Thursday, January 19, 2006

The joy of slapping around anonymous commenters.


Back here, when I suggested that the new American Medicare prescription drug program was nothing you'd want to use as a good example for Canada, an anonymous commenter got a little uppity:

Let's see Canada overhaul its healthcare system and see if no major problems occur in the beginning.

Well, let's see if history is any indicator as to whether the implementation of a new healthcare system has to be as much of a total clusterfuck as this new U.S. system is, shall we? Let's check in on Kevin Drum, as he relates what happened when Medicare was first introduced in the U.S.:

So what happened on the day that this complex program was implemented? Thousands of senior citizens simply went to the hospital and got the health care they needed. "There were no crises that I remember," says Yale University political scientist Theodore Marmor, who worked in the office overseeing Medicare implementation and went on to write The Politics of Medicare, the program's definitive history. Newspaper accounts from the '60s back him up. Under the headline "medicare takes over easily," a Post writer described the program's first day as "a smooth transition, undramatic as a bed change." Three weeks later, the Times affirmed that "medicare's start has been smooth."

Well, golllleeee, Sergeant Carter. No clusterfuck. How about that? And follow the links there if you want to learn more about how this new plan is a complete rip-off.

Sorry, anonymous ... you were saying?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

My point still stands. Things were very different back in the 60s. Medicare was a much simpler system back then. Also, the laws were much more limited.

Of course, your attempt to slap me around fails as your provide the example of Medicare being first introduced. Try giving an example of a system being overhauled.

CC said...

Anonymous writes:

My point still stands.

No, it doesn't. It lies there, bleeding from the ears.

Things were very different back in the 60s.

Well, yes, I'll give you that -- the difference being that Medicare wasn't introduced by a criminally corrupt and incompetent administration whose main agenda was to see it fail miserably.

So, sure, I'll give you that.

Medicare was a much simpler system back then.

Another good point, as I'm sure we all realize at this point that the current administration is not even remotely qualified to handle something complicated. (See: Iraq.)

Good job pointing that out.

Of course, your attempt to slap me around fails as your provide the example of Medicare being first introduced. Try giving an example of a system being overhauled.

Ah, I see. And if I did that, you would no doubt complain that that didn't count since it wasn't an overhaul of some sort of health care system being overhauled.

And if I provided an example of that, you would almost certainly whine that it wasn't an example of a health care system that involved prescription drugs.

And if I provided an example of that ... well, you get the idea. In short, it's not the Bush administration's fault. It's never their fault, is it?

Why don't you just blame it on Clinton and get it over with? I know you want to. I can feel it ...

CC said...

By the way, anonymous, speaking of "overhauling" things, remember this?

Rumsfeld Outlines Defense Overhaul

"Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signaled his intention to pursue dramatic reforms in the way the nation's armed forces are organized, outlining major changes in U.S. strategic thinking in a private meeting with President Bush, several senior government officials said yesterday."

Yeah, that worked out really well, too, didn't it?

Anonymous said...

I see. You're quite transparent. You're not at all interested in any meaningful discussion. You're just out to slam the Bush administration by any means you can pull out of your bloated ass.

CC said...

Anonymous writes:

I see. You're quite transparent. You're not at all interested in any meaningful discussion. You're just out to slam the Bush administration by any means you can pull out of your bloated ass.

Which would, of course, be completely different from the way the Right has dealt with, say, Bill Clinton.

I'd explain the phrase "hoist by your own petard" but I suspect it would be lost on you.

Anonymous said...

Cute. The "they did it first! *whinewhinewhine*" defense. Very mature of you, CC. Now please go get your mommy to change your diaper.