Except for the fact that they AREN’T the same. The group which orchestrated 9/11 is al Qaida, the one headed by Osama bin Laden. One of the groups which is part of a multi-lateral civil war in Iraq is called al Qaida in Iraq, a homegrown terrorist group with dubious ties to al Qaida proper which only rebranded itself al Qaida after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. And of course the majority of the people who are bombing innocent people in Iraq are Sunni and Shiite militias, not to mention elements of the Iraqi army who are really members of those militias.“The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq were the ones who attacked us in America on September 11,” [President Bush] said. “That’s why what happens in Iraq matters to security here at home.”
In other words, this is what you would call… what is it now? Oh yes, a lie. The same kind of lie this administration trotted out to make us believe that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11 so that they could launch an immoral preemptive war. The same kind of lie which was used to convince us that Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction were more menacing than they actually were (which, given that they were non-existent, weren’t very menacing at all).
And you wonder why he has a twenty-six percent approval rating?
Kevin Drum hits all the low notes of our dysfunctional health-care system:
Over the course of the past several years, and especially as my wife and I have added three children to our family, we have been subject to many of these things. The lack of choice which requires you to switch primary doctors repeatedly in order to get the right mix of specialists. The terrible lines in the emergency room when your child needs care outside of business hours. The need to switch hospitals just because your health insurance decides it’s not going to pay for the one that is closer to your home.Rather than overall cost, then, which doesn’t matter to most people anyway (as far as most employed people are concerned, healthcare is essentially free right now) the selling point of national healthcare is freedom from the endlessly gnawing problems of our current jury rigged system. For example: HMOs that make it hard to see a specialist. High and rising copayments. Fear of losing coverage if you lose your job. Long waits for non-urgent care. New (and usually worse) healthcare coverage every time your HR department is told to find a cheaper plan.
And more: Small businesses that have a hard time attracting good employees because they can’t afford to offer health coverage. Big business that are on the verge of bankruptcy because of skyrocketing health costs. Lack of choice in physicians because you’re limited to whichever medical groups have signed contracts with your company’s insurance carrier. Losing your longtime family doctor because your company switches insurance carriers and you can only see doctors on your new carrier’s approved list.
And yet more: Fear that preexisting conditions won’t be covered if you take a new job. The risk of financial ruin if someone in your family has a truly catastrophic illness. Crowded emergency rooms that have essentially become clinics of last resort for the poor. Being forced to go on strike year after year because your employer relentlessly tries to gut your healthcare benefits every time your union contract gets renegotiated. 43 million people who lack health coverage of any kind.
And we have GOOD health insurance when compared to most people.
The fact is, the system is broken beyond repair and needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. The first candidate who promises to do this in a way that ensures coverage for all, improves on the dismal level of service in our healthcare industry, and allows doctors to focus on being doctors will get my vote.
Unfortunately, no one, even the Democrats, seems to be willing to step up to the plate and offer more than a band-aid approach to reforming our health care system.
