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Thursday, October 29, 2009
This Man Is a Genius
Stephen Colbert is a genius. His staff, I am sure, deserves credit, too. But they are led by a true, indomitable genius. Period. Last night's episode of the Colbert Report is one for the ages. You can watch the best moments below.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Returning DOUCHE Lieberman to Irrelevance
Senators Reid and Durbin (D-NV and D-IL, respectively) are open to majority vote to beat health care filibuster, thus returning DOUCHE Lieberman to the irrelevance he belongs to (complete with stripping him of all committee positions he currently holds, hopefully.)
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
My Letter to Douche Lieberman's Office
Dear Sen. Lieberman:
I am writing in dismay as I have just learned that you plan on supporting a GOP filibuster of any health care reform bill that contains a public option. Apparently, you oppose the inclusion of the public option in the final bill on grounds that it would be too expensive.
Two things: as Marcie Wheeler notes here (http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/10/27/hey-reporters-it-might-be-worth-pointing-out-lieberman-is-wrong-or-lying/) you are either misinformed or intentionally misleading. Worse, you had no qualms supporting what economists Linda J. Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz called "the three trillion dollar war." Was that not expensive enough for you to oppose, Sen. Lieberman? And lest you should counter that health care reform is not an issue national security like 9/11 and terrorism, consider the fact that since 9/11 hundreds of thousands of Americans have died of preventable deaths, which proper and timely health care could have prevented or delayed.
Your argument against cost does not make sense, Senator. Which leads people of ordinary intellect like me to believe that something else is at play here. Whatever it is, do not shame yourself or the people you represent by denying the American people an idea whose time has come.
Angrily,
I am writing in dismay as I have just learned that you plan on supporting a GOP filibuster of any health care reform bill that contains a public option. Apparently, you oppose the inclusion of the public option in the final bill on grounds that it would be too expensive.
Two things: as Marcie Wheeler notes here (http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/10/27/hey-reporters-it-might-be-worth-pointing-out-lieberman-is-wrong-or-lying/) you are either misinformed or intentionally misleading. Worse, you had no qualms supporting what economists Linda J. Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz called "the three trillion dollar war." Was that not expensive enough for you to oppose, Sen. Lieberman? And lest you should counter that health care reform is not an issue national security like 9/11 and terrorism, consider the fact that since 9/11 hundreds of thousands of Americans have died of preventable deaths, which proper and timely health care could have prevented or delayed.
Your argument against cost does not make sense, Senator. Which leads people of ordinary intellect like me to believe that something else is at play here. Whatever it is, do not shame yourself or the people you represent by denying the American people an idea whose time has come.
Angrily,
On Douche Lieberman's Incredible Hypocrisy
Read this excellent compendium by Marcie Wheeler on Douche Lieberman's hypocrisy and on how most of the media are credulously handling the senator's statements opposing the public option.
Never doubt the ability of one contemptible turd to spoil the party for the rest of us.
Never doubt the ability of one contemptible turd to spoil the party for the rest of us.
Justice Scalia Is Also a DOUCHE
In case anyone anywhere had any lingering doubts about whether Justice Scalia is a douche of the first order, he cleared them when he stated that he would have dissented on Brown v. Board of Education, which ended school segregation based on race in the United States, just a few decades before the most emblematic and last-standing bastion of racism, South Africa, did.
Really, these are the days when I regret having abandoned Christianity, with its vision of fire and brimstone in hell. Too bad it's all a fantasy that people like Supreme Douche Antonin Scalia peddle to the plutocrats' advantage.
Really, these are the days when I regret having abandoned Christianity, with its vision of fire and brimstone in hell. Too bad it's all a fantasy that people like Supreme Douche Antonin Scalia peddle to the plutocrats' advantage.
Sen. Lieberman is a DOUCHE
Sen. Lieberman, the contemptible Connecticut senator (a Democrat in name only) who sided with the Bush administration on all matters related to the ill-advised wars that are making Osama Bin Laden laugh at American stupidity and futility, is now on the record having said that he will side with a GOP filibuster of any bill that contains a public option.
Sen. Lieberman justifies his opposition to the public option with the fact that it will cost taxpayers too much. (More than the alternative, which is more than 45,000 preventable deaths each year, senator?)
Obviously Sen. Lieberman is either too corrupt or too dumb to see the fallacy of his logic: He opposes the public option on the ground that it is too expensive, but he had no qualms supporting what economists Linda J. Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz called "The Three Trillion Dollar War" (granted, he was not the only Democrat to do so, but he was arguably the most vocal and visible Democratic presence on the president's side.)
At this point, I think it would only be fair for Sen. Lieberman to forego his own health insurance for the rest of his (hopefully brief) political life, so he can experience first hand what it means to be an "all out-of-pocket" American.
Please read Robert Creamer of the Huffington Post on why the public option should get a straight up-or-down vote).
Also, please write Sen. Lieberman to censor his position and try to sway him back to the side of fairness.
Sen. Lieberman justifies his opposition to the public option with the fact that it will cost taxpayers too much. (More than the alternative, which is more than 45,000 preventable deaths each year, senator?)
Obviously Sen. Lieberman is either too corrupt or too dumb to see the fallacy of his logic: He opposes the public option on the ground that it is too expensive, but he had no qualms supporting what economists Linda J. Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz called "The Three Trillion Dollar War" (granted, he was not the only Democrat to do so, but he was arguably the most vocal and visible Democratic presence on the president's side.)
At this point, I think it would only be fair for Sen. Lieberman to forego his own health insurance for the rest of his (hopefully brief) political life, so he can experience first hand what it means to be an "all out-of-pocket" American.
Please read Robert Creamer of the Huffington Post on why the public option should get a straight up-or-down vote).
Also, please write Sen. Lieberman to censor his position and try to sway him back to the side of fairness.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
It Could Happen To You
Check out this link to see what some Americans and their families had to endure because of health insurance companies' greed and the loopholes in our current laws.
Why Fox News Is Not a News Organization
Alternet's Adele Stan lists 8 (good) reasons why Fox News cannot be considered a news organization. Not that CNN and MSNBC should rejoice in Fox's failure. The fact that they are not a propaganda organ does not mean that they are good news organizations. They are quite bad themselves, in fact.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Rachel Maddow Skewers Conservative Hypocrites... Again
Welcome to Debunking Misinformation 101.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Franken 100 - Idiot Shill Lady 0
And one word about the cancer survival bullshit the idiot Hudson Institute shill lady tried to pull on Sen. Franken: read FactCheck.org's response to those who try to use cancer survival rates as an indicator of health care quality.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
You Still Think Health Insurance Companies Are Looking Out For You? HAHAHA!
You're a woman. You have been drugged by two men you met at a bar. You fear an HIV infection. You take HIV medication, just in case. And, after all you have been through, you lose your health insurance, only to find out you are pretty much uninsurable because of the HIV medication you took as a precaution.
Is this a great country? Or... what?!?
There are still fools (or crooks) out there, who think we'd be worse off if the government offered its own plan to fight off the worst disease of all: health insurance-itis. Tell them to go back to their gilded, Jesus-shielded abode and wither away, preferably without a peep.
Is this a great country? Or... what?!?
There are still fools (or crooks) out there, who think we'd be worse off if the government offered its own plan to fight off the worst disease of all: health insurance-itis. Tell them to go back to their gilded, Jesus-shielded abode and wither away, preferably without a peep.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) on the Rachel Maddow Show
Very interesting interview, particularly the part about bi-partisanship as a "weapon of mass distraction."
When the time comes, Mr. Grayson is the type of Democrat you want to support with your contribution (and/or your time).
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
When the time comes, Mr. Grayson is the type of Democrat you want to support with your contribution (and/or your time).
Monday, October 19, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
I Like Bill Maher, But...
Bill Maher brings a skeptical eye and a rational viewpoint to a lot of current issues. On some, though, he is clearly in error. The problem is, people who like him might be tempted to give him credit on topics on which he deserves none because of other, legitimate views he holds. That is why I believe it is important to highlight a couple of posts from Pharyngula.
On vaccines, Bill Maher is wrong and PZ Myers and others call Maher to task: here, and here. And Tara C. Smith, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Iowa, explains why she will be getting her kids the flu shot.
On vaccines, Bill Maher is wrong and PZ Myers and others call Maher to task: here, and here. And Tara C. Smith, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Iowa, explains why she will be getting her kids the flu shot.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Friday Night Highlights
Tonight, Bill Moyers interviewed Mark Danner, a journalist whose work I was not previously familiar with, but whom I was lucky to "meet" on tonight's Bill Moyers Journal. His splendidly lucid analysis of Obama's Nobel Prize, the war in Afghanistan and--basically--how the 9/11 was the bait that U.S. enemies to draw the United States into a quagmire, much like they had done with the Soviet Union, is not to be missed.
Also on the Journal, a gracious look at the much maligned work of community organizers, the folks who--day in, day out--step up to the plate to make up for the gross mismanagement of our communities by the corrupt and callous politicians (like Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani, the shameful opportunist featured at the beginning of the segment) who view them like fiefdoms instead.
Finally, an enlightening, urgent and moving look at the state of nursing in the United States by the always wonderful and educational Now. You can watch it below.
Also on the Journal, a gracious look at the much maligned work of community organizers, the folks who--day in, day out--step up to the plate to make up for the gross mismanagement of our communities by the corrupt and callous politicians (like Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani, the shameful opportunist featured at the beginning of the segment) who view them like fiefdoms instead.
Finally, an enlightening, urgent and moving look at the state of nursing in the United States by the always wonderful and educational Now. You can watch it below.
Priceless!
Rep. Grayson (D-FL) hit another one out of the ballpark on Real Time with Bill Maher. He said this: "The Republican idea of health care reform is to let you take your gun to the doctor's office." Exactly.
And You Want Us To Bend Over Backwards... Why?
Fresh from Colorado Public Radio, I have just heard that Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) supports a public option for health care reform, but only if certain conditions are met. For example, the public option would have to compete fairly with private insurers. I don't understand why and I don't think it should. Here's why.
Health insurance companies are not in the business of providing health care services. They are in the business of handling claims and bills. Their role is largely administrative, and adds little or nothing to the quality of health care that human beings receive. In fact, the opposite is true. A large number of health insurance companies (if not the totality of them) exist to provide a profit, either to their shareholders or to their highly paid executives. Even not-for-profit health insurance is not truly uninterested in profit: "Profit is what is left over after expenses are calculated, and those expenses include everything from CEO salaries to artwork in hospitals." So, you see, not-for-profit is in the bottom line of the beholder. The more claims they turn down, the fatter their bottom line. The practice of denying claims often results in preventable suffering and deaths for the insured, and in the enduring grief of their loved ones. More people are bankrupted because of health care costs in the United States every year than for any other single reason.
The public outcry for the need for health insurance reform (shared, supposedly, even by those who oppose the Administration's efforts to reform health care, up to and including AHIP's president, Karen Ignagni) stems from the truly shameful way in which insurance companies have operated so far, including using domestic battery, pregnancy, and acne as pre-existing conditions to deny or cancel coverage. The latest example of the insurance industry's criminal callousness is canceling coverage for an entire category of patients, those affected by muscular dystrophy (hardly the result of individual behavior).
When people like Sen. Udall say that we must ensure that a public option would compete "fairly" against private companies he neglects to consider that "fairly" is a word that simply does not exist in the insurance industry's vocabulary and that competing fairly would be like bending over backwards to please an industry that has bent us over the years to the point of cracking us. The time to be nice to the crooks that populate the boardrooms of health insurance companies is over. I hope Sen. Udall gets the message. In fact, I will send his office a link to this post.
Health insurance companies are not in the business of providing health care services. They are in the business of handling claims and bills. Their role is largely administrative, and adds little or nothing to the quality of health care that human beings receive. In fact, the opposite is true. A large number of health insurance companies (if not the totality of them) exist to provide a profit, either to their shareholders or to their highly paid executives. Even not-for-profit health insurance is not truly uninterested in profit: "Profit is what is left over after expenses are calculated, and those expenses include everything from CEO salaries to artwork in hospitals." So, you see, not-for-profit is in the bottom line of the beholder. The more claims they turn down, the fatter their bottom line. The practice of denying claims often results in preventable suffering and deaths for the insured, and in the enduring grief of their loved ones. More people are bankrupted because of health care costs in the United States every year than for any other single reason.
The public outcry for the need for health insurance reform (shared, supposedly, even by those who oppose the Administration's efforts to reform health care, up to and including AHIP's president, Karen Ignagni) stems from the truly shameful way in which insurance companies have operated so far, including using domestic battery, pregnancy, and acne as pre-existing conditions to deny or cancel coverage. The latest example of the insurance industry's criminal callousness is canceling coverage for an entire category of patients, those affected by muscular dystrophy (hardly the result of individual behavior).
When people like Sen. Udall say that we must ensure that a public option would compete "fairly" against private companies he neglects to consider that "fairly" is a word that simply does not exist in the insurance industry's vocabulary and that competing fairly would be like bending over backwards to please an industry that has bent us over the years to the point of cracking us. The time to be nice to the crooks that populate the boardrooms of health insurance companies is over. I hope Sen. Udall gets the message. In fact, I will send his office a link to this post.
Rachel Maddow's Lashes Out at Parasitical Front Groups
If you have not seen Rachel Maddow's show on MSNBC last night, you have missed a truly stunning outburst directed at the man across her desk, Tim Phillips, the leader of American for Prosperity, a front group for big corporate interests. Maddow accused Phillips, to his face and without hesitation, of being a parasite ready to exploit American fears for political an economic advantage.
You have to see it to believe it, and you can do so here (via Think Progress).
You have to see it to believe it, and you can do so here (via Think Progress).
Rich, Cold Blooded Murderers
Read about Dawn Smith and her plight (sure death, delivered by Cigna.)
It's time to start prosecuting health insurance executives like Cigna CEO H. Edward Hanway and sending them to jail as the murderers they are.
It's time to start prosecuting health insurance executives like Cigna CEO H. Edward Hanway and sending them to jail as the murderers they are.
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