Transform is not improve. Look it up. Google it. Pull down the dictionary. Leftists never meant improve. Transform.

And the only thing that is a work in progress is the collectivist impulse in this country that constantly leads to disaster. Hopefully, progressives will make improvements on themselves and make progress in that. Then we will all be better off.

That is supposed to be a trenchant metaphor to prove that progressives don’t love America. There are so many ways this parallel doesn’t hold up, Terry. For one thing, America is not a spouse that we married, but … well, many other things, but not a beloved person. One thing that America is, which makes it different from other countries one might have been born into, is a Democratic work in progress. We progressives believe that we show our love for America by trying to help improve it; I think most “conservatives” might say the same as well. “Transform” is a somewhat lofty verb, I think most of us would just say “improve a little.” Leave our beloved country just a little better off, like our admired predecessors did, from Jefferson to Lincoln to FDR to MLK.

And just to sink back down into your original metaphor, well, “transform,” “admire,” and “as they are” are strange word choices, but you can certainly care about and love a person while encouraging them and helping them to change some things about themselves.

Or is that crazed carpet-chewer thinking?

As for New Jersey, it is fairly easy to predict what happens to rats when the light shines…

p.s.

Are you married? If you are, and you want to “transform” your spouse, can you honestly say you admire them as they are?

The Stossel propaganda video was made in conjunction with the little Canadian fringe that wants to destroy the popular and largely successful Canadian healthcare system. There’s a minority of doctors there who would like to get paid more, and a “libertarian” think tank called the Fraser Institute (which I have always referred to as “the best little whorehouse in Canada”) They are well known for also making a widely-disproved study refuting the dangers of second-hand smoke that turned out to be funded by Philip Morris, and a widely-mocked study refuting global warming which was totally funded by Exxon. It is easy to go through Canada and find a few people to bitch about their treatment, enough to make a little documentary like this. But Canadians invariably tell pollsters, by about 90% margins, that they prefer their system to ours, and Tommy Douglas, the man who designed their system, was recently voted the greatest Canadian of all time.

Sally Pipes is from the Pacific Research Institute, the American branch of the Fraser Institute. Oh, and the systems being proposed for America now are nothing like the Canadian system anyhow. Whether better or worse, it will not be as subject to the vagaries of budgeting.

The post is filled with other bizarre things you sincerely believe if you’re Crowley: People like me, anon, anonster, Red Vixen, Obama, Olbermann, Maddow and Congressional Democrats are “ashamed of our country” when we want to improve things. Tens of thousands of Americans a year DO NOT DIE due to being uninsured, and most Americans DO NOT want health care reform. Congress does not have the votes when it is obvious now that they do. Chris Christie is gonna win the governor’s race in New Jersey and then all Democrats will scurry in fear from their progressive ideals! Ah, I can’t go on. I did read the whole thing. I’m sure he didn’t read my post yesterday, so why do I bother.

OMG, exactly! I don’t think I could stand listening to this guy on a regular basis. But I applaud Terry for bringing some of his bizarro world here to share!

And one thing that was patently false: PROFITS drive innovation for prosthetic devices. Absolutely wrong. Most of that stuff comes from the VA and profits on the devices are negligible because the population needing them is very small. PROFIT- DRIVEN health insurance is NOT your friend, unless you are the one getting the direct monetary profits.

It’s really astounding how the working class has been duped into shilling for the very wealthy at the expense of their OWN well-being. If you cannot recognize the biggest fool at the poker table of business, Terry, YOU are probably the biggest fool!

Jeez, I was shocked by the video clip, John Stossel acts like he’s addressing a bunch of kindergartners, oops, I guess that’s why Terry’s so impressed, what is it you like best about him Terry, his sing-song delivery or the way he simplifies everything by eliminating the big words? I guess John Stossel knows his audience.

As to health care reform passing, time will tell, and if it passes with an opt-out provision then we’ll see if Republican Governors “stick to their principles” and opt-out. LOL

Psychoanalytic genius, heal thyself.