I don't know if Joe Conason's right that terming things "socialized" has lost its political punch, but I think we do need to be clear that that's all it is: A political punch. Giuliani levies no attacks against our "socialized military," or our "socialized water treatment plants," or our "socialized Medicare system. That's because he is utterly unconcerned with the substance of the term. He is not making a claim as to efficiency losses within government administration of various services. Rather, he is calling certain policies, and more to the point, their advocates, "Un-American." That's what socialism denotes here -- not a method of organization, but the antithesis of American values. So spending a lot of time deciding whether something is socialized, or whether socializing a service would be desirable policy, is beside the point. It's not an argument about public action versus private initiative. It's a slur. And it as a slur, it should be met with a counterattack, not treated as a legitimate policy disagreement.
