Is the radical right dumbing down the GOP?

[Minoosh]

We could beat Canada!

I am presuming Canada doesn't have the military overhead we do - could be that helps the health care system.

Drastic treatments are not going to save you. Pretty much its general resucitation, drugs and a few machines to maintain you are the only worthwhile options. All available at a hospice for less price because they have specialized in that sort of care.

I don't understand this statement - hospice is about not being resuscitated. It's also light on machinery - maybe an oxygen assist or something for comfort. And "at a hospice" paints a somewhat inaccurate picture. Hospice care often is at-home care with some support provided. Taking care of a dying person is specialized in one sense - there's a completely different set of values in play - but in another sense is very general, simply attending to the patient's comfort.

All of which is incredibly off topic. Back on topic here is something that befuddles me:

The Republican primaries are coming up and the candidates act like they're running against Obama. Is this common? When do they start differentiating themselves from one another? I'm at a disadvantage in that I rarely turn on the TV and so maybe I'm missing an ad campaign. Or maybe it's all done on the ground in the primary states. Seriously, I'm not very well-informed about primary philosophy and strategy.

 

[The Fallen Serpent]

I am presuming Canada doesn't have the military overhead we do - could be that helps the health care system.

They also spend less on health care per capita than we do. The military spending isn't the kicker here, its the management of the system. By not investing wisely we end up paying. Think of it as if the US took an adjustable rate mortgage in regards to funding health care. Yes, it looked cheaper in the onset but factors changed and now we pay even more than if we would have ponied up more monies in the earlier stages.

I don't understand this statement - hospice is about not being resuscitated. It's also light on machinery - maybe an oxygen assist or something for comfort. And "at a hospice" paints a somewhat inaccurate picture. Hospice care often is at-home care with some support provided. Taking care of a dying person is specialized in one sense - there's a completely different set of values in play - but in another sense is very general, simply attending to the patient's comfort.

Hospice very much DO resuscitate. Only if you have a do not resuscitate order do they not. Which is the same as a hospital. They ARE light on machinery, its true. They tend to only focus on machinery useful to people in end of life care. Like they don't have CAT Scan or MRI machines. The basic stuff that you see in a hospital room for general care is at a hospice. Also I was talking about hospices as an alternative to hospitals. Hospice care at home is also very viable especially if you intend to be on a non-resuscitate order.

All of which is incredibly off topic. Back on topic here is something that befuddles me:

Fair enough. I saw the points being brought up about health care and costs and ran with the tangent. Wrong thread to do that in.

The Republican primaries are coming up and the candidates act like they're running against Obama. Is this common? When do they start differentiating themselves from one another? I'm at a disadvantage in that I rarely turn on the TV and so maybe I'm missing an ad campaign. Or maybe it's all done on the ground in the primary states. Seriously, I'm not very well-informed about primary philosophy and strategy.

The Republican party has traditionally been very strong at putting up a unified front as far as issues and policies. This also has the side effect of drawing out a much narrower field. Right now the party is defining itself in Obama oppositionalism. The specific policies are fragmented and even contradictory, but right now the players are banking on that the way to win the election is to be the anti-Obama, so the interview that is the primaries is to see who is the most anti-Obama person they can find. Considering how strongly Obama lines up with Republican policies of even 2007 this has pushed this narrowed field into interesting directions.

 

[mortimer]

Dumbing down the GOP? They've gotten almost everything they have wanted since 2008, despite not holding the Presidency, the Senate, or the House (2 out of 3 years). I wonder which party is being dumbed down here.

 

[Roadtoad]

Dumbing down the GOP? They've gotten almost everything they have wanted since 2008, despite not holding the Presidency, the Senate, or the House (2 out of 3 years). I wonder which party is being dumbed down here.

On the other hand, read through Michelle Bachman's platform. I think that's the point that's being made.

 

[Minoosh]

Hunh. I would have though hospice care and a DNR order would go hand in hand.

 

[mortimer]

On the other hand, read through Michelle Bachman's platform. I think that's the point that's being made.

Oh, no doubt she's crazy. But I'm not sure that's contributed to dumbing down the GOP, based on their victories from a position of weakness.

 

[leftysergeant]

The extreme right has dumbed-down the country by interfering with the educational system so that people are not aware of what the consequences of the GOP approach to government must be.

Ask a high school student what fascism is and where it was tried. My bet would be that you will get a blank stare and no coherent answer.

This is why you have radical blathermeisters like the Rushblob telling parents that they have to show up at school board meetings and demand that the schools stop wasting their time teaching their kids crap like unionism and the history of the New Deal and the First Great Republican Depression.

 

[leftysergeant]

Oh, no doubt she's crazy. But I'm not sure that's contributed to dumbing down the GOP, based on their victories from a position of weakness.

Did the Nazis win because they were rational? Did they maintain their rule by teaching sound history and science?