Well, it's an addiction. I can't stop tilting at windmills. I've been in a daily argument with a fellow human that proudly claims to be Republican.

Just so I'm clear on this: I don't care if you're Republican or Democrat. Personally, I wish we'd all drop the labels and name-calling and move forward on a discussion of the issues pros and cons.

Calling me a socialist is not going to hurt my feelings, nor is it going to influence my opinions. It does however work on the feeble-minded. Once a person or idea is tainted with a negative term they are forever tainted.

The word socialism should not scare us. A rudimentary definition of the word means simply: a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

Am I to believe we Americans are afraid of being turned into a socialist country? Seriously? In theory, Americans use socialism to benefit American society.  

Please ask yourself: Who is making me afraid and why? Who does my fear benefit?

What socialist program was I vehemently against? The blank check bailout for Wall Street and the "too big to fail" banks. They were not held accountable for their despicable actions in the past and were given a pass on future despicability.

These white-collar pirates screamed for "socialist" help and got it. Then demanded they be set free to rape and pillage the free market system without intrusion from the pesky people at the government. Keep in mind their definition of "free-market" is not the same for you and me.

"Free-Market" to them is complete and total freedom to do as they damn well please.

They have proven themselves to require supervision (and the same jail time we'd get if we perpetrated the collapse of the world's economy for our own gain) and regulation.

Guess what they call that? Socialism.

Socialism works when it works for them. Socialism is bad when it doesn't work for them.

Who does healthcare reform NOT work for? The common Man?

Orrr the same behemoth Health Insurance Companies and their brethren in Banking and on Wall Street that like socialism, as long as it works to benefit them?

I chatted with a nice couple tonight, proud republicans, they hate socialism. We had a nice polite discourse and they realized they were being sham-wowed by the TV opinionators.

Socialism will not take over America. Keep in mind that the socialist bailout recipients promised to free-up lending to help small businesses and did not do it.

So, we now have free-market gurus accepting socialist money and not freeing up capital to stimulate America's capitalist economy. What does that make them?

Hypocrites? Absolutely.

Liars? No doubt.

What is someone that accepts socialist money and causes the collapse of capitalism? Are they fascist? Communist? Maybe.

Gluttons? Certainly.

But NO-O-O, they're considered the greatest pirates of capitalism ever and we give them a pass on the basis of: Regulating these geniuses would make US, the people, socialists... my head is going to explode.

The definition of socialism changes with their whims and at our peril.

On the topic of Health Care Reform I will gladly be labeled a socialist, although I prefer humanist, as this issue clearly benefits society.

I predict I will be labeled conservative in the near future. I'll just have to deal with that windmill when I come to it.

Please note I have mostly refrained from name calling. And when I do label people it is with evidence to back-up the label.

Like a judge labeling: Guilty.