Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Dear Leader Doth Protest Too Much

So, I am reminded of several times when I've been a member of an online community or website of one kind or another.  Life happens, new members join, and site admin sends out a courteous message: our old server's inadequate, we'll be switching to a bigger, better server at midnight.  Please be patient with the switchover; there may be a few glitches as we get things settled.  And there may be a few glitches, but they are handled smoothly, and pretty soon you are back to using that website for logging your yarn stash or chatting about theology or playing games or filing your pictures or whatever it is you like to do.  Never once does the site admin berate you for not supporting the switch to the new server; almost always the website is a service that is free to you, supported by capitalistic advertising.  You are perfectly free not to participate in the website if you don't like it, and as long as you abide by fairly reasonable terms of service and don't try to use the website as a platform for plotting world domination, you are a welcomed and valued member of the community.  I'm not even tech-savvy enough to know for sure what a "server" actually is, but I know it's a good thing when a site I like switches to a new one -- it means the quality of the service provided will go up.

Well, the analogy breaks down with America and the "Affordable Care Act," which isn't very.  Because you can't opt out of the country of your citizenship, and apparently, it's not acceptable to dissent anymore, either.  That will get you labeled as an obstructionist who wants to re-fight the last election, and it might get you investigated by the IRS.  Don't you KNOW that Obamacare will be wonderful and carefree in this best of all possible worlds?  And even if there are a few minor glitches, we have to be patient for a few years as they're worked out.  Transformational change doesn't happen overnight, you know, and it's not cheap either -- unless you're a member of the Democratic base.  The one thing you must acknowledge, or else, is that any blame for the government shutdown belongs solely with the Republicans.  Don't listen to this guy.  Or those folks across the pond. President Obama isn't a weak leader -- why, he is like Steve Jobs, and Obamacare is better, more desirable than the i-pad.  He said so himself. (Okay, but you aren't required to buy Apple products, are you?)

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