Nothing as important as your health – unless you are an US Republican or a British Tory
President Obama’s health reforms seem to have driven the right wing in America in to a frenzy. The Fox network for some reason seems to have taken the lead on this as it has on anything that vilifies the President. The network has become unwatchable as it goes from one extreme to another – from Sean Hannity spending two programs investigating Obama’s connections and the question of the validity of his birth certificate to Glen Beck showing Nazi posters as an example of state medicine or calling President Obama (remember Obama had a white mother and has white relatives) a racist!
This was seen as an internal struggle between the President and his Republican detractors, until that is they start defaming other country’s health systems by, basically, lying about them. What is worse some British MEPs, namely a Mr Hannan has been on nearly every Fox show to decry the British National Health System (NHS), even to the point calling anyone stupid for even thinking of the NHS as a viable system.
This was ok until the British press woke up and started reporting his comments which are very embarrassing to his leader. As the Tory have done a great job (so far) in changing the public perception of them as the “nasty” party to a caring sharing party with “progressive” ideals. Step up the leader to support the NHS only to have another Tory MP say the same thing.
Oh oh, is this an indicator of what the Tory party “really” think or is it just the usual right wing mavericks?
I think it is nearer to what the Conservative party really thinks. Just look at its recent history. After the break up of the post war consensus by Margaret Thatcher, the Tory party has had antipathy towards public services running through out its body politic. It spent most of its 18 years in power privatising, splitting up or “marketising” every aspect of public services while starving them of investment for so long that they were on the point of collapse when the Labour party came in to government.
I don’t believe for a moment that this new found fondness for public services will last if they are re-elected. You can write the headlines now “accounts in worse state that we thought” ” Have to be radical” “cuts painful but necessary” etc.
As to the USA right wing media they should concentrate on their own system not trying to compare our NHS to a “Nazi” system. For a comparison of outcomes and cost look a this on the BBC website.
I can’t be the only person who, when telling someone that he was visiting the USA always the gets the same warning not against crime, but to make sure we were fully insured otherwise we could be bankrupted if we fell ill or had an accident.
The funniest and most blatant lie was a right wing website editorial; IBEditorials.com on August 3rd arguing that if Professor Stephen Hawking had been born in Britain he would have never been allowed to live, forgetting that he is actually British and until he started making money from his books he was cared for by 24 hour nursing by the NHS. They have now taken down the incorrect article but instead of just admitting their mistake the IBD go on to berate the NHS and who do they quote, why no other than Mr Hannan!
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