The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

Poltics

Is Healthcare A Right?- Social Obligations

Over at Dr. Helen’s she has an post asking Should Healthcare Be a Right? It is a good question and one that I’d like to address quickly.

At the moment those of us who live in the United States live within a very angry country. People are irate about many different things but if you ask me much of the anger boils down to one thing, responsibility.

It all comes down to who you believe should be responsible for certain things. Some people feel that too many people are looking for a free handout and that they are not taking responsible for themselves and for their families.

Others maintain that we are operating on a class system and that “those that have got” don’t care about “those that don’t” and that they should. I mulled over getting into a long discussion about Maslow’s Hierarchy but think that I am going to pass. Instead I’ll provide you with this cool graphic.

I find some of this to be relatively simple. We have a social responsibility and obligation to try and provide food, shelter, education and healthcare to everyone. I know, some of you are busy shouting socialist at me. Too bad that you use it as a pejorative term when you don’t really understand it. But that is neither here nor there.

I am not a proponent of trying to provide everything for free or to suggest that people shouldn’t have any personal obligation to secure these things for themselves and their families. They should. As I have written many times I do not believe that welfare should be given without conditions.

We need to demand accountability from people. We need to set standards and require that those who are able meet those standards. The challenge is that not everyone can do so. Some are always going to be incapable and unable and it is wrong to ignore them.

Some people will suffer some sort of catastrophic event and find themselves stuck in a downward spiral. Some of them will try very hard to pull themselves out and will be unable to do so.

It is not about handouts, but giving a handup. We are a better and stronger society when we look out for each other. Better education for all helps us. Better and more affordable healthcare is good for society.

People shouldn’t be afraid to work hard but they also shouldn’t feel that hard work offers no rewards or incentives.

Saudis Tell Bush to Suck It

There are more professional headlines that I could use than “Saudis Tell Bush to Suck It” but they’d be lacking the edge that this one requires.

You see our fearless leader asked our so called ally to help us by pumping more oil. Let’s take a look at the story, shall we.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (CNN) — Saudi Arabia Friday rebuffed President Bush’s request to immediately pump more oil to lower record prices, saying it does not see enough demand to increase production.

The Saudis said they would increase production if customers demanded it, Steven Hadley, Bush’s national security adviser, said.

Ali al-Naimi, the Saudi oil minister, on Friday said the country had increased its production by 300,000 barrels a day on May 10 in response to customer requests.

Al-Naimi said the increased production would bring Saudi Arabia’s daily production to 9.45 million barrels per day by June, according to the AP.

Bush is spending much of the day in closed-door meetings with King Abdullah, the Saudi ruler.

Friday’s visit was Bush’s second trip to the kingdom this year, coming as oil prices reached a new record high Friday of more than $127 a barrel. When he traveled to Riyadh in January, his request for the Saudis to pump more oil was also rejected.”

I haven’t any love for the Saudis for a whole host of reasons. I’ll share a number of links with you that help illustrate why:

Saudi Scholar Spouts Holocaust Denial and Calls for Genocide on Hamas TV (Video)

The good old Saudis who punish victims of rape

Another Reason Why Saudi Arabia is A Problem

I Don’t Trust The Saudis- Their Textbooks

In short they violate human rights, they fund terrorists and they promote intolerance for religious beliefs that are not based upon Islam. It galls me to no end that we help fund a racist, misogynist society that is working to undermine our own.

A Monkey With a Keyboard

Every now and then old Jack wades into the deeper waters of the blogosphere to debate topics of interest with other members of the blogosphere. Some of these conversations are exceptionally interesting and well worth my time and others….Well let’s just say that some of the others are about as intellectually stimulating as debating a monkey with a keyboard.

Recently I have found myself in another one of these simian food fights. The monkey made some outlandish and ill advised remarks and I responded. Said monkey didn’t like me throwing peanuts and begged for my bananas by trying to insult me. Now it is possible that I may have been less than endearing in my initial response to the monkey.

Then again maybe the monkey deserved to have his cage rattled. I don’t take kindly to threats and that is what the monkey did. Bonzo decided that lashing out was the best response to this. If Bonzo was a toddler it would have been called a classic case of baby tantrum. But Bonzo is not, Bonzo is second rate hack who fancies himself a mighty intellectual.

Good old Bonzo warms the cockles of my heart, even if his ranting is based upon the twisted fantasies of his own mind.

I am Numb

After all of the hype I am just numb. I almost don’t care, I am just happy that in a relatively short period of time the election will be over and we can start breathing again.

It is time to start focusing on improving things and fixing the world.

As a point of information I find it interesting that the traffic on this blog has been particularly slow this evening. Is everyone watching television. I wonder.

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