Friday, September 28, 2007
Curbing Use of the "S" Word
In an "Editorial Observer" column in today's New York Times Philip Boffey takes on the idiocy of invoking "socialized medicine" to attack the various health care proposals coming from the democratic candidates. I would go farther -- almost every invocation of "socialism" in the current political dialogue is so muddle-headed as to be laughable. Conservatives love to taint their opponents with socialist/Communist labels even if those labels are laughably inapt. It's their go-to move, as the Nazi analogy is for some elements of the left, though invocations of Nazism and fascism by now tend to cross aisles. That particular brand of idiocy, anyway, now transcends partisanship.
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3 comments:
You have been far and away the best professor I had at UTPB, and I was just curious if you had a party affiliation or had an early presidential candidate (to support, not necessarily a winner). Do you have any thoughts on my personal favorite candidate that can’t win, Ron Paul?
SHS --
First, thanks for the compliment. I truly appreciate it.
Normally I don't like to bring my politics overtly before students becaue I'm not certain if it's right to do so, but you came here and asked and if you stick around you'll figure it out, so here goes: I'm a liberal and a Democrat, but I am much more hawkish than most Dems, and have a few other stances that make me more difficult to peg than lib-Dem might lead you to believe.
First, about Ron Paul: What impresses me most is that he truly seems to be a man of integrity and honor. I also love that he epitomizes the grassroots candidate, as he was for a long time a punchline and suddenly he looks like this election's Howard Dean. I disagree with what sometimes seems to be his doctrinaire libertarian-conservatism, but it does not change the fact that I admire his probity and his commitment.
I have not chosen a candidate yet, truth be told, and want to see this play out. Viscerally I really like Obama, but I worry that he needs more seasoning. on foreign policy i like Joe Biden, but he is not going to be able to win. On domestic policy I like Edwards in many ways, though I'm not certain at all that he has what it takes to win an election in which foreign affairs will dominate. I think Hillary is far better than people will ever give her credit for, and she is formidable.
Basically, I have time, and I'm taking it. On the GOP front I respect McCain tremendously even if I disagree with him on much. I do not get Giuliani's appeal and I think he is not only substanceless, he is also frankly dangerous. Romney is a nightmare of flip flopping and general incoherence. I think Huckabee is an honorable man, a very good man, even if, again, I disagree with him on a huge range of issues.
So that's my quick, and probably largely substanceless, view.
Thanks for reading, and do keep checking in.
dcat
I appreciate you responding because, like you said, most professors rightfully refrain for overtly expressing their political beliefs. I was in both your sports history class and your global terrorism class and I had an opinion of your political affiliations. I am appreciative that you would take the time to answer such, admittedly, inconsequential questions.
I agree with you on Hillary, but I believe that there is such a backlash against her it will be hard for her to overcome in the general election. The same 52% that re-elected G.W.Bush will vote but definitely not vote for Hillary.
On the “G.O.P.” side I cannot stand Rudy or understand his appeal. Perhaps Republicans support him because they believe he is the only person that can win in 2008? The 9-11 candidate doesn’t understand the concept of blowback, which was on a certain midterm exam, and aggressively attacks those (Ron Paul is the only one that has had the juevos to do it) that disagree with his opinion (whatever his opinion is).
I know you hate this type of citation but don’t know any better way of putting these links in a comment.
Rudy attacking Paul: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD7dnFDdwu0)
Paul’s response: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcQQ05XtAQ4)
Thoughts???
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