Countdown to Extinction: The 2016 Presidential Election

[Florestan]

And the Nordic countries' healthcare systems seem to be alright as well. In Finland it's likewise a mixture of state/private, employee healthcare being private, and for anything else you can choose either.

Well, yes. When it comes to healthcare it's not either (the state) / or (the market), it's both.

And the classical liberal "right to life" is quite tricky: the most obvious threat to life are the diseases, so the state should see to it that everybody receives the healthcare he needs, right? 

[North Star]

Well, yes. When it comes to healthcare it's not either (the state) / or (the market), it's both.

And the classical liberal "right to life" is quite tricky: the most obvious threat to life are the diseases, so the state should see to it that everybody receives the healthcare he needs, right? 

Absolutely.

[ibanezmonster]

Oh, Mike..

People's reactions to this are really ridiculous.
It was a joke. Every high school guy has wished they could get into the girls' locker room and see them undress. He didn't say anything else, and people are stretching what he said to extreme meanings.

And no, I don't support him, before anyone jumps to the "OMG! You're incredibly evil!" conclusion that people on the internet jump to so quickly.

[Karl Henning]

Those people on the Internet!

[(poco) Sforzando]

People's reactions to this are really ridiculous.
Every high school guy has wished they could get into the girls' locker room and see them undress.

I imagine there are many gay high school boys who are deliriously happy with the locker room they are already assigned (that is, if they're not afraid of having the shit beaten out of them by the objects of their adoration) . . . .

[Karl Henning]

Why GOP donors are giving to everyone except Rand Paul

[North Star]

Why GOP donors are giving to everyone except Rand Paul

He's clearly a horrible man for not mongering war.

[ibanezmonster]

I imagine there are many gay high school boys who are deliriously happy with the locker room they are already assigned (that is, if they're not afraid of having the shit beaten out of them by the objects of their adoration) . . . .

Oh, I bet. 

[Ken B]

And the Nordic countries' healthcare systems seem to be alright as well. In Finland it's likewise a mixture of state/private, employee healthcare being private, and for anything else you can choose either.

Which is NOT single payer.

[Ken B]

Well, yes. When it comes to healthcare it's not either (the state) / or (the market), it's both.

Right. Which is NOT single payer.

[Florestan]

Right. Which is NOT single payer.

Okay. Are we going to argue over terminology or discuss the thing in itself?   

I do support the Swiss system but I guess I´m still a Socialist because it involves federal regulations and mandatory primary insurance. 

[Ken B]

Okay. Are we going to argue over terminology or discuss the thing in itself?   

I do support the Swiss system but I guess I´m still a Socialist because it involves federal regulations and mandatory primary insurance. 

You wonder why you are matched up with Bernie Sanders when you answer yes to questions like "Do you support the total abolition of health insurance markets and the prohibition on private healthcare?" 
And Common Core is NOT just standardized testing. It is a particular and controversial program.

[Rinaldo]

It was a joke. Every high school guy has wished they could get into the girls' locker room and see them undress. He didn't say anything else, and people are stretching what he said to extreme meanings.

It was a stupid, ignorant joke, showing how friggin' clueless the guy is about gender dysphoria (and the plight of transgender people in general). And people are calling him out for exactly that.

Bernie Sanders is everyone's best option, to tell the truth. Although he is way too practical to become president. And here in America, it is far more important that his hair not stick out than that his ideas are solid and sensible.

Touché.

https://www.youtube.com/v/HnaqrepHrtc

[ibanezmonster]

It was a stupid, ignorant joke, showing how friggin' clueless the guy is about gender dysphoria (and the plight of transgender people in general). And people are calling him out for exactly that.

And that's part of what I'm talking about, although you didn't go off the deep end like many of the comments I read (like "wanna child rapist" and such).

He may be clueless (I don't know, you can't expect much from the GOP), but his joke doesn't even comment on the plight of transgender people at all. I mean, does it have to? I could say the same thing- I wouldn't have minded being able to turn into a girl during PE time, either.  (but it doesn't mean I don't understand that transgender people face incredible challenges and such). Outrage at the drop of a hat... perhaps in that "name a generation" thread, I should have chosen name it "The Offended Generation." 

[Todd]

Outrage at the drop of a hat... perhaps in that "name a generation" thread, I should have chosen name it "The Offended Generation."

It's a wedge issue, and one that's in the news.  It plays well to certain segments of the population for different reasons.  Huckabee is looking out for his post-election cycle paychecks.

It's early yet.  Expect more exploitation of other wedge issues for the next seventeen months.  This one is not a big enough vote getter.

[Todd]

Hillary's toughest competitor?  Oh, wait, this is Lincoln, not John.  Nevermind.  Carry on.

[Rinaldo]

He may be clueless (I don't know, you can't expect much from the GOP), but his joke doesn't even comment on the plight of transgender people at all.

No, he doesn't comment it - he makes stupid fun of it and trivializes the real stigma & pain, while being a creep as a bonus.

perhaps in that "name a generation" thread, I should have chosen name it "The Offended Generation."

..try 'The Generation That Actually Started To Give A Fuck About Marginalized People'.

[ibanezmonster]

Expect more exploitation of other wedge issues for the next seventeen months.

Of course, like always...

[Todd]

..try 'The Generation That Actually Started To Give A Fuck About Marginalized People'.

That is some fine regional-class hyperbole.

[ibanezmonster]

No, he doesn't comment it - he makes stupid fun of it and trivializes the real stigma & pain, while being a creep as a bonus.

Because everyone's stigma and pain must be treated SUPER SERIALLY ALL THE TIME. (Unless they're white + male + straight + able + cis + whatever, of course.)
Of course, it's creepy to be someone who in high school was attracted to the opposite gender and wouldn't mind seeing them naked.