Bless The Obama USA

Listening to Springsteen & sipping JD in celebration. There are still a lot of problems, but tonight was a good night for USA, a long-term realignment of their politics, and hence a good night for the world. A race between USA getting rational and global environmental, economic & security disaster. Solutions depend on functional USA politics, which means convincing Americans that Govt is the solution, not the problem, to a lot of basic problems, proving the system CAN work, and thus inspiring higher voter turnout, which always works to advantage of forces of democracy and progress. And that's why Obama went all-in on health care. The Republicans of tomorrow will look a lot more like Cons elsewhere. The curve is bent, hard, for good, now (assuming even Dems can't screw up Senate reconciliation).

One note: only ignorant fools miscontextualise mixed public-private health insurance systems. Go live in Europe, fools. For example, right-wing Canadians like to cite straw-man French system without noting 5+% have no health insurance, quite a few more have sub-optimal insurance, as confused by details of multiplicity of plans, the system is worse managed than ours, more in debt, more overspending, misallocation of resources (too many docs, and in wrong fields), paying for insurance = more hypochondria, highest drug use, costs, etc.etc.. And then they also forget how these systems, as in Sweden, are part of interconnected web of services. So if they want to be coherent, they have to also advocate that all other social services are offered on Swedish/French/Dutch level: MUCH HIGHER welfare, EI, virtually free education, daycare, etc. etc.. So before repeating these infuriatingly ignorant tropes, do some frigging research. And then be coherent: want French/Swedish systems, despite failings? Then also have to favour vastly increase expenditures on EI, welfare, etc., so people can buy their care. Etc.. God I hate decontextualisation. Every society has its own path, determined by history, geography, econ & politics - the right solution in one place is not the same elsewhere. You would think commentators in a federation as heterogeneous as Canada would understand this, by now. Apparently not. Crikey.

I'm glad the USA is on track to joining the rest of the civilised world. This will also increase USA tax levels down the line, and give Canada more freedom to pursue better services, as we will have consequently greater margin for manoeuvre. So bless the Obama USA. But God keep Canada glorious and free.