Posted on 01/15/2011 6:20:35 PM PST by markomalley
Like most of the media this week, Bill Maher and his Real Time panel last night spent a great deal of time trying to explain the reasons why the Arizona shootings last week occurred. And while it was clear that Jared Loughner committed the acts because of mental problems, the question was why people like him turn to violence in the first place. One suggestion Maher put on the table: America’s lack of universal health care.
The official topic at hand was gun control, and gun culture in certain parts of the country. Maher noted that it appears “half the country is armed and half isn’t,” leading to a troubling cultural divide, and unevenly distributing violent crime. Looking for a different model, the panel turned toward Canada, which has strict but not entirely prohibitive gun laws and one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Thomson Reuters Global Editor-at-Large Chrystia Freeland brought her own personal experience to the debate, having been raised in Calgary, and pointing out that, despite people owning guns (including her dad), shootings are few and far between. Keeping with the Canada theme, she also noted that bank regulations had helped Canada avoid a problematic economic situation, and that they have government-subsidized health care.
Maher pounced on this last bit to return to the topic at hand, but didn’t make the conventional connection. Many will argue that lack of adequate mental health services will keep a crazy person crazy, and thus in some cases attract them to violence and make them more likely to commit violent acts. From this skeleton of an argument, Maher constructs something slightly more elaborate, and significantly flimsier:
“Because we don’t have government health care– that’s one reason why a crazy person gets a gun, because, you know what? It’s hard for a crazy person to get a job, so therefore it’s hard for a crazy person to get health care in a country that doesn’t have government [health care].”
The argument doesn’t really speak to gun regulation at all so much as the desires of crazy people to pick up guns, so the panel steered towards debating mental health over gun control instead, but couldn’t tie them together again the way Maher was attempting to.
It’s hard for a crazy person to get a job
Ha haaaaaa!
The left is so damn shortchanged, - - could someone at least inject them with some embarrassment?? Sheesh!!
Did I miss something or did his parents not have healthcare at all during his life? If he is a full time student he should have had coverage.
Bill Maher should already know that.
Maybe he will think it’s a lollipop and blow his own brains out.
More proof that Liberals don’t have a clue.
Nahh, its not the lack of Health care...its due to the fact that the Rich don’t pay their fair share of taxes!!
Class warfare is Always first, then we move onto Global Warming.
THEN we get to Health care!
A lack of oxygen to the brain leads to saying things like Bill Maher does.
truth!
Lack of government (fill in the blank) causes crazy people to spout off on third-rate television shows.
This ever classy, waste of otherwise valuable protoplasm and pathetic excuse for a life form is seen here whacked out on a large quantity of booze and/or exotic chemicals in his Halloween, 2007 STEVE IRWIN get-up!
Bill Maher: Giving SCHMUCKS a bad name for 20 years!!
Wow! That expert of all things political and societal can make things so clear. It all seems so simple when Bill comes up with this, I mean, explains how this happens. We’re so lucky to have him.
You know, Maher should at least check around before he makes his regular, predictably stupid statements. Here in Wisconsin we are heavily armed. And that includes many Democrats. There are tons of guns in the Badger State, but outside of Milwaukee and Madison, very little violence. Maher proves he’s an ignoramus every time he opens his mouth.
Mental illness, has to be.
Well Maher, we now have obama in charge and obamacare has been passed. Why are there so many “crazy” homesless people running around the country? Penn Station has officially become a homeless shelter. Every morning commuters literally have to wade through them. It’s a real obamaville there. I’ve been doing the commute for 20 years and I’ve never seen this many crazy homeless people. What has obama done for them - or the unemployed in the black communities - for that matter? When are you going to wake up and see your “messiah” for what he is? A total fraud.
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