Irrefutable proof, part 2 – June 25, 2008

0 Responses to Irrefutable proof, part 2 – June 25, 2008

1. Mike Honcho says:

   June 25, 2008 at 9:04 am

   Neal, I’m a little slow today, so I’m going to ask…do you support cutting this funding? The money being spent is really quite trivial, especially when you compare it to Medicaid payments made for reconstructive breast surgery on victims of breast cancer…which the state of Nebraska is not required to provide, but does anyway. Such surgery is also NOT medically necessary.

   I guess we’re lucky to be young and virile…I highly doubt that we’d be walking around with such big smiles if our ‘little men’ couldn’t ‘rise to the task’.

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2. neal says:

   June 25, 2008 at 9:27 am

   Hey Mike, glad to see you make the trip over here.

   I don’t think it’s as simple as the cartoon necessarily makes it out to be; I realize that men with that deficiency aren’t just looking to make babies they can’t afford. I do agree that there should be some kind of symmetry for the services that are provided without mandate or necessity. The initial story I read about this said how ED can lead to serious depression and marital problems, so I absolutely can see the argument for it.

   One bit of hesitation comes from the awareness that there are people who are so opposed to any kind of government aid for poor people that they’ll latch onto services like this as a way of caricaturing and turning people against the legitimate and important role played by Medicaid.

   If it were entirely up to me, I’d absolutely keep the funding in place. Ultimately, for this cartoon, my bleeding heart was overridden by the observation of something that seems so Darwinian in nature — “This is weird … I can’t afford to take care of myself … and now my reproductive organs aren’t doing their job … hmm …” It allowed for another appearance of Darwin and his Space Monkey (previously seen here), which I couldn’t resist.

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3. Mike Honcho says:

   June 25, 2008 at 1:09 pm

   Fair enough, I just wasn’t sure of the intent. I do love the space monkey.

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4. Kyle Stewart says:

   June 25, 2008 at 2:21 pm

   That’s me in that space suit, isn’t it.

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5. j says:

   June 25, 2008 at 5:29 pm

   I’m shocked, without explanation, this cartoon reads like some radical social-Darwinist tract.

   I see what you’re trying to say, but, uh wow.

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6. neal says:

   June 25, 2008 at 5:52 pm

   Hey j, I’m not sure what you think I’m trying to say, if you think what I’m trying to say requires explanation.

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7. j says:

   June 26, 2008 at 8:01 pm

   You don’t see anything cruel/social darwinist about suggesting poor people are getting ED,–or rather not being able to afford ED treatment–because they’re unfit to pass on their genetics?

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8. neal says:

   June 26, 2008 at 9:31 pm

   Oh yeah, that definitely sounds cruel. I just didn’t know what your initial interpretation of the cartoon was.

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