August 2009 Archives

My only problem with the picture is that he says he's anti-racist. Won't that get him kicked out of the party?

"Fox News host Glenn Beck has lost over 30 sponsors since he called President Obama a racist. And the latest sponsor that he just lost is Clorox bleach. That's amazing. Even a company whose sole purpose is to make things whiter thinks Glenn Beck has gone too far."

- Conan O'Brien

This sucks.

Reading Rainbow is getting cancelled. We have a country addicted to TV and internet, watching reality bullcrap or chatting online in text-speak with little ability to think or write coherently, and the powers that be at PBS - using Bush Administration "logic" no less - decides to cancel the show.

Granted, I was a bit old of a kid already when the show came on the scene, but that didn't mean it wasn't interesting, useful, and - more importantly - fun to it's target audience.

And now it's gone. I can't even share it with my kid in a few years.

Thanks for nothing.

"I didn't think this day would come. Squeaky Fromme tried to assassinate President General Ford. She's been let out of prison. She was paroled. Is she going to get a job? If you think about it, there aren't many jobs for unstable, gun-toting women, unless she wants to run for governor of Alaska.

-David Letterman

This is almost depressing.

Here is a list of some of the shining lights of the Senate back when Teddy Kennedy joined up to fill in his brother's term. Granted, some - like Goldwater and Thurmond - aren't people I'd necessarily admire, but even those I wouldn't agree with couldn't be called outright idiots. You could disagree with them on principle and respect said differences.

Face it: McConnell, Cornyn, Grassley, Chambliss, McCain, Inhofe and company couldn't hold a candle to another of those names - collectively. To be fair, neither could Feinstein, Baucus, Landrieu, Lieberman and their ilk.

Thankfully Jim Webb, Sherrod Brown, and the Udall cousins seem to be making early good starts. But honestly, our current crop is lacking in both gravitas and good ideas.

A quick look back at the Age of Oil. And, yes, Virginia, it's all coming to an end.

Once again, most of these Republican protesters aren't necessarily against health care since they'll be in line just like the rest of us. It all comes down to the fact that these racists are just pissed off that a black man is President.

I remember linking a few map links and figured now was the time to lay down a post about them.

First off, from Wired, American Vice: Mapping the 7 Deadly Sins. What is most interesting to me in this is how the "Bible Belt" is chock full of Envy, Wrath, Lust, and Pride.

Wrath: Number of violent crimes (murder, assault, and rape) per capita.

Here is a writeup in the Catholic Globe, plus more maps reprinted in the Las Vegas Sun, including Nevada state breakdowns.

Worried about climate change? If you are a citizen of the Plains/MidWest you'd better be. Not only are Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa in the crosshairs of major change, they are also represented by Republican global warming deniers that won't be doing a damn thing to help out the Americans that will be hardest hit.

At the same time, resistance to climate change legislation by Republicans is costing their supporters jobs. Don't believe me? Check out the following map:

Meanwhile, politically, a map that gives hope that we may eventually silence the Talibangelicals and Rethugs and at least get the GOP back to "just" racists and trickle-down theory idiots again. I mean, if THIS is what the Angry White Right for Jebus has to offer, the Republicans will find another way. Won't they?

An interesting story on how the Galapagos are getting modernized with a variety of green technologies.

Once again, why isn't the US at the head of the trend here?

"Yes, Dems are going to deny health care to anyone registered as a Republican. The original plan was to harvest their organs. However, that plan had to be scrapped after it was discovered that their brains weren't any good and their hearts were completely gone!"

- Commenter Steve, tongue fully in cheek

Seriously, check this out. It's a survey being passed out to Republicans. One, to scare them into pushing against reform. Two, to solicit donations to the RNC. Because, you know, it isn't worth scaring American citizens to a Rethug if you can't possibly make a buck off of it.

That question is the best part. Apparently it is meant to scare Republicans into thinking that they might not be allowed to participate into a public health care plan.

You know, the plan they call "socialist". The plan they shout down town hall meetings to protest against. The ones they show up with assault weapons because they want to silence advocates for such a plan. The public option they'd like to kill the President over.

The RNC is so concerned about this that they want to warn their constituents by filling their heads with outright lies.

The height of hypocrisy here, of course, is that why the hell would Republicans be worried about mythically being left out of a system they swear up and down they won't participate in? It's like sending me a memo letting me know that I'll probably not be allowed to join the Klan. Good! I didn't want anything to do with Kluckers anyway!

Here's the whole damned survey...

...followed by the begging for money section:

First off, the stupid.

Senator Mike Enzi, Republican from Wyoming, recently told his town brawl supporters that he never planned to compromise on health care reform, he just wanted to screw it up as much as he could. In his own words:

"It's not where I get them to compromise, it's what I get them to leave out."

Even more degenerate Senator Jim Inhofe gets to the real role of GOP legislative "prowess" in the Age of Obama. On health care reform legislation:

"I don't have to read it, or know what's in it. I'm going to oppose it anyways."

With enemies like this, you'd think all Democrats would rally around reform. You'd think so, but you'd be wrong. Here are the Fifth Columnist Democrats (and Lieberman) who are willing to sell out reform and act like pigheaded Republicans who can be bought with lobbyist silver. In some of their cases - especially YOU Baucus - that's millions in silver.

Now for the hate.

I know I wasn't going to focus on this, but dear lord do these so-called Christians know how to hate their neighbors.

Here is a sampling of the hateful attacks on Ted Kennedy after the news broke that he had died. Apparently Republicans have no ability to respect the dead.

In California, Rep. Wally Herger still refuses to back down on supporting a "proud right-wing terrorist".

Meanwhile, in Arizona, Steven Anderson, the pastor of one of the degenerates who brought an assault rifle to the President's event there last week wants Obama to die. He gave a sermon on "Why I Hate Barack Obama" and preaches the following from the pulpit:

"I'm going to pray that he dies and goes to hell."

Then he goes on to state that he in no way supports the assassination of the President. But damn is he proud of his parishioner showing up packing heat to a political event.

And, once again, you wonder why I have a problem with organized religion. The Bible says this:

1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

- Timothy 2:1-2 (King James Version)

And instead we get the following from the Talibangelicals like Anderson:

"No where in the sermon did I advocate vigilantism. It's a spiritual battle....I'd rather have him die of natural causes anyway, that way he's not some martyr. I'm praying for him to die just so he gets what he deserves."

Special.

You'd hope all Republicans would hesitate to assassinate our nation's leader. That said, Republican Rex Ramell, when prompted by an audience member at a GOP rally said, "The Obama tags? We'd buy some of those."

Laugh it up asshole. You want to be governor of Idaho, but just admitted to wanting to hunt the President.

You'd hope he'd do time for something like that, but Rethugs strangely never do time for violent threats.

First off, we've got Rep. Lynn Jenkins of Kansas, who proudly told her constituents that the GOP is searching for a "great white hope" to challenge President Obama. More here from Matt Yglesias, who is far more forgiving than I am.

Conservative blogger (and asshat extraordinaire) Andrew Breitbart decided to go full-out crazy and bash on Kennedy before he's even in the grave. Aside from the lies and distortions and just plain meanness, I'm sure Andrew is a fine example of conservative Christian charity and love for all mankind.

Yeah, I almost puked writing that.

Back to racist Republicans, Neal Boortz, another conservative media blowhard is all about leaving New Orleans to rot. How do I know this? Because he states it in the most delicate Tweet possible:

The "debris" he speaks of are presumably the black residents that have yet to return to their hometown.

Foreign reporters discuss the uncaring mean streak we Americans seem to have when it comes to the welfare of our fellow citizens. Granted, not every jerk is a Republican, but the Democrats certainly haven't codified it into their platform like the GOP has.

Why does *anybody* take these people seriously anymore?

Segue: Bill Moyers did a good segment on talk radio violence recently. Give it a look.

"This is the cause of my life. For four decades I have carried this cause -- from the floor of the United States Senate to every part of this country. It has never been merely a question of policy; it goes to the heart of my belief in a just society."

- Ted Kennedy on providing health care to all Americans

Lush Rimjob is chortling his fat, drug-addled ass off, gleefully declaring "victory" by "predicting" that Ted Kennedy would be dead before health care reform was passed in this nation. It is bastards like that, encouraging bullyboy tactics and general thuggery that are derailing said reform and rotting our nation's democracy.

Senator Robert Byrd wants to rename any health care legislation after Kennedy. Here's a blog entry that states the same opinion.

And, of course, HonorKennedy.com asks you to add your name to an online petition to do the same.

That said, given the crap put out by Fifth Columnists like Max Baucus, they're gonna have to rewrite any bill to fit Teddy's requirements. As best put by Bob Cesca's latest column, "Healthcare Reform Named After Ted Kennedy Must Not Suck".

Surprise. Surprise. Turns out that - once again - Dick Cheney is a liar. After months of claiming the CIA has documents "proving" torture works, the release of said documents say the exact opposite. From the article:

Strikingly, they provide little evidence for Cheney's claims that the 'enhanced interrogation' program run by the CIA provided valuable information. In fact, throughout both documents, many passages -- though several are incomplete and circumstantial, actually suggest the opposite of Cheney's contention: that non-abusive techniques actually helped elicit some of the most important information the documents cite in defending the value of the CIA's interrogations.

Just in case you were still curious, yet another tenant of "Intelligent Design" has been utterly refuted by using...actual science.

Whodathunkit?

Talking Points Memo has found some videos of Kennedy is his own words. First of, his Sitka Speech after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Also, some of his work on the floor of the Senate in 2007 during the minimum rate increase debate:

A nice piece on Teddy Kennedy and on his service to this nation.

Also, a very cool diary concerning Kennedy's work on immigration reform. In short, the modern face of America is partly to the credit of his work.

Plus, a story on his civil rights legacy.

Also, his overall work for "the little guy":

The Boston Globe has a touching story on Teddy's last days.

Another touching tribute of the man's life by Ted Sorensen.

I haven't read the book yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

I have, however, heard this Fresh Air interview, as well as an interview with The Word and the subject seems done with much open-mindedness and real perspective.

In addition, read "5 Myths About Health Care Around the World" by the same author in the The Washington Post.

Now, I'm sure that some of folks do this for convenience, but it turns out that some airline workers have taken to living in the LAX parking lot in order to save money.

I tell ya, we're just one step closer to having our poorest citizens living out of storage units.

Here is a collection of some of the many tributes being given by various persons and organizations. One of them, by the AFL-CIO's John Sweeney, have been both touching and respectful of the man we have lost.

"Ted Kennedy was not just a senator for Massachusetts; he was our senator--a senator for working people, for poor people, for the old and the vulnerable. For all those who needed a champion, he was our champion. He personified a sense of aspiration that has become America's aspiration--to make things better, to make them more fair, to make our nation more compassionate and hopeful, to make life work for working men and women."

Being against health care reform isn't enough for terrorist sympathizer Randall Terry. Putting on racist political theater while railing against health care is more his speed.

What a piece of shit.

Tis a sad day for me, and a passing of an era for America. I woke up this morning to the news that Ted Kennedy passed.

I am not sure how many of you know that my first name comes from my dad's respect for JFK. So, even though I never lived in the time of John, or even Robert, I've always been intrigued by the Kennedy family. So, my only real ties to them - tenuous as they are - are watching Teddy do his thing in the Senate through the years.

The Boston Globe is carrying much of the news related to his life and passing, starting here with his obituary.

Time covers his career and hits the highlights of his legislative legacy:

Everybody was wrong. Ted Kennedy would never reach the White House....But his failure to get to the presidency opened the way to the true fulfillment of his gifts, which was to become one of the greatest legislators in American history....

Because Kennedy never made it to the finish line, he never had to endure a post-presidential twilight. Instead, by the time of his death on Aug. 25 in Hyannis Port at the age of 77, he had 46 working years in Congress, time enough to leave his imprint on everything from the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009, a law that expands support for national community-service programs. Over the years, Kennedy was a force behind the Freedom of Information Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. He helped Soviet dissidents and fought apartheid. Above all, he conducted a four-decade crusade for universal health coverage, a poignant one toward the end as the country watched a struggle with a brain tumor. But along the way, he vastly expanded the network of neighborhood clinics, virtually invented the COBRA system for portable insurance and helped create the laws that provide Medicare prescriptions and family leave.

Whether you're a proud Democrat or the most ignorant Rethug, you're life has been bettered by Ted Kennedy's work. And yes, the hatemongers are talking. But I refuse to focus on them today. Let their hate be ignored and shunned by all good people who have respect, even for someone they didn't agree with. I remember my dad popping me a good one when Nixon died. You have to have respect for the dead, I was told. He was right then. He was right when Reagan passed.

Hopefully somewhere Republican fathers are teaching their children the same lesson today.

A lot of people are saying great things about our lost leader. None have done so better than Joe Biden did this morning:

That said, Harry Reid stepped up today, and I'm proud to have him represent me for at least these words:

"Because of Ted Kennedy, more young children could afford to become healthy. More young adults could afford to become students. More of our oldest citizens and our poorest citizens could get the care they need to live longer, fuller lives. More minorities, women and immigrants could realize the rights our founding documents promised them. And more Americans could be proud of their country."

I'm totally gonna find some way to visit the Genghis Khan tourist trap at some point in my life.

I may have linked this before, but it bears reposting. Check out this special: Sick Around the World to see how five democracies handle health care and what we can learn from them.

Paul Krugman argues that our current reform plans models the Swiss system best.

Which is odd, given all the GOP carping and lying about the British and Canadian models.

Some calm, common sense for those trying to pretend Obama is a progressive lefty.

I, for one, am glad he's in charge but certainly knew going in that he'd bend over backwards to please those who'd rather put a bullet in his head.

Let's just hope it all works out for the best.

More on the hypocrisy of angry, blowhard, bigoted old people collecting Medicare who are against socialized health care, which, unfortunately, is not even part of the health care reform legislation currently under discussion.

I first heard about RAM, the Remote Area Medical group, in this story about them treating a few thousand folks in Appalachia. More on their work here.

RAM is supposed to be working in Third World nations. Instead, they are spending some of their time working with some of the most needy in America. Appalachia comes to mind, but they are now expanding their scope. If you still think we don't need health care reform in this nation after seeing these guys at work, you, frankly, are an idiot.

RAM's work in Los Angeles last week was picked up by Reuters, on on Marketplace twice, and NPR again.

Want to jar someone into thinking about the dangers of texting while driving? Show them the following video:

More discussion here.

"What has happened in this country? Why all of a sudden, is it perfectly acceptable to be a terrorist (as long as you are right-wing apparently)? I thought we were fighting a war against terrorism and now all of a sudden people are being applauded for it? "

- Blogger Michael Hendricks on town hall traitors

Ladies and Gentlemen, THIS is your Republican Party.

A place that not only welcomes people who call themselves proud terrorists, but has elected polticians praising them as a "great American".

Olbermann calls out Congressman Herger on being an unpatriotic dolt:

And these are the so-called "patriots"? Kiss my ass.

This treads into dangerous, but not necessarily erroneous, ground. This article compares the GOP's strategy of opposing the President on health care - and everything else - to that of the Nazi "Big Lie".

So yes, the GOP are acting like Nazis, without necessarily being Nazis. Got it?

They sure don't. They've called the President every political label in the book and have him being born in Kenya, Indonesia, and probably the Moon for all I know. Basically, it's a kitchen sink strategy.

They've called Democrats murderers for wanting to enforce living will policies even their blowhards have supported.

As for the generic GOP hatemonger at a town brawl? Odious people backing odious insurance companies.

Rep. John Dingell compares them to the KKK.

Rep. James Clyburn says they are the same ilk as our nation's opponents to civil rights legislation:

"I have seen this kind of hate before. I have seen this discussion before....I have seen snarling dogs going after people who were trying to peacefully assemble. I have seen the eyes of people who were being spat upon.

"This is all about activity trying to deny the establishment of a civil right. And I do believe that health care for all is -- a civil right."

He went on to say the he had "no question" that some of this was racially motivated hate.

Rep. Jerry Nadler from NY calls the political theater of the GOP stalwarts as akin to using "fascist tactics".

So, yeah, call it as you see it, but make sure the characterization does not turn into caricature.

Here's a pretty good take on some of those questions I'm sure Gabriel will be asking in the coming years.

This is a horrible commentary on life on this planet today.

And to think of the trivial crap we as a society worry about.

Here's an interesting take, and only if you take the time to read/listen to it. In short, our current system pushes us to spend tons of money on end-of-life health care. According to this interview, think of how much we could save if we just stopped and asked the elderly patients what they thought of how their treatment should be.

And yes, this involves discussing living wills in advance.

The editorial in question is here.

The article by Atul Gawande can be found here, as well as a follow-up companion piece.

"Ridge...was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush's re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over."

This is EXACTLY why Republicans lying like snakes when it comes to being patriotic Americans.

A TRUE patriot would NEVER have allowed politics to trump national security. A TRUE patriot would save his politics for his one vote and not use it to help rig an election to keep a warmonger in power.

Way to be a patriot Ridge. Too bad you're FIVE YEARS TOO LATE!

Also from Reddit:

Why is it that peaceful RNC protesters are rounded up/arrested by SWAT teams, but the anti-health care protesters (a self described 'angry mob') are looked upon as simply Americans asserting their rights? even when armed at public meetings?

"In their gut, they saw the US as a white-skinned, right-wing nation forever shaped like Sarah Palin. When this image was repudiated by a majority of Americans in a massive landslide, it simply didn't compute."

Somebody needed to point out the obvious.

More from the Barney Frank town hall. As he comes up against idiot after idiot, he handles them with great aplomb. Kudos.

Best line: "It's been 21 years since I've had a secret...and I don't have one now."

State of Nevada covers the resurgent militia movement in the West.

The militia movement is on the rise. In the West, it's driven by the Minutemen and their belief in the Aztlan or "reconquista" conspiracy theory. This theory holds that the Mexican government is driving illegal immigration into the U.S. as part of a covert effort to "reconquer" the American Southwest. This attack on the legitimacy of the federal government has become mainstream with more than 30 legislatures seeking resolutions affirming states' rights. We talk with Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project.

Good coverage on how FAUXNews viewers are being fed lies and take it as Gospel.

There's a reason you can have a reasoned argument with a conservative anymore: their brains don't even function on the same information our's do.

More on this from Rachel Maddow's show last night:

Folks, the Reich Wing has come to Vegas.

Here's the video to the event:

Basically, since John Ensign is hiding from the public and Harry Reid doesn't have a spine - and Lord knows what our Reps are doing - we haven't had any of the town hall bullshit here. At least until a local racist radio shitheel decided to hold one - in a country/western dance hall.

No, I'm not kidding.

While there, a proper Rethug begins launching into Hilter chants while trying to shout down a Jewish man speaking.

That, in a nutshell, is the Republican Party folks. When something doesn't go their way, call everyone a commie, bring out the Nazism, and kick in the racial slur machine. Add a dose of angry religion even Jesus wouldn't recognize as anything he'd ever said and turn the volume up to 11.

Somehow this works. I don't know why. You'd think people would raise their children to learn that throwing a tantrum is not adult behavior. You'd think people would raise their kids to not be bigoted jerks either. Then again, I guess you'd call those folks anything but Republican.

UPDATE: According to DailyKos, the lady is ironically wearing an Israeli Defense Forces t-shirt. So much for that pro-Israel policy. Or as the posting goes:

Apparently the wingnut love affair with Israel goes only as far as getting Israelis killed in the race to the Rapture.

When an Israeli wants to talk about health care, it's right back to "Heil Hitler."

....Now, why does an American wingnut wear an IDF t-shirt to a health care event? To prove wingnut bona fides, of course. But... first thing out of her mouth when she meets a real Israeli? "Heil Hitler!"

A Jew disagrees with her. The mask comes off.

Part on an ongoing series, today's episode covers the Soviet invasion and the continuity - at least to the locals - to the present day conflict.

Hey look! A Democrat with a spine.

Go Barney!

Just a reminder that there are a few dozen a-holes running loose in America that illegally killed almost 5,000 American troops as well as a thousand or so "willing" foreign soldiers, a few hundred thousand Iraqis, and wasted trillions of dollars for a war we didn't need to fight.

Taken with the appropriate level of tongue-in-cheek:

Barack Hussein Obama, natural born Kenyan socialist, usurper of the American presidency and "Trojan Horse of Islam," possessed of a "deep seated hatred of white people" and with the aid of his media "brownshirts," is embarking on a Nazi-styled eugenics campaign to grant "death panels" the authority to "pull the plug on grandma" and "redistribute the wealth" otherwise required to sustain her "unproductive" life as "reparations". Failure to halt his "government takeover" -- with assault rifles if necessary -- will lead inexorably to future generations having to "wait in line for, I dunno, toilet paper."

Also from Reddit:

"Remember when you could get arrested just for wearing a T-shirt critical of the president to an event where he would appear?"

- submitted by conyat2

There are stories of Rethug asshats carrying assault rifles to Obama town halls and speeches and while, yes, most of them are obeying the letter of the law, shouldn't you be asked to be a responsible adult and go the hell away by the police/FBI/Secret Service/voices in your head?

HAVING rights means being smart enough to know WHY you have them and HOW to be worthy of them.

Something lost on the racist GOP mobs of late.

Random thought from Reddit:

By denying the poorest Americans affordable Healthcare, the Republicans have become the Death Panel they vehemently admonish.

- submitted by Yeeaaaarrrgh

This should honestly be up for an award. I laugh every time I watch this.

Alter nails it once again concerning how to sell health care to the American people to correct way.

Too bad no one is listening....

On more in the NPR series on the events of 1979 in the Muslim world. Today's installment covers the execution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, father of Benazir Bhutto.

Honestly, I had never heard of this but it does explain a lot about our bipolar relations with that nation.

NPR's Morning Edition is covering the key events of 1979 in the Muslim world, starting with the Iranian Revolution.

I'll continue to link the stories as they come up but so far they've been pretty good and key to understanding the issues we still face in the region.

Rachel Maddow takes the Democratic Party to task for failing to pass health care reform in the way we as a nation voted for it:

John Stewart doesn't pull any punches either:

Good God. Yet another pity story about rich people suffering in the recession.

Seriously? You can't buy your kid the new "it" phone for back to school and that somehow compares to people who can't make house payments or provide enough for their families to eat?

Yeah, it's all relative, but maybe these reporters should go interview people actually suffering instead of those mildly inconvenienced by the economic downturn.

Here's you field guide to the asshats between you and decent health care reform.

Saw this a couple weeks ago, but still important to remember that Congress' laziness and lying is killing Americans while they decide whether or not to fail at reforming health care.

To put this in perspective, what will happen while Congress is on vacation for three weeks?

* 143,250 people will lose their health insurance coverage.
* 53,507 people will be forced into bankruptcy because they can't pay their medical bills.
* 1,265 will DIE because of a lack of health coverage.

There have been some gruesome injuries both at the plate and the mound in recent days. Here's a quick look at them and some commentary.

A look at one type of crime you only see related to a casino town.

You'd be amazed how much theft comes into play concerning tickets and player cards. Every casino I've ever done a project at has some story related to the problem.

Stephen Strasburg may be the second coming of pitching, but having known asshole agent Scott Boras onboard makes me like him a whole lot less as a human being.

Apparently, I'm not the only one.

This is a pretty cool look at how folks are trying to reverse-engineer ancient tools and have found some surprisingly sophisticated techniques.

Give it a listen.

I don't personally like golf, I'll be honest.

I find it a waste of time, money, water, land, and resources better placed elsewhere. I find that business done on a golf course is a shortcut around the proper and ethical ways of getting things gone.

Besides, I'd rather shoot a couple racks of pool for the price of a couple rounds of beer than spent half a day chasing a ball whilst whacking it with a crooked stick.

Bill Maher takes the President to task for suddenly picking up the game. He can't even get enough Republican to say he's an American citizen to fill a Volkswagen Beetle. What possible pipe dream does he have of cajoling them on the links instead of in the Capitol Building?

Finally, some honest reporting on the town brawl asshats.

Yes, they don't care about the issue. Most of them will benefit from a public health care plan. They just know to hate Obama because he's black and to call everything a Democrat does "socialist", whether it is or not.

Why? If hate wing radio isn't telling them to do it, the GOP is doing it itself...or their pals in the corporate lobbies.

As evidenced by the following, these people only cry about their rights when they are abusing them to shut down the democratic process. This goes right along with stealing votes, owning and biasing the vote counts, and basically trying to get your way when you lose at the ballot box.

Thanks to the folks at Political Irony for the image links.

Yet another interesting conversation with Michael Pollan. This time he berates the Food Network for making cooking a passive entertainment option instead of something people can learn to do for themselves.

A nice point-by-point retort of Whole Foods CEO John Mackey's health care talking points. Basically, sure a lot of people are angry, but the guy made some points based on what he thought was good logic.

Challenging that logic with the bright light of reality is what is needed.

Not that voting with our dollars wouldn't, but it is better for the guy to know why his sales might be down.

Coverage and opinion from The Chicago Tribune, Nashville Scene, AmericaBlog (plus bonus editorial), and BuzzFlash - whoever they are.

About.com is hosting an article concerning the boycott of Whole Foods and here is the Single Payer Action site's argument for said boycott.

There is a huge amount of anger, and potential boycotting of Whole Foods. This is ever since their CEP wrote this editorial in the Wall Street Journal:

I've read it, and some of his points are valid. Others are utter bullshit. He - and his ghostwriter, the hateful Clintonite/FAUXNews troll Lanny Davis - swear it isn't attack on the President. I beg to differ.

Here is a three-step example of how to attack the President on health care reform:

1. Write it in the Wall Street Journal. They don't even pretend to be "fair and balanced". They are pro-business and anti-everything-that-isn't, all the time.

2. Have your article headlined using the word "ObamaCare", which is GOP speak for "we will never vote for anything having the tacit blessing of a black President".

3. Begin your article with an anti-socialism quote by Margaret Thatcher.

Still think I believe you were planning a well-meaning, middle-of-the-road sensible argument? You must think I'm a teabagging deather/birther/healther/incest-loving Republican.

In the article, he ties his company to his wingnut views by basically stating that we don't need health care reform because all we need to do is buy and eat from Whole Foods.

Wow.

This is bizarre seeing as he recently stated that his stores sell a lot of junk. Hmm, isn't that an odd admission from a supposed healthy food merchant?

The LA Times covers the brouhaha and The American Prospect provides some background on why Whole Foods isn't as darling of an operation as you might have thought. We used to have some Wild Oats out here so I kind of knew some of this stuff.

Slate has an old article that I remember reading concerning the false "good" of our big organic food stores.

To their credit? Whole Foods now hosts a forum section dedicated to the editorial. Granted, they apparently deleted a multitude of threads prior to this move, so give that all the grains of salt you need to.

My favorite so far is this one created by an illiterate neo-con who now plans to shop at Whole Foods and supposedly makes 300k a year. Good luck with that buddy.

At DailyKos, a roundup of various opinions on the matter. Granted, most of them echo each other.

Here's my personal thing. I don't shop at Wal-Mart for a variety of reasons. I don't shop at Home Depot since their CEO wanted anyone who backed a union to be "shot dead".

Basically, I don't buy stuff at places that adamantly are against me and mine and the things we support. Granted, mass media demands companies to advertise as many places as possible so I get that there is a bit of impossibility in the task.

That said, I used to grab lunch at Whole Foods and sit outside and read a book. (The one closest to us is across the way from a Borders.) Well, that's done.

There may be a need to go to the damned place now and then (they have excellent cheeses) but I'll be doing my damnedest to avoid giving this twit my hard earned cash whenever possible.

Another fine Miyazaki movie. I can't wait to see this.

Well said.

Another NPR article calls this the Summer of Hate, somehow equating the 1969 Summer of Love to this mob uprising. While there probably are some ex-hippies amongst the firebreathers shouting down democracy, I doubt it's really the same crowd. These are probably the same ilk shucking duty like W or draft dodging through loopholes like Cheney as opposed to serial protesters.

Either way, they are angry, scared fools easily manipulated by the GOP.

I'm not sure why people keep reporting on how this - and every other Republican theory on health care reform - is utter BS.

Common sense Americans already KNOW the GOP is lying, and has been since at least they said they were "surprised" when 9/11 happened.

As for the anarchic Talibangelical asshats? At this point, God himself couldn't convince them that they are full of shit.

Bob points out how FAUXNews does everything but direct it's angry mobs to where this little girl's bedroom is. He also had to follow up with more proof that FAUX and it's conservative zealots are targeting an 11-year old girl and endangering her and her family for merely having an opinion on health care not based in fantasy land.

He also wrote about other instances of conservative stalking of private citizens.

Republicans: if you don't agree with us, we'll just tell our angry militia racist types where you live.

Speaking of, here are Republicans in action against the President. This asshole was arrested in Maryland for carrying a sign calling for the deaths of the entire Obama family.

We couldn't comment on the Bush Twins re-enacting scenes from Girls Gone Wild but your average Rethug can call for the death of the First Family and he's a Republican Hero&trade.

In LA, we have this traitor who made threats against the White House and then created an eight-hour standoff with police who came to detain him for questioning.

In Michigan, a Rethug county commissioner decided it was proper to carry a swastika sign to their healther protest. Nice touch, racist.

Once again, I find myself agreeing with Paul Krugman, who asks Obama to please stop appeasing theses racist traitors. They have obviously chosen to reject public discourse and merely want to overturn the results of the last election. In short, our government is totally within their rights to cull some of them from the herd and frighten these gun-toting bigots who probably honestly don't give one damn about health care.

Frankly, one of the best damn pieces of journalism I've heard or read in awhile.

In short, a look at what's wrong with our prison system through the view of how far the California penal system has fallen.

Honestly, give it a listen.

Thanks to the GDAB for the linkage:

I keep reading all these opinion articles on how the President and Democrats in general have "gone wrong" on selling health care reform.

Granted, they've been behind the ball on getting people organized on their behalf, but is this really a sin?

Paul Krugman had a good article on this recently.

No, if the Democrats have done something wrong, it is mistaking their opposition as being pro-democracy, pro-America, and pro-progress.

Instead, we have a bunch of racists bleating as loudly as possible to silence public discourse. They parrot soundbites fed to them by corporate lobbyists, fringe hate groups, and even churches. Wait? Wasn't Luke a discipline of Christ? What gives?

They don't want debate. They do not even want to have their situation improved, as many of them would if health care reform passes.

No, we have public servants on government health care crying about "death panels" and "forced euthanasia". We have seniors on Medicare bitching about wanting no socialized medicine. We have veterans venting about not offering services to Americans that THEY ALREADY ENJOY.

So fine, someone should give them the courtesy of appealing to their grievances.

Offer every Republican and Blue Dog the chance to opt out of the health care we give Congressmen and Senators.

Allow every senior the option to opt out of Medicare. Give them a flat check of whatever they contributed over the life of their employment, with no interest, and then tax it. And then, make them sign something that states they will never, ever bitch about needing a hand on pain of a $10,000 fine and 90 days in jail per offense.

And don't even think of asking for any form of public assistance.

Give the VA folks who hate health reform access to rudimentary checkups and preventative care. And that's it. Every other vet who gets the point will have vastly improved service as a result of their generosity.

As for Social Security, same concept. Here's a check for the amount you paid in; no interest, and yes, we're taking our cut for the taxes. Good luck with your golden years as you are basically kissing our ass goodbye.

In short, stop trying to screw the rest of America because you can't think beyond your Dittohead talking points.

"Now imagine he was Muslim and waiting for Bush with a gun. What do you think would have happened then?"

Some folks are trying to pooh-pooh away the fact that some anti-American asshat was loitering around President Obama's town hall today in New Hampshire.

In a church yard. Strapped with a pistol. Holding a sign advocating revolution.

Thankfully, some folks, like Cenk Uygur, is calling it what it is: borderline insurrection. Nip it in the bud. Right now.

Finally, Nancy Pelosi grows a spine and calls out the healthers.

You know, these bastards called anyone against the Iraq War a traitor for not falling in line behind Bush and blindly going to war without at least having a healthy debate as to why we were spending lives and trillions of dollars.

Now? We are looking to improve the lives of tens of millions of Americans and spend trillions to do so and you'd think they'd follow their own meme and just either get in line or out of the way, right? No, they skipped that part. They even skipped the debate part too. They just don't want to change anything at all.

Obviously they don't ALL work for the insurance industry. Obviously they are getting just as screwed over as the rest of us.

So what is it? What brings then armed to silence discussion and debate? What causes them to not just interrupt, but impede the course of democracy?

Simple. We have a black President who is using federal dollars to stop corporations from aiding in the deaths of American citizens by weighing human life against profit margins and stock values.

Guess which part of that appeals to the racist core of the GOP?

More crazy, lying BS regarding health care reform from the delusional idiots of the GOP.

How would you like to combat fringe zealot Talibangelical arguments with actual truth. Noam Levey of the Los Angeles Times wrote a pretty good article on the subject. I heard him on Here and Now today (link) and it was a lot of useful info.

Even the government is finally figuring out that someone should call out these idiots and have a Reality Check website.

Howard Dean takes on Sarah Palin's lies.

In the end though, we have to rely on John Stewart and Keith Olbermann to truly confront these fools:

There is a lot of good, honest analysis of the cretins opposing, well, ANYTHING our President is doing, but particularly on health care reform.

In addition, an update to an old anti-Reaganite polemic:

I AM AN AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE SHITHEEL

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US department of energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of US Department of Agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.

At the appropriate time as regulated by the US Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the US Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issed by the Federal Reserve Bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.

After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to ny house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all it's valuables thanks to the local police department.

I then log on to the internet which was developed by the defense advanced research projects administration and post on freerepublic and Fox news forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right.

The latest from Brian Unger.

Still witty. Still on point.

He's right. The worst part about this supposed opposition to health care reform is what it says about us as Americans.

There are still some very, very vile pieces of crap who think they deserve the same freedoms you and I enjoy. They don't. Not if they are going to squander it on racial hatred and lies. And they even still call themselves Christians.

Sure, there may be some who aren't brainwashed drones who genuinely loathe government of any stripe, but I doubt they are even a tiny percentage of the rabid psychopaths getting lathered up into zealot-filled mobs by the GOP.

Pete Seeger is a trip. He's also recently celebrated his 90th birthday, whether he wanted to make a big stink of it or not. CBS Sunday Morning gave a nice review of his life to date.

PBS has highlights of his birthday celebration. Some of the music is really, really good to give a listen to. Enjoy.

According to this poll, GOP support among Latinos is down to 3%, an 11 percent drop from before they went racial on Sonia Sotomayor.

Seeing as they pretty much had a lock on the racist white voters, what could this possibly have gained them? Ideological purity? Racial purity?

Or is just the party being intellectual honest? Face it, they hate Obama because he's black. They hate health care because, wait, they don't mind Medicare so that's not a real issue. It must be because the President is black.

They hate closing Guantanamo because apparently they love torturing brown people. Or maybe just Muslims. You know, unless someone has a better logical reason to provide. Which, given the eight years available to provide such an answer, I doubt there is another one.

They hated Sotomayor because she's a radical. Wait, no she isn't. If anything, she's conservative. So it must be because she's brown. And a woman.

No, I think I see where this all goes and it's a dark place. And I really, sincerely hope America wants no part of it.

Why isn't the entire Bush Administration in prison right now?

That's my reaction after reading this. In no way, shape, or form should the GOP be allowed to even pretend they are patriotic. At all. Ever.

Because calling out racists is necessary in this country.

Yes, they still exist no matter what FAUXNews says.

"I think we should come up with a new term for the Healthcare nuts - the 'Healthers' in homage to the 'Birthers'. They are equally as crazy, equally wrong, and at the end of the day, equally racist."

- Blogger Ben Cohen on the crazy bastards opposing health care reform

A couple of Olbermann gems regarding both the assholes disrupting democracy:

...and the spineless shitheels who are buckling under to racist dittohead mobs and lobbyist bribes:

Bob Cesca comments on the raving townhall meeting lunatics mentioned above.

Most of these tools are following a corporate lobbyist-written script. More on that here.

At DailyKos, a tongue-in-cheek "surrender" to certain GOP lunatic points, the ones that don't exist except in their vacant echo chamber skulls.

Check out Howard Dean in this interview on Talk of the Nation.

CNN's Rick Sanchez is a reckless loon, but he's OUR reckless loon. Check this out:

Hell, you want to know how much in Bizarro World these "healthers" are? Some asshat "supposedly attacked" at a health care mob rally has a online contribution site to cover his health care costs as he doesn't have health insurance.

Play this.

It is bizarrely interesting and a quick look into the mind of a pirate. I found myself going more aggressive as I played it just to rack up a quick ransom so I wouldn't get either a mutiny or a military raid.

Granted, Twiggy and Kate Moss are in this slideshow, but remember when supermodels were just beautiful women? Check out how some of them have kept their looks over the years.

This is a wonderful tale about the making of a beer using eons old baker's yeast gathered from an old piece of amber. Personally, I've got to find a way to try this sometime.

A gallery of the brewpub and the brewing process is also available online.

"If conservatives get to call universal healthcare 'socialized medicine,' I get to call private, for-profit healthcare 'soulless, vampire bastards making money off human pain.'"

- Bill Maher

You know how I know I'm becoming an old fogey?

Because I agree completely with this article.

A random collection of editorial cartoons and such on recent events - imaginary and not.

A few health care related ones.

And one for the douchebag "birthers":

"Yesterday, of course, on Fox News commentator Glenn Beck said that he believes President Obama is a racist. Well, to be fair, every time you watch Glenn Beck, it does get a little easier to hate white people."

- Conan O'Brien

Mark Fuhrman - yeah, same asshat - was on another loudmouth Rethug's show. In this case, Hannity, where he - racist cop that he was - swears there is no such thing as racial profiling.

Granted, O.J. was guilty as sin, but this racist is part of the reason he never did time for a double homicide. Why? Because of his own racial profiling and bigotry.

Isn't there an ice floe we can stick all these racists on? I'm sure they are global warming deniers too so, you know, the problem should take care of itself in the next decade or so.

Frank Rich on the racist Republicans in general.

As for the traitorous "birthers", apparently half of all Virginia GOP members believe Obama isn't a real American. Fools.

Meanwhile, the angry bigoted white crowd is getting exceedingly racist, with fat bitch Lush Rimjob at the head of the pack. While so-called Christian Conservatives still feel the need to take political advise from a boy-chasing, pill-popping overweight drug addict is beyond me.

And then there's this crazy racist Orly Taitz:

If you are on her side, you are are crazy and racist as this nutjob.

Brilliant. Genius. Read this.

The freakiest part of the list of ills by our health insurance system is the part where 47 percent of the money we give these assholes goes to non-medical stuff, like, presumably, lobbying Congress to not pass health reform.

We are paying to get screwed more by the guys already screwing us. Genius!

Why don't we just send who we can home, imprison the real miscreants, but then fill the joint back up with traitors like Glenn Beck?

Observe: