Letters to the Editor
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@WT - Yes
is to draw out of people what, beyond the constraints of rational discourse, is actually driving them. The elitism and contempt for lower orders, the desire to restrict power to the members of their own class which is typical of almost all conservatives, and of many libertarians, is often well-hidden.
This is what I'm digging at. It's there, and not too deep or well hidden if you ask me.
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"baited breath"
Mona... I can only await with baited breath.
Eat some lutefisk.
I hear William loves Lutefisk. Or is that Arne? No, that's Arne. Try Gefilte for baiting William.
;-)
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@WT the asshole
This is just the end of it: What it accomplishes, though -- and in this your own tactics have always been spot-on -- is to draw out of people what, beyond the constraints of rational discourse, is actually driving them. The elitism and contempt for lower orders, the desire to restrict power to the members of their own class which is typical of almost all conservatives, and of many libertarians, is often well-hidden. Give 'em a poke -- even an unfair one -- and it all spills out. They really can't help themselves.
So if LWM tells utter lies about me -- which you know are falsehoods -- that's all fine in service of the higher value of exposing my purported villainies. I decided to believe your explanation of the "'cockroach" remark. I don't any longer. "Giving unfair pokes" is just dandy with you. Truth is secondary, if it factors at all.
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What, you thought I'd just give up and take your word for it?
Peace means something different when you use it as a club, yes? Solitudinem faciunt et pacem appellant is not exactly what I meant by peace, Mona. I have no interest in vilifying you, or your ideological soulmates, but your arguments -- and theirs -- are another matter.
You want to slip in a little slap at the advocates of the nanny-state here and there, fine. When I hear a plutocrat extolling the virtues of the free market, I don't mind doing likewise. If we were to explore our differences in any depth, Glenn would probably put out a contract on us -- or at least me, since he doesn't know me from Adam -- but I see no harm in reminding folks from time to time of the historical context in which our arguments are properly located. Do you?
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And on that note...
My great-grandmothers had virtually none of the options I have had, and there is a reason for that beyond feminist politics -- they were working their fingers to the bone maintaining a household. It is not an accident that I am the first women on either side of the family to earn an advanced degree.
-- -Mona-
If we stipulate that we both want the same thing, liberation, and William and I remain unconvinced of that as yet, the question arises as to who proposes the best path to that liberation.
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WT the asshole?
QED, I would say.
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Irrational Actors
That might be true if the world were full of rational actors. But we live in a society that subsidizes tobacco while requiring warnings that the stuff will kill you. Expecting logical consistency from a governmental agency runs contrary to experience.
Truly mind-boggling. Now in addition to telling me that I am criticizing the CDC's list of causes of death (I am not, I am explaining something about them), you are telling me that the CDC is peopled by insane doctors making irrational choices. Looks like economic inference (which frequently isn't that good in economics itself) is inanely incompetent to make medical judgment.
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More wingnuttery from GMU
Susan E. Dudley was named April 4, 2007, in a recess appointment by President George W. Bush to be Director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Dudley "will have an opportunity to change or block all regulations proposed by government agencies."
Dudley has been serving as a special advisor to the OIRA, which "reviews all proposed government rules." She previously served as director of the Regulatory Studies Program at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Susan_E._Dudley
Backstory:
http://www.mediatransparency.org/story.php?storyID=138
Poor Mona. She's had a rough day.
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@Ondolette
Any of our government agencies are now suspect. Even the CDC. This is the Bush administration, remember. Binge and purge.
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That must be the right wing mantra
Truth is secondary, if it factors at all.
-- -Mona-
Just call us Polonius.
Your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth,
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
With windlasses and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out...
Hamlet, Act II, scene i
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Didn't anyone else hear about the study on placebos
and how effective they can be? (sorry, too late to look for the link)
So, even though I have access to all of the best features of a teaching hospital at my disposal, I am more likely to choose (when appropriate) a visit to my acupuncturist or homeopath.
With them, I've actually had healing experiences, not like in most MD offices-- where it is not really their fault they have to practice 15-minute medicine. (If you even get that much time.)
As for homeopathy vs. our current system administered by the AMA... wasn't that all decided by a simple "vote," (in France)? And wasn't it a pretty close vote that could as easily have gone the other way... just like our elections in 2000 and 2004?
I think part of the problem in this discussion is with the idea of "informed choice" or "consent." It's a great ideal, but probably does not really occur as often as it should in Medicine... or lots of other areas. Without it, how do you avoid fraud? And what if I really do think that the FDA allows BigPharma too much "say" in making decisions about drug safety?
Had I known this discussion was going on, I'd have come back sooner, but now it's late. However, the statistics just on errors in medication are pretty staggering. So, I mostly just try to stay out of Medicine's way.
Ondelette, I do agree with you about the superiority of our emergency medicine. It's really in the area of chronic illnesses and end-of-life care that I think our system fails. Too bad that's such a big part of the whole deal.
WT, I'd like to hear more about your market-driven enemies of civilization. I suspect that I agree with that more than anything else in this sub-thread. Modern agriculture, for example, bears a lot of responsibility for defiling both civilization and our health...