actually sir or ma'am, i listen to every point of view. since im in afghanistan fighting for freedom, (something id like to have when i return) we have only one news channel. this channel plays one hours of cnn, msnbc, fox news and the pentagon channel on a loop. plus i get on the internet any chance i get to research what people have said on their shows. say what you must, call me what you want, but i do listen to each side equally.
Some points of view deserve no attention. Mr. Beck is one of them. He is the equivalent of a guy standing on a street corner yelling at the pigeons that the Jews run the water treatment facility and are secretly sneaking us kosher water to make us all gay.
The only real difference is that he has a TV show. You know, right along with this guy:
Who regularly interviews this guy:
Who helped this guy cover up illegal activities:
These are all the sorts of people I wouldn't want to associate my cause with, friend. They are a cancer on the political system.
And please, while I respect that you are serving, or at least claim to be serving, in the US military, it doesn't make you smarter, more virtuous, or more of an expert on "freedom" or anything else by default. I have been married to a Naval officer for over a decade now, which has more than proven to me that just because someone wears a uniform doesn't shield them from being a moron. I have met more than a couple folks that couldn't rub two braincells together if you lent them one.
Besides, someone in the military arguing against universal health care is a bit of a hypocritical thing to do. You realize that you, my wife, myself, my two children, and every other active member and dependent of the US Military is covered by a universal system, right?
The other week, I had a pain in my left testicle. Didn't know what it was, but it came in pulses, like a cramp, a couple times a day, and figured it had something to do with my vasectomy last December (Merry Christmas, you're sterile!) I called up Tricare, got an appointment with my PCM at Portsmouth Naval Hospital five days later. I went in for my appointment, doctor poked and prodded a bit and told me to turn my head and cough, and wrote me up a referral to the urologist.
Appointment two days later, an ultrasound was done (how awkward that was) and it was determined that it was nothing more than the scar tissue forming and causing my nerves to fire weird. They wrote me a prescription for Motrin 800mg for when the pain held on for a while (the military Docs love the ol' "vitamin M") and sent me on my way.
I got down to the pharmacy, and waited in line. It was a long wait, about twenty minutes. I showed them my ID at the window after my number was called, and they retrieved my Rx, instructed me to take it with food and all that, and sent me on my way with no payment or anything.
It's a great system, quite frankly, and don't see why it needs to be restricted to those who as a government employee. Why shouldn't it be this simple for everyone? How was it that this entire problem with a worrisome pain in my testicles being checked out and alleviated in a timely and cost effective manner infringed on my freedom again?
Personally, I view a universal health care system as NECESSARY to ensure freedom. Your definition of freedom seems to stem from freedom from the government, which is supposed to work for us because it is by definition run by us. What we have now is tyranny not from Washington, but by predatory corporations that want to take your money and give you nothing in return were ever they are able. We have people afraid to leave low paying jobs they hate and living in poverty because they can't afford to lose health benefits. People that can't go to school to better themselves or their place in society because they have a sick family member eating up all available income. We have 60% of all bankruptcies in this country resulting from medical bills, and most of those folks thought they had insurance.
Our system is broken. There is nothing wrong, or unpatriotic, about saying that other countries have a better system than us or that they might be better at something than us. What is unpatriotic is saying that we CAN'T be better, that we CAN'T fix it. And even worse than that, we have people that are not even willing to try.
We are America, damn it. We may not be the best at everything, and we make plenty of mistakes and even commit vast atrocities at times. But the thing that made us great is that we never stop TRYING to be the best, and never stopped trying to not repeat the mistakes of the past. This current social conservative movement, though, is at the wrong side of history. They are the one's dragging this country into decay, greed, and and abject apathy.
