Open Thread For July 24, 2017
Brandywine Country Club Development Plan Ruled ‘Unacceptable’. By NCC Land Use. It’s back in Louie Capano’s court now. I’m pleasantly surprised. Capano tried (I know this is redundant when it comes to Capano) a sleazy trick where he labeled apartments under names other than apartments. Land Use didn’t fall for it.
Kushner’s Story. How does it compare to the truth? TBD.
Leak Opp0nent Mooch A Leaker-In-Chief? He has only one constituent, and it’s not Trump. It’s Da Mooch.
Long Knives Come Out On Afghanistan Policy. Maybe indecision is the best policy, even if it derives from warring White House camps. But the news is that the camps are warring.
How Putin Didn’t Get What He Bargained For. Didn’t count on a bipartisan congress turning against Trump’s Russian bromance.
What do you want to talk about?
The GOP passing those sanctions is a welcome surprise.
I think a discussion “healthcare: right or opportunity?” is an important discussion to have. My ophthalmologist swears that medicine is too expensive to be able to give it to all. I honestly do not know whether he is right or not. I’m not sure that anyone knows what is price gouging or fair compensation anymore. But the other post on Melanie Smith does suggest that for progressives, healthcare is a right, politically. My own sense, especially in light of other countries providing healthcare to all, more or less successfully, is a big influence on my thinking. Given that a healthy society is better than one in which some pay high priced healthcare costs and others go without, I certainly fall into the progressive camp in my thinking. But if healthcare is a right, what measures of healthcare are we talking about? Almost certainly not the right of that child in England to fly to America to undergo an experimental procedure. Outside of emergency care, could anything be more expensive than that? When we commit to “healthcare for all” are we committing to that level of expense? As I said, this is an important discussion to have, because everyone will have different ideas relative to what constitutes the fulfillment of a healthcare “right”. As much as we can afford, probably. And that ability to afford anything puts us in a political arena in which we must be prepared to back our words with actions. If you asked anyone in this country whether they would accept a “free” healthcare but they pay taxes at 50% or more, I’m sure the answer would be “hell no”. No doubt in my mind. It is easy to demagogue on this issue, and tedious to explain it properly. (That, by itself, is why we progressives need to be victorious in our efforts to get the money out of politics.) But this is the real work of progressives, to move the needle of public opinion left, so that the “hell no” becomes a “heck yes”. Then the battle is over except for the vote at the state house.
Mike Barbieri out the door..
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2017/07/24/substance-abuse-director-barbieri-out/500929001/
@paul: I don’t think most of us find a discussion necessary. The fundamental disagreement on health care is over this point. I’ll start discussing it the moment someone who thinks it’s not a right finds himself unworthy of it.
“Didn’t count on a bipartisan congress turning against Trump’s Russian bromance.”
The current hype on all things Russia and Trump is not based in logic ,but in nefariously fueled hysteria, and it is potentially a threat to national security.
The shamsters were right to move the doomsday clock ahead 30 seconds(trust me they couldn’t wait), even if they didn’t have a clue as to why.
“President Trump and President Putin, who claim great respect for each other, can choose to act together as statesmen, or act as petulant children, risking our future,”….. Laurence Krauss (Smart Doomsday Clock Guy)
The Doomsday Clock, before it included global warming risk, was put in place to basically measure the discord between the US and the USSR…..Who is fueling the discord today? Who are the “petulant children”?
I don’t know about you guys, but having the world’s two biggest nuclear powers getting along doesn’t seem like a bad thing at this point, even if Putin is who we would consider a bad guy in many respects.
“The current hype on all things Russia and Trump is not based in logic”
That is simply false.
The interest in Russia is based on Trump’s ongoing criminal activity, much of which stems from the Russians propping up his business by laundering money through Deutsche Bank.
“I don’t know about you guys, but having the world’s two biggest nuclear powers getting along doesn’t seem like a bad thing at this point, even if Putin is who we would consider a bad guy in many respects.”
I’ll agree with this as soon as Putin disarms the 1,800 nuclear warheads aimed at the US. On the other hand, given the assassinations, maybe not. Maybe someone who thinks it’s a good idea to suck up to a crime lord needs his head examined.
What you have is called “Stockholm syndrome.” Look it up.
If you had any brains, you’d understand the difference between “getting along” and “getting taken for a ride.” Russia is on the brink of collapse, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of guys. I’m not interested in helping them in any way.