Slate has a story today on why vintage stoves are better than modern ones, and while the writer, Regina Schrambling, comes at the subject from a somewhat more oblique angle than I would have — she bought her ’50’s-era Wedgewood as “vintage” in the early ’90s — we arrive at the same place. Not long ago the New York Times ran a story on Jim Harrison, the poet/novelist, at his winter home in Arizona. Harrison is a famous gourmand, and one of the great pleasures of his writing are his descriptions of food and meals. But I was delighted to see, in a video accompanying the story, that he cooks on a plain old standard-size electric range that looks as though it came from Sears.
“Why spend $6,000 on a stove when you can spend $6,000 on food?” he said. Dean & Deluca thanks you too, Mr. Harrison.
I’m a dedicated home cook, and while I far prefer gas cooktops (I have electric), I have to admit my basic suburban kitchen setup is good enough for 95 percent of anything I want to do there. If I had my druthers, equipment-wise, it would be nice to have a second oven, but I admit it would only get used at Thanksgiving and a handful of other occasions. The one thing my modern stove has that Schrambling’s likely doesn’t — a self-cleaning cycle — is a pretty big plus. (I remember Easy-Off, which was neither.)
But we agree in principal principle. Here’s my popcorn popper:
It’s a Kenmore, and it’s older than me. My mother recalled it was a gift from our Aunt Charlene to my brother and sister when they were toddlers. Both qualify for AARP membership now. (So do I, but only on the early-admission program.) I have no great sentimental attachment to it, and will give it up without tears if it ever breaks, but it refuses to do so. Schrambling writes of her Wedgewood:
So many other essentials in life are clearly improved in their latest incarnation: Phones are smaller and portable; stereos are downsized to ear buds; cars are safer and run on less fuel. But stoves are a basic that should stick to the basics: The fewer bells and whistles, the less need for bell-and-whistle repairmen. Motherboard is not a word that should ever be associated with the kitchen—put computer technology in a stove, and you’re asking for a crash. Google “I hate my Viking” these days, and you get a sense of how many things can go wrong with techno-overload. Some of these ranges combine electric and gas elements, which is a recipe for trouble, as is microwave or convection capability. This kind of overdesign is what killed combination tuner/turntables—one goes, and the other dies from neglect.
My popcorn popper doesn’t have an on-off switch. You plug it in, and coils in the bottom unit — the stained, non-washable part in the photo — come on. Put one tablespoon of oil and one-third cup of popcorn on the bowl and replace the lid. In a couple of minutes, the popping will start. Keep your ear cocked to when it stops, unplug, empty and serve. If you like, you can melt a tablespoon of butter in the bowl after you dump out the popcorn — it takes about another minute. That’s it.
Popping corn is so simple, you wouldn’t think planned obsolescence would come into the mix, but it did — poppers where the lid doubles as the serving bowl, where the butter can be melted simultaneously, where you can dispense with oil altogether — all these have come and gone since Sears sold this antique to Aunt Charlene. And yet the Kenmore soldiers on, homely and dented, but still showing up for work. What more can you ask?
Some bloggage before gym time:
Detroit culled its 167 or so city council candidates to nine finalists Tuesday. The top vote-getter was Charles Pugh, whom I remember during his time in Fort Wayne, as a reporter for WKJG. He hadn’t started shaving his head, wasn’t openly gay and was, as I recall, sort of dim. Well, you could have made the same claim about me. People change, and let’s bloody well hope it’s true in this case, because Detroit has had all the dim-witted city council members it can handle. (I’m not completely confident in this case. Pugh was the subject of a fashion feature in a local magazine a while back, and confessed that his trademark glasses — he has 30 pair or so — are completely for show. Clear-glass Non-corrective lenses. What sort of serious person indulges a witless vanity like that?)
The primary’s big loser: Martha Reeves, who sounds as though she’s losing her marbles. Or just criminally dumb. Sad.
Coozledad brought this to our attention yesterday: Your health-care vote or your life? This shit is getting out of hand.
Off to press and squat. Happy Thursday.
Dorothy said on August 6, 2009 at 10:18 am
In 2002 when we moved to Cincinnati I had to give up my gas range and learn to cook on electric. Now seven years later I’m happily back to a gas range. But we do have a Marantz amplifier that Mike bought before he met me (1973) that still works fine. Every once in awhile he’ll say maybe we should look at new stereo systems (do they still call them that?) but why should we replace something that’s still working? We have a 5-disc CD player, I load it up with favorites, and it helps me to clean around the house on Saturday mornings, and it also helps me to cook breakfast on Sunday morning after church. At nearly 52 years of age, I still like to blast the music so loud you can’t have a decent conversation in the room. But only when Mr. Cranky McCrankypants is out in the garage. He doesn’t like the music loud.
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Julie Robinson said on August 6, 2009 at 10:44 am
Home theatre systems is what they’re called now. They are a lot smaller than the old days of 50 lb speakers, but they are way too complicated to use. Our son doesn’t even have a stereo, just speakers hooked up to his laptop. He can take them anywhere and spin tunes for friends since his entire music library is on there also.
But I also have the same Revereware saucepans as when we got married 30 years ago. And they work great, so why would I want to replace them? I haven’t replaced the guy either.
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Sue said on August 6, 2009 at 11:05 am
Hey all you Indiana fans out there, we swear by our “Whirlypop” popcorn popper, crappy thin aluminum and manufactured in Indiana. We’ve given these to more people than we can count, and I highly recommend it to Nancy when the Kenmore goes (hopefully not in an electrical fire).
The Town Hall meetings bother me too, but I’m not so sure about the ‘manufactured’ part I keep hearing about. If people are being encouraged to be disruptive, they still have to actually decide to act like assholes. This is an instance where the Republican slogan of personal responsibility applies – if you decide to behave like that, it’s not because you were whipped into a frenzy by a talking head. It’s because you are a loser who can’t do your own basic research, and you do not understand that the Medicare you (or your parents, or many other people you know) are on is substantially the same as the socialized medicine you object to so strongly. And really, if they’re shipping people in to some of these meetings to disrupt them as has been charged, then they’re getting them from Central Casting – the uniformly overweight and boorish participants at a recent Town Hall in Northern Wisconsin certainly represent one of the basic stereotypes of the state.
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Dorothy said on August 6, 2009 at 11:12 am
Julie I smiled at your phrase “spin tunes for friends” because I’m not sure digital music spins exactly. It just made me think of “spinning tunes” on a turntable. The new cell phone I got on Tuesday might be able to hook into my computer and play my iTunes – I’ve not quite figured it out yet. I need to take a vacation day to sit down and study the stupid phone manual to learn about all the cool features that I’ll probably never use.
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coozledad said on August 6, 2009 at 11:29 am
Yeah. It looks like a lot of the anti-healthcare reform spazznastics are being run from the Raleigh offices of Art Pope, a neo-Confederate dick swinger who owns all the creationist politicians down here. Now he’s going to own the remaining gibbering trash that makes up the core of the national party.
In one way, I want to see the Republicans keep trotting out their base – the bloated refugees who could have been models for Ivan Albright paintings or Duane Hansen sculptures with accents that scream “I just finished porkin’ my mama, buddy, and I’m damn near whupped.” It’s good press for the Democrats.
But I’m also sorry that we’re seeing the worst element of the South in resurgence. It’s a recap of the secessionist convention, with the modern planter class riling up their thugs with one little odious word.
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brian stouder said on August 6, 2009 at 11:31 am
Dorothy, just for the record – although I don’t actually HATE my phone, I do not like it, much.
And in my whole life, I’ve sent two 2-word texts, and I CAN say that I DO hate the tedium of THAT process.
(so, I’m an old man who ain’t ‘with it’; I can hang with that! Here’s looking forward to the movie about Woodstock, the previews of which look like American Graffiti for the 2009 crowd)
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Julie Robinson said on August 6, 2009 at 11:37 am
I think he calls it spinning 0’s and 1’s. Our daughter loads tunes onto her Blackberry and also uses the Pandora app, then she plugs the whole thing into her car stereo. Son also plugs his MP3 player into his car system. And here’s one thing that hasn’t changed: he may drive a 14 year old van that looks like crap but it has a kick-ass sound system.
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Connie said on August 6, 2009 at 11:41 am
Dorothy, watch out if you replace that amp. My friends brought a highend HD TV and HD DVD with the intent of using their excellent Bose stereo system, only to discover there was no way to wire the old style speakers to the new system. I would have thought some pro could have converted those old style wires to RCA jacks.
I like the electric stove that came with my house, that flat surface is great. When house hunting we looked at a high end ranch,built in the 50s and never changed, still had original kitchen appliances, amazing mid century mod light fixtures, and not a 3 prong outlet in the place. We did a little research just for fun and found out that we could practically raise the down payment by selling the stove and refrigerator, and afford to completely rewire by selling two light fixtures.
We knew we weren’t interested, but that kitchen just called out to my Eames fiberglas chairs.
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LAMary said on August 6, 2009 at 12:01 pm
1990ish gas stove from Monkey Ward here, and I love it. I have two burners that get extra hot which is great for heating the cast iron frying pan or the grill pan. The oven is self cleaning. I think we’ve previously discussed the inverse relationship between jazzy kitchen equipment and actual cooking activity. Only in the last two years have I owned a refrigerator that makes ice and I have to admit it’s very handy.
What kind of jerk wears clear glasses? I’ve had to wear glasses since 1968, and while I don’t really mind, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t need to. Does he think they make him look smarter?
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Jenflex said on August 6, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Nancy, I’ll go you one better on the popcorn popper…we use a big pot on our range. It’s the one time an electric is better. Put oil/popcorn in the pan and cover with a heavy lid. Crank the burner on High. When you start to hear sizzling, start to shake the pan back and forth on the burner. When the popping gets fast and furious, turn OFF the heat (unless it’s a gas range). The residual heat will finish the popping, and then after you dump out the corn, the residual heat still left will melt the butter. Takes about 2 minutes, start to finish. Microwave popcorn isn’t so fast or foolproof.
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apocalipstick said on August 6, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I’ll get old and grumpy on the stereo issue.
Tiny speakers reproducing compressed, tinny MP3s ain’t the way to go. Even the dynamic range of CDs, which is theoretically greater than the LP, is unused due to the mania for compression. Give me a nice amp with 30 watts or so per channel and some decent size speakers (surface area matters) and I’m happy. The iPod through three-inch speakers? Why bother?
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Scout said on August 6, 2009 at 12:24 pm
coozledad, I have decided to memorize your post verbatim and recite it to anyone and everyone who thinks that the town hall wierdos are some kind of spontaneous grass-roots activist movement. I hope you don’t mind.
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Rana said on August 6, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Jenflex, that’s just about exactly the same method we use for our popcorn. I’ve a big solid aluminum pot with a Teflon lining and a dent at the top that lets steam escape. Popcorn and rice are about the only things I cook in it, but when I do cook them, it is perfect.
The fragility of so many appliances these days is something that will provoke “back-in-my-day” rants that make me sound about twice my age. I’m about the only person I know who has ever taken a modern tv in for repair (which was done by a retired television repairman in his backyard shop) and don’t get me started on the annoyances involved in dealing with a car that has electronic components. I love my Honda, but some days I miss the ol’ Bug, with its engine the size of a basketball and all the parts easy to yank and replace, even if you were fairly clueless.
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LAMary said on August 6, 2009 at 12:47 pm
I bought one of those compilation CDs from Starbucks a few weeks ago and it’s perfect cooking/housecleaning music. The first song is Pata Pata by Miriam Makeba. I know those CDs are the aural equivalent of convenience food and I apologize for my laziness. However, a CD with Miriam Makeba, Smokey Robinson, Hugo Montenegro and Herb Alpert on it seemed like a deal too good to pass up. I crank it up so I can hear it over the vacuum.
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coozledad said on August 6, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Scout: I had no idea Pope was playing these Amway victims until Rachel Maddow brought it up. And speaking of Bush/ Helms cronies getting away with murder:
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=8258915&page=1
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Mindy said on August 6, 2009 at 12:57 pm
I grew up in an old house that had seen its last renovation in the mid 1950’s. The bathroom had a pale pink tub, sink and toilet and a black and pink Formica vanity. The kitchen was equipped with the finest appliances available at the time, a stainless steel Kitchenaid dishwasher and a marvelous stainless steel Chambers gas cooktop and oven perched on cabinets. The cooktop had a broiler with two burners on either side. The broiler pan was adjusted under the flames in the lid with a large handle. My mom kept it covered in aluminum foil and often toasted sandwich buns on it. The oven would stay so hot that I once baked a batch of cookies about an hour after a roast had come out of it without having to turn it back on. It had a cast iron interior that was removed once a year to be sand blasted.
I haven’t seen that pair in thirty years, but they’re still my definition of normal cooking arrangements. The Kenmores, Magic Chefs, etc. that have been part of my life since then are merely glorified Easy Bake ovens. I’ll have an old Chambers again someday if I live long enough.
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adrianne said on August 6, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I remember my first encounter with a gas stove (grew up on electric) came with my first apartment in Syracuse, where everything was vintage 1949. I lit the pilot, closed the oven door, and then was alarmed to see the door fly open and flames come roaring out. Oh my God, I thought, Satan is in my stove!
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MarkH said on August 6, 2009 at 1:00 pm
“What kind of jerk wears clear glasses?”
Nancy and LAMary, I suspect you mean eyewear with non-corrective lenses. You could ask Whoopi Goldberg or Penny Marshall, perhaps? And, I am beginning to suspect Carl Levin of the same thing, although as an old guy, like me, I suspect he actually needs them. He’s just never seen without them seeming to almost fall off the end of his nose.
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Colleen said on August 6, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I was flabbergasted when I heard that the average lifespan of a water heater is 10 years? Whaaa? There are some things one should only buy once or twice in a lifetime, and a water heater is one.
But what do I know…I’m on my 3rd dishwasher in 11 years…..
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Scout said on August 6, 2009 at 1:07 pm
We had an electric stove when I was kid, so imagine my horror the time I turned on the oven at a friend’s house to make Shrinky Dinks (a show of hands from all who remember those) and his mom took a fireball to the face when she lit the pilot light not realizing I had turned on the gas 10 minutes prior. Poor lady was without eyebrows for months.
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Sue said on August 6, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Our backyard peach harvest is in. The total number of peaches we got this year is – eight. If those squirrels weren’t so damn cute I’d be inclined to speak sternly to them about being little piggies.
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kerry said on August 6, 2009 at 1:40 pm
That popcorn popper brings back memories!We had one just like it in the 1960s. My dad and our tabby cat (both deceased)were popcorn fiends and they ate it topped with melted butter and Lipton Onion Soup. Wish I still had that contraption…Microwave popcorn can’t compare!
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Danny said on August 6, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Tiny speakers reproducing compressed, tinny MP3s ain’t the way to go. Even the dynamic range of CDs, which is theoretically greater than the LP, is unused due to the mania for compression. Give me a nice amp with 30 watts or so per channel and some decent size speakers (surface area matters) and I’m happy. The iPod through three-inch speakers? Why bother?
Preach it.
I just finished ripping my entire CD collection to lossless wav files and lossy, max bitrate mp3 (320 kbps) files. I can tell the difference between the lossy and the lossless over our house and car speakers even with the 320 kbps and I think the majority of what kids are downloading these days (from iTunes and the like) are only 128 to 190 kbps.
The mp3’s are okay for an mp3 player with earbuds, but I don’t consider them suitable for anything else.
Next step is to convert the wav files to flac and alac files, both lossless (i.e. full-fidelity) formats, but compressed about 50% in size.
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Danny said on August 6, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Brian, we just watched American Graffiti last weekend. I also took some time with the extras that explain the making of the movie. Quite interesting. They paid about $90k for the rights to all of the songs and had no money left over for additional musical score. Elvis was conspicuously absent because his management wouldn’t reach a deal.
One other thing I found very cool: They played the songs through different speakers and in different locations (e.g. in a car or through speakers set up at the end of an alley). This way, when Richard Dryfeus was in a car, it sounded like it and when he was running through the streets, it sounds like the sound was coming from somewhere outside.
Another thing, the words of the songs often went with the action of the scenes. Kinda like a Greek Chorus effect.
Those movie guys. They can be pretty smart.
For the record, I think AG is Lucas’ best film to date. And this coming from a Sci-Fi geek.
EDIT: Nancy, I just noticed that you or JC have a typesetting feature enabled in WordPress that judiciously inserts hyphens when needed. Nice aesthetics. Worthy of a WordSmith’s blog.
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Julie Robinson said on August 6, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Colleen has gone through 3 dishwashers in 11 years, and so have I. My last so-called high quality appliance was a pricey Maytag dishwasher which needed repair after repair, nothing ever seemed to be a part actually covered under their warranty. We finally ripped it out and bought a cheapie no name. Recently we thought it was breaking down too and the DH had a brilliant thought–change the detergent brand. It doesn’t like store brand Kroger but does fine with store brand Meijer.
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LAMary said on August 6, 2009 at 2:32 pm
I’ve gone through four dishwashers in twenty three years. Three of those in the last fifteen years. Why do dishwashers die so quickly? I’ve had cheapie ones and pretty expensive ones and it made no difference.
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alice said on August 6, 2009 at 2:58 pm
A few years ago my mom’s (electric) stove died. We set forth to find her a new one. It was very difficult to find something simple, without a Star Trek worthy control panel.
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brian stouder said on August 6, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Ladies and Gentlemen – we now have the 111th Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Huzzah! Huzzah!
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jcburns said on August 6, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Yeah, Danny, the hyphenation/typography doohickie is just the latest in my ongoing battle to NOT have URLs that run off the right side of the screen and into the next county.
And huzzah for Justice Sotomayor, indeed.
And let me toss in: I don’t get these “modern” appliances that take 19th-century mechanisms and tack an LCD display that takes a rocket scientist to use on them….when in most cases we need “off” and “on.” Cosmetic technology is no technology at all.
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Danny said on August 6, 2009 at 3:48 pm
I wish it were Miguel Estrada, but the Democrats filibustered because they wanted the first Hispanic to be theirs.
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Danny said on August 6, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Speaking of modern technology, did anyone see this article regarding adjustable focus eyeglasses?
From the article: ” Each ‘lens’ is actually a set of two lenses, one flexible and one firm. The flexible lens (near the eye) has a transparent, distensible membrane attached to a clear rigid surface. The pocket between them holds a small quantity of crystal-clear fluid. As you move the slider on the bridge, it pushes the fluid and alters the shape of the flexible lens.”
I loved the one slashdot commenter who said this: Good thing the over-40 crowd is well-known for their dexterity and ability to accurately manipulate tiny adjustable sliders.
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Connie said on August 6, 2009 at 4:37 pm
In the last two years we have had to purchase a new well (3,000) and a new pool liner (4,000). With a kid in college that has pretty much cleaned us out. Yes, I know the pool liner can be lived without, but when you own a pool…..and it is nice to finally have a no duct tape pool.
Next on my list is mattress (20 yrs old), washer/dryer (23 yrs old) and freezer (29 yrs old.) I am quite sure that just replacing the old dryer and freezer would greatly reduce my electric bill. Soon, I swear.
Meanwhile the bill for Fall semester tuition at Butler University is at the top of my to be paid pile. I will be broke again for a while. Last year, though.
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4dbirds said on August 6, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Connie, I vote you get the mattress first. My mom sprung for new beds for our whole family when we moved from Maryland to Virginia two years ago. Our old mattress was about 15 years old. The difference is wonderful.
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Jenflex said on August 6, 2009 at 5:11 pm
John Hughes is dead. Anyone else feel old all of a sudden?
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brian stouder said on August 6, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Well, you know, I think certain movies simply ‘capture’ something – especially when they maybe aren’t really trying to; they have a cultural vibe, or (more precisely) they’re intune with a cultural vibe, which they encapsulate and preserve for subsequent generations.
Breakfast Club is precisely one of those movies; it turns my head and makes me stop and watch, whenever I come across it.
John Hughes, RIP
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Dexter said on August 6, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Sue…I used a Whirlypop until a hole burned through the bottom; you’re correct, very thin aluminum. Mom used an old pressure cooker pot with a plain lid and that made the best popcorn. Since my Whirlypop is gone I now buy bags of microwave corn, but I my go to my fave second hand store and buy an old pressure cooker bottom and go way old school. It works cuz the very thick metal distributes the heat best.
A Jonathan (Jonathon sometimes) apple.
A big ol’ bowl o’ popcorn.
A Mummy movie on a rainy October night.
Popcorn weather.
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MichaelG said on August 6, 2009 at 6:41 pm
I have an ancient three qt sauce pan. It hasn’t been used for anything but popcorn for over 20 years. It and the lid are pretty popcorn specific. I couldn’t use it for anything else. I use the microwave as well sometimes.
Ever look at the prices demanded for those old Wedgewood, Chambers, O’keefe & Merritt, etc. stoves? You could buy a Viking or Wolf for that kind of money. They certainly are beautiful, though.
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nancy said on August 6, 2009 at 6:50 pm
A friend had a vintage stove, with a detail I’d never seen before or since — one of the back burners was recessed, and came with a lift-out stockpot of four quarts or so. It was like a dedicated soup depot/slow cooker.
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LAMary said on August 6, 2009 at 7:23 pm
The stove we had when I was growing up had that feature. It was great for stews etc. It was a GE, I’m pretty sure. I learned to cook on that stove.
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coozledad said on August 6, 2009 at 7:35 pm
We had one of those for awhile. It was a GE. Hotpoint, to be specific. From 1953. The stockpot was aluminum, if I remember correctly.
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Jim Wetzel said on August 6, 2009 at 10:05 pm
“In principle” is how you agree, not “in principal.”
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basset said on August 7, 2009 at 12:28 am
About a year into our marriage, Mrs. Basset and I rented a house in Mississippi which had a gas stove with two burners down each side and a griddle in the center. The bikers who’d lived there before us didn’t bother putting the catch cup for the grease back under the griddle, just fried what they wanted to fry and let the drippings flow. There was grease puddled up in the bottom, all through the frame, and between the two layers of glass in the door – the range hood was completely plugged, with cockroaches baked into the hardened fry-vapor in the screens.
I had to take all the sheet metal off the damn thing and haul it outside, put the pieces in trash bags, dump some ammonia into each one, and a few hours later haul ’em to the car wash in the back of the Pinto for some pressure-hosing. Repeating that every night after work for a week got the stove into usable condition – and when we moved out a year later the bastards kept our deposit. Thought about vandalizing the place before anyone else moved in, but, then and now, it’d take more than that to get me back there.
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Dexter said on August 7, 2009 at 12:31 am
“Ferris Bueller…” and “The Breakfast Club” were iconic films alright, but the late John Hughes had the most ridiculous mullet I have yet seen.
You can see it here in the 1986 interview footage:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#32322217
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on August 7, 2009 at 7:47 am
Jim, wasn’t it Groucho who said “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”
It’s amazing how those manipulative astroturfing scumbags have planted people worried about excessive spending and the actual, intended arc of the federal health care approach by the Democratic Party into all the lines at Walt Disney World. Plants, all of them. And the fellow who bent my ear yesterday waiting for the Animal Kingdom parade from England, who wanted me to know we should avoid any national central plan at all costs, because of the myriad small subtle intrusions we’ll get into our lives out of the deal — purely a cast member of Karl Rove’s magic kingdom.
Yep.
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beb said on August 7, 2009 at 8:30 am
The first stove I remember my parent having, had that recessed stockpot thingie. I think my parents kept the stockpot even after they replaced the stove. Their current stove (electric) isn’t a full bells-and-whistles type range but it does have more features than a person with limited sight should have to deal with. For themm On, Off, High, Medium, Low is all the controls they can handle.
I was shocked by the death of John Hughes because he was born in the same year was I was. I kind of felt the breath of Death breathing down the ack of my neck. It is odd that after a string of successful, even classic, films Hughes should retire from directing. Much has been said about Ferris Beullers’ Day Off and The Breakfast Club but Sixteen Candles has its unforgettable moments. too, like Mooly Ringwald being groped by her grandmother. Can there be a more humiliating moment in a girl’s life?
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Jim said on August 7, 2009 at 8:50 am
Am I the only one who hates cooking with aluminum pans? Give me cast iron every time!
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sisterlicious said on August 7, 2009 at 9:18 am
And the fellow who bent my ear yesterday waiting for the Animal Kingdom parade from England, who wanted me to know we should avoid any national central plan at all costs, because of the myriad small subtle intrusions we’ll get into our lives out of the deal — purely a cast member of Karl Rove’s magic kingdom.
No, just one of the legions of the misinformed who choose to get their information from angry white news sources.
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coozledad said on August 7, 2009 at 9:56 am
I was standing in the line at the grocery store the other day, and three Finns and and a Saudi banker told me that the best thing for the American economy is for suckers to pony up six hundred and fifty six bucks a month for a five thousand dollar deductible to a bunch of lowlifes who jump ship when you get sick. It’s the Amway way, and if you don’t like Amway, get the hell out of Am.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2Mo9d-dqB8&eurl=http://www.eschatonblog.com/&feature=player_embedded
I’d say a cop in your kitchen shaking your ass down because you’re black qualifies as quite a bit more than a small intrusion, but that’s just me. Tapping my phone without a warrant qualifies as more than a small intrusion, in my opinion,but it seems to make glibertarians and Republicans spurt involuntarily.
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LAMary said on August 7, 2009 at 11:07 am
The in house Brit who is no lefty can’t believe the resistance to health reform. He can’t believe how crappy the health care delivery system is here in the US. I can’t believe that people don’t realize we already ration health care in a pretty brutal fashion.
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Rana said on August 7, 2009 at 1:02 pm
On, that point, LAMary, the comments on this post are both anger-inducing and deeply depressing. It’s also really hard to read the ones from people in other countries and not become bitterly envious.
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2009/08/question-of-day_05.html
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