Here are a couple of comments I posted on the conservative vermont tiger website.
http://www.vermonttiger.com/content/2010/01/jihad-greened.html
Post #1
I consider myself an environmentalist because I want to leave the best looking planet that I can for my children. I take great offense at being associated with "fascism". To associate people who are trying to leave a better future for our children by taking care of our world deserve better than to be associated with the likes of Hitler and Mussolini. It's a cheap shot. I remember swimming between the effluence of untreated sewage during the 70's in Vermont and am encouraged by the successes of the environmental movement in my lifetime. I thought this website was about the future of Vermont, not the "how many creative names can I come up with against Gore and anyone possibly associated with 'the left'" website. Disappointing.
PS. Not that I am a fan of anyone who holds the Imperial Throne of America, but do people not remember that Bush left our economy in a very scary freefall, massive deficits (remember when those eviro-fascist democrats balanced the budget?), and two unending wars? It seems every Republican has chosen to forget that to try to paint Obama as the anti-Christ. Pathetic.
Post #2
http://www.vermonttiger.com/content/2010/01/jihad-greened.html
“but the factual realities on the ground are sound on this one.”
Really? While I can see your point regarding media manipulation, and in creating a fear monster (drastic climate change), they are a long way from the brutal, vicious thuggery exhibited by the fascists (Hitler, Mussolini, Franco). What are the “environmentalists” being charged with? Trying to manipulate gov’t policy for their own monetary gain? There is a long historical list that can be put into that category (the defense industry comes to mind). Are they being charged as totalitarians because of their wanting to change our oil addicted society into a culture that is more harmonious with its surroundings? Hardly Hitlerian. This conversation will make more sense when our soldiers have Sierra Club badges sewn into their uniforms. But if you want to find fascism, start with looking at who is funding all the private security firms that are now taking over many of the roles that our military once did.
“I was also in Nairobi not that long ago - and the contrast is stark. Every vehicle in Nairobi belches black smoke, the roads are in such poor shape that traffic kicks up vast clouds of red dust, poverty makes "civic cleanliness" impossible, etc.”
This statement is so out of whack of any kind of context, cultural, governmental or historical that it is difficult to take it all in. How about good gov’t regulation? How does Kenya compare to the US’s? What about corruption? What about the historical context of an exploited people who’s only westernizing efforts only extended as far as the white masters verandah? What about the individual’s right to property? What about the civil liberties guaranteed by our Bill of Rights? Are these things present, or historically present in Kenya? Did you spend time in the SouthEast district of DC? What about the back streets of Baltimore? I suppose its all in your perspective.
“they know where they need to go - and "green jobs" weren't on the agenda. It was quite refreshing to hear.”
Why is it ok to subsidize oil and coal industries, vast centralized electrical grids, small businesses, large corporations and our usurious banking system, yet not technologies that support independent de-localized energy production? I thought conservative ideology believes in individual freedom and localized power structures (instead of centralized structures) and I support efforts of our government to help secure those localized individual freedoms. Solar panels on my roof help free me from my dependence on large corporate entities to spoon feed me my essential needs.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
health care debate returns
This is part of a response I posted on The Vermont Tiger (http://www.vermonttiger.com/content/2010/01/the-message-for-montpelier.html)
Food is a need. I can grow my own. Shelter is a need. I can build my own. Health care is a need. I cannot cure sickness. I hear the criticisms of gov’t run anything, but the fact of the matter is that my father recently walked into the VA hospital in White River and described it as the best hospital experience he’s personally experienced and my mother recently completed successful lung cancer surgery (she’s a non-smoker, by the way) with the benefit of Medicaid. I would hate to think of what the experience would have been like if she had only the health insurance she could afford at 70 years of age with her earnings from her self-employed full time housecleaning work. Now, while I’m not a big fan of anecdotes to prove a point, these personal experiences do color my beliefs. The gov’t system worked. No generality can change that experience. Frankly, I would rather entrust my health care to a system that is designed to be “of the people, by the people and for the people” than to greedy capitalists who are only in it for the buck. Face up to it; insurance companies sacrifice people’s lives to save money. One of the ironies of our national discussion is the Republican fear that our gov’t will ration our care. What they don’t recognize is that insurance companies already do ration our care. But that is a topic for a different time. What we are talking about is the role of the gov’t in our health care system. We define what that role is because it is our gov’t. Does Tom Jefferson’s expression of “inalienable rights endowed by our Creator” only refer to political rights? That is illogical. Our Creator has created more “inalienable rights” than are listed in the Bill of Rights. Our gov’t’s role is to provide protection to the right of equitable access to our modern health care system. Our current system of depending on capitalists is failing in that protection. Too many people go without equitable access. Depending on private industry has failed. It’s time to move on.
Food is a need. I can grow my own. Shelter is a need. I can build my own. Health care is a need. I cannot cure sickness. I hear the criticisms of gov’t run anything, but the fact of the matter is that my father recently walked into the VA hospital in White River and described it as the best hospital experience he’s personally experienced and my mother recently completed successful lung cancer surgery (she’s a non-smoker, by the way) with the benefit of Medicaid. I would hate to think of what the experience would have been like if she had only the health insurance she could afford at 70 years of age with her earnings from her self-employed full time housecleaning work. Now, while I’m not a big fan of anecdotes to prove a point, these personal experiences do color my beliefs. The gov’t system worked. No generality can change that experience. Frankly, I would rather entrust my health care to a system that is designed to be “of the people, by the people and for the people” than to greedy capitalists who are only in it for the buck. Face up to it; insurance companies sacrifice people’s lives to save money. One of the ironies of our national discussion is the Republican fear that our gov’t will ration our care. What they don’t recognize is that insurance companies already do ration our care. But that is a topic for a different time. What we are talking about is the role of the gov’t in our health care system. We define what that role is because it is our gov’t. Does Tom Jefferson’s expression of “inalienable rights endowed by our Creator” only refer to political rights? That is illogical. Our Creator has created more “inalienable rights” than are listed in the Bill of Rights. Our gov’t’s role is to provide protection to the right of equitable access to our modern health care system. Our current system of depending on capitalists is failing in that protection. Too many people go without equitable access. Depending on private industry has failed. It’s time to move on.
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