Our Loud Stupid Cousin
I was arguing the merits of socialized healthcare versus privatized medicine in the comments section of my favourite blog, rehashing to my companion on our dog walk the bizarre hopes and dreams of our bretheren on the Right who would happily import the policies of a Western country that doggedly believes in state executions (when even China is having second thoughts) and my country right or wrong and an American God, when he made the best metaphor in describing the United States vis a vis us: It's our loud stupid cousin.
By the way, since I can't imagine why any Canadian Conservative would shill for American private medicine if they weren't being paid to do so, I'll have to assume that they are - being paid, I mean. And since the American "system" (if a mess can really be classified as a system) is much more expensive than our own, when our government neglects to speak up for our publicly funded healthcare system, I have to assume it's on the take, too, just like Stevie Cameron said of Brian Mulroney once upon a time.
