The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Rest In Peace.

"And that's one reason he became not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy." - President Obama

What About The 46,999,999 Others?

Sen. Tom Coburn, a massive opponent to health care reform, pulls a 180 when confronted with a constituent. He, as a member of the Government, says he will try to help this woman and her husband. He then goes on to say it is a "very inaccurate statement" to think the Government can be a solution to our problems.

Seems to me that Coburn was the quick and easy solution. That takes some serious brain defects to want to be a Senator, to be in public office, then say how ineffective your are at your own job, then at the drop of hat, help an individual out with your Governmental power, proving how effective you can be.

That's putting the "mental" in Governmental.

No one is saying that Government has to be the solution to ALL the problems for ALL the people. That is the way Republicans like to frame it. In reality, most of us want to help those who need it. It's human, it's being part of society, it's civilization that makes us want to care for others. If the Conservatives could stop using this infantile all-or-nothing approach, they would see how this reform would go a long way in helping us care for each other.

CNN's Rick Sanchez add some perspective on the numbers of people who need help:

"What's interesting about that is that Sen. Coburn just essentially said the government is not the solution, but then you have to ask yourself. He just told her to come and see him, isn't he the government? By the way after helping her, what will he do about the other 46,999,999 who don't have insurance, and the thousands upon thousands of Americans who say they do have insurance but like her, they're not getting covered? We'll ask those questions."

Source: The Political Carnival

"Texting Can Be Deadly"

Pretty graphic PSA from the UK, via CNN, aimed at young people texting while driving. The ADD Generation behind the wheel: watch out!

From Torture To Town Hall Loonies: The GOP Anti-Truth "Up Is Down" Mindset

The Bush/Cheney gift that keeps giving: always take the easy road, always expect the best possible outcome yet never do any of the work it would take to get there, never adjust your plan in the face of massive failure, deny all the evil shit you do, pass on all your mistakes to the next guy.

Lest you forgot about the torture programs masterminded by Bush and Cheney and their effects:

"The fact that we are not really bothered any more by taking helpless detainees in our custody and (a) threatening to blow their brains out, torture them with drills, rape their mothers, and murder their children; (b) choking them until they pass out; (c) pouring water down their throats to drown them; (d) hanging them by their arms until their shoulders are dislocated; (e) blowing smoke in their face until they vomit; (f) putting them in diapers, dousing them with cold water, and leaving them on a concrete floor to induce hypothermia; and (g) beating them with the butt of a rifle -- all things that we have always condemend as "torture" and which our laws explicitly criminalize as felonies ("torture means. . . the threat of imminent death; or the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering . . .") -- reveals better than all the words in the world could how degraded, barbaric and depraved a society becomes when it lifts the taboo on torturing captives," - Glenn Greenwald, Salon.

This quote is symbolic of the Conservative mindset we now see in the Health Care reform "debate". They don't hold themselves accountable to the truth and just let the lies flow, not really caring if they incite the lunatics out there. How barbaric the Right becomes when you lift the responsibility of speaking the truth.

It's time our society got back its morals as laid out by the current Obama Administration, the one that ended the torture era in American history. All you idiots screaming fascism, say that outloud, "Obama ended torure".

Now Obama is trying to end the division of America brought on by Bush and Rove and their trumped up culture wars. By mending the cultural wounds inflicted and sustained by the Right, Obama will improve and increase the way Americans care for each other.

Source: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/

"Capitalism: A Love Story" By Michael Moore

New trailer.

"It's not about an individual, like Roger Smith, or a corporation, or even an issue, like health care. This is the big enchilada. This is about the thing that dominates all our lives — the economy. I made this movie as if it was going to be the last movie I was allowed to make."

The Right hates this guy so much, you know he is good.

Obama's Weekly YouTube Address

"President Obama debunks the myths around health reform, and discusses the public option proposal in which many of them are rooted. But he focuses his address on the stark moral and historical turning point at which we find ourselves. August 22, 2009"



Source: http://www.youtube.com/whitehouse

The Media's Rocky Relation With The Truth

President Obama on the forced neutrality in our media, the lacks of "news" and how we pay the price.

"...I have to say, part of the reason it spreads is the way reporting is done today. If somebody puts out misinformation, 'Obama's Creating Death Panels,' then the way the news report comes across is: 'Today such-and-such accused President Obama of putting forward death panels. The White House responded that that wasn't true.' And then they go on to the next story. And what they don't say is, 'In fact, it isn't true.'

Adding:

"You know, it's fine to have a debate back and forth -- he said, she said -- except when somebody else is just not even telling remotely the truth. Then you should say in your reports, 'Oh, and by the way, that's just not true.'

No more fake debates. No more ad hominem attacks. Just the truth. It's such a waste of our time defending the misinformation thrown out there, then repeated on certain channels. They are not meant to add to any side or position of the issue, they are merely meant to undermine Obama.

Source: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/

The Hollow Right Wing Echo Chamber

The opposition is hitting empty. They started with nothing and are ending with nothing.

This is an exchange between Blue Dog Congressman Baron Hill from Indiana and one of his constituents:

"I'm not a Democrat or a Republican," the man said. "I consider myself a political atheist. But from what I've heard about the plan on TV, there's a lot about it that I disagree with."

"What part do you not like?" Hill asked.

"Well, just some of the stuff they have been talking about on TV," the man responded.

"OK, and what was that?" Hill asked.

But the person couldn't come up with an example of what he disagreed with.

The Right Wing echo chamber is truly hollow these days.

Hill, sick of the conservative attacks on reform, followed with:

"You'll have choices, regardless of what the detractors tell you," Hill said. "They are lying. That's a strong word, but it's true."

The Right knows how to repeat their talking points, but the time has come to fix America whether they say "no" or not.

Source: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/

77% Support

Here comes momentum.

77% support "choice" of public option. End of story.

Source: HuffPo

U.S. Stocks Advance, AIG To Repay Bailout

Try and spin this:

U.S. stocks rose for a third day as American International Group Inc. [AIG] said it expects to repay the government and data on manufacturing and economic indicators added to evidence the recession may be ending.

What about the Government takeover of capitalism? Obama is a Nazi? How could this happen without a birth certificate?

Source: Bloomberg

Madow: Republicans Don't Want Pizza

Rachel Maddow uses a parable of ordering a pizza to highlight the Republicans' complete lack of interest in reforming health care.

They say they want it, but then say "no" to every possible option. The change the Republicans offer does not exist. It's time to move on without them.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Source: Oliver Willis

The Best Doctors Does Not Mean The Best "System"

The issue is access to health care. It is becoming more and more expensive, even for routine procedures. Forget it if you need an operation. I broke my ankle in 2004 and had a $21,000 bill.

So when people make the loose claim that America's health care system is "the greatest" because rich people from around the world come here for procedures, it merely points out that we have great doctors and advanced technology.

It does not address the rising costs and the fact that so many people go without health care. Fact: eight out of ten medical-related bankruptcies are filed by people with health insurance.

Having the best doctors that cost tens of thousands of dollars to have access to may some people's idea of "the greatest", but if you can't afford it, what does it matter?

The GOP Has Become a Party of Nihilists

Joe Klein has had it with the destructive intent of Republicans:

"How can you sustain a democracy if one of the two major political parties has been overrun by nihilists? And another question: How can you maintain the illusion of journalistic impartiality when one of the political parties has jumped the shark?"

He tells a story of his 89 year-old father and how end of life counseling would help him. It was to be free in the reform bill through Medicare, but somehow it was twisted into a "death panel" by the mental lightweights and Palin-ite cave dwellers on the right who are on a disinformation jihad.

While Democrats are not perfect and have flaws, they have not resorted to outright lies like the Republicans.

Walter Sobchak: "Nihilists! Fuck me. I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos." [from The Big Lebowski]

Source: TIME

Barney Frank PWNS Town Hall-er

Sen. Barney Frank dismantles town hall Hitler fanatic who was instructed to ask the GOP talking point "Why are you supporting this Nazi policy?" distraction of a question, somehow equating health care expenditures with invading bordering countries, building a master race and putting millions to death in concentration camps.

Frank responds: "On what planet do you spend most of your time?"

He closes by saying: "Trying to have a conversation with you would be like arguing with a dining room table." [Although I think the table has more thinking power and a sense of history than the woman in the video.]

True fascism is violence and intimidation. It's bringing guns to town hall meetings. It's attacking people's patriotism for not agreeing with you. It's classic denial for the conservatives. They act as fascist as they can, then turn around and accuse the other side with "vile, contemptible nonsense." and their "I know you are, but what am I" infantile intellect protecting them from the obvious. If anyone is channeling the Nazi game plan, it's the conservatives and Republicans.

Public Option: "Yes We Can"

Rachel Maddow deserves an award. Her astute breakdown of the health reform "situation" is brilliant. The private sector builds bubbles and takes advantages through greed and fear to the point of breaking the system. The government and regulation are the "invisible hand" that stabilizes and corrects the market.

Just watch this video:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Source: http://www.realitychex.com/

GOP: We Have No Ideas, But We Have Guns

Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) thinks more guns are needed at town hall meetings. “They are permitted to carry a concealed weapon. They have the right to do that…” Too bad these are not concealed, but in plain site in exposed holsters.

I wonder if he would have felt the same when Bush was President and some Code Pink advocate came strapped?

The Atlanta Journal Constitution writer Jay Bookman:

“It is attempted intimidation,” he wrote. “It is an acknowledgment that, lacking the intellectual firepower and ammunition to carry the day, the person in question is prepared to try to settle the issue using the kind of firepower and ammunition that any idiot can purchase at a local gunshop.”

Bookman continues: “It also reflects a growing mindset among some that the government just isn’t listening and thus must be made to listen, one way or the other. There’s a fundamental childishness to that attitude, a notion that equates listening to agreement. The person in question is not prepared to accept the idea that having listened to him, a majority of his fellow Americans might decide that he is wrong. So he reserves the right to try to impose his view at the point of a gun.”

So the Southern guy with no clue and a little penis feels marginalized because his idiot racist message is not reaching Manson-esque Helter Skelter levels, better get his "big gun" out and make us all fear his "power". After, he can go home to the trailer park and beat his wife, maybe have some corn dogs and RC cola.

Sucks that the weakest among us have to resort to violence.

Johnny Cash - "Don't Take Your Guns To Town" from the aptly named Town Hall Party in 1958.



Source: RawStory

Advertisers Fleeing From Glenn Beck

The power of the purse. Money talks. Hopefully the bullshit walks:

"Wal-Mart makes it a clean 20 advertisers that have pulled out of Glenn Beck's googly-eyed sarcasmo hour on Fox News Channel."

So advertisers are fleeing Fox and the chronically immoral Beck, but do they ever put a value on the people like myself, the ideal demo with purchasing power, who will never ever watch Glenn Beck and would associate any product advertised with the jack-off as a veritable sociopath's "stamp of approval"?

Source: http://www.bobcesca.com/