Even the language was a disaster. Liberals thought that conservatives would like consumer choice. That's why they used "public option." As Harry Reid said, "It's public and it's an option - a public option." But what did a conservative hear in the words "public option?" Say "public" and he hears "government." "Option" is a policy-wonk term, from the language of bureaucracy. Say "public option" and the conservative hears "government bureaucracy."
The weird thing is that the Conservatives don't want to give up their social security, medicare, veteran's benefits, etc. They really don't know what "government" means.
As z and I were discussing on the chat last week, political discourse in the U.S. has fallen as low as I hope it ever gets.
It can get lower. Heck, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton got to the point of shooting at each other! Burr won, but Hamilton's influence was far greater. You can more or less thank him for Wall Street.
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
Before the Civil War (an oxymoron if I've ever heard one) a southern Representative severely beat a northern Representative with a cane after they got into an argument about abolition.
Capped the "R" in representative to show it was the federal legislature.This message has been edited. Last edited by: <Proofreader>,
