anyone else catch this?

[scottw]

I missed it...this is the Olympics right?

"Instead, the Olympic ceremony featured a weird, politically correct extravaganza by film director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire). It was hailed by the sports website The Roar with the headline “London 2012: Most political Olympics opening ceremony since Berlin 1936.” The 1936 games, of course, were an infamous propaganda exercise for Adolf Hitler.

For The Roar’s Spiro Zanos, “the political message at London was that Britain could recover its greatness and become Great Britain once again if . . . [it] re-embraced the radical politics that unleashed the industrial revolution and the welfare state. . . . If this means having the most political opening ceremony since the Berlin Olympics in 1936, then so be it.” The state-worship so ably skewered by Jonah Goldberg in Liberal Fascism is alive and well.

The Boyle ceremony got underway with images of a bucolic Britain being swept away by a cigar-chomping elite that builds satanic mills filled with oppressed workers as steeplejacks hang from the towering chimneys. Later, 600 doctors and patients recruited from National Health Service hospitals were featured in a bizarre tribute to socialized medicine, with children bouncing up and down on 320 hospital beds arrayed in front of a giant Franken-baby wrapped in bandages. love that "FRNKENBABY" Villains from British children’s literature, ranging from Cruella de Vil to Lord Voldemort, sweep in on the children, in an apparent reference to conservative forces seeking to reform the tottering NHS. The 15-minute sequence ended with a series of red lights triumphantly spelling out “NHS.”

Left-wingers were thrilled. “Brilliant that we got a socialist to do the opening ceremony,” tweeted Alastair Campbell, former communications chief for the Labour party. Boyle denied he was promoting a political agenda.huh?????? “The sensibility of the show is very personal,” he told reporters. “We had no agenda haaaaaaaaaaaaa other than . . . values that we feel are true.” At a news conference beforehand, he explained that one of the reasons he “put the NHS in the show is that everyone is aware of how important NHS is to everybody in the country. One of the core values of our society is that it doesn’t matter who you are, you will get treated the same in terms of health care.”oh....not so

Can anyone seriously believe that? Sunday’s British papers report that a study by the research firm Lloyd’s TSB Premier Banking found that nearly two-thirds of Britons earning more than $78,700 a year have taken out private health insurance because they don’t trust the NHS. A survey by the British health-care organization Bupa found that two-thirds of its customers cited the risk of infection from superbugs as a top reason for buying private insurance. Shaun Matisonn, the chief executive of PruHealth, says that “patients today are sophisticated consumers of health care. They research the treatments they want, but cannot always get them through the NHS.”

Horror stories about the NHS abound. A 2007 survey of almost 1,000 physicians by Doctors’ Magazine found that two-thirds said they had been told by their local NHS trust not to prescribe certain drugs, and one in five doctors knew patients who had suffered as a result of treatment rationing. The study cited one physician who characterized the NHS as “a lottery.” A new study this year by GP magazine supports that conclusion. Through Freedom of Information Act records, it found that 90 percent of NHS trusts were rationing care.

Rick Dewsbury of the Daily Mail was aghast at the worship of the NHS during Friday’s Olympic ceremony. The columnist noted the sheer hypocrisy of the spectacle, as “the majority of the athletes taking part in the Games will have access to the most expensive cutting-edge private treatment available in the world for even the slightest graze on their bodies.”"

[JohnR]

Didn't get that NHS reference but the baby was disturbing

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by JohnR

Didn't get that NHS reference but the baby was disturbing

You must not have been listening to the NBC commentators then. When the whole NHS part was going, the NBC commentators went on a small tangent about how much the people in England love their state-sponsored health care and it's availability to everyone.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by JohnnyD

You must not have been listening to the NBC commentators then. When the whole NHS part was going, the NBC commentators went on a small tangent about how much the people in England love their state-sponsored health care and it's availability to everyone.

It was unbelievable. It's also b.s. I lived in England. Everyone who can afford to get out of the public healthcare and into a private plan, does so, as soon as humanly possible.

[Pete F.]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

It was unbelievable. It's also b.s. I lived in England. Everyone who can afford to get out of the public healthcare and into a private plan, does so, as soon as humanly possible.

Look up three things
Per capita health care costs
Health care as a % of GDP
Life expectancy
Who should be beotching?

[spence]

It's hilarious that some would try and make this all about politics...then again it does serve their agendas and in some cases make them a lot of money.

Here's a pretty rational take on the subject.

Was London Olympics Opening Ceremony A 'Socialist' Spectacle? - Forbes

-spence

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

Look up three things
Per capita health care costs
Health care as a % of GDP
Life expectancy
Who should be beotching?

With all that info you cited, how do you explain the fact that most Brits can't opt out of that public system fast enough? I guess they're just not as informed as you are.

There are stats that make their system look superior to ours. There are also stats, that I see you neglected to mention, that make our system look superior.

I don't pretend to know the answer. I do know that the opening ceremonies at the Olympics is a strange forum to have that discussion.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by spence

It's hilarious that some would try and make this all about politics...then again it does serve their agendas and in some cases make them a lot of money.

-spence

I for one am shocked, shocked, that Spence would respond by insulting those who disagree with him. Has he ever resorted to that?

I guess anyone who watches the Olymics and doesn't expect to get lectured about healthcare, is the type of guy who wears a shirt that says "god hates fags", right Spence?

Disagree with Spence, and you must be an inbred, toothless, gun-totin redneck who watches re-runs of "Hee-Haw" for kicks, while eating Chick Fil-A sandwiches through a straw (since we are all tothless)..

Spence, since you ran away from me on the other thread, I'll ask again...you said that blacks who oppose gay marriage simply "respectfully disagree" with liberals on the issue. You also said that whites who oppose gay marriage are the ones wearing "God hates fags" shirts.

So here is my question...how do you apply that to John McCain, a very moral man who happens to be opposed to gay marriage. Spence, does John McCain "hate fags"? Because I saw him on the "Ellen" show talking about this issue, and he sure didn't seem like a hate-monger to me.

[scottw]

Originally Posted by spence

It's hilarious that some would try and make this all about politics...then again it does serve their agendas and in some cases make them a lot of money.


-spence

that's funny because reading through your article.... it seems that both sides agree on this one

"One Conservative MP, Aidan Burley, also tweeted that the event was “leftie multicultural crap.” A left-wing MP for the Labor party, Paul Flynn, tweeted that, ”wonderfully progressive socialist sentiments and ideas were smuggled into the opening romp.”

cheers!!!

[spence]

Originally Posted by scottw

that's funny because reading through your article.... it seems that both sides agree on this one

"One Conservative MP, Aidan Burley, also tweeted that the event was “leftie multicultural crap.” A left-wing MP for the Labor party, Paul Flynn, tweeted that, ”wonderfully progressive socialist sentiments and ideas were smuggled into the opening romp.”

cheers!!!

No, you have partisan politicians trying to make the most out of it.

I'm talking about the idiots here that want to bash volunteerism and a world class charity children's hospital.

-spence

[spence]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

Spence, since you ran away from me on the other thread, I'll ask again...you said that blacks who oppose gay marriage simply "respectfully disagree" with liberals on the issue. You also said that whites who oppose gay marriage are the ones wearing "God hates fags" shirts.

I didn't run away, I happen to be a productive member of our economy.

So here is my question...how do you apply that to John McCain, a very moral man who happens to be opposed to gay marriage. Spence, does John McCain "hate fags"? Because I saw him on the "Ellen" show talking about this issue, and he sure didn't seem like a hate-monger to me.

Has McCain ripped supporters of gay marriage as arrogant because they think they can undo what's in the bible?

No, in fact he's said leave the issue up to the states and voted against a measure to ban gay marriage at the Federal level.

If you're only going to cite one example can't it be a good one?

-spence

[scottw]

Originally Posted by spence

No, you have partisan politicians trying to make the most out of it.

I'm talking about the idiots here that want to bash volunteerism and a world class charity children's hospital.

-spence

I'm just shocked to read a leftie using "wonderfully progressive socialist sentiments and ideas".....probably got a bad ice cube

smuggled in? they're so good and wonderful they need smuggling?

is that like? "you need to pass it before you can find out what is in it"

[spence]

Originally Posted by scottw

I'm just shocked to read a leftie using "wonderfully progressive socialist sentiments and ideas".....probably got a bad ice cube

It's really amazing isn't it? All these ideas and things...

-spence

[scottw]

Originally Posted by spence

It's really amazing isn't it? All these ideas and things...

-spence

guess you missed it but I'm accustomed to "progressives" swearing up and down that they aren't "socialists"....odd to see the two openly joined at the hip, so to speak and coming from the mouth of a progressive/socialist...but they're a little farther down the "Road" across the pond aren't they....they should just stick with "third way"...but it's not very catchy

[spence]

Originally Posted by scottw

guess you missed it but I'm accustomed to "progressives" swearing up and down that they aren't "socialists"....odd to see the two openly joined at the hip, so to speak and coming from the mouth of a progressive/socialist...but they're a little farther down the "Road" across the pond aren't they....they should just stick with "third way"...but it's not very catchy

I think you're ignoring the fact that an admitted US liberal is about equivelant to a moderate in in most other first world countries.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[scottw]

Originally Posted by spence

I think you're ignoring the fact that an admitted US liberal is about equivelant to a moderate in in most other first world countries.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

that's only because from left to right it's just varying degrees of statism for the most part....which makes American Conservatism truly unique(ask any Eurpoean that has been here for any period of time )...true Conservatives recognize the individual's inailenable rights and liberties and their primacy over the State's dictate, most others expect the individual to be subordinate to the state which is why American Conservative keep fighting for individual liberty/responsibility and limited government and Europeans and the American left and progressives from both sides continue to fight for larger more expansive centralized governemnt (EU) power and influence and continually diminish the role and responsibilities of the individual......


see : giant babies being cared for cradle to grave by national health care

[spence]

Originally Posted by scottw

that's only because

Good to see you think I'm right
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[scottw]

Originally Posted by spence

Good to see you think I'm right
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

like a broken clock

[spence]

Originally Posted by scottw

like a broken clock

Well, at least that breaks Jim's theory
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[scottw]

Originally Posted by spence

Well, at least that breaks Jim's theory
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

nicely done

[spence]

Originally Posted by scottw

nicely done

Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by spence

I didn't run away, I happen to be a productive member of our economy.


Has McCain ripped supporters of gay marriage as arrogant because they think they can undo what's in the bible?

No, in fact he's said leave the issue up to the states and voted against a measure to ban gay marriage at the Federal level.

If you're only going to cite one example can't it be a good one?

-spence

"Has McCain ripped supporters of gay marriage as arrogant because they think they can undo what's in the bible?"

OK, now you are defending McCain.

Spence, you said that blacks who oppose gay marriage "respectfully disagree" with liberals, and whites who oppose gay marriage are all the equivalent of those who wear shirts that say "God hates fags". If that sounds absurd, that's because it is, but you are the one who said it.

Now, you are admitting that McCain, although he opposes gay marriage, isn't a hate monger.

How hard was that?

And you are not correct as often as a clock. You are as predictable as a clock, but not correct nearly as often.

[Pete F.]

Even a broken clock is right twice a day. I know digital blah, blah