Michael Barone was on C-SPAN today, I was working outside but listening and here's all you need to know about Barone.
He's a blogger.
Well, he's a blogger with an editor, according to Barone.
He cited a blogger as an example of good blogging.
It was Instapundit.
He has an opinion on Dick Cheney.
He thinks the charges and coverage is overdone.
Barone writes for US News and World Report.
And he contributes to Faux News as well.
Barone wrote an article on how we pick vice presidents.
But he managed to not talk about how Dick Cheney yanks Bush around like a cat with one of those catnip balls on a string. And he closes the column with a totally gratuitous slam on John Edwards, coming from that multi-loser Bob Shrum.
Gratuitous? Yes, because he mentioned every other VP choice since 1972 without a signle comment about them, not Eagletons psychiatry, not Quayles stupidity, not Liebermans sanctimony, no, just a slam on Edwards from a self serving source of little trustworthiness.
Broder is shocked that Cheney is running Bush like Harvey Keitel ran Jodi Foster in The Taxi Driver, Barone ignores Cheney altogether except to disparage one of the Demcoratic challengers for President, yes, the DC Pundits really further the principles set out by Jefferson and Madison and Paine and Adams et al, if you think that Corporations and Elitism were what those men were writing and dying about some 231 years ago. Yes, George Washington and Nathanael Greene would be proud of the patriotism and honor that the DC Beltway Pundits shower on our country; as brave soldiers die needlessly in Iraq, for a war sold on a pack of treacherous lies promulgated by said pundits; as an elite class built on accumulated wealth gains greater control of our country thanks to the Orwellian writings of the aforementioned DC Pundits (Death Tax anyone?); yes Barone is a great patriot, isn't he?
C-SPAN runs these turds all of the time, Heritage and AEI hacks, it shows that we have a long ways to go, but putting pressure on these people helps. So write Barone, maybe one of his editors will notice.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
And it's one, two, three, What are we fighting for?
That's what Country Joe and the Fish asked in 1968, and Wednesday, (I just heard it this morning on the SPAN) that fraud of an expert, Fred Kagan, when asked by the Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs whether Iraq had posed a terrorism threat to the US before the invasion and occupation, told the subcommittee chaired by Mr Ackerman, No, they did not.
Now, I've heard of flip flops, but that one was a size 16 double E one, since bush and cheney and rice and powell et al were all telling us what a threat Hussein was prior to this disastrous for America War of Aggression. kagan, being one of the architects of this nightmare, and much to the surprise of Mr. Ackerman, repudiated all of those lies, the whole bush strategy, from Invasion to Mission Accomplished to the Surge, and nobody really seems to have noticed it. Ackerman paused after kagan's answer, he should have tossed in an oh really but didn't, then proceeded, but the words had been spoken, the lies revealed, the pointlessness, in the real world not bush/cheney's corporate fantasy world, of the death and destruction laid bare.
It's not often that I quote from bush's website, but here you go:
Tonight I want to take a few minutes to discuss a grave threat to peace, and America's determination to lead the world in confronting that threat.
The threat comes from Iraq. It arises directly from the Iraqi regime's own actions -- its history of aggression, and its drive toward an arsenal of terror. Eleven years ago, as a condition for ending the Persian Gulf War, the Iraqi regime was required to destroy its weapons of mass destruction, to cease all development of such weapons, and to stop all support for terrorist groups. The Iraqi regime has violated all of those obligations. It possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. It has given shelter and support to terrorism, and practices terror against its own people. The entire world has witnessed Iraq's eleven-year history of defiance, deception and bad faith.
We also must never forget the most vivid events of recent history. On September the 11th, 2001, America felt its vulnerability -- even to threats that gather on the other side of the earth. We resolved then, and we are resolved today, to confront every threat, from any source, that could bring sudden terror and suffering to America.
Members of the Congress of both political parties, and members of the United Nations Security Council, agree that Saddam Hussein is a threat to peace and must disarm. We agree that the Iraqi dictator must not be permitted to threaten America and the world with horrible poisons and diseases and gases and atomic weapons. Since we all agree on this goal, the issues is : how can we best achieve it?
There you have it, Hussein is terror and threat of the most horrible sort, yet, one of the brains behind this operation just told us he wasn't.
And that is the foundation of this most base and profound wrong this nation has undertaken, as bad as the mistreatment and genocide of the Native Americans, the Slave Trade, the War against Mexico, all of it. This time the lie was the justification, even though economic gain was the goal as in all the other cases, everybody knew that at some level. This time, all of the people were fooled all of the time, until now.
Now, I've heard of flip flops, but that one was a size 16 double E one, since bush and cheney and rice and powell et al were all telling us what a threat Hussein was prior to this disastrous for America War of Aggression. kagan, being one of the architects of this nightmare, and much to the surprise of Mr. Ackerman, repudiated all of those lies, the whole bush strategy, from Invasion to Mission Accomplished to the Surge, and nobody really seems to have noticed it. Ackerman paused after kagan's answer, he should have tossed in an oh really but didn't, then proceeded, but the words had been spoken, the lies revealed, the pointlessness, in the real world not bush/cheney's corporate fantasy world, of the death and destruction laid bare.
It's not often that I quote from bush's website, but here you go:
Tonight I want to take a few minutes to discuss a grave threat to peace, and America's determination to lead the world in confronting that threat.
The threat comes from Iraq. It arises directly from the Iraqi regime's own actions -- its history of aggression, and its drive toward an arsenal of terror. Eleven years ago, as a condition for ending the Persian Gulf War, the Iraqi regime was required to destroy its weapons of mass destruction, to cease all development of such weapons, and to stop all support for terrorist groups. The Iraqi regime has violated all of those obligations. It possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. It has given shelter and support to terrorism, and practices terror against its own people. The entire world has witnessed Iraq's eleven-year history of defiance, deception and bad faith.
We also must never forget the most vivid events of recent history. On September the 11th, 2001, America felt its vulnerability -- even to threats that gather on the other side of the earth. We resolved then, and we are resolved today, to confront every threat, from any source, that could bring sudden terror and suffering to America.
Members of the Congress of both political parties, and members of the United Nations Security Council, agree that Saddam Hussein is a threat to peace and must disarm. We agree that the Iraqi dictator must not be permitted to threaten America and the world with horrible poisons and diseases and gases and atomic weapons. Since we all agree on this goal, the issues is : how can we best achieve it?
There you have it, Hussein is terror and threat of the most horrible sort, yet, one of the brains behind this operation just told us he wasn't.
And that is the foundation of this most base and profound wrong this nation has undertaken, as bad as the mistreatment and genocide of the Native Americans, the Slave Trade, the War against Mexico, all of it. This time the lie was the justification, even though economic gain was the goal as in all the other cases, everybody knew that at some level. This time, all of the people were fooled all of the time, until now.
Monday, June 25, 2007
GOP Exposed as Incompetent
Yes, you have to love the California GOP. Okay, you don't, I certainly don't, but you have to love that Ron Nehring, one of the GOP's golden boys is, well, not really very smart.
How else to explain that he picked Michael Kamburowski, an Australian immigrant who served as the California Republican Party's chief operating officer, and also served some time as a guest of the State of New York, is an illegal immigrant, isn't an American Citizen and can't vote in an election, but he's the best that Nehring could find to fill the job of COO for the State GOP. And make no mistake, he's Nehring's boy.
The 35-year-old Australian citizen was handpicked for the post by Nehring, who became party chief in February.
Kamburowski is a former registered lobbyist for Americans for Tax Reform and a top operative for the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, both founded by conservative activist Grover Norquist. Nehring -- also a former senior adviser and consultant to Norquist's Washington, D.C., operation -- worked with Kamburowski at Americans for Tax Reform in the 1990s.
That's Nehring's claim to fame, Grover. Nehring, who as a board member of the Grossmont Union High School District wants to privatize the district, charter schools they euphamize it as, but privatize is what it is, disorganize the district the better to run his cronies and contractor favorites into the public trough being the goal.
Always keep that in mind. That's what they do it for, to perpetuate the Rove machine, the culture of greed and power. At the Left Coaster, the talk is about the predator class, that sounds as good a desription for these creeps as any. I remember the Enron tapes of those guys laughing at Grandma Millie, smiling as they killed. That is the GOP of Rove and Cheney and GE and Exxon et al. Never forget that.
Sure, their incompetence isn't always an advertisement for the evils of government, sometimes it's just the level of their fundamental stupidity coming to the fore. Not only is their Party COO illegal, but their Political Director is a Canadian here on one of those coveted H1B visas. Another American Job outsourced, even as the California GOP rails on and on about those illegals taking our jobs, hell, immigrants in general taking our jobs. But it isn't hypocrisy, because that would require a human belief system, an assumption that government has a role, that unbridled capitalism cannot solve every ill or problem.
Nehring's belief system was instilled into him, one of Karl Roves Little College Republicans thoroughly brainwashed into a good little soldier following orders. Without that crap drilled into Nehring's brain, Nehring would be a nobody of consequence. Instead, ironically enough, that anti government banner he operates under is making him an agent of destruction for the California GOP.
Now, if we can only get him off of the school board...
[update 6/26/07 11:02 pm-As the anonymous commenter so smartly points out, Nehring is not on the Board as of the November election, so, poof, presto, he's off the school board, yee-haw. Now, if we can only get him out of the State of California...]
How else to explain that he picked Michael Kamburowski, an Australian immigrant who served as the California Republican Party's chief operating officer, and also served some time as a guest of the State of New York, is an illegal immigrant, isn't an American Citizen and can't vote in an election, but he's the best that Nehring could find to fill the job of COO for the State GOP. And make no mistake, he's Nehring's boy.
The 35-year-old Australian citizen was handpicked for the post by Nehring, who became party chief in February.
Kamburowski is a former registered lobbyist for Americans for Tax Reform and a top operative for the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, both founded by conservative activist Grover Norquist. Nehring -- also a former senior adviser and consultant to Norquist's Washington, D.C., operation -- worked with Kamburowski at Americans for Tax Reform in the 1990s.
That's Nehring's claim to fame, Grover. Nehring, who as a board member of the Grossmont Union High School District wants to privatize the district, charter schools they euphamize it as, but privatize is what it is, disorganize the district the better to run his cronies and contractor favorites into the public trough being the goal.
Always keep that in mind. That's what they do it for, to perpetuate the Rove machine, the culture of greed and power. At the Left Coaster, the talk is about the predator class, that sounds as good a desription for these creeps as any. I remember the Enron tapes of those guys laughing at Grandma Millie, smiling as they killed. That is the GOP of Rove and Cheney and GE and Exxon et al. Never forget that.
Sure, their incompetence isn't always an advertisement for the evils of government, sometimes it's just the level of their fundamental stupidity coming to the fore. Not only is their Party COO illegal, but their Political Director is a Canadian here on one of those coveted H1B visas. Another American Job outsourced, even as the California GOP rails on and on about those illegals taking our jobs, hell, immigrants in general taking our jobs. But it isn't hypocrisy, because that would require a human belief system, an assumption that government has a role, that unbridled capitalism cannot solve every ill or problem.
Nehring's belief system was instilled into him, one of Karl Roves Little College Republicans thoroughly brainwashed into a good little soldier following orders. Without that crap drilled into Nehring's brain, Nehring would be a nobody of consequence. Instead, ironically enough, that anti government banner he operates under is making him an agent of destruction for the California GOP.
Now, if we can only get him off of the school board...
[update 6/26/07 11:02 pm-As the anonymous commenter so smartly points out, Nehring is not on the Board as of the November election, so, poof, presto, he's off the school board, yee-haw. Now, if we can only get him out of the State of California...]
Sunday, June 24, 2007
An Apple A Day
Mom, Apple Pie, Red White and Blue, with the 4th of July what could be more patriotic than that eh?
Oh, about those apples, eat 'em if you got 'em, apparently they're going to be coming from China pretty soon. Which makes great sense, given the impending devastating effects of global warming, for us to import a product like apples that we grow in abundance here already, right? Right!!!??
That's the thrust from this AP article. Needless to say, I will not be buying apples from China to further that insanity. But of course, since corporations are involved, they start with a less redily defined product, apple concentrate. Used to sweeten processed foods, make juice and jelly and pies and lord knows what all else.
Questions come to mind regarding this. In light of the melamine scare, what assurances are there that the concentrate from China is any safer than the feed and wheat gluten coming from China?
How would I know where the concentrate is coming from?
And most importantly, who really is profiting from these imports from China? Because that seems the critical question. China didn't just decide to flood our markets with apples and apple products, now did they? Increase their apple production 400 percent in 10 years or so? This sounds awfully a lot like another offshoot of the glories of Wal Mart driving prices down with no consideration of the consequences long term.
Buying locally is what we need to do, is part of the solution to not just Global Warming, but impending energy and food crisis-if all of our corn goes to ethanol production, what is Kellogs going to make Corn Flakes out of, or where are our corn bread and corn tortillas going to come from?
[T]he prospect of China flooding the U.S. market with their fresh apples -- an event many believe is inevitable, even if it could be years away. That is the problem, why is such a thing inevitable? Well, so long as all of the costs are not factored into the economic decisions of corporations and governments, maybe so. Who champions us against these inevitable and inaccurate economic assumptions and events? That's who we need to pressure.
Who are the many in the article who think it inevitable, I have to wonder, big corporations unconcerned with the harm this sort of globalization causes, like Wal Mart, the Chinese, who? Let's figure out that answer, then maybe we can start having an effect on Global Warming and Big Oil, Big Corporations.
Maybe the guy I heard on the SPAN this morning, John Perkins, has some answers on who "They" are?.
Oh, about those apples, eat 'em if you got 'em, apparently they're going to be coming from China pretty soon. Which makes great sense, given the impending devastating effects of global warming, for us to import a product like apples that we grow in abundance here already, right? Right!!!??
That's the thrust from this AP article. Needless to say, I will not be buying apples from China to further that insanity. But of course, since corporations are involved, they start with a less redily defined product, apple concentrate. Used to sweeten processed foods, make juice and jelly and pies and lord knows what all else.
Questions come to mind regarding this. In light of the melamine scare, what assurances are there that the concentrate from China is any safer than the feed and wheat gluten coming from China?
How would I know where the concentrate is coming from?
And most importantly, who really is profiting from these imports from China? Because that seems the critical question. China didn't just decide to flood our markets with apples and apple products, now did they? Increase their apple production 400 percent in 10 years or so? This sounds awfully a lot like another offshoot of the glories of Wal Mart driving prices down with no consideration of the consequences long term.
Buying locally is what we need to do, is part of the solution to not just Global Warming, but impending energy and food crisis-if all of our corn goes to ethanol production, what is Kellogs going to make Corn Flakes out of, or where are our corn bread and corn tortillas going to come from?
[T]he prospect of China flooding the U.S. market with their fresh apples -- an event many believe is inevitable, even if it could be years away. That is the problem, why is such a thing inevitable? Well, so long as all of the costs are not factored into the economic decisions of corporations and governments, maybe so. Who champions us against these inevitable and inaccurate economic assumptions and events? That's who we need to pressure.
Who are the many in the article who think it inevitable, I have to wonder, big corporations unconcerned with the harm this sort of globalization causes, like Wal Mart, the Chinese, who? Let's figure out that answer, then maybe we can start having an effect on Global Warming and Big Oil, Big Corporations.
Maybe the guy I heard on the SPAN this morning, John Perkins, has some answers on who "They" are?.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Extra Constitutional Cheney
What strikes me about this latest revelation about Cheney, is how consistant it is with all of the most serious issues and events that have occured during this long national nightmare.
When Dick Cheney, as head of the Bush Campaigns Vice Presidential Search Committee tabbed himself as the one, we should have done more than laugh it off as a typical Republican manuever, which it, admittedly, was. It was just Phase One.
Having seen how easy it was to just do something that a reasonable person might view as wrong, Cheney continued to seize power, just by taking it. That is how those things work, the person running the search committee is unimpeachable because of his total disinterest in the position. Yet Cheney managed to tab himself as the best choice. That's what those Sarbanes-Oxley rules are all about, so that the CEO doesn't sit on the compensation committee and give himself and his crony's big fat raises. Sure, the level of disinterested on Wall Street Boards is open to debate, but that's for another day.
During the Florida Vote Fight, Cheney just plunged ahead as if he were indeed victorious, picking officials and department chiefs, planning galas, the whole nine yards. Bush/Cheney had won, of course he knew because he had essentially counted the votes himself, after all, so no time like the present for making hay. Energy Companies, let's talk, nobody will ever find out, unless one of you talks, and that would be very bad for your health.
Every time someone asks for documents from the VP, he snarls, fuck off, and refuses to give them up. When he deems it necessary for a policy for torturing possible terrorists, despite every law imaginable making it illegal and un-American, he tells that "Law Professor" Yoo to make something up, then he tells Heinrich Himmler reincarnated (Gonzales) to implement it, by just doing it. And thus Gitmo and Abu Ghraib were born.
They just make it up as they go along, with absolutely no regard for laws or precedent or decency or reason or anything else even remotely in line with the laws and norms of society. Whatever they want, he wants, they just take it. Signing statements, that's just a sop for Georgies senses. No matter what he does, shoot a guy in the face, then run away til the booze wears off, no problem, like the commercial says, they just do it.
Now, what that makes Cheney remains up to debate. Sociopath, Megalomaniac, Driven, Socially inept, I don't know, but whatever it is, it's time that the Democrats really force this misshapen little man to face the reality of life. He really is not an entity of the Executive Branch. And that cannot be borne in a free and democratic society.
Congress needs to defund his office immediately, since he is not a part of the Executive Branch, nor the Legislative Branch. Then, predictably, when he just keeps doing what he does, hopping in Air Force 2 for some back stabbing and double dealing, don't fuel the plane. Take away his limo. Take away his desk, jhis undisclosed locations, his defibs and his healthcare plan. Take everybody in his office by the scruffs of their necks, and I'll bet you can get some DC Police to do the job, and throw them out onto the street. Let Dick snarl away, let him run to Fat Timmeh, but make it clear that the monstrosity that has become Dick Cheney can no longer be tolerated. But take away his money first, that'll really get his blood surging.
When Dick Cheney, as head of the Bush Campaigns Vice Presidential Search Committee tabbed himself as the one, we should have done more than laugh it off as a typical Republican manuever, which it, admittedly, was. It was just Phase One.
Having seen how easy it was to just do something that a reasonable person might view as wrong, Cheney continued to seize power, just by taking it. That is how those things work, the person running the search committee is unimpeachable because of his total disinterest in the position. Yet Cheney managed to tab himself as the best choice. That's what those Sarbanes-Oxley rules are all about, so that the CEO doesn't sit on the compensation committee and give himself and his crony's big fat raises. Sure, the level of disinterested on Wall Street Boards is open to debate, but that's for another day.
During the Florida Vote Fight, Cheney just plunged ahead as if he were indeed victorious, picking officials and department chiefs, planning galas, the whole nine yards. Bush/Cheney had won, of course he knew because he had essentially counted the votes himself, after all, so no time like the present for making hay. Energy Companies, let's talk, nobody will ever find out, unless one of you talks, and that would be very bad for your health.
Every time someone asks for documents from the VP, he snarls, fuck off, and refuses to give them up. When he deems it necessary for a policy for torturing possible terrorists, despite every law imaginable making it illegal and un-American, he tells that "Law Professor" Yoo to make something up, then he tells Heinrich Himmler reincarnated (Gonzales) to implement it, by just doing it. And thus Gitmo and Abu Ghraib were born.
They just make it up as they go along, with absolutely no regard for laws or precedent or decency or reason or anything else even remotely in line with the laws and norms of society. Whatever they want, he wants, they just take it. Signing statements, that's just a sop for Georgies senses. No matter what he does, shoot a guy in the face, then run away til the booze wears off, no problem, like the commercial says, they just do it.
Now, what that makes Cheney remains up to debate. Sociopath, Megalomaniac, Driven, Socially inept, I don't know, but whatever it is, it's time that the Democrats really force this misshapen little man to face the reality of life. He really is not an entity of the Executive Branch. And that cannot be borne in a free and democratic society.
Congress needs to defund his office immediately, since he is not a part of the Executive Branch, nor the Legislative Branch. Then, predictably, when he just keeps doing what he does, hopping in Air Force 2 for some back stabbing and double dealing, don't fuel the plane. Take away his limo. Take away his desk, jhis undisclosed locations, his defibs and his healthcare plan. Take everybody in his office by the scruffs of their necks, and I'll bet you can get some DC Police to do the job, and throw them out onto the street. Let Dick snarl away, let him run to Fat Timmeh, but make it clear that the monstrosity that has become Dick Cheney can no longer be tolerated. But take away his money first, that'll really get his blood surging.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
What Corruption looks like
I was reading about Sen Stevens and his upcoming fall from grace over at TPM's Muckraker blog and I wanted to read that article where Stevens said this:
''We invite people we think can afford to put a contribution into the till,'' [Stevens] said, ''and people they want to meet.''
Did he really say that? On the record? This is why the corrupt culture of money and lobbyists is so pernicious, so like arundo is in our local waterways, choking out the natives so it can propagate itself in perpetuity.
Clicking on the hoped for link, though, led me to something else. The sponsors for this fishing "event." Just look at that list of sponsors, for a fishing tournament to save a sportfishing river. Think about this for a moment, if you will. The 3 Generals, GE, GM, GD, Big Oil, Boeing, United Technology, SAIC, Raytheon, Northrup Grumman, quite an impressive list so that a bunch of fat cats can continue to sports fish on their Alaskan River, something beyond the reach of most Americans I'd presume to say.
Compare that group to this group, for Stan Humphries Charity Golf Tournament. It's a pretty big event, proceeds benefit Rady Childrens Hospital, the sponsors are mostly local, lots of service and consumer goods corporate sponsors, but you don't see the Big Oil, Big Military Industrial Complex types, many based in San Diego, on the list of sponsors, do you.
It's this sickening contrast that tells you where the priorities lie, plain as can be. Buy a Senator, the Big Boys show up. Help children, you get just some people who care a little, who at the very least, realize that it is for a "good cause" and well worth the cash they toss at Stan and Childrens Hospital.
Marshall notes that Stevens didn't just suddenly become corrupt, on a whim as it were, no, he's been as vile and un-American as can be for quite some time. And the reporters are just now glomming on to that?
How the hell do you think republicans keep getting elected in this country, because of their good works, their good deeds, their wonderful legislative records? Their generosity and compassion as evidenced by their actions to help out the victims of Katrina?
Nope, it's by having slush funds all over the country, fattened by the policies they push, the tax cuts and business opportunities overseas that mark the ways and means of the Bush Presidency. How they sleep at all escapes me, how they justify their crimes defies me, but someday, somehow, these people are going to get theirs. Ted Stevens is in a race with Doolittle and Lewis for the next gopper thug pol to go down, I'm rooting for a three way tie.
''We invite people we think can afford to put a contribution into the till,'' [Stevens] said, ''and people they want to meet.''
Did he really say that? On the record? This is why the corrupt culture of money and lobbyists is so pernicious, so like arundo is in our local waterways, choking out the natives so it can propagate itself in perpetuity.
Clicking on the hoped for link, though, led me to something else. The sponsors for this fishing "event." Just look at that list of sponsors, for a fishing tournament to save a sportfishing river. Think about this for a moment, if you will. The 3 Generals, GE, GM, GD, Big Oil, Boeing, United Technology, SAIC, Raytheon, Northrup Grumman, quite an impressive list so that a bunch of fat cats can continue to sports fish on their Alaskan River, something beyond the reach of most Americans I'd presume to say.
Compare that group to this group, for Stan Humphries Charity Golf Tournament. It's a pretty big event, proceeds benefit Rady Childrens Hospital, the sponsors are mostly local, lots of service and consumer goods corporate sponsors, but you don't see the Big Oil, Big Military Industrial Complex types, many based in San Diego, on the list of sponsors, do you.
It's this sickening contrast that tells you where the priorities lie, plain as can be. Buy a Senator, the Big Boys show up. Help children, you get just some people who care a little, who at the very least, realize that it is for a "good cause" and well worth the cash they toss at Stan and Childrens Hospital.
Marshall notes that Stevens didn't just suddenly become corrupt, on a whim as it were, no, he's been as vile and un-American as can be for quite some time. And the reporters are just now glomming on to that?
How the hell do you think republicans keep getting elected in this country, because of their good works, their good deeds, their wonderful legislative records? Their generosity and compassion as evidenced by their actions to help out the victims of Katrina?
Nope, it's by having slush funds all over the country, fattened by the policies they push, the tax cuts and business opportunities overseas that mark the ways and means of the Bush Presidency. How they sleep at all escapes me, how they justify their crimes defies me, but someday, somehow, these people are going to get theirs. Ted Stevens is in a race with Doolittle and Lewis for the next gopper thug pol to go down, I'm rooting for a three way tie.
Wanker of the Day
The guy on MSNBC talking to the Dem and Gopper Thug "Strategists" about the Democratic candidates at the AFSCME forum in DC today.
He spews talking points from Drudge like we spew CO2, he gives that Gopper apologist more time to talk and cuts off the Dem when he tries to interrupt, he's everything wrong about the media, and he has no name here because I have no time to pursue it. Just this one bit. He said that the forum allows the candidates to make their campaign speech, as if that speech is some entity that exists outside the body politic, and that giving that speech is a bad thing.
Those campaign speeches summarize what the candidates stand for, what they hope for, what they want to change and want to keep, and are important anchors for what kind of leaders they hope to be. Expanding on their stump speeches in a less formal manner is critical in explaining themselves, even under the gentle ministrations of Chris Man Crush Matthews. It's called communications, it's too bad that the people in the communications industry have such contempt for America that they only desire one way communication, them speaking from on high, as opposed to dialogue and debate.
Wankers all.
He spews talking points from Drudge like we spew CO2, he gives that Gopper apologist more time to talk and cuts off the Dem when he tries to interrupt, he's everything wrong about the media, and he has no name here because I have no time to pursue it. Just this one bit. He said that the forum allows the candidates to make their campaign speech, as if that speech is some entity that exists outside the body politic, and that giving that speech is a bad thing.
Those campaign speeches summarize what the candidates stand for, what they hope for, what they want to change and want to keep, and are important anchors for what kind of leaders they hope to be. Expanding on their stump speeches in a less formal manner is critical in explaining themselves, even under the gentle ministrations of Chris Man Crush Matthews. It's called communications, it's too bad that the people in the communications industry have such contempt for America that they only desire one way communication, them speaking from on high, as opposed to dialogue and debate.
Wankers all.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Rebrand This, or, How to Get Out of Iraq
[cross posted at Daily Kos]
In response to a Left Coaster post, I posted the following comment. It’s an improved version of that comment, edited for clarity, and with additional content. In short, we need the Democrats to do the savvy and politically brave thing.
Okay, that may be a problem. My comment follows:
Steve, I can't agree with that redeployment branding bit. Except for the Media, incapable of doing news, branding is all they know, so anything "branding" related, well, that's got to be IT!
And it isn't a refocused effort to catch bin Laden either, they never tried in the first place. I remember Tora Tora Bora.
We used a handful of Special Forces troops and let the Northern Lights Alliance do the hard work, some story about respecting their sovereignty and strengthening our alliance and tales of how hard it would be to get a large force of Americans into the region quickly enough to catch OBL.
And besides, how fast could the guy run hooked up to a dialysis machine?
No, the solution for the Democrats is simple.
Bush had no intention of catching bin Laden, he just wanted to turn the Middle East into a nightmare cauldron of death and destruction, of hate and fear, of nationalism and fundamentalism and vengeance, for in such chaos is great opportunity for the right man, the right man with the WILL to stride across the stage of history and prove his greatness.
At least that's what Karl "Edgar Bergen" Rove must be thinking.
The Dems need to pound the notion that there is no war on terror (which is as stupid as it gets anyway), and that if there must be a war, let it be a war on al Queda. They need to say out loud and repeatedly that Bush has failed us in dealing with their threat, as in all things, failed us (but not his corporate masters I point out yet again), and everything we stood for as Americans. Look, American Exceptionalism isn't per se a bad thing, certainly not a bad ideal to aim for in a proper form, clearly, and with horrible and tragic predictability, the great comic book thinkers of the Right have no conception of what the proper form might be.
The Dems need to pound the reality, that al Queda is not a threat to Democracy and America and our way of life, that they have no intention of "following us home" when the goal of the 9/11 attacks have already been realized, to manipulate us into uncorking this nightmare, currently NOT playing itself out on your teevee screens I add, in the Middle East by removing the largest military and secular force in the region, just so OBL can play out his own insane fantasies of overthrowing the Sauds and putting his name on the throne and the oil. Perhaps 1984 is the wrong Orwellian analogy here, maybe Animal Farm might be a more appropriate one for at least some of this madness.
Okay Democrats, keep it simple. Yes, there is that wee little problem the Democrats need to overcome, and it's a problem that they keep repeating. Please. STOP DIGGING!! Put the shovel down and back away. Now. Acknowledge that you were wrong about supporting Bush and his illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, admit that all of your votes to "support the troops" were politically done and horribly misguided, well intended as they were, and that the only prescription for the region is a withdrawal of all of our forces from Iraq and a redeployment to Afghanistan where we would rebuild the country as we should have to begin with; an end to our blind and foolhardy support of the Likudniks in Israel; and massive support of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Hamas included, and Jordan; and finally, real diplomacy conducted by people of character, people like Jimmy Carter and Bill Richardson and Bono, Nelson Mandela, Queen Elizabeth perhaps, I'm trying to think of a Republican of true character but I'm sorry, none come to mind, but that's what the Dems need to do.
They've so undermined themselves with their stupid support of Roves Rhetoric that they lack credibility without full recantation, but, there we are, we've gotten into a pretty huge hole, it's going to take some serious changes in the way we operate to get out, or a razing to the ground of the established house and rebuilding from the ground up.
Listen up now, this is important.
We have got to stop buying Roves rhetoric, that's all there is to it. Bush can no longer be allowed to describe what the situation is. The Democrats need to start making the narrative, no more copying notes from the stupidest kid in the class, and however they can do that, all the albatross carcasses hanging around their neck notwithstanding, that's how we're going to stop Bush and Cheney and the Corporations, by essentially ignoring Bush and his heralding strumpets, er, trumpets, and just telling our own story. Not in response to Bush and Limbaugh and Drudge and Couric and Blitzer, but on our own merits, like Frankie says, "My Way."
This countries foundation is okay; it's all the binding lies and cathedral monuments to glory and the rotten incestuous organization charts piled up on top of it that's causing the problem. Adding to it won't help.
Whichever American starts telling their own story and never mind the harpies right left and center, who truly rejects the stupidity and fear and cowardice that erupted after that day, when the black smoke of death still stained that incongruously beautiful blue of that fall morning, and does it with a serious plan for fixing things that really addresses our problems, is the one who takes home the prize. Or else we get whoever can buy the most shit.
In response to a Left Coaster post, I posted the following comment. It’s an improved version of that comment, edited for clarity, and with additional content. In short, we need the Democrats to do the savvy and politically brave thing.
Okay, that may be a problem. My comment follows:
Steve, I can't agree with that redeployment branding bit. Except for the Media, incapable of doing news, branding is all they know, so anything "branding" related, well, that's got to be IT!
And it isn't a refocused effort to catch bin Laden either, they never tried in the first place. I remember Tora Tora Bora.
We used a handful of Special Forces troops and let the Northern Lights Alliance do the hard work, some story about respecting their sovereignty and strengthening our alliance and tales of how hard it would be to get a large force of Americans into the region quickly enough to catch OBL.
And besides, how fast could the guy run hooked up to a dialysis machine?
No, the solution for the Democrats is simple.
Bush had no intention of catching bin Laden, he just wanted to turn the Middle East into a nightmare cauldron of death and destruction, of hate and fear, of nationalism and fundamentalism and vengeance, for in such chaos is great opportunity for the right man, the right man with the WILL to stride across the stage of history and prove his greatness.
At least that's what Karl "Edgar Bergen" Rove must be thinking.
The Dems need to pound the notion that there is no war on terror (which is as stupid as it gets anyway), and that if there must be a war, let it be a war on al Queda. They need to say out loud and repeatedly that Bush has failed us in dealing with their threat, as in all things, failed us (but not his corporate masters I point out yet again), and everything we stood for as Americans. Look, American Exceptionalism isn't per se a bad thing, certainly not a bad ideal to aim for in a proper form, clearly, and with horrible and tragic predictability, the great comic book thinkers of the Right have no conception of what the proper form might be.
The Dems need to pound the reality, that al Queda is not a threat to Democracy and America and our way of life, that they have no intention of "following us home" when the goal of the 9/11 attacks have already been realized, to manipulate us into uncorking this nightmare, currently NOT playing itself out on your teevee screens I add, in the Middle East by removing the largest military and secular force in the region, just so OBL can play out his own insane fantasies of overthrowing the Sauds and putting his name on the throne and the oil. Perhaps 1984 is the wrong Orwellian analogy here, maybe Animal Farm might be a more appropriate one for at least some of this madness.
Okay Democrats, keep it simple. Yes, there is that wee little problem the Democrats need to overcome, and it's a problem that they keep repeating. Please. STOP DIGGING!! Put the shovel down and back away. Now. Acknowledge that you were wrong about supporting Bush and his illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, admit that all of your votes to "support the troops" were politically done and horribly misguided, well intended as they were, and that the only prescription for the region is a withdrawal of all of our forces from Iraq and a redeployment to Afghanistan where we would rebuild the country as we should have to begin with; an end to our blind and foolhardy support of the Likudniks in Israel; and massive support of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Hamas included, and Jordan; and finally, real diplomacy conducted by people of character, people like Jimmy Carter and Bill Richardson and Bono, Nelson Mandela, Queen Elizabeth perhaps, I'm trying to think of a Republican of true character but I'm sorry, none come to mind, but that's what the Dems need to do.
They've so undermined themselves with their stupid support of Roves Rhetoric that they lack credibility without full recantation, but, there we are, we've gotten into a pretty huge hole, it's going to take some serious changes in the way we operate to get out, or a razing to the ground of the established house and rebuilding from the ground up.
Listen up now, this is important.
We have got to stop buying Roves rhetoric, that's all there is to it. Bush can no longer be allowed to describe what the situation is. The Democrats need to start making the narrative, no more copying notes from the stupidest kid in the class, and however they can do that, all the albatross carcasses hanging around their neck notwithstanding, that's how we're going to stop Bush and Cheney and the Corporations, by essentially ignoring Bush and his heralding strumpets, er, trumpets, and just telling our own story. Not in response to Bush and Limbaugh and Drudge and Couric and Blitzer, but on our own merits, like Frankie says, "My Way."
This countries foundation is okay; it's all the binding lies and cathedral monuments to glory and the rotten incestuous organization charts piled up on top of it that's causing the problem. Adding to it won't help.
Whichever American starts telling their own story and never mind the harpies right left and center, who truly rejects the stupidity and fear and cowardice that erupted after that day, when the black smoke of death still stained that incongruously beautiful blue of that fall morning, and does it with a serious plan for fixing things that really addresses our problems, is the one who takes home the prize. Or else we get whoever can buy the most shit.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Gonzo
Saw a piece of Chuck Schumer bashing Gonzales, and all I can say is, well, impeach him.
I don't know if Senate Rules allow for filibustering or not on an impeachment, but hey here's my game plan.
The House impeaches Gonzo, since the Dems can pretty much do whatever they want in the House, they've got the Rules and the Votes, so they impeach Abu innumerable counts of perjury, for dereliction of duty, for ignorance of the law, for gross incompetence in running the Justice Department, for a failure to properly manage his department and for his repeated failures to uphold the laws of this country.
I think a case can be made on those charges. So then, it goes to the Senate.
Again, we have the Rules and the votes, if todays toothless exercise is any indication. During the impeachment proceedings you make the case for his failures, so that by the time it gets to the Senate, the public has gotten a good taste for what a miserable excuse of a human being Gonzales is, for what a miserable excuse of a lawyer, a manager, an officer of the Court, an upholder of the Constitution, and so on, he is.
If the GOP wants to filibuster, let them talk all about how wonderful Gonzales is, what a great lawyer, how competent he was in upholding the laws of the land when he advocated for warrentless wiretaps on Americans, when he advocated for the denial of habeus corpus, when he advocated for torture of innocent people as it turns out, when he arbitrarily and without standing dismissed the Geneva Conventions, oh yes, let us let the Republicans talk all about a defense for Alberto Gonzales and his actions.
If they would rather not filibuster, fine, we can still talk about all of his high crimes and misdemeanors, his violations of the Constitution and the Laws of the land, his pathetic management of the Justice Department (which we all realize is purposeful, right?), and his politization of the Justice Department to benefit Republicans at the expense of more than half of the country's population, you know, Democrats and Independants and all parties not GOP.
After his conviction and removal, of course, comes the hard part. Telling Bush that his replacement will be someone to the Democrats liking, someone like John Edwards, not someone like any Republican that exists mind you, and sticking to that demand.
See, isn't that simple? And it works on many levels of simplicity and complexity, and I'm not holding my breath in anticipation of it happening. But it should.
I don't know if Senate Rules allow for filibustering or not on an impeachment, but hey here's my game plan.
The House impeaches Gonzo, since the Dems can pretty much do whatever they want in the House, they've got the Rules and the Votes, so they impeach Abu innumerable counts of perjury, for dereliction of duty, for ignorance of the law, for gross incompetence in running the Justice Department, for a failure to properly manage his department and for his repeated failures to uphold the laws of this country.
I think a case can be made on those charges. So then, it goes to the Senate.
Again, we have the Rules and the votes, if todays toothless exercise is any indication. During the impeachment proceedings you make the case for his failures, so that by the time it gets to the Senate, the public has gotten a good taste for what a miserable excuse of a human being Gonzales is, for what a miserable excuse of a lawyer, a manager, an officer of the Court, an upholder of the Constitution, and so on, he is.
If the GOP wants to filibuster, let them talk all about how wonderful Gonzales is, what a great lawyer, how competent he was in upholding the laws of the land when he advocated for warrentless wiretaps on Americans, when he advocated for the denial of habeus corpus, when he advocated for torture of innocent people as it turns out, when he arbitrarily and without standing dismissed the Geneva Conventions, oh yes, let us let the Republicans talk all about a defense for Alberto Gonzales and his actions.
If they would rather not filibuster, fine, we can still talk about all of his high crimes and misdemeanors, his violations of the Constitution and the Laws of the land, his pathetic management of the Justice Department (which we all realize is purposeful, right?), and his politization of the Justice Department to benefit Republicans at the expense of more than half of the country's population, you know, Democrats and Independants and all parties not GOP.
After his conviction and removal, of course, comes the hard part. Telling Bush that his replacement will be someone to the Democrats liking, someone like John Edwards, not someone like any Republican that exists mind you, and sticking to that demand.
See, isn't that simple? And it works on many levels of simplicity and complexity, and I'm not holding my breath in anticipation of it happening. But it should.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Leadership
I was watching the NewsHour tonight and Kyl-R AZ and Menendez-D NJ, were talking to Lehrer when Kyl, at one point, told Jim and Bob that Bob's amendment wasn't going to pass. Very matter of factly as if Kyl were in charge of the committee or the Senate itself.
A more apt DEMONSTRATION of why the Democrats should not work with Republicans I could not think of.
Why are the Democrats working to give Republicans victories for their 2008 campaigns? Why is Obama saying in that last debate that George Bush has done some good things?
Why are the Democrats so god damned stupid when it comes to politics?
I guess it takes a long time to hone political skills, but c'mon, people, this is ridiculous. We're so tied up in trying to do the "right" thing, like this immigration bill, that we fail to do the right thing, and the right thing, as the blogs have been saying from day one, is to oppose the Bush Administration and the Republican Party. It's really that simple. We don't need bipartisan, we need a party that DEMONSTRATES our principles of fairness and equality and freedom, of acceptance and diversity and recognition that someone else may have a better idea, or that their way may be just as good as your way even though different, that life isn't fair but that if we work together or support each other it's a lot easier to bear.
Is it fair that Steve Gilliard is dead at the age of 41? I don't think so, yet the support of the blogosphere will sure help Jen and Steve's family deal with this tragedy. I'll bet his folks had no idea how many people he's touched in his too short time, and it has to be of some comfort to know your kid did pretty good with the time he had.
I'm pretty much done with the Democratic Party for now, until they start doing the right thing, or until Al Gore gets into the race for the White House. Because when he does, and the best thing about it, is that he won't really need the Democratic Party, the DLC, the useless consultants like Shrum and Carville (the snake who signed Scooter Libbys appeal letter with his compassless wife)(sorry snakies) and Brazille, ABC or CNN, none of them, because he's going to have an army of volunteers and supporters unlike any candidate we've ever seen.
Until then, good luck with that cuddle up to the Republicans Democrats, whatever you do, don't kick them when they're down, by all means give them a hand up, heck, bend over and pick up the shiv they were going to stick you with and hand it to them and then turn around for them, yeah, that strategy always works.
A more apt DEMONSTRATION of why the Democrats should not work with Republicans I could not think of.
Why are the Democrats working to give Republicans victories for their 2008 campaigns? Why is Obama saying in that last debate that George Bush has done some good things?
Why are the Democrats so god damned stupid when it comes to politics?
I guess it takes a long time to hone political skills, but c'mon, people, this is ridiculous. We're so tied up in trying to do the "right" thing, like this immigration bill, that we fail to do the right thing, and the right thing, as the blogs have been saying from day one, is to oppose the Bush Administration and the Republican Party. It's really that simple. We don't need bipartisan, we need a party that DEMONSTRATES our principles of fairness and equality and freedom, of acceptance and diversity and recognition that someone else may have a better idea, or that their way may be just as good as your way even though different, that life isn't fair but that if we work together or support each other it's a lot easier to bear.
Is it fair that Steve Gilliard is dead at the age of 41? I don't think so, yet the support of the blogosphere will sure help Jen and Steve's family deal with this tragedy. I'll bet his folks had no idea how many people he's touched in his too short time, and it has to be of some comfort to know your kid did pretty good with the time he had.
I'm pretty much done with the Democratic Party for now, until they start doing the right thing, or until Al Gore gets into the race for the White House. Because when he does, and the best thing about it, is that he won't really need the Democratic Party, the DLC, the useless consultants like Shrum and Carville (the snake who signed Scooter Libbys appeal letter with his compassless wife)(sorry snakies) and Brazille, ABC or CNN, none of them, because he's going to have an army of volunteers and supporters unlike any candidate we've ever seen.
Until then, good luck with that cuddle up to the Republicans Democrats, whatever you do, don't kick them when they're down, by all means give them a hand up, heck, bend over and pick up the shiv they were going to stick you with and hand it to them and then turn around for them, yeah, that strategy always works.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Fantasy Land
Joe Klein wants people to be nice to David Broder and discuss Broders editorial on it's merit, so says bigger bloggers than I.
The problem being that his eds have no merit, except as a window on the delusions of the DC Beltway crowd, people like Klein and Broder and what not other rag tag riff raff Dowds and Sally whats her name that make up our Conventional Wisdom.
So I sent him a note, I tried, as always in respect of his old age, to keep the vitriol at a minimum.
"Iraq War at an end?"
The widely trusted Gen. Petraeus? That's the tip off that you're talking out of your imagination again David. We don't know the good General from David, do we? Of course you Beltway folks know him oh so well, right, but David, you know that DC is just a speck of the population of this country, so widely is a relative term, don't you think?
But on to the meat of my missive. Dude, you just live in a total fantasy land don't you. Haven't you heard Bush repeat ad very nauseum that we aren't leaving Iraq while he's President? Don't you understand the Korea metaphor? What part of "leaving it for the next President" don't you get?
Centrists exert leverage? All 8-12 of them? And John Warner, has he yet done any more than sputter some protest than fall directly into the Bush line on vote after vote after vote after vote? Ken Salazar, the rookie turncoat from Colorado, you think he has any heft with the Democratic Party?
Bush wasn't cool to the Baker-Hamilton recommendations, he said they were a good start, then proceeded to ignore and reject every aspect of them out of hand. That isn't being cool to something, that's spitting all over the plan and its progenitor's.
But I guess in the Purple Fantasy Land you live in, that calculated disrespect means something else. I suppose that's how you can sleep at night, by living in a world so far removed from the reality that everybody else, mostly, lives in.
Give it up Broder, you're not unlike the pathetic and delusional people like your brilliant friend Paul Wolfowitz, except that you have no power and no impact whatsoever on the events of this day and on this miserable and misbegotten administration you find so comforting and competent.
Centrists and leverage, there's a breakfast combination you don't see every day!
I'm sorry, but Bush isn't leaving Iraq unless we somehow force him to, maybe a revolt of the military, maybe a sign from the Great Flying Spaghetti Monster, and the United States Senate, for the greatest part, is fully infected with the disease that Al Gore is talking about, what Jimmy Carter called a malaise, what explains the desperate grasping at things that give so called meaning to our lives, like god, or money or i-pods or more and more material crap, this endless and frantic soccer mom mentality of running your kids from one event to another and having no time to spend together as a comminity, be it a family or a neighborhood or social gathering to exchange ideas of import and substance with our fellow human beings.
What did Bob Simon say to Bill Moyers, he was too afraid to speak out on the shoddy intelligence, the gaping logic holes, the false premises of Iraq as terror master that led us to this pass today, too afraid to lose his precious job of news reader because, I don't know, he would've died or suddenly had no value as a human being if he didn't have that wonderful particular job?
And I wonder how it is that these raging idiots and fools and woefully uneducated people like Bush and Goodling and Doan and Cheney and DeLay and Wolfowitz can beat the tar out of the Democrats for the past 7 or 27 years?
The problem being that his eds have no merit, except as a window on the delusions of the DC Beltway crowd, people like Klein and Broder and what not other rag tag riff raff Dowds and Sally whats her name that make up our Conventional Wisdom.
So I sent him a note, I tried, as always in respect of his old age, to keep the vitriol at a minimum.
"Iraq War at an end?"
The widely trusted Gen. Petraeus? That's the tip off that you're talking out of your imagination again David. We don't know the good General from David, do we? Of course you Beltway folks know him oh so well, right, but David, you know that DC is just a speck of the population of this country, so widely is a relative term, don't you think?
But on to the meat of my missive. Dude, you just live in a total fantasy land don't you. Haven't you heard Bush repeat ad very nauseum that we aren't leaving Iraq while he's President? Don't you understand the Korea metaphor? What part of "leaving it for the next President" don't you get?
Centrists exert leverage? All 8-12 of them? And John Warner, has he yet done any more than sputter some protest than fall directly into the Bush line on vote after vote after vote after vote? Ken Salazar, the rookie turncoat from Colorado, you think he has any heft with the Democratic Party?
Bush wasn't cool to the Baker-Hamilton recommendations, he said they were a good start, then proceeded to ignore and reject every aspect of them out of hand. That isn't being cool to something, that's spitting all over the plan and its progenitor's.
But I guess in the Purple Fantasy Land you live in, that calculated disrespect means something else. I suppose that's how you can sleep at night, by living in a world so far removed from the reality that everybody else, mostly, lives in.
Give it up Broder, you're not unlike the pathetic and delusional people like your brilliant friend Paul Wolfowitz, except that you have no power and no impact whatsoever on the events of this day and on this miserable and misbegotten administration you find so comforting and competent.
Centrists and leverage, there's a breakfast combination you don't see every day!
I'm sorry, but Bush isn't leaving Iraq unless we somehow force him to, maybe a revolt of the military, maybe a sign from the Great Flying Spaghetti Monster, and the United States Senate, for the greatest part, is fully infected with the disease that Al Gore is talking about, what Jimmy Carter called a malaise, what explains the desperate grasping at things that give so called meaning to our lives, like god, or money or i-pods or more and more material crap, this endless and frantic soccer mom mentality of running your kids from one event to another and having no time to spend together as a comminity, be it a family or a neighborhood or social gathering to exchange ideas of import and substance with our fellow human beings.
What did Bob Simon say to Bill Moyers, he was too afraid to speak out on the shoddy intelligence, the gaping logic holes, the false premises of Iraq as terror master that led us to this pass today, too afraid to lose his precious job of news reader because, I don't know, he would've died or suddenly had no value as a human being if he didn't have that wonderful particular job?
And I wonder how it is that these raging idiots and fools and woefully uneducated people like Bush and Goodling and Doan and Cheney and DeLay and Wolfowitz can beat the tar out of the Democrats for the past 7 or 27 years?
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Missing from the Health Care Debate
One thing I've noticed that seems to be absent from all the grand and wonderful solutions to our "broken" healthcare system and the "debate" it is generating (yeah, go ahead and laugh, I saw some debate on the NewsHour, so there).
Can anybody guess?
Give up?
How about, the knife in the back Insurance Companies?
Employers pay into a pool, or provide their employees coverage. Employees pay, the Government pays, employers pay, everybody pays. And who do they pay to?
Why, yes, the knife in the back Insurance Companies.
Employers pretty much hate paying for health insurance, why should they pay for their employees or their sick kids, after all, they aren't their kids, are they? They never call out sick, why should their employees? Never mind that healthy people work harder and longer and more productively, the same if their kids are getting cared for when they're sick or injured. No. it seems like it's always better to try to weasel out of paying for anything if you can, even if it does benefit your company in the long and short run.
And what has always puzzled me, is why business votes for the Republicks on this issue. Do they enjoy paying those premiums? Do they enjoy all of the paper work, researching better or cheaper plans every year, all of the time and money that goes into the whole insurance process? You wouldn't think so, but somehow, that's what they do.
And all this while, the insurance industry just rakes the profits. And does everything in their power to stop the notion of universal health care, of Medicare for everybody. Because, of course, if that were to happen, profits would dry up to bare levels, their investment monies would go away and they would become weak and no longer the feared decider of our fates.
Got a pre-existing condition? Fear your insuror. Wrong disease, or taking the wrong drugs? Bow down to the insuror. Have a favorite care giver who really knows his/her stuff, who knows you as a patient and a person, your history and your prognosis, who's seen up your ass and saved your life because of it? Better hope your employer doesn't change plans, or you can always pay the higher premium and still see your favorite doctor.
So far, what little I've heard of Obama's plan, and all the others, employers and patients make all the sacrifices, and nothing is required of the insurance industry, except to take your premium dollars.
And that is what is wrong with all of the proposed solutions. One party gets all of the benefits and gives up nothing in return.
It's like the time when these 7 Democrats went into this bar after a long day herding cats. Tired and thirsty, they bellowed for beers and whiskey. The bartender said, "sorry boys, all I've got is this here sarsaparilla and this Shirley Temple drink."
"Shirley Temple and Root Beer?!!?!" cried the catpokes, "are you out of your developmentally disabled disease vectored head? Scotch and Guinness or we'll take our business elsewhere."
Such unanimity couldn't be abided by the barkeep, he laughed and said, "go ahead, take your business somewhere else. Where you going to go, to the local gin mill and micro brewer? And risk getting their filthy common germs on ya? No, go ahead, leave if you must, but it's naught but Pink Drinks for you, not even the sarsaparilla is on the bar now."
The angry Dems got up and left, reluctant to pass on the glistening pink glasses lined up at the bar, but soon enough they all left. 2 minutes later they were back.
"The moonshiner was making a run, we couldn't wait for him to come back, so we'll take your Shirley Temples, but the next time, we really mean it when we say we're going to the competition. Really."
Can anybody guess?
Give up?
How about, the knife in the back Insurance Companies?
Employers pay into a pool, or provide their employees coverage. Employees pay, the Government pays, employers pay, everybody pays. And who do they pay to?
Why, yes, the knife in the back Insurance Companies.
Employers pretty much hate paying for health insurance, why should they pay for their employees or their sick kids, after all, they aren't their kids, are they? They never call out sick, why should their employees? Never mind that healthy people work harder and longer and more productively, the same if their kids are getting cared for when they're sick or injured. No. it seems like it's always better to try to weasel out of paying for anything if you can, even if it does benefit your company in the long and short run.
And what has always puzzled me, is why business votes for the Republicks on this issue. Do they enjoy paying those premiums? Do they enjoy all of the paper work, researching better or cheaper plans every year, all of the time and money that goes into the whole insurance process? You wouldn't think so, but somehow, that's what they do.
And all this while, the insurance industry just rakes the profits. And does everything in their power to stop the notion of universal health care, of Medicare for everybody. Because, of course, if that were to happen, profits would dry up to bare levels, their investment monies would go away and they would become weak and no longer the feared decider of our fates.
Got a pre-existing condition? Fear your insuror. Wrong disease, or taking the wrong drugs? Bow down to the insuror. Have a favorite care giver who really knows his/her stuff, who knows you as a patient and a person, your history and your prognosis, who's seen up your ass and saved your life because of it? Better hope your employer doesn't change plans, or you can always pay the higher premium and still see your favorite doctor.
So far, what little I've heard of Obama's plan, and all the others, employers and patients make all the sacrifices, and nothing is required of the insurance industry, except to take your premium dollars.
And that is what is wrong with all of the proposed solutions. One party gets all of the benefits and gives up nothing in return.
It's like the time when these 7 Democrats went into this bar after a long day herding cats. Tired and thirsty, they bellowed for beers and whiskey. The bartender said, "sorry boys, all I've got is this here sarsaparilla and this Shirley Temple drink."
"Shirley Temple and Root Beer?!!?!" cried the catpokes, "are you out of your developmentally disabled disease vectored head? Scotch and Guinness or we'll take our business elsewhere."
Such unanimity couldn't be abided by the barkeep, he laughed and said, "go ahead, take your business somewhere else. Where you going to go, to the local gin mill and micro brewer? And risk getting their filthy common germs on ya? No, go ahead, leave if you must, but it's naught but Pink Drinks for you, not even the sarsaparilla is on the bar now."
The angry Dems got up and left, reluctant to pass on the glistening pink glasses lined up at the bar, but soon enough they all left. 2 minutes later they were back.
"The moonshiner was making a run, we couldn't wait for him to come back, so we'll take your Shirley Temples, but the next time, we really mean it when we say we're going to the competition. Really."
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Fire Fighting in the US
Somebody is finally going to look at the consequences of building in wilderness areas, and the expectation that maybe the fire departments shouldn't be killing themselves to protect somebody's house that probably shouldn't be there in the first place.
A blaze that killed five federal firefighters last year has emboldened those who question the cost of saving the ever expanding number of homes on the fringe of wilderness.
From the report on the firefighter deaths: The Twin Pines community is identified in the Mountain Area Safety Taskforce (MAST) Report as a very high to extreme threat area for potential destructive impacts from wildland fire due to physical orientation, surrounding dense chaparral/Manzanita, exposure to upslope winds, and alignment with potential Santa Ana winds. We're building in places just asking for trouble, with no regard for the consequences to those expected to safeguard that dream home mountain retreat. And people die, good people, for someone else's property. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Let me add this. Mixed in with the bravado and Smokey the Bear and the Machismo and what all else, every time the reporters talk about fires, they use the same, wrong, language.
A fire engulfed Griffith Park on Tuesday, destroying about a quarter of the hilly urban refuge before being brought under control Wednesday night.
Somehow or other, a fire laid seige to a town. It's like when you declare war against a tactic or emotion. It doesn't help or clarify or explain, it just sensationalizes without informing. And that is what is wrong with the news media. Fires don't destroy land, they're a natural part of the cycle of things. Houses and buildings get destroyed, but time after time after time the teevee especially, talks about the acres destroyed, when fire is a needed part of a healthy ecosystem.
And it's this ignorance and sensationalism that cheapens and weakens our discourse in this country, that keeps us from doing the right thing in so many cases, like in Iraq.
A blaze that killed five federal firefighters last year has emboldened those who question the cost of saving the ever expanding number of homes on the fringe of wilderness.
From the report on the firefighter deaths: The Twin Pines community is identified in the Mountain Area Safety Taskforce (MAST) Report as a very high to extreme threat area for potential destructive impacts from wildland fire due to physical orientation, surrounding dense chaparral/Manzanita, exposure to upslope winds, and alignment with potential Santa Ana winds. We're building in places just asking for trouble, with no regard for the consequences to those expected to safeguard that dream home mountain retreat. And people die, good people, for someone else's property. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Let me add this. Mixed in with the bravado and Smokey the Bear and the Machismo and what all else, every time the reporters talk about fires, they use the same, wrong, language.
A fire engulfed Griffith Park on Tuesday, destroying about a quarter of the hilly urban refuge before being brought under control Wednesday night.
Somehow or other, a fire laid seige to a town. It's like when you declare war against a tactic or emotion. It doesn't help or clarify or explain, it just sensationalizes without informing. And that is what is wrong with the news media. Fires don't destroy land, they're a natural part of the cycle of things. Houses and buildings get destroyed, but time after time after time the teevee especially, talks about the acres destroyed, when fire is a needed part of a healthy ecosystem.
And it's this ignorance and sensationalism that cheapens and weakens our discourse in this country, that keeps us from doing the right thing in so many cases, like in Iraq.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Immigration, Some Deal
Just pretend that you, dear readers, are told that you can keep your job, that doesn't pay all that great and has no real advancement opportunity, but you'll have to pay "the man" 8 grand in fees and fines, and you have to leave the job after 2 years and sit out for a year before you can go back to work.
But the incentive is that you'll get to vote against the GOP 5, 10, or more, years down the line, get to pay income tax, and so on.
Never mind any of the other provisions in the bill, tell me how that part of it is going to work?
Because immigrants and illegals aren't here to get citizenship, they're here to work, because their own countries are so fucked up they can't get decent jobs there.
Whatever your feelings about illegal immigration, and the Democrats misread the anger a lot of people have towards illegal immigrants, its real and very palpable, I know, I'm living and working in the middle of it, until the problems that drive these people to look for work here are addressed, no ridiculously convoluted immigration bill is going to work. Enforcing laws on the employers isn't going to fix it, building bigger fences isn't going to fix it. Getting Mexico to get their shit together and create decent jobs and opportunities there, will fix it to a large part.
Until then, I expect to see Democrats get beat up over championing decency and fair treatment for illegal workers in this country ad nauseum.
But the incentive is that you'll get to vote against the GOP 5, 10, or more, years down the line, get to pay income tax, and so on.
Never mind any of the other provisions in the bill, tell me how that part of it is going to work?
Because immigrants and illegals aren't here to get citizenship, they're here to work, because their own countries are so fucked up they can't get decent jobs there.
Whatever your feelings about illegal immigration, and the Democrats misread the anger a lot of people have towards illegal immigrants, its real and very palpable, I know, I'm living and working in the middle of it, until the problems that drive these people to look for work here are addressed, no ridiculously convoluted immigration bill is going to work. Enforcing laws on the employers isn't going to fix it, building bigger fences isn't going to fix it. Getting Mexico to get their shit together and create decent jobs and opportunities there, will fix it to a large part.
Until then, I expect to see Democrats get beat up over championing decency and fair treatment for illegal workers in this country ad nauseum.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Food
Why are we buying basic food products from China? Food products we produce in this country in large quantities, like wheat gluten?
Citing advice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Nelson said any melamine the fish consume is likely to pass out of their systems in a matter of days, won't accumulate in their bodies, and poses no danger to people who might eat the salmon, which wouldn't be consumed until after returning from the sea years from now.
I trust the FDA, don't you? They would never put politics ahead of food or drug safety, would they? No, not George Bush's FDA. A quote from the first one, read the second link about silicone breast implants, VIOXX and Kessler.
Cause he was being investigated for criminal charges of selling stock of companies he regulated.
Why is the Bush Administration still in office? When every branch they run is corrupt and just a tool for the corporations, run from the top as long and as hard as they can get away with it? Thats what's happening at Justice, that's what's happening at FEMAS or HSD, at the FDA, Interior, Defense, well, I guess Frank Rich wrote about it today too, hopefully somebody has broken the barrier to share.
Citing advice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Nelson said any melamine the fish consume is likely to pass out of their systems in a matter of days, won't accumulate in their bodies, and poses no danger to people who might eat the salmon, which wouldn't be consumed until after returning from the sea years from now.
I trust the FDA, don't you? They would never put politics ahead of food or drug safety, would they? No, not George Bush's FDA. A quote from the first one, read the second link about silicone breast implants, VIOXX and Kessler.
Despite recommendations from FDA and independent scientists that the drug was appropriate for [s]ale OTC, the FDA declined to approve it. Virtually everyone involved knew this was a political pay-off to Bush's right wing conservative base. So the FDA is being sued by the Center for Reproductive Rights. As part of this suit, the CRR's lawyers have been taking depositions of FDA officials. On Thursday it was to be Crawford's turn.
[But on] Wednesday Ms. [Barbara] Van Gelder, who is his personal lawyer, asked for a delay, saying she would instruct him to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.
Cause he was being investigated for criminal charges of selling stock of companies he regulated.
Why is the Bush Administration still in office? When every branch they run is corrupt and just a tool for the corporations, run from the top as long and as hard as they can get away with it? Thats what's happening at Justice, that's what's happening at FEMAS or HSD, at the FDA, Interior, Defense, well, I guess Frank Rich wrote about it today too, hopefully somebody has broken the barrier to share.
Missing
If 10,000 Americans went missing, say since 9/11/01, do you think anybody would care? Do you think the press might launch a real investigation? Do you think that if it was suspected that it had something to do with the Bush Administration and/or one of their allied groups, like their religious believers, like Dobson and Robertson, and/or Blackwater type groups, the American People might wish for a different Administration, an end to the influence of their proxies like the Shia, er, Pat Robertson or the Sunni, oops, Blackwater, and the departure of these forces from our midst?
Probably how the Iraqi's feel.
Probably how the Iraqi's feel.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Here's an idea
Ms. Duckman left me this note yesterday, it sounds far too sensible, but hey, it could happen, right?
I have an idea. Why don’t we get the GOP (the rich ones that benefited so much from the tax cuts) to show some of that “compassion” they’re so proud of bragging about and help Kansas and New Orleans by actually giving their money to the victims of those disasters.
Just think of it, they could also send their company employees and equipment and use their own “expertise” (CEO knowledge) to do the work.
Just think of it! They could increase their sinking poll numbers overnight, if not in 18 months for the elections. They could actually keep those areas safe and secure from the Global Terrorists!
The National Guard in those states really could use some more resources, not to mention local hospital, fire, police, schools, justice, etc.
Do you think it could work? Hell yes!
Do you think they’ll do it?
Or better yet-what about all those rich Dems that benefited from those tax cuts? They may even be worse.
Leaving the Dems out of it for a moment, I just don't think that the people who are looting this country blind and broke are overly interested in helping anybody out. That's what you get for living in Kansas, they'll tell you.
Or you could take Colbert's attitude. I think he can explain it better than anyone. And he's so very clean and everything. Humble and modest too.
I have an idea. Why don’t we get the GOP (the rich ones that benefited so much from the tax cuts) to show some of that “compassion” they’re so proud of bragging about and help Kansas and New Orleans by actually giving their money to the victims of those disasters.
Just think of it, they could also send their company employees and equipment and use their own “expertise” (CEO knowledge) to do the work.
Just think of it! They could increase their sinking poll numbers overnight, if not in 18 months for the elections. They could actually keep those areas safe and secure from the Global Terrorists!
The National Guard in those states really could use some more resources, not to mention local hospital, fire, police, schools, justice, etc.
Do you think it could work? Hell yes!
Do you think they’ll do it?
Or better yet-what about all those rich Dems that benefited from those tax cuts? They may even be worse.
Leaving the Dems out of it for a moment, I just don't think that the people who are looting this country blind and broke are overly interested in helping anybody out. That's what you get for living in Kansas, they'll tell you.
Or you could take Colbert's attitude. I think he can explain it better than anyone. And he's so very clean and everything. Humble and modest too.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
An Inappropriate President
Even when its not politics or policy, but fulfilling his ceremonial functions as Head of State, George Bush is an embarrassment and unsuited for the job.
Not having enough sense, after all his years around Presidents and heads of State and as President (gulp), the fool still has to be forced to do the right thing.
What does that tell you about his sense, and his understanding of his job?
Worst. President. Ever.
Not having enough sense, after all his years around Presidents and heads of State and as President (gulp), the fool still has to be forced to do the right thing.
What does that tell you about his sense, and his understanding of his job?
Worst. President. Ever.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
The Bush Federal Government at Work
And yes, I know, it probably wouldn't be much different if Kerry were President, but he isn't, and that miserable failure is, so, I love the logic that permeates the Bush Administration Executive Branch.
Via Raw Story writer Miriam Raftery, we get this story from the WaPo on Bush keeping us safe.
Hey look, they're only chickens, you don't eat chicken every day do you, it's only 5 percent of their food that was contaminated and chances are you won't be eating those particular lucky chickens anyway.
Sure, we're going to destroy, that's kill in non Bush speak, 100k chickens still alive, but, hey, nothing to worry about. As for the 2.4 million already on the market, well, best of luck to you.
Do you feel the confidence growing? Nothing to see here, move along people.
And isn't this just another argument for the grandness of globalization? And could somebody please explain to me why it is that the United States of America, the greatest producer of wheat and corn and soy, is importing this crap from China?
Could our oil addiction be spilling over to the food supply, causing our farmers to sell our food to ADM for them to make ethanol instead of feed products? Could that be why we import food products from China, melamine poisoning central, bird flu central, SARS central, lord knows what other diseases central?
And while you're explaining that one, explain to me again how George Bush is keeping us safe from the imaginary monsters in the closet as opposed to the very real monsters running loose on Wall Street.
Via Raw Story writer Miriam Raftery, we get this story from the WaPo on Bush keeping us safe.
Hey look, they're only chickens, you don't eat chicken every day do you, it's only 5 percent of their food that was contaminated and chances are you won't be eating those particular lucky chickens anyway.
Sure, we're going to destroy, that's kill in non Bush speak, 100k chickens still alive, but, hey, nothing to worry about. As for the 2.4 million already on the market, well, best of luck to you.
That small fraction, and the fact that people, unlike pets, do not eat the same thing day after day, suggests that consumers who ate contaminated pork or chicken would probably have ingested extremely small doses of melamine, well below the threshold for causing health effects, officials said. Experts conceded, however, that they know little about how the toxin interacts with other compounds in food.
Do you feel the confidence growing? Nothing to see here, move along people.
And isn't this just another argument for the grandness of globalization? And could somebody please explain to me why it is that the United States of America, the greatest producer of wheat and corn and soy, is importing this crap from China?
Could our oil addiction be spilling over to the food supply, causing our farmers to sell our food to ADM for them to make ethanol instead of feed products? Could that be why we import food products from China, melamine poisoning central, bird flu central, SARS central, lord knows what other diseases central?
And while you're explaining that one, explain to me again how George Bush is keeping us safe from the imaginary monsters in the closet as opposed to the very real monsters running loose on Wall Street.
Blackwater Opposition Grows
Jeremy Scahill is in San Diego talking up his book about Blackwater, and he'll be in La Mesa tonight at the joint La Mesa Foothills/East County Democratic Club meeting talking some more.
Even though the State Convention failed to pass a resolution opposing Blackwater and any other private armies from building in California, the subject is on the floor, and will be discussed at the LA County Democratic Central Committee meeting coming up in a few weeks.
From Scahill's Tuesday talk, consider this report from the UT, my bolds throughout.
Nearly half the town oppose the mercenary camp, yet one guy with money thinks it'll be great for the town. Most likely because what's good for Gordon is good for Potrero. That's how conservatives think. Hopefully Hammers will walk the walk, and move to as close to the camp as possible so he can experience firsthand all the goodness a bunch of mercenaries shooting guns and driving defensive training courses and helicopter assaults and night operations can provide.
Even though the State Convention failed to pass a resolution opposing Blackwater and any other private armies from building in California, the subject is on the floor, and will be discussed at the LA County Democratic Central Committee meeting coming up in a few weeks.
From Scahill's Tuesday talk, consider this report from the UT, my bolds throughout.
Scahill told the audience that Blackwater is one of 180 private corporations working in Iraq, making this conflict the most privatized war in the nation's history.
“When the Bush administration failed to build a coalition of willing nations, they built a coalition of billing corporations,” he said.
Despite the increasing opposition to Blackwater's plans, Gordon Hammers, chairman of the Potrero planning group, said he is even more convinced that the training center will be good for the community of about 850 people.
In December, the Potrero planning group voted 7-0 for preliminary approval of Blackwater's plans. Since then, opposition to the project has intensified. More than 360 residents have signed a petition opposing the training center.
Nearly half the town oppose the mercenary camp, yet one guy with money thinks it'll be great for the town. Most likely because what's good for Gordon is good for Potrero. That's how conservatives think. Hopefully Hammers will walk the walk, and move to as close to the camp as possible so he can experience firsthand all the goodness a bunch of mercenaries shooting guns and driving defensive training courses and helicopter assaults and night operations can provide.
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