Divided loyalities
Make no mistake, I'm still very firmly in the Obama camp, but the more things I read about John Edwards, the murkier things start to become for me.
Folks haven't preached old-fashioned populism in a long time, and there's a good bit of old-fashioned populism in me.
Folks haven't preached old-fashioned populism in a long time, and there's a good bit of old-fashioned populism in me.
posted by Jmac at 3:38 PM
4 Comments:
This article is why I'm weary of Edwards, and all Democrats actually. The government cares about us so much that it will make us visit the doctor whether we want to or not. Is that really the role of government? I must have missed that part of the Constitution. And if you think I'm exaggerating, here's his direct quote:
"It requires that everybody be covered. It requires that everybody get preventive care," he told a crowd sitting in lawn chairs in front of the Cedar County Courthouse. "If you are going to be in the system, you can't choose not to go to the doctor for 20 years. You have to go in and be checked and make sure that you are OK."
And since his "system" is of the universal variety, we're all in it, again, whether we like it or not. All hail our benevolent and wise government!
Since you're psuedo-libertarian, I understand where you're coming from, but we're discussing preventive health care. We're not talking about mandatory military service here, but rather something which ensures that people are healthy.
Also, I think his quote was probably taken out of context and is being a bit misconstrued. He's just advocating for universal coverage, which would give everyone the opportunity to secure preventive care.
I must have missed that part of the Constitution.
The preamble? Dude, it's like the first thing you read.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America
It is not the government's job to "ensure that people are healthy" to the point of mandatory physical examinations. That is a serious perversion of the "right to life" we are all granted by the fact we're here in this world (not by the government).
Read that closer: Edwards is proposing that the government force this country's citizens to have mandatory physical examinations whether they want to or not. The long quotes in the article could not possibly have been taken out of context.
""It requires that everybody be covered. It requires that everybody get preventive care...
"We're not talking about mandatory military service here, but rather something which ensures that people are healthy."
Right, so because it's really for your own good (and there won't be any politics involved in determining what examinations are necessary, of course! No doctors lobbying to get their particular specialty included in the 'mandatory for the good of the republic' category of preventative care...), we can force you to do it. And only 'pseudo-libertarians', God bless them, can really have any objection. Because freedom is only for doing silly, inconsequential things. When it comes to the 'big' stuff, you'd better just trust us.
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