Hooray! President Obama has delayed his trip to focus on health care. We're becoming a banana republic when the President flies overseas and has to worry what mischief is going to play out in D.C.
Thank you , Frank Schaeffer. On http://www.frankschaeffer.blogspot.com/ , my favorite repentent co-creator of the Religious Right morphs back into his Calvinist mode to sternly lecture us all that under our "fickle noses" this is a time of national rebirth and he's delighted with President Obama, even more than he has been. He rips the shrivelled old conservatives abnd blasts the left for dumping on Obama. He proceeds to list all his achievements in the past year and taunts Obama's critics as they say" that's not good enough."
Rachel Maddow interviewed Nancy Pelosi last night. While not my favorite politician, the Speaker has been ferociously effective as a leader. Every one of the President's campaign promises except immigration reform passed the House last year. Now over 290 bills are bottled up in the Senate.
Could some one please muzzle Larry O'Donnell? Last night was another bummer about the health care bill. This was after a day when Harry Reid sent a blistering letter to Mitch McConnell on why he is going to use reconciliation and the House leadership walked away from dealing with Bart Stupak and the anti-abortion crowd. But Larry focused on the strange news yesterday that the Republicans say that Republicans asked the Parliamentarian whether President Obama would have to sign the Senate bill before reconciliation. Now we have no statement from the Senate Parliamentarian on this and on the face of it it doesn't make any sense considering past uses of reconciliation. But never mind, let's all worry..
The CBO price tag came in. The Healthcare bill saves about $190 billion over ten years and another $1 trillion in the second ten years. And it comes in under $900 billion. So the Speaker of the House is beginning to mark it up on Monday.
Democratic pollsters Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen warn Democrats about passing healthcare because of the dire consequences in the fall. Their long column in the Washington Post recites the depth of American opposition to health care reform.. Interesting thing is that they only quote our friend Mr. Rasmussen on his polling data--which conveniently didn't ask about the specific provisions of the bill. Last night Nancy Pelosi effectively laid out the meaning of healthcare in her interview with Rachel Maddow. She pointed to both the human and fiscal necessary for it and did it in great detail.
Now as I turn the curve on my taxes, let's make healthcare costs personally. Remember my eye operation is being billed this year. For 2009, the McColm family, which takes no medicines and last year had nothing wrong, spent cash out of pocket for medical expenses and insurance--$25,100. That is over half the average income of the American family. It is no joke to say that if anything serious happened, I would have to declare bankruptcy. That's why I want healthcare reform.
All is not well in GlennBeckistan: After the Jesuit dog whistle, conservative Catholics followed suit in their criticism of his positions on religion. Wakening from his deep slumber, Jim Wallis of the Sojourners, called on Christians to boycott Beck. His own church said that the Book of Morman was almost entirely a book about social justice. Let's not carried away guys. However, the term "social justice" does appear some 180 times in Morman doctrinal texts.
After "changing American history"--that was his promise--with the Eric Massa interview, Glenn Beck decided to go after FDR. We know from the Wall Street Journal and Amity Schlaes that FDR prolonged the Depression. Actually, we know from economists trained in the period that FDR cut the unemployment rate from 25-12% and did other things like create Social Security and the FDIC. But Beck's complaint about this President who was as popular as Obama was that he hired Communists. Yes, he did after the U.S. formed an alliance with the Soviet Union in World War II. In my mind, I always wondered why the Communists ended up in the Department of Agriculture.
Anyway, Beck then extolls Joe McCarthy's crusade against these characters and mentions the Dies Committee. (He should have disclosed his mentor the Morman" historian" was a staffer for the Dies Committee and was subsequently fired by J.Edgar Hoover from the FBI for being "paranoid and too extreme in his anti-Communism".) And he brings up the conservative's favorite hero Whittaker Chambers. A little dirty secret--Whittaker only ratted out the NKVD cells that were not longer functional to protect the one left behind. Conservatives love the rumpy looking Whittaker Chambers for bringing down fancy pants Alger Hiss. But they love him even more for saying that the United States already lost the Cold War in the 1950s.
Now how this relates to Barack Obama I don't know. But he gets around to Woody Guthrie and the song "This Land Is Your Land". I wrote about how delighted I was last year when Pete Seegar sang the uncensored version of the song at the Lincoln Memorial. A year later Beck picked this up. And said that this was a song about the Communist dream. He told his audience that Barack Obama's initiative to save millions of acres for the wilderness was a Maoist plot. Actually this was an extension of Theodore Roosevelt's vision , a man Beck hates worse than Mao.
Beck also decided to attack the union movement for harboring communists. For future shows I hope he mentions that the AFL-CIO's international department was led by the former head of the American Communist Party , Jay Lovestone. This could provoke another Jesuit-style backlash by older union types.
Howell Raines finally wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post, chastising his fellow journalists for not mentioning that for the first time in modern American history we have a self-proclaimed news agency identified with a single political party. He called on his feloow journalists to start going after Roger Ailes and his right-wing Echochamber. A little late but welcomed.
My interest in Rep. Paul Ryan's Blueprint for the Future was only reinforced yesterday as the American Spectator and other conservative publications have endorsed it. Ryan asked the CBO to score his budget plan--using only his revenue figures. The plan called for the total dismantling of all entitlement programs, an increase in taxes on the Middle Class, a substantial reduction in taxes on the rich and corporations. Even people like Andrew Sullivan seem infatuated with the Ryan plan. Maybe it's like figuring out some mathematical formula to eliminate our deficit.
The final results for the Ryan plan were ruinous. If adopted, the federal government would be gasping for air and deficits would run so large through 2019 we couldn't ever recover. That's using his revenue figures. This is the new Supply-Side theory and I promise you it will be part of the Republican platform in 2012. I call it Aircraft Carrier Economics. The United States would become a gigantic platform from which one can launch endless wars but there would be no benefit to any Americans. I think Paul Ryan would have gotten along great with Brezhnev. They share the same worldview.
Leonard Pitts wrote a column lamenting the fact the GOP's own campaign now is based on fear. Sentimental guy that he is he waxed nostalgic for the days when politicians from both the right and left encouraged us to adopt higher principles that united us. It's not morning in America, he writes, it's now High-Noon every day.
To my conservative friends who believed President Obama would not donate his Nobel Prize money to charity, yesterday he did and the charities are all posted on line. Actually he made some good choices, emphasizing educational funds for minority students, including Native Americans. He also gave a sizeable gift to the Clinton Haiti Fund. Conservatives always liked to brag about how Dick Cheney gave his earnings from Halliburton to charity when he took office. The charity was the Richard Cheney Vice Presidential Library--believe it or not.
You will have noticed that I have not been referring to the FreeRepublic website lately. Yesterday their bloggers said that if health care reform passes they can't wait until 2012. They must engage in armed struggle now. At this point, I can't help but believe the Secret Service is n camped out at that website and in Jim Robinson's office.
A retired General sent me his latest article , which called for Revolution, because Washington is adopting progressive socialism and we constitutionalists must stop it. It reminds me of Sterling Hayden's great performance as a right-wing general with a private army in Winter Kills, which was about the JFK assassination. I don't respond because his notion of constitutionalism is based on the white nationalist movement and he doesn't even know it.
On President's Day, leading ministers of the Southern Baptist Church prayed to God for the death of President Obama. They think he is either the one to usher in the age of the Anti-Christ or the anti-Christ himself. Nero was the real Anti-Christ because he persecuted early Christians and inspired the Book of Revelations. Tim Lahaye of the Left Behind Series said it was Gorbachev because he had the mark of the beast on his forehead. Sarah Palin's minister believes the Anti-Christ is gay,which, I guess brings us back to the Vatican. But all this contradicts some of the think of the Southern Baptists, who believe the rapture ic coming in May 2012, before our next election. So no need for armed struggle or assassination--everything is solved.
Our Texas School Board problem hasn't been solved by the defeat of the wingnuts. They still refuse to include a section in the American History text why we have separation of church and state. They also want to include a section on the Emancipation Proclamation that it raised expectations of minorities too high.
George Will writes that Roberts should boycott the State of the Union address and wants more people to do so. After all we have a Black President and he's too uppity--I'm just translating. But Roberts, who is miffed by Obama's justified criticism of the Citizens United decision, should have been on the court of John Marshall when he ruled for the Cherokee Nation against its forced removal to Oklahoma. Andrew Jackson ignored him and the press asked about the Supreme Court Decision. Jackson said,"Let him (Marshall) enforce it."
Drudge reminds us that Obama's approval rating fell to its lowest point in Gallup of all time! Gallup reminds its readers that Obama's weekly approval ratings are very consistent and holding up. Rasmussen must be pleased he's getting traction--imaginary though it is. RS2000 has Obama where he was last week with a slight drop in the disapproval ratings.
We have an immediate consequence of the Citizens United ruling. Millions of dollars are flowing through front organizations with the usualy names like Americans for Free Donuts. The Corporate flood is a last gasp to defeath healthreform. I have never seen a time when corporate America has waged such an unrelenting war against the American people. Whether it's health reform or fiscal reform. And they don't even pay taxes or create jobs here!
The Democrats pledged they will not use earmarks for corporate funding anymore. The Republicans came in a day late and said they would do this also--for one year! The group of Republicans who signed onto this plan netted over $400 million in earmarks last year. K Street is in deep mourning and generating op-eds to defend their work on behalf of corporations.
* Hendrix's last cut on the album.
Showing posts with label Lawrence O'Donnell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lawrence O'Donnell. Show all posts
Friday, March 12, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Chicken Little Thursday
OMG! The first couple have sex in the White House. And they're black! Sound the Drudge Sirens! Think about it--The Obamas are the first presidential couple who have had sex with each other since Gerald and Betty Ford. Then you have to go back to JFK and Jackie O. LBJ had a mistress in Middleburg, Virginia who used to pleasure him. Remember Jackie O had a miscarriage, which is a capital offense in Utah. Isn't this what all the nonsense is really about? Sex! Race! And , of course, moohla!, which I'll get to.
No sooner did I leave the office last evening than the Democrats were discouraged and in despair. This morning USA Today says Obama's base is disengaged. Of course, we shouldn't count the 1 million e-mails OFA members sent Congress to pass healthcare reform. Bernie Sanders says Obama has lost the youth. Well, that should come back when my son finishes his college papers. Chris Matthews says Obama is a one-term President. Now Karl Rove says Obama can be defeated in 2012.
If you listen to Lawrence O'Donnell as the substitute host of Countdown, you would think that the Democrats were doomed and that healthcare reform can not pass because of the trickery that will be played by the Senate. Remember Nancy Pelosi yesterday said she had the votes. Nancy Pelosi has not lost a vote since becoming Speaker. But Lawrence was crying about whether the anti-abortion people can stop it. Then he says that Republicans will attack Democrats in 2010 because of the deals to buy Landrieu and Nelson's votes in the Senate. If you listen to him enough,it's best not to pass any bill about anything.
Then Michael Moore asks Rachel Maddow how she can wake up in the morning because of the letdown since the Democrats won in 2008. Actually, Rachel Maddow may be the most sane person standing at this time. She demonstrated that the vaunted Bart Stupak dozen or so is really four other guys and that the anti-abortion Democrats are just full of it. But Drudge this morning dutifully reports that anti-abortion Dems say health bill dead on arrival. Turn on the Siren!
Jim Hightower wrote this morning that Obama has blown it. Almost everyday Arianna Huffington, who is as rich as Midas, reports some monstrous failing of Obama and the Democrats. I agree with her it's best to get alot of sleep. Deepak Chopra, perhaps the greatest threat to American security, writes that the only way we can get through this is having a religious perspective--which he will sell to you at the right price.
I am astonished at how Democrats can psyche themselves out. They have been so traumatized by decades of right-wing attacks that they fall for psyops by the right-wing, which has nothing. I mean nothing. They could even fight terrorism.
I was reviewing polls last night and I concluded the Democrats could minimize losses in the Senate to just 2 or 3, and losses in the House to 12. The Democrats have and, I believe, will have the money advantage in 2010. But they need to learn Republican tricks about packaging the message. Republicans claim they are going to run against the stimulus package, for repeal of health care reform and for the GOP Roadmap to the Future. Great! Pundits say the election will be about the Democrats' performance. And here The Democrats have already started to sound like losers. They have to point out the alternatives.
Here are a few tips. If you are running against a sitting Republican, then here are some themes:
This tax-cutting candidate voted against the largest middle class tax cut in history;
This law and order candidate voted against keeping policemen on the job;
This "Don't Leave Any Children Behind" candidate votes against paying the salaries of your children's teachers;
This guy didn't even want firemen on the job;
This candidate voted against the auto industry and wanted 16% of America to go out of busines
This new Deficit buster voted against creating a Deficit Commission;
This Candidate against out of control government spending voted against the PayGo rules, where we have to have the fund programs.
This Candidate who is against healthcare reform, voted to make you bankrupt and make you pay higher and higher premiums if you still get health insurance.
Now if you get too defensive about not doing enough, not getting unemployment down enough, then Attack the House Republicans for their embrace of Pat Ryan's "Roadmap". Here you charge at the last Republican bastion--the over 60 voter, who has already gotten theirs. If you elect Republicans to the House, they are on record for saying they will privatize social security, medicare and medicaid. They are on record for saying they will raise taxes on all those earning less than $175,000. The Lowest brackets actually pay a substantial increase. They are on record cutting taxes for the upper 2% of our society. After $170,000, you might get $10K but if you are wealthy you will gain $250K in tax refunds. That is 5 years of the average family's earnings. That is the plan for a House run by Republicans during a Great Recession.
Democrats were thinking about running against Bush but running against Pat Ryan is better. Even after a little Depression and the fiscal meltdown of the country, the Republican plan remains an accelerated version of the past. Whatever failings the Democrats have, they must spell out the dramatic choice. Republicans can not take a direct hit. You run right at them and they hide like Dick Cheney. A Republican candidate could say,"Oh No, I'm going to protect social security,etc. I don't agree with that" but force him to respond to his own party's printed plan. Doubt will be raised in the minds of the voter and the seniors will smell what's happening.
The Republicans honestly believe Pat Ryan is the new wunderkind. He did sound smart at the White House Healthreform Summit, but dig deeper into his proposals and it is madness. And all the Republicans in Washington are flocking to his ideas and he is getting great write-ups in the conservative publications. The Democrats should use him as the poster child for The Looting of the Country. His proposals are a recipe for turning America into a Third World country. In fact, Democrats should play the real "race card"--Do you want America to become a Third World Country? I am not exaggerating about what the GOP "Roadmap" would mean if ever implemented.
Democrats forget President Obama controls the language, even if the rightwing controls the airwaves. Do you really believe that an argument for more de-regulation is going to fly? Did anyone buy the Republican argument that if we cut regulations on health insurance industry the rates will go down? The evidence is right there in the open. Before the last few years, it was a debate of ideas. Frankly, people really didn't know what would happen. Now the results are dramatically in and the average American knows it. Please, don't psyche yourselves out. Take some prozac.
Get a sense of humor. Suggest parole for Khalid Sheik Muhammed and that Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol be his parole officers. Or at least get Alan Grayson to say it.
Just think about it--A majority of New Yorkers still want Gov. Patterson to serve out his term. It can't be all bad for the Democrats. Remember the approval ratings for former Democrat Ronald Reagan hit 35% in the midst of the recession in the early 1980s and he went on to win a landslide election only a short time after. You can also use the fact when Republicans invoke Reagan for these times that during similar times in America he voted four times for FDR and even said while in the White House he was proud of it.
Also stop responding to the so-called "socialism" attacks. Colin Powell quietly dissed this on Meet The Press saying,"Does anyone really think that one man can turn America into a socialist country?" Or you can argument with 75% of the country's wealth in the hands of 10% of the population it would be pretty hard to say we're going socialist.
No sooner did I leave the office last evening than the Democrats were discouraged and in despair. This morning USA Today says Obama's base is disengaged. Of course, we shouldn't count the 1 million e-mails OFA members sent Congress to pass healthcare reform. Bernie Sanders says Obama has lost the youth. Well, that should come back when my son finishes his college papers. Chris Matthews says Obama is a one-term President. Now Karl Rove says Obama can be defeated in 2012.
If you listen to Lawrence O'Donnell as the substitute host of Countdown, you would think that the Democrats were doomed and that healthcare reform can not pass because of the trickery that will be played by the Senate. Remember Nancy Pelosi yesterday said she had the votes. Nancy Pelosi has not lost a vote since becoming Speaker. But Lawrence was crying about whether the anti-abortion people can stop it. Then he says that Republicans will attack Democrats in 2010 because of the deals to buy Landrieu and Nelson's votes in the Senate. If you listen to him enough,it's best not to pass any bill about anything.
Then Michael Moore asks Rachel Maddow how she can wake up in the morning because of the letdown since the Democrats won in 2008. Actually, Rachel Maddow may be the most sane person standing at this time. She demonstrated that the vaunted Bart Stupak dozen or so is really four other guys and that the anti-abortion Democrats are just full of it. But Drudge this morning dutifully reports that anti-abortion Dems say health bill dead on arrival. Turn on the Siren!
Jim Hightower wrote this morning that Obama has blown it. Almost everyday Arianna Huffington, who is as rich as Midas, reports some monstrous failing of Obama and the Democrats. I agree with her it's best to get alot of sleep. Deepak Chopra, perhaps the greatest threat to American security, writes that the only way we can get through this is having a religious perspective--which he will sell to you at the right price.
I am astonished at how Democrats can psyche themselves out. They have been so traumatized by decades of right-wing attacks that they fall for psyops by the right-wing, which has nothing. I mean nothing. They could even fight terrorism.
I was reviewing polls last night and I concluded the Democrats could minimize losses in the Senate to just 2 or 3, and losses in the House to 12. The Democrats have and, I believe, will have the money advantage in 2010. But they need to learn Republican tricks about packaging the message. Republicans claim they are going to run against the stimulus package, for repeal of health care reform and for the GOP Roadmap to the Future. Great! Pundits say the election will be about the Democrats' performance. And here The Democrats have already started to sound like losers. They have to point out the alternatives.
Here are a few tips. If you are running against a sitting Republican, then here are some themes:
This tax-cutting candidate voted against the largest middle class tax cut in history;
This law and order candidate voted against keeping policemen on the job;
This "Don't Leave Any Children Behind" candidate votes against paying the salaries of your children's teachers;
This guy didn't even want firemen on the job;
This candidate voted against the auto industry and wanted 16% of America to go out of busines
This new Deficit buster voted against creating a Deficit Commission;
This Candidate against out of control government spending voted against the PayGo rules, where we have to have the fund programs.
This Candidate who is against healthcare reform, voted to make you bankrupt and make you pay higher and higher premiums if you still get health insurance.
Now if you get too defensive about not doing enough, not getting unemployment down enough, then Attack the House Republicans for their embrace of Pat Ryan's "Roadmap". Here you charge at the last Republican bastion--the over 60 voter, who has already gotten theirs. If you elect Republicans to the House, they are on record for saying they will privatize social security, medicare and medicaid. They are on record for saying they will raise taxes on all those earning less than $175,000. The Lowest brackets actually pay a substantial increase. They are on record cutting taxes for the upper 2% of our society. After $170,000, you might get $10K but if you are wealthy you will gain $250K in tax refunds. That is 5 years of the average family's earnings. That is the plan for a House run by Republicans during a Great Recession.
Democrats were thinking about running against Bush but running against Pat Ryan is better. Even after a little Depression and the fiscal meltdown of the country, the Republican plan remains an accelerated version of the past. Whatever failings the Democrats have, they must spell out the dramatic choice. Republicans can not take a direct hit. You run right at them and they hide like Dick Cheney. A Republican candidate could say,"Oh No, I'm going to protect social security,etc. I don't agree with that" but force him to respond to his own party's printed plan. Doubt will be raised in the minds of the voter and the seniors will smell what's happening.
The Republicans honestly believe Pat Ryan is the new wunderkind. He did sound smart at the White House Healthreform Summit, but dig deeper into his proposals and it is madness. And all the Republicans in Washington are flocking to his ideas and he is getting great write-ups in the conservative publications. The Democrats should use him as the poster child for The Looting of the Country. His proposals are a recipe for turning America into a Third World country. In fact, Democrats should play the real "race card"--Do you want America to become a Third World Country? I am not exaggerating about what the GOP "Roadmap" would mean if ever implemented.
Democrats forget President Obama controls the language, even if the rightwing controls the airwaves. Do you really believe that an argument for more de-regulation is going to fly? Did anyone buy the Republican argument that if we cut regulations on health insurance industry the rates will go down? The evidence is right there in the open. Before the last few years, it was a debate of ideas. Frankly, people really didn't know what would happen. Now the results are dramatically in and the average American knows it. Please, don't psyche yourselves out. Take some prozac.
Get a sense of humor. Suggest parole for Khalid Sheik Muhammed and that Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol be his parole officers. Or at least get Alan Grayson to say it.
Just think about it--A majority of New Yorkers still want Gov. Patterson to serve out his term. It can't be all bad for the Democrats. Remember the approval ratings for former Democrat Ronald Reagan hit 35% in the midst of the recession in the early 1980s and he went on to win a landslide election only a short time after. You can also use the fact when Republicans invoke Reagan for these times that during similar times in America he voted four times for FDR and even said while in the White House he was proud of it.
Also stop responding to the so-called "socialism" attacks. Colin Powell quietly dissed this on Meet The Press saying,"Does anyone really think that one man can turn America into a socialist country?" Or you can argument with 75% of the country's wealth in the hands of 10% of the population it would be pretty hard to say we're going socialist.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Gonzo America--The Crazy, the Demented and the True
It's been a busy week as the incoming has been hot and heavy. The birthers or Orly Taitz or Oilie Taint acting as attorney had their case thrown out by a District Court because Orly never signed the papers. A woman medic in this brief likened President Obama to Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Francois Duvalier and was seeking to apply for conscientious objection because Obama has not shown his birth certificate.
The Tenthers-- the new Tenth Amendment movement--is trying to change the Georgia state constitution to prevent health care reform. Tenthers claim that Medicare and Social Security are unconstitutional--something real constitution scholars deny. I would like them to succeed in their effort so when healthcare reform passes, they'll find their effort will have literally no effect--nada, zippo, the big goose egg.
Gover Rick Parry of the Republic of Texas resents President Obama planning to address the nation's school children on the first day of school. He insists that Obama should have talked to school principals about what he's going to say. The problem,Gov. Rick, is that President Obama points in the speech are already on the Department of Education website and a letter already went out to all schools. Stay informed! Stay Classy! The Florida Republican Party has denounced the speech as Obama's effort to indoctrinate children with socialism. South Carolina and Georgia are making it optional for students to attend school because of parental protests. Even here in Virginia, Loudon County with the wealthiest of Republicans will forgo the President's speech. Christians have petitioned some counties in California and in Colorado to prohibit the broadcast of the President speech.
So let's get this straight. The President, who has been a constitutional law professor and graduated law school magna cum laude, would be a bad role model for children. Having heard him on education before, he comes off like a nerdy guy emphasizing all the usual bromides of attend school, study hard, do your homework and eat healthy foods and get your sleep. The very stuff of socialist utopias. All the criticism and censorship of the speech will only make it more attractive for kids. Somehow all the protesters forget the speech will be on C-Span, WhiteHouse. gov and Youtube in case the children want to disobey their parents.
The question really is why the media actually give these morons any publicity. If anything, most of these characters protesting the President of the United States talking to the nation's students should be declared unfit parents. The head of the Florida Republican Party in his television appearances implies that he prohibits his children from ever watching the President. In my ancient youth, all parents encouraged children to listen to the President, whether they voted for him or not, because it was all a part of civics.
Levi Johnston, the once future son-in-law of Sarah Palin, has brought high entertainment back to politics this past week. Levi claims that Sarah was not the best homemaker, didn't know how to shoot a gun even though she kept one under the bed, tired of the Government's job because it was "too hard" and just wanted to make money. Levi hopes to be a male model and pose for all the gays reading Playgirl. Meanwhile, Sarah is in an undisclosed location, occasionally phoning into her family. She is"writing her memoir" and has been asking her dad about how many points she scored in basketball,when they went to the Boston Marathon and other exciting sports-related questions.
Republicans are scouting around for future Presidential candidates. Among them are General Petraeus, whom no one will remember, especially after we leave Iraq in ruins. Another is Joe Scarborough of Morning Joe fame. And another still--a favorite of the base and gays is Rick Santorum. As we all remember, Dan Savage of America's greatest sex advice column "Savage Love" had a contest about what sexual reference should be "Santorum". The winner was the bodily fluids excreted after Anal Sex. This has immortalized Rick Santorum to millions of Americans.
The Left is going bonkers over every statement or cryptic reference coming from the White House and Democratic leaders concerning whether the 'public option" is in or out of the healthcare proposals. As of this Friday before Labor Day, it's still in, although people are afraid that President Obama is negotiating a "trigger" option with Senator Olympia Snowe.
During the past week, our ace media have missed several pro-health reform rallies where thousands have gathered in support of the President's plan. Instead, the big story was a healthcare opponent having his finger beaten off by a pro-healthcare supporter. We were even treated to the drops of blood on the sidewalk.
The press continued their superb coverage by criticising the President for going on a second vacation to Camp David. OK, now President Bush spent a total of 3 full years at his ranch without a great deal of criticism. President Obama's vacation on Martha's Vineyard was something less than relaxing. He re-annouced the appointment of Ben Bernacke to the Fed, wrote and gave a statement on Senator Kennedy's death, flew to see the Kennedy family and gave a eulogy. The networks even got around to criticising him for not sticking around for the family-only funeral.
The radical Right Christian communities have topped themselves by coming out against healthcare reform. I understand one could have criticisms but a church coming out against the whole thing. Amazing. The Archdiocese of St Louis gave the reactionary Catholic voice by saying the Church does not endorse socialized medicine. One really has to get in the weeds to find anything remotely socialist in anything being proposed. It is incredibly disconcerting for religious organizations to come out against health coverage for the poor and uninsured. To put it mildly, it's theologically disturbing. A great Pastor in Tempe, Arizona, which must breed more nuts per acres than anywhere in the U.S., called for Obama to die and go to Hell. Not for anything he did, mind you; it's because the Pastor admits he hates him--something that strikes me as anti-Christian.
The great lover and fundamentalist Governor of South Carolina Sanford is being pressed to resign by the state's GOP. The Lt.Governor Andre Bauer has offered to sit for the remaining term and promised not to run for election. It appears that some of the Governor evangelical friends soon circulated rumors that the gay community has confirmed that Mr. Bauer has had gay affairs. Local evangelicals, who support his very heavy family values approach and his leadership in getting a variety of Christian slogans on license plates, had an amazing response. "Just because he had sex with men doesn't mean he's gay." "It was probably some sort of mistake." Wow!
The Head of the Board of Education selected by loverboy Sanford has been upholding family values. She home-schools her children and has introduced a consevative curriculum in the school system. At night she likes to play on line suggesting she would really like to be in a threesome and looks forward to some girl-girl action. She even dabbles in writing erotica and likes to show up at political functions and show off her sheer underwear. That might make the South rise again.
Lawrence O'Donnell, who has been ably defending Democratic views on MSNBC, appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and claimed that President Obama was desparate on the health care issue and was pessimistic about it passing. It was an unusual statement in a week of unusual events. Strip away all the noise and polling on healthcare reform remains fairly consistent when people are asked about the particulars of the plan. My gut tells me something substantial will be passed.
Margaret and Helen, America's oldest bloggers, have been unkind on the subject of Republican criticisms of the health care reform. In their eighties, they promise everyone they'll live as long as they want and will spend the grandchildren's inheritance doing so. The ladies warn Americans about congress types who claim God speaks to them. They particularly aim their arrows at Michelle Bachman of Minnesota, who loves to boast she is the most hated Republican woman in America--after Sarah Palin. Michelle Bachman urged her supporters to slit their wrists this week and create a blood bond to prevent healthcare reform from passing. She also promised that even though Democrats want to elect the first woman President, God will decide on a Republican. Pretty strong stuff. Margaret and Helen dished about the lack of education of some of the Republican luminaries such as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, both of whom dropped out of college. They did say at least Palin got her degree after six years and five colleges later.
And speaking of Glenn Beck--he continues to infuriate me because of his colossal ignorance. The other night he decided to "decode the architecture of Rockefeller Center" as an allegory of progressive-fascist-communist conspiracies somehow linked to the Rockefeller Family and --ergo--Obama (?) The history of art in Rockefeller Center is well-documented with such pyrotechnics as Diego Rivera creating a fresco with Lenin and a lampoon of Rockefeller as part of a pay dispute. This is so well-known you have to be truly ignorant to make up your own history without any reference to it.
Advertisers continue to flee Glenn Beck, which only fuels his self-aggrandizement as the sole purveyor of truth. In Washington, we look forward to the grand finale of his 9-12 project, which somehow believes the United States was created during the Revolution and then time-travelled to 9-11, which in Beck's perverse world we became as One--sort of like a post-modern Woodstock built on tragedy. And the fine country that existed then is being taken away from us by the fiendish black man Barack Obama. The 9-12 project is to conclude with the gathering of the tea-baggers, who I guess will wait the Rapture. On the 13th then, we are to see the March on Washington of all those for healthcare reform.
This non-stop insanity since September shows no let-up. Birthers, Deathers, Tenthers, Gun nuts and the Ayran Christs make a very dangerous brew. Dan Savage was quite correct that these people want the President dead--no iffs, no ands or buts. You would have to go back to the tail-end of the Eisenhower era, when the extreme right emerged to accuse Ike and his cabinet, which included General Marshall, of being fellow travellers and Comsymps. When JFK was elected, this underbelly of our society put the train in motion that fueled the assasinations of JFK, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, even though the assassins themselves had a variety of politics. They legitimized violence as a way to settle disputes in our democracy. The same is going on today. What is striking is that there are no mature adults emerging on the Right to neutralize this. Instead we have Senator Jim Inhofe claiming "all our institutions are under attack today. And the President is thinking about letting terrorists free in our country" And you can make your own list of elected officials that re-iterate this nonsense ad nauseum.
I'm tempted to give it rest myself. These people are so certifiable, it is anxiety provoking just to follow their rantings. In the next posts, I'll talk about some good books that have been printed--some even by socialists.
The Tenthers-- the new Tenth Amendment movement--is trying to change the Georgia state constitution to prevent health care reform. Tenthers claim that Medicare and Social Security are unconstitutional--something real constitution scholars deny. I would like them to succeed in their effort so when healthcare reform passes, they'll find their effort will have literally no effect--nada, zippo, the big goose egg.
Gover Rick Parry of the Republic of Texas resents President Obama planning to address the nation's school children on the first day of school. He insists that Obama should have talked to school principals about what he's going to say. The problem,Gov. Rick, is that President Obama points in the speech are already on the Department of Education website and a letter already went out to all schools. Stay informed! Stay Classy! The Florida Republican Party has denounced the speech as Obama's effort to indoctrinate children with socialism. South Carolina and Georgia are making it optional for students to attend school because of parental protests. Even here in Virginia, Loudon County with the wealthiest of Republicans will forgo the President's speech. Christians have petitioned some counties in California and in Colorado to prohibit the broadcast of the President speech.
So let's get this straight. The President, who has been a constitutional law professor and graduated law school magna cum laude, would be a bad role model for children. Having heard him on education before, he comes off like a nerdy guy emphasizing all the usual bromides of attend school, study hard, do your homework and eat healthy foods and get your sleep. The very stuff of socialist utopias. All the criticism and censorship of the speech will only make it more attractive for kids. Somehow all the protesters forget the speech will be on C-Span, WhiteHouse. gov and Youtube in case the children want to disobey their parents.
The question really is why the media actually give these morons any publicity. If anything, most of these characters protesting the President of the United States talking to the nation's students should be declared unfit parents. The head of the Florida Republican Party in his television appearances implies that he prohibits his children from ever watching the President. In my ancient youth, all parents encouraged children to listen to the President, whether they voted for him or not, because it was all a part of civics.
Levi Johnston, the once future son-in-law of Sarah Palin, has brought high entertainment back to politics this past week. Levi claims that Sarah was not the best homemaker, didn't know how to shoot a gun even though she kept one under the bed, tired of the Government's job because it was "too hard" and just wanted to make money. Levi hopes to be a male model and pose for all the gays reading Playgirl. Meanwhile, Sarah is in an undisclosed location, occasionally phoning into her family. She is"writing her memoir" and has been asking her dad about how many points she scored in basketball,when they went to the Boston Marathon and other exciting sports-related questions.
Republicans are scouting around for future Presidential candidates. Among them are General Petraeus, whom no one will remember, especially after we leave Iraq in ruins. Another is Joe Scarborough of Morning Joe fame. And another still--a favorite of the base and gays is Rick Santorum. As we all remember, Dan Savage of America's greatest sex advice column "Savage Love" had a contest about what sexual reference should be "Santorum". The winner was the bodily fluids excreted after Anal Sex. This has immortalized Rick Santorum to millions of Americans.
The Left is going bonkers over every statement or cryptic reference coming from the White House and Democratic leaders concerning whether the 'public option" is in or out of the healthcare proposals. As of this Friday before Labor Day, it's still in, although people are afraid that President Obama is negotiating a "trigger" option with Senator Olympia Snowe.
During the past week, our ace media have missed several pro-health reform rallies where thousands have gathered in support of the President's plan. Instead, the big story was a healthcare opponent having his finger beaten off by a pro-healthcare supporter. We were even treated to the drops of blood on the sidewalk.
The press continued their superb coverage by criticising the President for going on a second vacation to Camp David. OK, now President Bush spent a total of 3 full years at his ranch without a great deal of criticism. President Obama's vacation on Martha's Vineyard was something less than relaxing. He re-annouced the appointment of Ben Bernacke to the Fed, wrote and gave a statement on Senator Kennedy's death, flew to see the Kennedy family and gave a eulogy. The networks even got around to criticising him for not sticking around for the family-only funeral.
The radical Right Christian communities have topped themselves by coming out against healthcare reform. I understand one could have criticisms but a church coming out against the whole thing. Amazing. The Archdiocese of St Louis gave the reactionary Catholic voice by saying the Church does not endorse socialized medicine. One really has to get in the weeds to find anything remotely socialist in anything being proposed. It is incredibly disconcerting for religious organizations to come out against health coverage for the poor and uninsured. To put it mildly, it's theologically disturbing. A great Pastor in Tempe, Arizona, which must breed more nuts per acres than anywhere in the U.S., called for Obama to die and go to Hell. Not for anything he did, mind you; it's because the Pastor admits he hates him--something that strikes me as anti-Christian.
The great lover and fundamentalist Governor of South Carolina Sanford is being pressed to resign by the state's GOP. The Lt.Governor Andre Bauer has offered to sit for the remaining term and promised not to run for election. It appears that some of the Governor evangelical friends soon circulated rumors that the gay community has confirmed that Mr. Bauer has had gay affairs. Local evangelicals, who support his very heavy family values approach and his leadership in getting a variety of Christian slogans on license plates, had an amazing response. "Just because he had sex with men doesn't mean he's gay." "It was probably some sort of mistake." Wow!
The Head of the Board of Education selected by loverboy Sanford has been upholding family values. She home-schools her children and has introduced a consevative curriculum in the school system. At night she likes to play on line suggesting she would really like to be in a threesome and looks forward to some girl-girl action. She even dabbles in writing erotica and likes to show up at political functions and show off her sheer underwear. That might make the South rise again.
Lawrence O'Donnell, who has been ably defending Democratic views on MSNBC, appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and claimed that President Obama was desparate on the health care issue and was pessimistic about it passing. It was an unusual statement in a week of unusual events. Strip away all the noise and polling on healthcare reform remains fairly consistent when people are asked about the particulars of the plan. My gut tells me something substantial will be passed.
Margaret and Helen, America's oldest bloggers, have been unkind on the subject of Republican criticisms of the health care reform. In their eighties, they promise everyone they'll live as long as they want and will spend the grandchildren's inheritance doing so. The ladies warn Americans about congress types who claim God speaks to them. They particularly aim their arrows at Michelle Bachman of Minnesota, who loves to boast she is the most hated Republican woman in America--after Sarah Palin. Michelle Bachman urged her supporters to slit their wrists this week and create a blood bond to prevent healthcare reform from passing. She also promised that even though Democrats want to elect the first woman President, God will decide on a Republican. Pretty strong stuff. Margaret and Helen dished about the lack of education of some of the Republican luminaries such as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, both of whom dropped out of college. They did say at least Palin got her degree after six years and five colleges later.
And speaking of Glenn Beck--he continues to infuriate me because of his colossal ignorance. The other night he decided to "decode the architecture of Rockefeller Center" as an allegory of progressive-fascist-communist conspiracies somehow linked to the Rockefeller Family and --ergo--Obama (?) The history of art in Rockefeller Center is well-documented with such pyrotechnics as Diego Rivera creating a fresco with Lenin and a lampoon of Rockefeller as part of a pay dispute. This is so well-known you have to be truly ignorant to make up your own history without any reference to it.
Advertisers continue to flee Glenn Beck, which only fuels his self-aggrandizement as the sole purveyor of truth. In Washington, we look forward to the grand finale of his 9-12 project, which somehow believes the United States was created during the Revolution and then time-travelled to 9-11, which in Beck's perverse world we became as One--sort of like a post-modern Woodstock built on tragedy. And the fine country that existed then is being taken away from us by the fiendish black man Barack Obama. The 9-12 project is to conclude with the gathering of the tea-baggers, who I guess will wait the Rapture. On the 13th then, we are to see the March on Washington of all those for healthcare reform.
This non-stop insanity since September shows no let-up. Birthers, Deathers, Tenthers, Gun nuts and the Ayran Christs make a very dangerous brew. Dan Savage was quite correct that these people want the President dead--no iffs, no ands or buts. You would have to go back to the tail-end of the Eisenhower era, when the extreme right emerged to accuse Ike and his cabinet, which included General Marshall, of being fellow travellers and Comsymps. When JFK was elected, this underbelly of our society put the train in motion that fueled the assasinations of JFK, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, even though the assassins themselves had a variety of politics. They legitimized violence as a way to settle disputes in our democracy. The same is going on today. What is striking is that there are no mature adults emerging on the Right to neutralize this. Instead we have Senator Jim Inhofe claiming "all our institutions are under attack today. And the President is thinking about letting terrorists free in our country" And you can make your own list of elected officials that re-iterate this nonsense ad nauseum.
I'm tempted to give it rest myself. These people are so certifiable, it is anxiety provoking just to follow their rantings. In the next posts, I'll talk about some good books that have been printed--some even by socialists.
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