Bernie’s No Radical

Well, those of us who are passionate Democrats are never going to hear the end of this Bernie Sanders thing and what a mistake it is to hang socialism on a hook in front of President Trump just so he can attack it. That’s what you will hear. I think it’s bullshit, mainly because the nation has been drifting to the left a lot in the past half century and is no longer frightened by the thought government will control health care, among other things.

That’s right, government controlling health care! What could be worse?

I’ll tell you, the people who are controlling health care now, that’s what could be worse. I don’t even know who they are, I just know they have constructed a miserable system that covers not much of anything for most people and makes you jump through hoops just to get that. I have just emerged from the full Medicare experience for a total of three (count them, three!) brain surgeries. They were very difficult and my doctor says I was put completely through the ringer. But I Couldn’t be happier with the Medicare part of the process. I do believe it paid more than the lion’s share for surgeries that would have cost me perhaps $50,000 each. We paid some deductibles and used supplementals to cover some costs not covered by Medicare, but beyond that, it was as good an experience as three brain surgeries could possibly be. (I don’t recommend them, though.)

My wife and I get social security now, and that is nice having spent a lifetime working for it. But that’s a kind of socialism, too.

So before we let folks wave their arms and call Bernie a Pinko, look at what American social policy has done in the past 60 years or so. I’m not calling it socialism because I have never been able to figure out what that actually involved (and I lived in Russia for a couple of years and apparently saw it full in the face. It was awful.) But I don’t think that’s what we’re talking about here. The nation needs to educate itself on this subject right away so our foolish President won’t be able to bluster people into voting for him. Or not voting at all, which is just about the same thing in this atmosphere.