Discuss

[james_davis_nicoll]

The demands of a free populace, too, are very seldom harmful to liberty, for they are due either to the populace being oppressed or to the suspicious that it is going to be oppressed...
and, should these impressions be false, a remedy is provided in the public platform on which some man of standing can get up, appeal to the crowd, and show that it is mistaken. And though, as Tully remarks, the populace may be ignorant, it is capable of grasping the truth and readily yields when a man, worthy of confidence, lays the truth before it.
Anyone who studies present and ancient affairs will easily see how in all cities and all peoples there still exist, and have always existed, the same desires and passions. Thus, it is an easy matter for him who carefully examines past events to foresee future events in a republic and to apply the remedies employed by the ancients, or, if old remedies cannot be found, to devise new ones based upon the similarity of the events.

Comments

[ilya187.livejournal.com]

In 2008 I voted for McCain for precisely the reasons you listed. This year I will definitely vote for Obama if anyone other than Romney is GOP nominee, and possibly even if Romney is. In part because Obama is not a blank mask any more, and I rather like (to my surprise) what he did over last three years.

[refugee50s.livejournal.com]

I'd be very interested to know what you like about him.

[ilya187.livejournal.com]

Mostly the fact that Obama actually works WITH other countries as opposed to expecting them to follow US lead, and being stunned when they refuse to do so. Also the fact he actually has an inkling to things called "energy policy" and "industrial policy", although not nearly as much as I'd like him to have. I rather like his space policy too. Do not really care about his health care bill because it accomplishes almost nothing, but it's not like Republicans offered something better.

I only came to this over last couple years, but yes, I think time has come for national health care system. Somehow the rest of the world is not scared of it the much of US is.

Of course, compared to Santorum or Gingrich, I would vote for a corpse. A corpse would not screw anything up.

[(Anonymous)]

That sort of depends on the corpse's spokespersons, no?

Bruce

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Actually Congress's health care bill ACA (Obama didn't have that much to do with it; Congress writes laws, people) will accomplish quite a lot in getting health insurance to Americans, particularly those not covered by employer group plans, or those currently covered by crap plans. It's at heart identical to Massachusetts reform, which I currently benefit from.

It doesn't do much to control costs, though it does do some things, more than Massachusetts did. Nor does it reform how health care is administered and billed and paid for; it just reforms people being able to get health care. But that's a huge first step.

[scott-sanford.livejournal.com]

While concerned about his near total lack of experience back in 2008, President Obama's track record since shows that he does seem consistently concerned with doing something useful for the country and working with others - both in DC and abroad. (This does not always work.) Since the other candidates seem to be happy to ride their various ideologies roughshod over human rights or the nation's well-being, yes, I'll settle for the guy who's at least trying to point the cat herd in the right direction more often than not.