Blue Crab Boulevard

Ultimate Authoritarianism

I've been thinking about this for a while now. The recent idiotic statement of John Edwards just finally brought it to a head for me. Here's the statement:

"It requires that everybody be covered. It requires that everybody get preventive care," he told a crowd sitting in lawn chairs in front of the Cedar County Courthouse. "If you are going to be in the system, you can't choose not to go to the doctor for 20 years. You have to go in and be checked and make sure that you are OK."

He noted, for example, that women would be required to have regular mammograms in an effort to find and treat "the first trace of problem." Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, announced earlier this year that her breast cancer had returned and spread.

Edwards said his mandatory health care plan would cover preventive, chronic and long-term health care. The plan would include mental health care as well as dental and vision coverage for all Americans.

Got that? Mental health checkups will be mandatory. Preventative care - mandatory. You would have no - zero - right to decline to see a doctor. One presumes that Edwards would also make damn sure there are penalties for failing to do your duty to see a doctor when you are ordered to.

Say goodbye to all of your rights. If you welcome socialized health care, the Edwards version will take away all of your right to even refuse to take his "free" coverage. Nothing is ever free if the government is involved. In this case it will cost you your basic rights. But carry on. We're already very, very far down the road into an authoritarian state. Not the one the left screeches endlessly about, either. This is one where the left decides what is good for you. They have already targeted and marginalized people who smoke. For your own good. They are now targeting overweight people. For your own good. They are putting in place biofuel programs that will drive the price of food up relentlessly. For your own good. They want to kneecap the American economy. For your own good.

And it is not looking a lot like America in America any longer. Because "for your own good" is really all about the authoritarianism that the left screeches about all the time. But they are imposing it - systematically. Step-by-step they are taking away your rights, your choices.

Most people blogging this are on the rightish side of the issue. Ann Althouse, Right Wing Nut House, Clayton Cramer, Concurring Opinions, PoliBlog, alicublog, Hot Air, Neptunus Lex, Betsy's Page, Six Meat Buffet, Outside The Beltway, Redstate, Charlie Foxtrot, protein wisdom, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, QandO. All worth reading.

Civilization, Medicine, Politics | Gaius Monday, 3 September , 2007

By Bleepless, Monday, 3 September , 2007 @ 4:50 pm

It seems unlikely that Elizabeth Edwards had to skip any checkups.
By Sara, Tuesday, 4 September , 2007 @ 7:59 am

I agree that forced regular mental health care check ups would be a violation of a person’s personal rights. I do believe that the idea of requiring mammograms at least every couple of years would not be a bad thing. Even if he is put in office, this required social medical care won’t go through. I encourage you and anyone who thinks that required mammograms would not be a good idea to read these breast cancer message boards and see what women are going though who did not receive mammograms early enough.
By Gaius, Tuesday, 4 September , 2007 @ 8:09 am

Sara, There is a difference between making something available and forcing people to do something.
By Sylvia, Tuesday, 4 September , 2007 @ 8:29 am

They’d be able to monitor blood levels for medicines to make sure you’re actually taking the prescribed dosage. This would thrill the lab and drug lobbies!

Would they go the cost-cutting way, “No, you don’t need chemo, just go straight to hospice,” or the invasive route of compulsory chemo? Sigh.

Then there’s the whole abortion issue. There are a lot of false positives (lab errors) in amnios for Downs — would I have been required to abort my splendid daughter who turned out to be a gifted genius?
By quilly mammoth, Tuesday, 4 September , 2007 @ 11:24 am

Soma! Soma! Soma!