I started following this thread because I noted in an early post, with surprise and not a little horror, that my friend from high school, David Brog, evolved into a right-wing political activist who now heads up the Christian Zionists. He was apparently developing his political philosophy while we were skipping French and sharing goat's cheese sandwiches. Who knew?

While CarolC's views may seem entrenched and one-sided, I think that's partly because she has to keep repeating herself to people who deliberately misinterpret her views.

It is not anti-Jew or anti-Semitic to dispute Zionism.I haven't seen any posts here where she appears to be attacking Israeli people. She questions (rightly, in my opinion) the Israeli state, its treatment of the Palestinian people and the bankrolling of the Israeli state by the US government.

I don't think she meant to imply a direct correllation between the lack of health care in America and the funding of Israel by the US government. But the point she makes illustrates something pretty fundamental about the priorities of the American administration. To continue to fund the Israeli state and the war in Iraq when people in America are denied access to basic health care is not just a scandal - it's criminal, IMHO.



John on the sunset coast said:
"Learned about half hour ago that a friend (middle 40s) of my wife's who lives in one of those European Universal Health Care paradises has been diagnosed with cancer requiring a total hysterectomy. It took several weeks to get the necessary tests, over three weeks to get the results, and it will be five to six weeks, minimum, before she can get the actual surgery.

I'll take our system with all its warts."

My mother, who lives in New Jersey, and I, who live in the UK, both went through something similar to this, at the same time, last summer. Mine turned out to be a scare - she had to have an operation on her cancer. But I can tell you, the UK system was second to none. the speed at which I was seen, the comprehensiveness of the care and support, knocked spots off the level and speed of care that my mum received. I was into the doctor, had a "fast-track" referral to the hospital, and had every test I needed - and the results - on the same day. My mum had to go to numerous places for her tests, and it took weeks for the tests and results to come through.

Just saying.