Republican Ignorance

I think it is the flat-out ignorance of the world outside of their own lives that most bothers me about Republicans. The following from Progress Report (1/8/2007) is just a taste...

In Saturday's ABC/Facebook presidential debate, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said, "The reality is that, with all of its infirmities and difficulties, we have the best health care system in the world ." It's a claim conservatives like to tout. Last month, President Bush insisted, "We have fabulous health care in America, just so you know." He added, "[B]efore people start griping about the health care system here...compare it with other systems around the world ." Today, researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine released a report that ranked the United States "worst among 19 countries in the number of deaths that could have been prevented through better access to timely and effective health care. ... Had the United States performed as well as the top three countries -- France, Japan and Australia -- it would have seen about 101,000 fewer deaths per year." All three countries have publicly-financed health systems. One of the study's researchers, Ellen Nolte, "said the large number of Americans who lack any type of health insurance...probably was a key factor " in the low ranking.