Well, once again I had to take a little break. It's been BUSY lately! But I had to take a moment to comment on the bright and shiny healthcare reform bill that's going to land on Obama's desk Monday morning to be signed into law. And with that, here we go...

3/29/2010:   Ladies, just dump them. Elin, don't go to the Masters'. Sandra, move on. There are men out there that wouldn't cheat on you no matter what kind of woman throws herself at your marriage. You're good women, and you deserve better. Nuff said.

3/29/2010:   Hutaree, a self-described Christian militia, plotted to kill a law enforcement officer and then attack other policemen at the subsequent funeral. Nine members have been arrested and charged with sedition and other crimes.

What bothers me is that someone can mix Christian principles with murdering no less than law enforcement officers. They've gotten themselves worked up into a lather over the book of Revelations in the Bible, convincing potential members that they must prepare for the eventual arrival of the Anti-Christ. By some twisted logic, murdering cops is a key component of this preparation.

Can you see why I'm anti-religion? Because whackjobs with a desparate need for power subvert religion and use other people's ignorance and fear to control them, typically to do really horrible things. And getting caught, tried, and sentenced to the maximum penalty allowed is a sort of societal evolution at work. But that evolutionary force doesn't cause the extinction of religion.

And here's the part that will have you shaking your head: I wouldn't mind going to church to be a part of a group interesting in doing good things for society. Really. I wouldn't have a problem with that, just so long as they church I joined wouldn't have a problem with me calling bullshit on anyone saying that homosexuality is evil, or that Barack Obama is a foreign-born Muslim, or that godless liberals are destroying this country, or that the United States was founded on Christianity, or that the world is going to end soon, etc. As long as they don't mind having an out-spoken critical thinker in their midst, I'd be happy to join. Problem is, I haven't found anyone that fits that bill yet. Oh, and I don't want to be worked for money or time. I have a problem with people trying to work me for donations or to volunteer for some activity. My life is full and my bank account isn't. Nuff said there.

3/28/2010:   Do you realize that, not only is the GOP adrift on what the American people truly want from their government, they have a plan to dismantle America as we know it. They have a plan to phase out Medicare, Welfare, Social Security, and every other type of social program created since FDR and Johnson.

No kidding. No, I'm serious, really.

But it gets better. They want to repeal the healthcare reform bill. No lie. Foaming-at-the-mouth whackjob Michele Bachman began collecting signatures to force the consideration of a bill titled (I am not making this up), "A Bill To repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act."

I know! What kind of evil creature do you have to be to pen that line? And it's not just the title that's horrifying, it's the intent. The GOP is fired up to repeal the following:

Because, you know, who would want that stuff, right? Why does the GOP hate the American people?

These guys want to steam roll over the will of the American people. They aren't going to cut the taxes of the middle class though. Oh no. When all those programs are gone, they'll cut the taxes of the rich to zero and use the middle class taxes to build a military that they think they can use to nation build. Or more accurately, to take over nations, rip out their governments, and install puppet democracies. PNAC didn't just go away because the GOP lost the last presidential election. The seeds PNAC planted are just beginning to bear fruit in the form of extremist politics and accompanying propaganda machines.

Scary stuff, people...

3/28/2010:   Louie Gohmert is an enemy of democracy.

I say that in all seriousness and sincerity, and when you read what he said on the floor of Congress, you'll be saying it too.

"The 17th Amendment took out the last check and balance on usurpation of states' rights. It's time to get the balance back in place. We have 39 states up wanting to do something and not have another unfunded federal mandate coming down their throats -- this'll do it! Let's get an amendment that gets the balance back into the country and the Constitution before before this Congress destroys what's left."

The "this" he's referring to is a measure to repeal the 17th Amendment. That would be the amendment that says you, the people, get to elect two senators from your state to represent you. Instead, the state legislatures would appoint senators to go to the federal legislature.

Apparently, Mr. Gohmert thinks "states' rights" refers to some kind of rights that states should have over and above the rights of their citizens. The only states' rights most of us (well, all of use really) learn about is the states' rights over and above federal authority. But Mr. Gohmert feels states' rights have been thrown completely out of whack by allowing the PEOPLE TO ELECT THEIR SENATORS. And *that's* why the healthcare bill passed, because the senators elected by the people passed it! Oh the horror, the injustice! What the hell were the founding fathers doing allowing the PEOPLE to elect senators to represent them? OMG!!!

What a fuh-REAK! Or more to the point, what an enemy of democracy.

3/26/2010:   Yesterday Lindsey Graham invoked the image of the holocaust to justify calling for a pre-emptive attack on Iran.

Is that the only song and dance he knows? Fear, pre-emptive and baseless war to restore the warm, fuzzy feeling of killing innocent civilians in another country before they have a chance to look at you wrong? We are HUGE and INCREDIBLY POWERFUL next to this tiny little middle eastern nation. This is another Iraq War that Graham is proposing. The only difference is, it's quite possible that Iran might one day build a nuke. But if they built a hundred nukes, it wouldn't matter. We have THOUSANDS of them, advanced systems for delivering them, and the best intercept technology in the world. Exactly what threat does a nation pose if they can't even get the nuclear missile out of their own airspace, and the minute they launch they're looking at total annihilation? I mean honestly, what the hell?

Lindsey Graham must be fearful of losing his congressional seat to pull this old saw out. What a dork.

3/26/2010:  

"It will be his Waterloo... It will break him."

"It's a 40/60 shot. 40% that they pass it, 60% that they don't."

"They are keenly aware of the fact that comprehensive health care reform is not going to get passed."

"They will have destroyed their party much as Lyndon Johnson shattered the Democratic Party for 40 years."

Somehow the GOP forgot that their job was to take care of their constituents. Instead, they decided that their job was to get, keep, and abuse power. That's it, just that. These gentlemen and their party are completely focused on power. And in order to do that they had to defeat the president at every single turn while attempting to turn every legislative effort in a direction that benefitted their corporate sponsors.

Had they defined their jobs as doing what's best for their constituents rather than corporations, they would have started off by agreeing that healthcare reform was necessary, and then negotiating the terms in good faith rather than attempting to dictate the terms from a weak position. Democrats tried again and again to bring the Republicans into a positive debate but were stymied. As a result, it's quite possible that some Democrat ideas that might not have proven to be best-of-breed have become law, and torpedo amendments that the Republicans managed to get into the bill for the sole purpose of poisoning it survived as well. The end result is far less than what the middle class and poor need, and implements questionable measures that could hurt more than help.

Is it a good first step? Yes, I believe it is, and I think the American people will come to view it the same way. And now that Congress has settled into the mode of fixing the law they just passed, it might be able to bang out the dings that the Republicans put it in. What they won't be able to do is create the single payer or the public option, and that's what America really needs to join other First World nations in significant socialized healthcare.

And as the frenzy stirred up by the GOP and Fox settles, as people from both sides put down their signs, and as some of them start to feel a little embarrassed about how they acted and start to really question what happened, the GOP is going to looked upon poorly. Republicans have painted themselves into a corner. Like "Lord of the Flies", once the trance is broken, once the adults show up and the kids realize the magnitude of what went before, I believe it will dawn on people that the GOP and Fox were just plain wrong, knew it, and yet were driven by lust for power to convince the American people to act against their own interests. They propogandized, they lied, and they scammed at an auction-barker's pace, but now that the screaming is over, the shouting down of debates, the constantly reinforced flow of mischaracterizations and lies have stopped, some people -- not all, but some -- will realize that they were duped. And maybe next time they won't be so quick to believe.

3/26/2010:   The GOP is stomping its tiny little feet in exasperation.

John McCain: "There will be no cooperation for the rest of the year. They have poisoned the well in what they've done and how they've done it."

I'm sorry, but did you just imply that, up 'til now, you've been a cup overflowing with cooperation and positive outlook? Really?

Lindsay Graham: Legislation is "dead" for the remainder of this year.

And that's different from this past year in what way?

The Republican Party is whining about how it's going to take its ball and go home. McCain and Boehner and Cantor, et al, don't want to play anymore because it's no fun losing all the time at "Shutdown the Government." They probably should have noted during Gingrich's time in office that, when playing that game, whoever it is that's the "shutdowner" always loses. Always. But no, they decided to give it a go, and now they're all butt-hurt about losing. Well, boo hoo.

Whatever...

These guys have really got to grow up...

3/23/2010:   The off-market Viagra scarfing windbag that is Rush Limbaugh said just last week that if the healthcare reform bill passed, he was going to move to Costa Rica. No kidding! He said that if the bill passes -- and it did -- and it's five years from now and all the things in the bill get implemented, he's going to move to Costa Rica.

Which has nationalized healthcare. And is ranked one position higher on the World Health Organization's list of healthcare systems than the U.S. (#36 to our #37).

So if you'd like to volunteer to get Rushie packed and purchase him a plane ticket, please let me know. I've already called his station to offer my services to help him get his furniture and whatnot into a cargo container. Still waiting for that call back...

3/21/2010:   The last time I updated my views page, I wrote out of anger about how the Democrats were a bunch of spineless dolts. I also said that the healthcare reform bill should be thrown out and the original House bill should have been passed using reconciliation.

I stand by that position. Unfortunately, not even my local congressman, McNerney, seems to be listening to what the majority of the Democrats and independents have been saying. So now we have a bill that is a mere shadow of what it used to be. The president has had to give so much political ground that I'm not sure the victory was worth it. The Democrats were chanting, "Yes we can!" on the House floor after the vote, but "can" what? Can let the GOP screw any legislation right into the ground? Can be spineless when spine really counts? Can vote to pass a bill that is practically a joke compared to what the people of this nation said they wanted? Can let the GOP fire up the fringe element and scare us into submission?

My list for what the healthcare bill had to contain to be considered complete included:

The most important of those was the public option. And that's gone. The abortion coverage is gone not just in the bill but by executive order in order to placate the blue dog Demofakes.

I'm sorry, but this isn't a victory. The GOP did as much damage as they could and then backed as far away from it as possible. Because when it turns out to be too little of what this country needs and people start to grumble, the GOP will be able to point to a bill they have as much responsibility for as anyway and say, "I TOLD YOU SO!"

Update 3/22/10:

Kevin Pho, MD: "Although it's worth celebrating that the United States is close to joining the rest of the industrialized world in providing near-universal health coverage, the health reform conversation must continue..."

Vance Harris, MD: "The votes have been counted but, in reality, there is no clear winner. What is clear -- our health care system is terminally ill. Bold leadership is needed to redirect precious resources. Unfortunately bold leadership is just as scarce as precious resources."

There are people on both sides of the final result; those that feel we've done little more than stir things up and saddle ourselves with huge bills, and those that think it's a great first step, but a first step only. I feel that second quote echoes my feelings the closest. We needed bold leadership. We need for the original House bill to pass unmodified through the Senate using reconciliation, but Harry Reid couldn't be pressed to do the right thing. He wimped out. And the rest of the Democratic Party allowed it to happen.

Well, now that we have this stinker, we need to immediately turn around and start rebuilding political currency so that we can survive the 2010 elections with a majority still in place. Then we can start looking to patch up the horrible mess that the GOP made of the bill.

Americans want the public option, including the Americans in John Boehner's district.

You've seen the foaming-at-the-mouth racist teabaggers at on the news. But have you ever wonder what the more moderate teabaggers are like?

Those folks were nutjobs, but they weren't *nearly* as entertaining as the folks that showed up in Washington.

And then you've got state governments turning against their citizens.

A few more reasons to not trust Fox News:

3/22/2010:   The following Democrats could not be convinced to do the right thing where healthcare reform was concerned. As such, they must be replaced:

These elected officials are either ignorant or they've sold their souls to the Republican Party. Either way, it's time that the Democrats built a party that could be relied upon to do the right thing. These people need to be replaced at the next election.

3/21/2010:   Jesse James cheated on Sandra Bullock. What an ass.

I honestly don't get it. She does "heart broken" so well in the movies. Forget the skank-a-saurus diseases he's flirted with catching, the lawsuits, the way his children will see him as they grow up, and the fallout from his fans (who are the source of his income). Forget all that. Would you EVER want Sandra Bullock to give you her heart-broken look? Ever? If that doesn't make you want to be good, nothing wil. There's a special hell for guys that break Sandra Bullock's heart, and it's the hell of remembering that face for the rest of your life.

And he deserves every second he spends there.

3/21/2010:   Not much apparently. Scott Brown voted for the healthcare reform bill. Turns out Massachusetts put someone in office that represents their interests. Well, until Boehner and Cantor get their talons into him...

Full transcript of the bill, "debate", and vote can be found at: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?position=all&page=H5733&dbname=2008_record. You'll need to flip to about page 11 using the irritating little links at the bottom because apparently no one has notified Congress that PDFs can be more than one page long...