place regarding lobbyists, this will change for the better.


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  52. My husband has recently discovered that the body does complain in a way that it didn't used to. You may in some ways feel twenty-five, but you're really most certainly not.

    I suspect a five hour shift shoveling wet snow contributed to that.

    If so, I felt his pain.

    There are few pursuits as meaningless as shoveling snow which will melt in a few daysby itself. Unless immediate survival is factored in.

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  54. As predictable as the sun rising, What Is. He gets bored and wants to rattle your cage.



    Ron Paul is an effective critic of Federal power and largesse at a time when many conservatives have rediscovered an animating dislike of Leviathan. (Granted most of them will completely forget it again when a Republican is back in the White House.) But as someone already indicated, the political machinery of the nation is firmly internationalist and the philosophical-political mainstream can't accommodate itself to a retreat from institutions and endeavors that are exclusively Federal. Can't accommodate itself to what amounts to an undoing of the Great Nation State.

    Therefor National Review and the Weekly Standard get all hot and bothered over a Palin, while a Paul is merely given grudging respect for his principles. And that's when they're feeling generous.



    The snow-shoveling required much Motrin, Linear (and was unfortunately an absolute necessity) but his physical age really hit him when he suddenly took up soccer again last year.

    Such activities now require a good working-up-to if the body is not to loudly protest.

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  56. Come to think of it, my physical age hit me when I took up Pilates two years ago.

    The body screams, "You have GOT to be shitting me!"

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  57. My brain age hit me when my Spanish instructor regarded me with the sympathy one reserves for the developmentally delayed.

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  60. bob,

    I don't do guilt trips. If your friendship was predicated upon thinking me an agreeable Jew, you were mistaken.

    You have erred, infatuation with MLD being the least of it. You owe everyone here a sincere apology and the promise to seek help.

    Consider: your behavior has shaken the confidence of your friends. Threatened suicide and talk of a terminally ill spouse are not laughing matters.

    Best!

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  65. trish said...
    As predictable as the sun rising, What Is. He gets bored and wants to rattle your cage.


    My point... It doesnt rattleme, just makes him looks small...

    Something I wanted to point out...

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  67. more of rat's imagined victimizations...

    desert rat said...
    "misdirection" you have attacked me with the most vulgar language and sexual insinuations imaginable....

    Get real, bozo. The clown act is not convincing."""


    Deal with today...

    If I kept track of every evil thing you said about me and mine, my mind would explode...

    I know your bias...

    we all do...

    in the end, you prove to all who you really are and all of us judge for ourselves your value as a citizen, blogger and all around human being...



    But your continued hatred and anger at my person just proves that you have a chip of that shoulder of yours....

    talk issues...

    When you call me names, just proves what you are or are not made of...

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  70. 'My heart, my choice,' Williams says, defending decision for U.S. heart surgery

    By Tara Brautigam (CP) – 17 hours ago
    An unapologetic Danny Williams says he was aware his trip to the United States for heart surgery earlier this month would spark outcry, but he concluded his personal health trumped any public fallout over the controversial decision.
    In an interview with The Canadian Press, Williams said he went to Miami to have a "minimally invasive" surgery for an ailment first detected nearly a year ago, based on the advice of his doctors.
    "This was my heart, my choice and my health," Williams said late Monday from his condominium in Sarasota, Fla.
    "I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics."
    The 60-year-old Williams said doctors detected a heart murmur last spring and told him that one of his heart valves wasn't closing properly, creating a leakage.
    He said he was told at the time that the problem was "moderate" and that he should come back for a checkup in six months.
    Eight months later, in December, his doctors told him the problem had become severe and urged him to get his valve repaired immediately or risk heart failure, he said.
    His doctors in Canada presented him with two options - a full or partial sternotomy, both of which would've required breaking bones, he said.
    He said he spoke with and provided his medical information to a leading cardiac surgeon in New Jersey who is also from Newfoundland and Labrador. He advised him to seek treatment at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami.
    That's where he was treated by Dr. Joseph Lamelas, a cardiac surgeon who has performed more than 8,000 open-heart surgeries.
    Williams said Lamelas made an incision under his arm that didn't require any bone breakage.
    "I wanted to get in, get out fast, get back to work in a short period of time," the premier said.
    Williams said he didn't announce his departure south of the border because he didn't want to create "a media gong show," but added that criticism would've followed him had he chose to have surgery in Canada.
    "I would've been criticized if I had stayed in Canada and had been perceived as jumping a line or a wait list. ... I accept that. That's public life," he said.
    "(But) this is not a unique phenomenon to me. This is something that happens with lots of families throughout this country, so I make no apologies for that."

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  71. Williams said his decision to go to the U.S. did not reflect any lack of faith in his own province's health care system.
    "I have the utmost confidence in our own health care system in Newfoundland and Labrador, but we are just over half a million people," he said.
    "We do whatever we can to provide the best possible health care that we can in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Canadian health care system has a great reputation, but this is a very specialized piece of surgery that had to be done and I went to somebody who's doing this three or four times a day, five, six days a week."
    He quipped that he had "a heart of a 40-year-old, so that gives me 20 years new life," and said he intends to run in the next provincial election in 2011.
    "I'm probably going to be around for a long time, hopefully, if God willing," he said.
    "God forbid for the Canadian public I won't be around longer than ever."
    Williams also said he paid for the treatment, but added he would seek any refunds he would be eligible for in Canada.
    "If I'm entitled to any reimbursement from any Canadian health care system or any provincial health care system, then obviously I will apply for that as anybody else would," he said.
    "But I wrote out the cheque myself and paid for it myself and to this point, I haven't even looked into the possibility of any reimbursement. I don't know what I'm entitled to, if anything, and if it's nothing, then so be it."
    He is expected back at work in early March.

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  72. "bob said...
    Allen, what the hell do you do, when you know more than the shrink?"

    Find and SEE another shrink ASAP.

    Obviously, bob, some would write you off without a thought. Having happily communicated with you, off and on, for about 5 years, I am unwilling to simply say "buzz off".

    On the other hand, bob, something must change. YOU must change. Talk to someone you trust - a pastor, a lawyer, a friend - but by all means find someone to help you work through this crisis.

    For whatever it is worth, you will be in my thoughts. G-d does not make junk.

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  73. A tight collar and a very short leash.

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  74. Deuce said...
    A tight collar and a very short leash.


    My wife said the SAME thing last Saturday night...

    I was not amused...

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  75. What is "Occupation" said...
    Deuce said...
    A tight collar and a very short leash.


    My wife said the SAME thing last Saturday night...

    I was not amused...


    Some guys have all the luck!

    A tight collar, a short leash, and whipping cream...My! My! My!

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  78. See, here's the thing. You can provide the type of care the Canadian Minister got to All your citizens, but it will be Godawful expensive.

    The Canadians have elected to give their citizens a slightly lower quality of care, albeit available to everyone, and wink, and look the other way when the Rich go to Miami for their care.

    We do it differently. When the need becomes "acute," we give the poor the same care as the "Rich" receive. (Mostly.)

    The difference in the levels of care is in the "intermediate" stages. I won't go into the whole thing; but a uninsured Mississippian may find it impossible to get adequate treatment for a chronic, semi-dibilitating disease/injury (something that would be covered in Canada,) but might end up getting "World-Class" Mt Sinai care for a life-threatening sickness.

    All isn't simple; but the advances in Medicine are breathtaking, and damned expensive. The only question, can you make it available to 300 Million people?

    And, if you do, the cost is going to be, for all practical purposes, the same, regardless of how you pay for it.

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  79. Let's see how long this deletion takes.

    Don't let yourself get burned out, boss.

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  80. bob,

    Re: "SUPERHERO" and "cunt"

    This is not what I had hoped to see.

    Again, find a practicing professional.

    You might be surprised to learn that many therapists are intrigued by some of the same myths as you. Dr. Weiss is not exceptional in that regard.

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  81. bob,

    Yes, bob, I do owe you for the innumerable bits of fun and entertainment you have given over the years. Our exchanges have been real.

    Please, take care of yourself.

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  84. No doubt there are holes in the medical system in the USA.

    They need tweaks...

    My idea is that the Congress pass 2 point bills, no more..

    SIMPLE and easy points to make the system work better....

    can the 2000 page un-understandable bills...

    pass a bill that allows for interstate insurance competition

    pass a bill allowing to buy meds across national boundries

    pass a bill requiring doctors and dentists to post fee schedules for cash...

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  86. Great Expectations, Disappointing Results

    "These analysts are shocked — shocked! — that this hopey-changey thing isn't working out."

    "Eventually, the national credit card must come due."

    budget deficit for 2011 - $1,360,000,000,000.00

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  88. This is a place holder, Rufus.

    I'm working on some HC comments for ya, but there are distractions.

    Memo to self: Scroll Scroll Scroll

    Thank you, Q.

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  90. Bob is defacing and direspecting my work. He refuses to act like an adult and with a sense of honor. I am sick of it and want to make it clear to Bob:

    Leave. You have worn out your welcome. Leave.

    All your posts will be deleted. You are taking my valuable time and further shaming yourself.

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  93. "Thank you Q."

    Your right LT. I'm mortified.

    Everything seemed to be going so well too. After our little dispute yesterday Bob was silent. And I was kind of suprised when after 12 hours of silence Bob posted this at at 10:09pm last night:

    "Bob's got a lot of talk, more than he deserves.

    It was an email from Linear said come back, come back, Melody wants you, no one will talk to her, please, please.

    She said so herself.

    So I did. Being the superhero I was told I was..."


    Now I realize this must be another one of Bob's fixations. No way LT and MLD would get together and dream up a plan to ask Bob back. Not after the fuss LT raised about banning him and MLD's martyr act.

    But regardless, after his initial burst of irrationality, Bob was pretty quiet. That is, until Ms. T, disappointed that there wasn't more recognition of the cleverness of her Tom Sawyer quote couldn't resist bringing it up to him. This brought up a couple more Bob responses. Nothing serious.

    And today, Bob posted a couple times. Pretty much innocuous stuff. That is until Allen, Mr. Empathy, decided he had to interface with Bob. Then, with his hero to spar with, Bob again went berserk.

    Mr. Empathy, the man who in berating me for being pretentious said: "Quirk, if you must pretend awareness, try the DSM IV. Who knows, you might stumble upon something personally therapeutic."

    Heavens, even in the process of ragging on someone for being pretentious, Mr. Empathy is pretentious. He can't help himself. No wonder Bob loves him.

    Scroll, scroll, scroll? It might have worked barring the co-dependancy rampant at the EB.

    I applaud Deuce's decision to ban Bob. As I said yesterday, it's his and Whit's decision. There is no way either of these guys should be forced to spend their valuable time sitting around monitoring some nitwit.

    As for the drama queens here, and there are few, thank you. You make my day.

    :)

    I love this bar.

    .

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  94. Maybe we need to look at health care from a cost savings point of view...

    How can we save money...

    why not start listing actual cost savings ideas?

    Get the professionals to open up with ideas....

    Set up a reward/payout commission structure for good ideas for companies to make savings.

    Reward the individual for savings ideas?

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  95. And here, for so long, it was "all about me".

    But now, it seems to be time for one of my favorite renditions of Sail on, sailor

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  96. I love this bar.

    :-)

    We agree on one thing, anyhow.

    -------

    Don't be too hard on Allen.

    -------

    I take no pleasure in what just happened.

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  97. Quirk,

    I am not surprised. If you have ever had a kind word, it must have been a misunderstanding on the part of the hearer.

    Go to the bathroom. Look in the mirror. That about does it for your love life and friendships, I would bet.

    Have a great day playing with yourself.

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  98. I don't wish to leave the impression that I was tsking a slap at Allen. I was thanking Q for his support.

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  99. linear,

    Thanks!

    We have witnessed a genuine tragedy. Bob is a man with whom most have had many pleasant minutes and memories. If one may have a friend on a blog, bob was one for years.

    Only a sadist would take pleasure in making jest of the mental breakdown we have just witnessed. Again, Quirk does not disappoint.

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  100. Good ideas WiO; but I think these guys are way beyond rational discussion at this point.

    After a year of being at each others throats, I doubt either side is open to compomise.

    Unfortunate since if they could reach some accomodation on how to fund HC the other issues would probably fall into place.

    .

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  101. Deuce,

    No offense was taken by me.

    You have my sympathy for having to drop the hammer. I am certain it was painful.

    Best!

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  102. FWIW, my remark "Don't be too hard on Allen" was for Quirk. But I should probably save my breath when it comes to them.

    Thanks, Deuce for the labor you put into the bar. It's appreciated.

    Whit also.

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  103. Q: Bob was pretty quiet. That is, until Ms. T, disappointed that there wasn't more recognition of the cleverness of her Tom Sawyer quote couldn't resist bringing it up to him.

    Bob said he wanted to talk about Mark Twain. I thought it would be good therapy. Whatever. No skin off my nose.

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  104. One of the all-time strangest things I've ever seen.

    Good job, Deuce. I know it was tough.

    We all greatly appreciate the work.

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  105. This was Deuce's requiem for bob.

    Be sure to read the lyrics.

    ReplyDelete