Tag Archives: culture of no responsibility

The Shonda Chair has become a Couch

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What is SO crazy is that these ideologues get tripped up by the very things they rail against. 

Move over Governor Sanford and Senator Ensign, we need to make room for Mike Duvall, a GOP legislator in California on the Shonda Chair.  Maybe we need a Shonda Couch.

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By JULIET WILLIAMS, Associated Press Writer Juliet Williams, Associated Press Writer – 40 mins ago SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A pro-family values California lawmaker who resigned after being caught on tape boasting about his sexual conquests denied Thursday that he had extramarital affairs, saying “my offense was engaging in inappropriate storytelling.” Mike Duvall stepped down Wednesday after a videotape surfaced in which he was overheard telling a lawmaker about having sex with a lobbyist and another woman, including salacious details about how one mistress wears skimpy underwear and likes to be spanked. The 54-year-old Republican is married with two adult children. Duvall said Thursday his “decision to resign is in no way an admission that I had an affair or affairs.”

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The lawmaker had received a 100 percent rating from Capitol Resource Institute, a conservative advocacy group, for his votes on legislation considered pro-family during the 2007-08 legislative session.

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Even Laura Bush supports Obama’s speech to schoolchildren

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Ok, Ronald Reagan spoke to America’s youth and he thought ketchup was a vegetable. 

Bush the First spoke to school kids and he never formed a complete sentence. 

The hysteria over Obama’s speech is for hysteria’s sake.  Even hard core Republicans are backing down from opposing it.  Laura Bush thinks it is a good idea.

What is his subversive message to brainwash our young people?

Take responsibility for your education. Go to class and listen. Don’t let failures define you.

Hey, if that is subversive and brainwashing, maybe some of our nations adults should hear that message.

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By ANN SANNER, Associated Press Writer Ann Sanner, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 3 mins ago WASHINGTON – Take responsibility for your education. Go to class and listen. Don’t let failures define you. That’s the advice President Barack Obama will give schoolchildren Tuesday in a speech that drew fire even before he delivered it. “We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems,” Obama said. “If you don’t do that — if you quit on school — you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.”

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Elul — A Deep Moment on Blogcation Day 3

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When I was in Hebrew School, we were taught a song that starts, in new age, non-gender-specific translation, “Oh G-d, my G-d, I pray that these things never end: the sand and the sea, the rush of the water, the crash of the heavens and the prayers of all.”

The song is, in essence, a prayer for humanity to pray, a prayer for the basic elements, a prayer for the majesty and healing of the world.

It is the beginning of  the month of Elul, which culminates in the Jewish Days of Awe, during which Jews repent and atone for sins.  This leads to introspection (one hopes) about the gulf between who we are and who we want to be.  That introspection is supposed to help one re-set one’s internal compass, toward righteousness and good.  The annual gut-check, and if you are really not so righteous, a sucker punch to the gut (or groin).

I am not religious.  Really.  But tradition is important because it ties me to those generations who came here and struggled so I could have advantages, opportunities and the life I lead.  I stand on their shoulders and my generation’s prosperity fueled their dreams and they stood tall with pride.  Tradition also ties me to the generations that will follow mine. From generation to generation.

My grandfather renounced religion (it was the original Kumbaya Age:  the Age of Socialism and communal living) and preached free love (he was ahead of his time  — free love idled until the 1960s) but got married and never missed religious ritual built around the family.  So Passover, Bar or Bat Mitzvahs were important, but non-family self-inflicted synagogue time?   Hmmmm.  Not so much. 

But whether or not one is a deist, taking the time to think about life and mistakes, and things to do better, can’t be bad.  The problem I have is that people can off-load responsibility on some sort of fatalistic rationalization based on the existence of G-d.  Judaism doesn’t really afford that off-loading option but lots of Jews don’t seem to acknowledge that.

With all these caveats, there is something mystical about starting the month leading into the Days of Awe enjoying and marveling at the sand and the sea, the rush of the water, and the crash of the heavens (a little too much crashing, if you ask me, but rarely does anyone ask me).  Maybe prayer isn’t so bad, as long as the responsibility to make the prayers come true rests with us singularly and as a human collective.

Maybe I believe in G-d, somehow, some way.  The only compelling argument I heard for the existence of G-d was from an orthodox Jew with a nihilist edge (and not an insignificant case of depression).  He said, “could everything be so screwed up by accident?”  Can’t argue with that.

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GOP: Congrats on your Pyrrhic Victory

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So, scare tactics work (see below article).  Great.  Thanks for that information. 

Pyrrhic victory, don’t you think?  No reform now — let’s leave the disaster to our children. 

Thanks, Glenn Beck, Dick Armey, GOP leaders. I hope your children and grandchildren remember that, at this critical juncture, you chose to support big business profits over better medical services and economic stability.

 

From Yahoo:

67 percent of respondents believe that wait times for health care services, such as surgery, will increase (91 percent of Republicans, 37 percent of Democrats, 72 percent of Independents).

About five out of 10 believe the federal government will become directly involved in making personal health care decisions (80 percent of Republicans, 25 percent of Democrats, 56 percent of Independents).

Roughly six out of 10 Americans believe taxpayers will be required to pay for abortions (78 percent of Republicans, 30 percent of Democrats, 58 percent of Independents)

46 percent believe reforms will result in health care coverage for all illegal immigrants (66 percent of Republicans, 29 percent of Democrats, 43 percent of Independents).

54 percent believe the public option will increase premiums for Americans with private health insurance (78 percent of Republicans, 28 percent of Democrats, 58 percent of Independents).

Five out of 10 think cuts will be made to Medicare in order to cover more Americans (66 percent of Republicans, 37 percent of Democrats, 44 percent of Independents).

There were exceptions.

Fewer participants believe “myths” regarding the impact of proposed changes on current health insurance coverage. For instance, less than 30 percent think private insurance coverage will be eliminated. And just 36 percent think a public insurance option will put private insurance companies out of business.

In addition, only three out of 10 respondents believe the government will require the elderly to make decisions about how and when they will die.

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Still bothering me

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Cheney says the statute of limitations has run on his secrets.

Does that mean that the statute of limitations has run on the classified “secrets” relating to renditions, the exposure of Valerie Plame, the panel of “oil executive environmentalists” who helped shape our energy policy, the behind the scenes deals giving Halliburton no-bid contracts and the lies and half-truths in the run up to war in Iraq?

If Cheney can tell secrets, then the secrets about him should be open for viewing.

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Whistle-blower: Health care industry engaging in PR tactics

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Health care companies, like all persons invested in maintaining the status quo, stoop to any thing to prevent change.  The whistleblowers deserve our gratitude and thanks. 

IT IS NOT ABOUT THE OUTCOME; IT IS ABOUT A FAIR AND OPEN DISCUSSION AND DECISION BY VOTE OF OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES.

Are there too few of us who believe in the ideals of the democratic system?

 

From CNN, Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Wendell Potter  . . . [t]he former vice president of corporate communications at insurance giant Cigna, who left his post, says the industry is playing “dirty tricks” in an effort to manipulate public opinion.

“Words matter, and the insurance industry is a master at linguistics and using the hot words, buzzwords, buzz expressions that they know will get people upset,” he told CNN Wednesday.

Now a senior fellow on health care for the watchdog group Center for Media and Democracy, Potter writes a blog on health care reform. He is focusing on efforts to defeat legislation supporting a government health care plan — something he supports.

In early July, Potter testified before the Senate Commerce Committee, telling senators that “I know from personal experience that members of Congress and the public have good reason to question the honesty and trustworthiness of the insurance industry.”

Potter described how underwriters at his former company would drive small businesses with expensive insurance claims to dump their Cigna policies. Industry executives refer to the practice as “purging,” Potter said.

“When that business comes up for renewal, the underwriters jack the rates up so much, the employer has no choice but to drop insurance,” Potter had said.

In an e-mail to CNN, Cigna spokesman Chris Curran denied the company engages in purging.

[go to CNN for more of the article]

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Did Glenn Beck really say it is all about reparations?

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We all knew that Glenn Beck is a fear-mongerer who has called Obama a racist. Now he says the whole basis for the health care reform is Obama’s desire to pay reparations for slavery.

Ok, there are so many things going on in that STUPID thought that we have to dissect it:

  1. Glenn Beck thinks only African-Americans will benefit from health care reform.
  2. Glenn Beck thinks health care reform that doesn’t benefit only Caucasians is not really reform.
  3. Glenn Beck thinks only true Americans are Caucasian (psst, Glenn, “whites” are not NATIVE Americans (remembered, our nation massacred them), and your family has probably been here only three or four generations).
  4. Glenn Beck thinks President Obama’s only attribute relevant to this debate is that he identifies as an African-American. 
  5. Glenn Beck thinks President Obama by virtue of this single attribute cannot govern for the betterment of the entire country.

GLENN BECK IS A DUMB ASS.

Glenn Beck, you are a sad, twisted guy.  I bet Bill O’Reilly is scared you have your eye on his time slot on Fox News. Which makes you even more evil — you are doing this for money and power and not because you believe it. 

But there is a place for everyone.  For you, Glenn, that place is 1930s Germany.

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SUUURPRISE !!!!!!!Rove involvement in US attorney firing detailed

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Yes, Virginia, the government DOES lie, cheat and steal.

I don’t even need to go on my usual rant — res ipsa loquitir.

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 35 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Former White House political adviser Karl Rove played a central role in the ouster of a U.S. attorney in New Mexico, one of nine prosecutors fired in a scandal in 2006 over political interference with the Justice Department, according to transcripts of closed-door testimony released Tuesday.

Harriet Miers, then White House counsel, said in testimony June 15 to House Judiciary Committee investigators that Rove was “very agitated” over U.S. Attorney David Iglesias “and wanted something done about it.”

The committee released more than 5,400 pages of White House and Republican National Committee e-mails, along with transcripts of closed-door testimony by Miers and Rove. Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said the documents reveal that White House political officials were deeply involved in the firing of Iglesias and the other U.S. attorneys.

The documents show that staffers in Rove’s office were actively seeking to have Iglesias removed after Republican figures in New Mexico complained that he was not pursuing voter fraud cases they wanted. In 2005, Rove aide Scott Jennings sent an e-mail to another Rove aide saying, “I would really like to move forward with getting rid of NM US ATTY.”

Miers testified that Rove relayed to her complaints about Iglesias from political figures in New Mexico but added that she could not recall whether Rove told her specifically that the prosecutor should be fired.

“My best recollection is that he was very agitated about the U.S. attorney in New Mexico,” Miers testified. “It was clear to me that he felt like he had a serious problem and that he wanted something done about it.”

Rove’s aides kept him apprised of complaints about Iglesias in other e-mails released Tuesday by the committee.

In a 2006 e-mail, Jennings told Rove that then Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., wanted Iglesias fired. “You are aware of the issues, I believe,” Jennings said in the e-mail to Rove.

Rove issued a statement Tuesday saying the documents “show politics played no role in the Bush administration‘s removal of U.S. attorneys, that I never sought to influence the conduct of any prosecution, and that I played no role in deciding which U.S. attorneys were retained and which were replaced.”

He added, “Rather than relying on partisans selectively quoting testimony or excerpting e-mail messages, I urge anyone interested to review the documents in their entirety.”

A subsequent Justice Department inquiry into the firing of Iglesias and other U.S. attorneys concluded that political considerations played a part in as many as four of the dismissals. A political uproar led to a series of damaging revelations about the Bush administration’s political meddling with the Justice Department and the eventual resignation of then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Iglesias said in an interview Tuesday he was nauseated by the whole affair.

“It’s exactly what I feared. Over two years ago, I said that all roads lead to Rove,” Iglesias said. “I’ve said consistently that he was highly involved, and now the evidence is there.”

Iglesias said there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue the voter fraud cases that Republicans wanted.

Conyers said he provided a copy of the documents to acting U.S. Attorney Nora Dannehy, who questioned Rove earlier this year to determine his precise role in politically tinged firings.

“After all the delay and despite all the obfuscation, lies, and spin, this basic truth can no longer be denied: Karl Rove and his cohorts at the Bush White House were the driving force behind several of these firings, which were done for improper reasons,” Conyers said.

Rove, who was interviewed by the committee on July 7 and again July 30, has told reporters in recent interviews that he acted simply as a conduit for other Republicans’ complaints about the job performance of specific U.S. attorneys.

Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said the documents show no evidence of wrongdoing. “Democrats need to stop wasting taxpayers’ time and money on political investigations that are nothing more than the politics of personal destruction,” Smith said.

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Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.

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Economic proverb: Your home is not an investment property

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Your home is where you live your life, raise your kids and where you can close out the world.

It can have a market value of $0 or $7million but it doesn’t matter.

It is your home and its value is that your kids or loved ones will inherit it (and make some money).

People who bought them as investment properties have lost them and some are homeless.  If you want to be a house as an investment property, then buy a second home but you have to afford it like you do other investments, you use what you have and you don’t borrow.

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Protected Speech or Tyranny?

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There are groups of “protesters” at town hall meetings to discuss health care reform.  These protesters are paid by organizations that wish to defeat health care reform and shout lies and half-truths intending that those who hear these sounds bites or see the “groundswell of opposition” will be swayed. 

These are not grass roots organizations but a roving pack of operatives paid to invade local areas to cast doubt and sow seeds of fear.  This is not democracy as some in the GOP claim.  This is tyranny by big corporations and those politicians supported by big corporations.  This is paid-for speech.

What is astounding to me is that the news organizations are staying away from the story.  This is reminiscent of the passivity of the press in the run up to the Iraq War.  Maybe those in the news corps are too busy digging deeper into Michael Jackson drug dependencies.  Ah, journalism at its best.

I’ll wait until 11pm to get my news from ComedyCentral.  G-d bless you, Jon Stewart.  And you, too, Rachel Maddow (although I am usually putting my son to bed or eating dinner when your show is on).

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