Dox47 wrote:
I've got a good example of the blind spot that the article is talking about; people's attitudes towards the fight over PPACA (Obamacare, if you must), no so much about the act itself but about the attitudes of others towards it.
I'm unsurprisingly in the Randy Barnett crowd, believing that the individual mandate is novel and unconstitutional because it regulates inactivity, and that is not one of Congress's enumerated powers. This is constant with my view on what I see as an overly broad reading of the commerce clause generally, and puts me squarely in the libertarian camp. I oppose PPACA not because I have a problem with providing healthcare to citizens, but because I have a big problem with the way that this bill would further erode at what little restraint congressional power currently has. Come up with a way of helping people that doesn't further encroach on my right to be left alone, and I'll have no objection to signing on.
Where I'm going with this is that to many liberal commentators and even liberals I've interacted with, my position just does not exist as far as they're concerned, if you're against the mandate you're for people dying in the street and to HELL with the Constitution (I've literally seen that last point made word for word). That's a fundamental breakdown in empathy for me, not to mention being a prime piece of ends justifying the means thinking and a good example of the "it's the thought that counts" school of rationalizing sometimes seen on the left when flaws in their lawmaking are pointed out. "How are we going to pay for this?" "I don't know, but that doesn't matter because it helps X people!". Stereotype? Yep. Inaccurate? Well...
Also:
You, yeah you, furiously typing some variant of "The RIGHT WINGERS DO THAT TOO!! !", I'll save your fingers the exercise: The right wing also has it's peccadilloes, we spend plenty of other threads talking about them, and their myriad flaws don't excuse anything discussed here anyway. There.
Damn, you are good ... theres that vague part about eroding at restraint that pops right out, looks juicy but I smell a trap.
I think I would skip over that and go for "even liberals Ive interacted with", knock that out (anecdote), then "many liberal commentators" - how many? Dismiss the specific examples you no doubt have as more anecdote ... maybe toss in a charge of assumption for that last bit (meh, itd keep you busy) ... still its a fairly peripheral line of attack ... but maybe Id find out more about the vague part ... anyway, I can tell it would be a good, tough fight. This one is a veteran position isnt it? You have had this fight before, I think.
13 May 2012, 3:37 am
