zoogs

People whose minds are yet unchanged are not the enemy, to be clear. But this is what we are fighting over — how we should look at things. It’s a worthy debate to have and i hope everyone participates. We need that.

I’m not even talking about divisiveness. I’m drawing a straight line from our erstwhile cultural aversion to socialism — a fact — and the state of corporate dominance in our healthcare system. This is why it’s hard to move ground. This is why even center-right proposals like Obamacare were pie dreams for liberals in the 1990s. 

It’s important to understand how we got here and why, and what direction we need to move to get out of here. An interpretation that neither side is doing anything but “partisan squabbling” while ignoring the problem is a sound-good statement that means nothing. It is what keeps us firmly rooted in the status quo, because we fail to see that this is corporate America flexing its muscle to keep the scales tilted in their favor. You’re welcome to argue otherwise. You’re also welcome to argue that this scale tilt is good, or necessary. However, I’d suggest all the hurt the system is wreaking, including as discussed in this thread, is evidence against that.

Changing minds is a fight. If minds don’t change, neither will results. This is the deal in a representative democracy where the people still have a small modicum of power. Opting out of the debate is a passive endorsement of the status quo, and I’m afraid there’s no way around that fact.

On mobile right now, but the full statement, woof.

Is this only a little bit heroic? Ha ha.

"A world in which there is no sexual harassment at all is a world in which there will not be any flirtation." 

A man who says this, as a 'joke', is profoundly confused.

Were they roommates?

"They are too busy fighting eachother and making money off of it to give a damn about middle class America." ...

Empty platitudes. The people who need to be fought are the "middle Americans" who blindly resist socialized healthcare, and then are hurt by the result. And in fact, one party is fighting towards this direction while the other has a feverish wet dream of careening in the opposite, one which they are hell-bent on making into reality. If we cannot, as a public, recognize that, then we deserve what we get. Freedom is the freedom to make catastrophically awful choices.

The difference between America and other first world countries is massive, popularly supported resistance to this "socialism" stuff. And these are the straightforward consequences of that.

I don't know that there's really a choice between socialized, universal healthcare and the capitalist, corporate paradise today. Where the argument is always inevitably "if you worked harder and were more successful, you wouldn't be in this situation." Or, "you have the choice to forgo paying for healthcare, maybe you should take it." 

Healthcare's a right. Not a product the savvy and the successful get access to.

What are the "real" problems that Obamacare didn't look at in favor of the "fake" problems that it did address?

I feel like these interpretations are how we get to where we are. By continually electing the wrong people.

I mean, if for some reason they strike out on a number of choices, we could do worse than keep Bray around. Obviously I don't expect that to happen. We'll get Frost.

I'd take that tbh

'Tis the season of being late to catching up on news  

Just speaking as a fan of another NFL team. Capers, McCarthy, and Reid are all really capable people. There's something to be said for sports passion. If it ever leads you to a point where you judge some of the profession's top people as utterly incompetent, though, turn back! 

You're either very high on Riley or very down on McCarthy. Those are two very respected coaches in Green Bay!

Somehow I think the human species will prevail without men sexually assaulting women.

We're all in this together in the end. So sorry to hear. Hang in there man.

@C N RedI can't math, you're right.

Rooting for both these guys to break Johnny's record. Stanley's only 98 away from the 1000-yard mark, too. Very possible.

Georgia got pasted today, too. Wow. A lot of top ten teams going down hard lately.