Cenk is way too optimistic, almost to the point of being naive, I think. As we start more wars, our financial situation will get worse and worse. Most people are brainwashed by our myths about terrorism,(we're so good and virtuous, and that everyone else is jealous of us, hates us cause of our freedoms, we never provoke anyone, blah blah blah standard Sarah Palin fare) to the point that we won't cut "defense" spending until the ship's gone down. Univeral health care will be portrayed as an entitlement that's just too expensive. I could even see Medicare be cut back if push comes to shove. Bush already tried to privatize social security and Glenn Beck is already harping on how it should never have been created. Medicare is next. "Fuck that 80 year old widow across town, make the bitch work for her food and medical care. Why should I pay for it?" Universal health care is just a progressive's dream. We'll never have a decent sustainable system anytime soon. That's my guess, it's very pessimistic, but I've seen very little that's encouraging in American politics. I hope I'm wrong.

I don't think the corporate advertising SC ruling will have much effect. Corporations control the country already, they have for decades now. Believing otherwise is akin to believing in Santa Claus. It might even have positive effects. If we're lucky, people will be so inundated with crap that they'll start to disregard it. A sort of wake-up call. The Soviet's propaganda system did have one advantage to our "Free" media: everyone knew it was bullshit. Here, people still don't realize how much they are being propagandized. They eat up whatever crap someone gives them.