My acquaintances in the (still existing piece of the) middle class think Obamacare has been a wonderful thing, & to be fair, to many it has been. But for many it has only been an extra expense without any added benefit as premiums & deductibles are still too high & then claims are denied. Only Bernie (of the Presidential candidates) had a political solution to this, but the corporate oligarchy (including Dem politicians in the pockets of said oligarchs) shot it down. Dems don’t fare any better on this subject than Repubs. It’s no wonder voters don’t see any difference between the parties & why Steve Banon’s message of destroying it all has had some sway. It’s a sad day today. I was hoping the shooter had gotten away.
Spot on. Neither party has fought for true healthcare access. Obamacare is the Heritage Foundation's healthcare plan to combat against single-payer. Obama implemented it because he thought it would be "bipartisan." It was a positive, but we shouldn't drop the context that it's an insurer-first plan.
Oooooo I remember the first year it was implemented I was B-R-O-K-E and was livid that I had an extra expense on my taxes for not being insured. It felt like a damned if you, damned if you don't situation. I was in the throws of changing how I fundamentally thought of politics and that experience made me realize that Obama just had great PR, and perhaps the Democratic party was not it
David Sirota recently reshared an interview with Obama, in which he asked Obama why not transition to Medicare for All. Obama's response would destroy healthcare industry jobs, which is a bizarre claim that we should continue an inefficient system for the benefit of a few.
Knowing so many people who have suffered very real physical/financial/psychic harm at the hands of UHC (and UHG, for that matter), makes it really hard for me to have any sympathy.
I think that's what has led to the division in responses. Pretty much every working-class American at least knows someone who has suffered from our healthcare system. When we heard Thompson was killed, we thought of that person and can understand the motivation, even if we don't approve of it. Alternatively, those with wealth and connections know very few people who have suffered this way, so the idea of violence is foreign.
Those with wealth and connections have in fact taken it upon themselves to lecture the rest of us that our actual, adult, lived experience with this shit-show torture porn that is the American “healthcare” system didn’t actually happen! We must have imagined it! Or we were too busy sharpening our guillotines to find that extra $100k a year to “just buy concierge medical care”. I swear to God I have heard and read that exact sentiment multiple times since the murder, and not from far-right assholes, but universally from the “I’m a CLASSICAL liberal”- crowd. They same people who spent the past 4 yrs telling all of us that we don’t “understand the working class”, (because to them “working class” includes the guy who owns 4 car dealerships and corporate landlords. But they wear jeans & say “shit” & “fuck” sometimes- so they’re “working class”.
I am a member of a group on Facebook that has a lot of MAGA chuds, and when I post leftist content, it gets a lot of derision. Memes about the CEO assassination were met with applause. They can't see the need for public healthcare, but they nonetheless see the problem with private healthcare. Class consciousness is always lurking below the surface.
Even for those who would reject the sense they're a "worker" and would call themselves a "capitalist" (even though they're not), they recognize the reality in their daily lives: It's not something Fox News told them to be mad about. They're mad about it because they live with it!
From my strategic perspective, it can't be stressed enough the error of arrogance that the likes of Shapiro and Walsh, et al. have made; with their own propagandistic tools they have driven a wedge between themselves + those they are constantly working to keep on-side. Many of those people may now belatedly realize that all they've ever done by supporting the right is trade one "elite" for another, even more tone-deaf one. That breach should be unceasingly wedged further open, it is the first truly exploitable crack in the wingnut-media facade in a very long time.
Spot on. Especially how they're now all trying to sound like populist working men, topics such as this remind audiences they're actually very pro-establishment: they just don't like the Democratic side.
I could sing Giuseppe Zangara’s song from the musical Assassins!, but I felt like John Brown’s Body was a better comment on account of you bringing up Nat Turner.
Sacco and Vanzetti. There’s a couple of songs about them: “Here’s to You,” by Joan Baez, and “Two Good Arms,” written by Charlie King, and I know it from Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert.
My acquaintances in the (still existing piece of the) middle class think Obamacare has been a wonderful thing, & to be fair, to many it has been. But for many it has only been an extra expense without any added benefit as premiums & deductibles are still too high & then claims are denied. Only Bernie (of the Presidential candidates) had a political solution to this, but the corporate oligarchy (including Dem politicians in the pockets of said oligarchs) shot it down. Dems don’t fare any better on this subject than Repubs. It’s no wonder voters don’t see any difference between the parties & why Steve Banon’s message of destroying it all has had some sway. It’s a sad day today. I was hoping the shooter had gotten away.
Spot on. Neither party has fought for true healthcare access. Obamacare is the Heritage Foundation's healthcare plan to combat against single-payer. Obama implemented it because he thought it would be "bipartisan." It was a positive, but we shouldn't drop the context that it's an insurer-first plan.
Oooooo I remember the first year it was implemented I was B-R-O-K-E and was livid that I had an extra expense on my taxes for not being insured. It felt like a damned if you, damned if you don't situation. I was in the throws of changing how I fundamentally thought of politics and that experience made me realize that Obama just had great PR, and perhaps the Democratic party was not it
David Sirota recently reshared an interview with Obama, in which he asked Obama why not transition to Medicare for All. Obama's response would destroy healthcare industry jobs, which is a bizarre claim that we should continue an inefficient system for the benefit of a few.
"But think of the middle managers!" 🤣 LMAO
It goes further- housing, food, education, debt service. We are all in the crosshairs of capitalism- except for the elites taking aim.
Knowing so many people who have suffered very real physical/financial/psychic harm at the hands of UHC (and UHG, for that matter), makes it really hard for me to have any sympathy.
I think that's what has led to the division in responses. Pretty much every working-class American at least knows someone who has suffered from our healthcare system. When we heard Thompson was killed, we thought of that person and can understand the motivation, even if we don't approve of it. Alternatively, those with wealth and connections know very few people who have suffered this way, so the idea of violence is foreign.
Those with wealth and connections have in fact taken it upon themselves to lecture the rest of us that our actual, adult, lived experience with this shit-show torture porn that is the American “healthcare” system didn’t actually happen! We must have imagined it! Or we were too busy sharpening our guillotines to find that extra $100k a year to “just buy concierge medical care”. I swear to God I have heard and read that exact sentiment multiple times since the murder, and not from far-right assholes, but universally from the “I’m a CLASSICAL liberal”- crowd. They same people who spent the past 4 yrs telling all of us that we don’t “understand the working class”, (because to them “working class” includes the guy who owns 4 car dealerships and corporate landlords. But they wear jeans & say “shit” & “fuck” sometimes- so they’re “working class”.
I am a member of a group on Facebook that has a lot of MAGA chuds, and when I post leftist content, it gets a lot of derision. Memes about the CEO assassination were met with applause. They can't see the need for public healthcare, but they nonetheless see the problem with private healthcare. Class consciousness is always lurking below the surface.
Even for those who would reject the sense they're a "worker" and would call themselves a "capitalist" (even though they're not), they recognize the reality in their daily lives: It's not something Fox News told them to be mad about. They're mad about it because they live with it!
From my strategic perspective, it can't be stressed enough the error of arrogance that the likes of Shapiro and Walsh, et al. have made; with their own propagandistic tools they have driven a wedge between themselves + those they are constantly working to keep on-side. Many of those people may now belatedly realize that all they've ever done by supporting the right is trade one "elite" for another, even more tone-deaf one. That breach should be unceasingly wedged further open, it is the first truly exploitable crack in the wingnut-media facade in a very long time.
Spot on. Especially how they're now all trying to sound like populist working men, topics such as this remind audiences they're actually very pro-establishment: they just don't like the Democratic side.
Excellent post, Joe. Nothing to add for once ;)
Thanks, Tina!
JOHN BROWN’S BODY LIES A’MOULDERING IN THE GRAVE!
We'll need an Italian version.
I could sing Giuseppe Zangara’s song from the musical Assassins!, but I felt like John Brown’s Body was a better comment on account of you bringing up Nat Turner.
Sacco and Vanzetti. There’s a couple of songs about them: “Here’s to You,” by Joan Baez, and “Two Good Arms,” written by Charlie King, and I know it from Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert.
Man, I know I sometimes disagree with you- maybe not as strongly as it comes off in my writing- But you are 8 million % correct on this one.
lol, while I'm glad we found consensus on this one.
Thumbs up on this one, Joe. Thank you.
I'm glad you appreciated it!