Peter C. Hayward Esq. ([info]peterchayward) wrote,
@ 2009-07-02 10:38:00
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Current location:work
Current mood:procrastinating
Current music:I'm not saying that Australia's not broken, mind you.

America: The best because we're American.
Every now and again, I look at America and think "Holy crap, that is a broken country."

And then I chat to an American, and realise that they're proud to be broken. They resent any implication that being broken isn't the best way to be.

I could say more (and in fact did, but have gone back and deleted it) but you've heard it all before. Inspired by this article.


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[info]lurkitty
2009-07-02 01:44 am UTC (link)
Your sample size is skewed. The latest poll says 60% of all Americans favor a single payor system, and that includes 50% of Republicans. You wouldn't think so listening to the debate. Far more airtime is being given to the naysayers. The health insurance companies are spending an estimated $1 million per day in advertising and lobbying, so it's no wonder that, in the rarified air of Washington D.C., they think there is no solution other than the idiotic system we have.

I'm not proud that the system is broken at all, and it's unfair for you to generalize. I've been screaming as loud as I can, and so have my friends. I've been calling and writing letters to Congressmen and Senators instead of blogging here.

I'm going to quit now because you've not only pushed one of my political buttons, but I've taken this rather personally and I'm angry.

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"I love my country, but I think that..."
[info]peterchayward
2009-07-02 01:59 am UTC (link)
I apologise for offending you; I assumed my hyperbole was obvious. Not every American is proud that the system is broken, and I come into contact with a lot more people who are trying to fix it than those who aren't.

My main issue, I suppose, is that in order to disagree with anything in America, you have to preface it with "I love America but..." - the biggest attack on Michael Moore has been "He hates America".

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Literal cat....
[info]lurkitty
2009-07-02 03:59 am UTC (link)
...takes everything literally.

Amend that to read, "..in order to disagree with a neocon about America, you have to preface it with, I love America, but...". They still won't believe you, either. These are folks who have never left the McCarthy era. They still believe that that there are commies under every bed, and the biggest threat to America is communism.

There are still some true conservatives that do engage in real dialogue instead of throwing nonsense attacks. I have seen very well-thought-out critiques of Moore's work, but such things don't get the press that the idiocy does. I'll give you the example of the recent dust-p about a faction of the Republican Party wanting to rename the Democratic Party the "Democrat Socialist Party". All of the news stations carried the speeches of the extremists, but few carried the speech of Michael Steele, the Chairman of the Republican Party. He opposed the measure, and it failed. It also failed in polls. The only place it was popular was on the air.

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