This Hentoff fellow seems to defend some of the lefts positions. He has no bones about pointing out the stupidity of many of their positions. He is a civil libertarian, free speech activist, anti-death penalty advocate atheist.


A self-described uncategorizable libertarian.


He makes some pretty good points about our current "president" and where he has done the opposite of what he promised to do.


In otherwords, he points out that this Obama fellow is a liar.


And he is running America. Where ? We're not sure.

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Nat Hentoff: I try to avoid hyperbole, but I think Obama is possibly the most dangerous and destructive president we have ever had. An example is ObamaCare, which is now embattled in the Senate. If that goes through the way Obama wants, we will have something very much like the British system. If the American people have their health care paid for by the government, depending on their age and their condition, they will be subject to a health commission just like in England which will decide if their lives are worth living much longer.


In terms of the Patriot Act, and all the other things he has pledged he would do, such as transparency in government, Obama has reneged on his promises. He pledged to end torture, but he has continued the CIA renditions where you kidnap people and send them to another country to be interrogated. Why is Obama doing that if he doesn't want torture anymore? Throughout Obama's career, he promised to limit the state secrets doctrine which the Bush-Cheney administration had abused enormously. The Bush administration would go into court on any kind of a case that they thought might embarrass them and would argue that it was a state secret and the case should not be continued. Obama is doing the same thing, even though he promised not to.


So in answer to your question, I am beginning to think that this guy is a phony. Obama seems to have no firm principles that I can discern that he will adhere to. His only principle is his own aggrandizement. This is a very dangerous mindset for a president to have.


JW: Do you consider Obama to be worse than George W. Bush?


NH: Oh, much worse. Bush essentially came in with very little qualifications for presidency, not only in terms of his background but he lacked a certain amount of curiosity, and he depended entirely too much on people like Rumsfeld, Cheney and others. Bush was led astray and we were led astray. However, I never thought that Bush himself was, in any sense, "evil." I am hesitant to say this about Obama. Obama is a bad man in terms of the Constitution. The irony is that Obama was a law professor at the University of Chicago. He would, most of all, know that what he is doing weakens the Constitution.


In fact, we have never had more invasions of privacy than we have now. The Fourth Amendment is on life support and the chief agent of that is the National Security Agency. The NSA has the capacity to keep track of everything we do on the phone and on the internet. Obama has done nothing about that. In fact, he has perpetuated it. He has absolutely no judicial supervision of all of this. So all in all, Obama is a disaster.


JW: Obama is not reversing the Bush policies as he promised. But even in light of this, many on the Left are very, very quiet about Obama. Why is that?


NH: I am an atheist, although I very much admire and have been influenced by many traditionally religious people. I say this because the Left has taken what passes for their principles as an absolute religion. They don't think anymore. They just react. When they have somebody like Obama whom they put into office, they believed in the religious sense and, of course, that is a large part of the reason for their silence on these issues. They are very hesitant to criticize Obama, but that is beginning to change. Even on the cable network MSNBC, some of the strongest proponents of Obama are now beginning to question, if I may use their words, their "deity."


NH: In England, you have what I would call government-imposed euthanasia. Under the British healthcare system, there is a commission that decides whether or not, based on your age and physical condition, the government should continue to pay for your health. That leads to the government not doing it and you gradually or suddenly die. The present Stimulus Bill sets up the equivalent commission in the United States similar to that which is in England. The tipoff was months ago on the ABC network. President Obama was given a full hour to describe and endorse his health plan. A woman in the audience asked Obama about her mother. Her mother was, I believe, 101 years old and was in need of a certain kind of procedure. Her doctor didn't want to do it because of her age. However, another doctor did and told this woman there is a joy of life in this person. The woman asked President Obama how he would deal with this sort of thing, and Obama said we cannot consider the joy of life in this situation. He said I would advise her to take a pain killer. That is the essence of the President of the United States.



Read the entire article here:



http://www.reviewmessenger.com/index...:guest-opinion

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Something wicked this way comes.

This guy thinks that Obama is attempting to institute a British-style system?

People who are still comparing what's being proposed to a Brit system that has wholly owned and operated by the government are willfully or blissfully ignorant.

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The world could use more Stan Ovshinsky's

Is that right ?


So you believe that a bunch of incompetent bureaucrats will lead Americans to improvements in access and availability and affordability to healthcare ? So much so that you'll defend it by calling people against it willfully or blissfully ignorant ?

Didn't take the time to read the opening post or the article it's about did you ?

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Something wicked this way comes.

What does his being an atheist have to do with anything?

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Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings...

demonstrates his ability to understand the left and why they can't criticize their idol.

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Socialism doesn't create a rising tide that lifts all boats. It drains the lake and teaches the boat riders not to help themselves by rowing.

Jesus loves you, allah wants you dead

"Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others."

Ayn Rand

It was pointed out only to show that he is an atheist. An atheist who doesn't find it necessary to attempt to silence people who believe differently. In otherwords, he isn't motivated by hate or mindless narcissism. After this, I will no longer point out direct writings from the article that we all have access to in the opening post. If you're not interested in the thread, don't bother with it.

From the article:

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A self-described uncategorizable libertarian, Hentoff adds he is also a “Jewish atheist, civil libertarian, pro-lifer.” Accordingly, he has angered nearly every political faction and remains one of a few who has stuck to his principles through his many years of work, regardless of the trouble it stirred up. For instance, when he announced his opposition to abortion he alienated numerous colleagues, and his outspoken denunciation of President Bill Clinton only increased his isolation in liberal circles (He said that Clinton had "done more harm to the Constitution than any president in American history," and called him "a serial violator of our liberties.").

........

NH: I am an atheist, although I very much admire and have been influenced by many traditionally religious people. I say this because the Left has taken what passes for their principles as an absolute religion. They don't think anymore. They just react. When they have somebody like Obama whom they put into office, they believed in the religious sense and, of course, that is a large part of the reason for their silence on these issues. They are very hesitant to criticize Obama, but that is beginning to change. Even on the cable network MSNBC, some of the strongest proponents of Obama are now beginning to question, if I may use their words, their "deity."


America under Barack Obama

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Something wicked this way comes.

I'd be willing to bet you also haven't taken the time to read the more than 2,000 pages of this ridiculous "healthcare reform" bill these politicians are proposing we all live under.

.....willfull and/or blissfull ignorance ?

Who ?

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Something wicked this way comes.

Yes.

No. Never made that contention. My comment was about a comparison to what is being proposed here to the British system. It was never the same...and in practice, it looks like it will be far, far, from anything that resembles the British system.

I will call people willfully or blissfully ignorant when they demonstrate themselves to be so.

Read the whole thing...only found fit to comment about his comparison to British health care.

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The world could use more Stan Ovshinsky's

Nope haven't read the whole health care bill.....house version or the senate....

But then, I'm not the one being interviewed to make my contentions, comparisons, critiques, or praises of it, am I?

I know enough to know what the health care bill (in it's current incarnation) is not. It's nothing like the single-payer wholly government owned and operated British system. Especially since there will probably be no public option, even for the insurance segment.

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The world could use more Stan Ovshinsky's

And yet... Obama and the whole of the Democratic leadership says that this bill is the necessary first step to a "government owned and operated" single payer system.

You can see Obama say it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-_SGGcJu_c

Now... who is lying or willfully ignorant?

Well, he's talking about the insurance part of it. Insurance alone is not the entirety of the health care system. In Britain, the government owns the hospitals and pays the doctors.

That domino theory stops well short of British health care.

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The world could use more Stan Ovshinsky's

Here's the deal scout. You know as well as I that once you get "govt." involved in anything, it's impossible to get them OUT. Their involvement will always grow larger. They're like an octopus that slowly ruins and strangles anything they get their tentacles into. Eventually, this WILL be like the British system. Take note of what this obama cat said here:


President Obama was given a full hour to describe and endorse his health plan. A woman in the audience asked Obama about her mother. Her mother was, I believe, 101 years old and was in need of a certain kind of procedure. Her doctor didn't want to do it because of her age. However, another doctor did and told this woman there is a joy of life in this person. The woman asked President Obama how he would deal with this sort of thing, and Obama said we cannot consider the joy of life in this situation. He said I would advise her to take a pain killer. That is the essence of the President of the United States.


America under Barack Obama


Do we need "govt." telling doctors "It's too bad if you had enough empathy to treat this person, you can't lawfully treat them." ??

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Something wicked this way comes.

*sigh* ..IRV!!! "we got another obama eats puppies thread..."Irv!!!!

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"The captain has turned off the `No Dubbing' sign. You are free to speak any language you choose."

Bis interimitur qui suis armis perit...

Depending on the procedure, attempting it on a 101-year-old may be all but guaranteed to be a death sentence.

How are we supposed to pay for every life extending procedure on every person?

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Noli arrogantium iniurias pati

I'm missing how a government insurance plan would be any different from that patient's perspective....

It doesn't sound like something that a private insurance company would cover either.

But, it's a free country. If grandma has the cash, the doctor doesn't even have to check with the HMO.

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The world could use more Stan Ovshinsky's