Bottom Left Politics

Your daily dose of politics, with a progressive twist.

What do Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy have in common?

Don’t ask the Warren (Pennsylvania) Times-Observer.

Remember waaaaay back, during the campaign, when “liberal elitist” Barack HUSSEIN Obama addressed the wealthy aristocracy in San Francisco and referred to western Pennsylvania as (paraphrasing here) a place of racism, the residents of which cling to guns and religion?  Remember that?  Remember the outrage?  Remember the redneck dolts of western Pennsylvania jumping around and screaming and hollering:  “We’re not racists!  Goddamnit, we’re God-fearing believers in the Second Amendment, that’s what we are, now vote right and vote white!”  Remember that?  I do.  I seem to remember then-Senator Obama getting a lot of shit for speaking the truth about this underdeveloped cess pool that is the western part of Pennsylvania.  I seem to remember the McCain campaign using those comments to further stir up the anti-Obama sentiment in Pennsylvania in an attempt to turn the state red.  Everybody was shocked, appalled, and disgusted that a Presidential candidate could be so MEAN and so ELITIST and so CONDESCENDING as to suggest that Pennsylvania was any more racist and Christofascist than the rest of the country!  HOW DARE HE!!!

And to think, we almost bought it.  Then the imbeciles at the Warren Times-Observer in the northwestern part of the state (where I live, I’m ashamed to say) took their right-wing, fanatical rhetoric to the next level.  In the May 28 edition of the newspaper, a personal ad was printed that read as follows:  “May Obama follow in the footsteps of Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, & Kennedy!”  That’s it.  An anonymous (but certainly not free) ad blatantly calling for the assassination of President Obama.  What was that about…racism, guns, and God?  HUH?  RACISTS!?  NO!

Actually, I called the Warren Times-Observer when I saw this ad.  As soon as I brought it up, I got an obviously-rehearsed response that explained the reason for the ad.  It’s very simple, really.  See, the person who took the ad didn’t understand that Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy were all Presidents who were assassinated.  As the newpaper put it to me, the connection was not made in the mind of the redneck dimwit taking money for the ad.  Furthermore, the organizational hierarchy (surely such a thing exists, even in a rinky-dink newspaper like the Warren Times-Observer) didn’t catch it before it went to press.  See?  It’s all explained.  And the newspaper even took the step of contacting the authorities!

Not really wanting to take their word for it, I contacted the Warren Police Department.  I was told to take the matter up with the editor of the newspaper.

Wait a second…what was that about racism, guns, and religion?  Is there now any person on this planet who doubts the depth of ignorance present in western Pennsylvania?  Is there any skepticism?  Any iota of questioning in anybody’s mind?  Is there any person who actually believes that the Warren Times-Observer didn’t know what Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy had in common?  It’s pretty clear in my mind that some smartass, bigoted, conservative wingnut knew exactly what he or she was doing when he or she took the money for that ad.  But pay no mind, says the Warren Times-Observer.  The matter has been handled.  And, please, for the love of God, don’t think that this is newspaper policy!

Welcome to my life.  This is western Pennsylvania.

May 28, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | Barack Obama, Media/Journalism | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Happy (?) Memorial Day

There’s no shortage of “Happy Memorial Day” salutations around this date every year, despite the reality that Memorial Day – at least, properly observed – leaves almost nothing to be happy about, nothing to celebrate.  Indeed, it has been passed down to us from previous generations as a day of respect;  it’s a day on which one is supposed to walk up to a veteran and give him (or her, but mostly him) a big ol’ “Thank You” for the service provided to this country.  And I support this.  Even being the pacifist that I am, I genuinely appreciate the dedication of our men and women in uniform – past, present, and certainly future.  Like other patriotic Americans, I support our troops, misguided by the treasonous Bush Administration (and now Obama Administration) as they may be, and I mourn the deaths of our service members.  Who wouldn’t?  So, yes, strange and awkward as it may seem, Happy Memorial Day.  Without coming across as jingoistic, go out and thank a veteran or honor a fallen soldier, because that’s what you’re supposed to do on Memorial Day, especially if you have veterans and/or fallen soldiers from within your family.

But let’s not lose sight on this 2009 Memorial Day of the real victims of war.  The real victims are the innocent civilian men, women and especially children who, from Vietnam to Afghanistan to Iraq and back to Afghanistan, have been bombed, slaughtered, dismembered, disfigured, and even tortured.  It’s easy to wave a miniature flag and shed a tear over a fallen soldier – and you should, because that soldier himself (or herself) was a victim of the imperialistic machine that is the United States and its “Washington Consensus”-minded administrations.  But what about the young boy or girl who is blown to bits when our supposedly sophisticated weaponry hits his or her house, flattening everyone in sight?  What about the truly innocent civilians who are caught in a war of religion and power, Christianity versus Islam, the West versus everybody else, and butchered at the hands of what, really, is nothing more than a product of the sadistic engine that is capitalism?  Are these not victims, fallen “heroes,” if you will, too?  Do they not count?  As we mourn for our dead, should we not give them a second thought?

How can we honestly observe Memorial Day if we don’t give a rat’s ass about the dead civilians, or, furthermore, those who suffered – like the now-famous taxi driver – under U.S. torture?  As our newly-elected President refuses to live up to his promises of transparency by releasing detainee abuse photos, starts up the Bush-era “military commissions” system again, supports indefinite detention, and is blocked by his fellow Democrats from closing Gitmo because of an irrational fear of terrorists stirring up trouble in this country if they’re left to our conventional penal system…as all of this is happening around us, how can we say that we’re observing Memorial Day?  Our veterans fought the Nazis for THIS?  For conservatives and “liberals” (AKA “Obamabots”) alike to stamp their muddy feet upon our flag and upon our professed principles and upon our Declaration of Independence and Constitution?  For one President to set up a semi-fascist police state and then the next President to continue down the same path at a slower speed?  For MORE innocent civilians – men, women, and (for God’s sake) CHILDREN – to die in Afghanistan because of our unnecessary, unjustified military escalation?

Yes, “Happy Memorial Day” indeed.  Thank a veteran.  Better yet, apologize to a veteran if you’ve ever voted for a Republican or a Democrat.

May 25, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | CIA/Torture/Terrorism, Iraq/Afghanistan | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Yeah…About Gitmo…

It’s interesting that, now that Obama is in office rather than Bush, the Democrats in Congress are NOW deciding to play hardball, to give the White House a tough time.  Years and years of unnecessary war – both in Afghanistan AND in Iraq – waged by the Bush Administration, and did Congress have the collective spine to stop funding the killing of innocent civilians and the destabilization of countries?  It seems to me that the Bush Administration just received a blank check to do whatever it wanted to do, plunder whomever it wanted to plunder, and say whatever it wanted to say.  More and more money was pumped – under the guise of patriotism – into the war effort, and Bush and his neoconservative cronies never had to worry for a second that Congress might actually grow a backbone and do anything about it.

But now…NOW it’s time to be hawkish.  The Obama Administration requested $80 million to close down Gitmo – you know, that stain upon our flag, our history (muddied in atrocities as it may be), and our Constitution down there in Cuba, where THE WORST OF THE WORST were held without legal rights, without charges, without a trial.  That Gitmo.  $80 million.  That’s a fraction of what Congress approved for the wealthy banking elite.  But, see, this is something good that’s going on;  this is something that is simply, out of principle, RIGHT.  So, naturally, Congressional Democrats (and, of course, Republicans, but that goes without saying) denied the request and demanded that President Obama submit a plan as to how he plans to close Gitmo (specifically, what he wants to do with the detainees).  WHAT?  Obama has to submit a PLAN?  I seem to remember a certain war in a certain non-threatening country that toppled a certain leader who had nothing to do with 9/11 and posed absolutely no threat to the United States…I seem to remember this war being funded by our Congress with almost nothing in regard to a “plan.”  No exit strategy, not even a basic understanding of the culture or what the war was going to entail.  But THIS…this is DIFFERENT!  Obama’s about to close GITMO, where all the EVIL TERRORISTS live!  AAAGGGHHH!!!  QUICK!  LET’S DENY THE FUNDING!

But why?  Why would Congress reject a request for $80 million to close a torture-ridden cess pool that has done so much to damage our country and its institutions?  Well, it’s simple…Congress is afraid that the terrorists (or, I should say, to be more accurate…terror SUSPECTS) will be living in their backyards, stealing vegetables out of their gardens, sneaking into their houses and watching Pay-Per-View.  Who knows what could happen?  Or maybe…maybe…OH MY GOD, maybe they could receive a FAIR TRIAL!  AAAGGGHHH!!!  We can’t let this happen!  We can’t let the terror suspects into the country!  (nevermind the reality that many of the detainees at Gitmo aren’t even terrorists)  QUICK!  DENY THE FUNDING!  Let’s show this Constitution-conscious President who’s in charge here in the United States Congress.

Astonishing.  And we’re supposed to be a nation of laws, an example of justice to the world.  We won’t let terror suspects into the United States to stand, knowledgeable of their charges, able to defend themselves, in a fair trial guaranteed by the spirit of our Constitution…and we’ll deny the funding of the closure of a ghastly, abhorrent mar upon our nation’s values because of that refusal to live up to our professed principle.  Simply astonishing.  God, Democrats disgust me.

May 20, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | CIA/Torture/Terrorism | , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pennsylvania’s Prop 8

Just as New York is making serious steps (cautious as they may be) at progressing socially and enacting marriage equality, my own state of Pennsylvania is moving…in the opposite direction.

Today, Pennsylvania state senator John Eichelberger, apparently not satisfied with the state law already in existence, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, plans to announce his plan to introduce a bill to enshrine the gay marriage ban in the state constitution.  Gotta protect the State of Independence (irony abounds) from ACTIVIST JUDGES bent on ripping up the traditional definition of marriage and overturning the state law to let QUEERS get married, or at least based on Eichelberger’s assessment.  See, it’s not enough to discriminate against gays and lesbians in statute.  No, no.  We need to be safe, because, any day, a crazy, left-wing court (probably from those liberal moonbats in PHILADELPHIA who want to force their liberal ideas on the rest of this God-fearing, queer-hating state) could overturn that law and let thousands of sodomites launch an assault on THE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE.  Isn’t that right, Eichelberger?  We have to be safe, now.  We have to take it to the next step.  Let’s amend the constitution.  We may be a blue state, but goddamnit, we ain’t no queer-lovers…let’s go, boys!  Let’s take this to Harrisburg!

For God’s sake.  You know, Pennsylvania really is a beautiful state, but it would be a lot better if these crazed lunatics would move to Texas and secede with Rick Perry and his handful of right-wing followers.  This proposed constitutional amendment has failed before in the state legislature, but here it comes again, courtesy of a homophobic Republican senator with nothing better to worry about than how to prevent gays and lesbians from legally expressing their love for one another.  Make no mistake – if the legislature approves this anti-gay measure, it WILL most likely succeed at the ballot.  We saw what happened in California with Prop 8, and something along those lines is almost sure to happen here in Pennsylvania, where only forty-two percent of the population support same-sex marriage.  And you can be goddamned sure that the “Christian” freaks from hell are going to be lining up behind this bill and mobilizing to push it forward.  Michael Geer of the Pennsylvania Family Institute is already on the march, emphasizing the anti-gay desire for a ballot measure…because ballot measures seem to work, as people – especially in centrist states like Pennsylvania – seem to vote overwhelmingly against gay marriage.  Same plan, different state.

If there are genuine progressives in Pennsylvania, now is the time for their voices to be heard.  I think I hear an echo, though…

May 19, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | LGBT Issues | , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Marriage Equality in the Empire State?

Maybe.  Maybe not.

Truth is, nobody really knows.  Then again, nobody really knew how some of the New England states would turn out, just as nobody could have truly guessed that a heartland midwestern state like Iowa would be among the first to legalize same-sex marriage.  There is a lot of doubt and uncertainty, just as there is in any state that is battling for marriage equality.  While the New York assembly passed a bill to legalize gay marriage overwhelmingly with a vote of 89-52, the senate is where it could face some serious obstacles;  in 2007, the assembly also passed the bill (with a slightly smaller margin, indicating a progressive evolution over the past couple of years), but it never made it out of the senate.  Will it face a different fate this time?

We can hope.  The reality is that Democrats control the senate 32-30, but, astonishingly, some Democrats have pledged their opposition to the passage of the bill.  Among them is a Pentecostal minister who rallied in Manhattan against marriage equality with the New York Hispanic Clergy Organization at the same time as members of the LGBT community were rallying in support of the bill.  Yet, on the flip side, some Republicans have pledged their support for gay marriage legalization.  As it currently stands, about twenty-five votes can be counted on with certainty, which is not enough for Senate Majority Leader Malcomb Smith to bring it up for a vote in the senate (he has said that he wants to be assured of its passage before bringing it up).

Smith is making an enormous mistake by refusing to bring the marriage equality bill up for a vote even though it lacks rhetorical support.  This is what the wishy-washy, in-the-middle, centrist Democrats – and even some Republicans – want.  Why?  So they don’t have to go on the record as supporting LGBT rights, even though they know full well that they’ll probably vote for the bill if the time comes.  They can shoot off their mouths about opposing the redefinition of marriage and other heterosexist, bigoted humbug all they want, but, when the time comes, they don’t have the inherent hatred within themselves to actually vote against gay marriage.  Most Republicans do, and perhaps a few Democrats do, but (and this is nothing but speculation, since, again, nobody knows how this thing will actually turn out) the bill probably has a fairly decent chance of passing if it is allowed to be voted upon.  The senators who are leary of anything relating to gay rights don’t want this to happen – they want Malcomb Smith to prevent the bill from making it to a vote, because then they’d have to wrestle with a moral quandary (and eventually give in to the sweeping LGBT rights movement).  As long as he holds out for the assurance of passage, which he almost certainly won’t get, marriage equality doesn’t stand much of a chance in New York.

The Empire State has a governor who will sign the bill, a senate that – under pressure – will probably pass the bill, and thousands of gay and lesbian citizens who want to get married and be recognized by the state as couples.  The timing may not be perfect (it may not be for another generation), but it’s right, and it’s time to take a chance on marriage equality.  Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, and Iowa have all proven that it’s not impossible.

May 18, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | LGBT Issues | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

MORE Microwaved Bush Leftovers

Holy shit.  What a headline to wake up and read on the CNN website:  “Obama to resurrect military commissions for terror suspects.”  Say what?  What’s that, Mr. President?  You mean those things you suspended in your first week of office because they’re, um, unconstitutional?  Those little fake trials set up to ensure a conviction at the expense of due process and a fair trial, basic principles upon which this nation was founded?  THOSE “military commissions”?  Huh?

Well, I guess it was a natural step, since the last microwaved Bush leftovers Obama handed us was his blatant refusal to cooperate in a court order to release detainee abuse photos.  Why stop there?  Let’s start the unconstitutional, unconscionable military commission system back up again to “try” terror suspects.  Hey, while we’re at it, why don’t we just keep Gitmo open and…oh, I don’t know…lift the ban on torture?  That seems like the next logical step.  I mean, as long as we’re going back on our word and ignoring our principle, what’s stopping us?

Oh, but wait!  In an effort to quell liberal dissent (say…wasn’t Obama the most liberal Senator in 2007?), the Obama Administration has made clear that this is not the same system that existed under the Bush Administration, a system that (the Obama Administration has also made perfectly clear) Obama opposed as a Senator.  No, no, no.  This military commission system has expanded the whole “due process” thing, making these tribunals much more like fair trials (of course, that begs the question…why don’t we just use…um…fair trials?).  So stuff your constitutional concerns in a sack, you ACLU liberals, the President is apparently saying.  Trust the White House on this.  It’s constitutional.  Remember? – Obama’s a constitutional scholar.

Change we can believe in…hope…hope and change…change…change we can believe in.  Maybe if we chant it enough, the nasty Bush remnants will disappear.  Hope…hope and change…

May 15, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | Barack Obama, CIA/Torture/Terrorism | , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Microwaved Bush Leftovers

Well, it finally happened.  After weeks of Darth Cheney and his minions (AKA his daughter) making their case for torture to right-wing talk radio, mainstream television, and, well, anybody else who would listen, President Obama has finally buckled under the pressure, granting legitimacy to Cheney and his neoconservative school of thought.  In a shocking, revolting about-face on transparency, Obama has declared that he will, indeed, stand in the way of a court order to release a myriad of detainee abuse photos – photos that are probably so egregious, so heinous, that they would likely make the Abu Ghraib photos seem scrapbook-worthy.  Photo after photo after photo, detailing the torture-ridden atrocities committed at the hands of the United States, and each and every one of them are going to be locked up, if the White House has its way.  We can’t endanger our military or our country’s standing in the world, the President explains.  The photos would inflame our situation in the Middle East, an argument stemming from the common right-wing belief that the release of detainee abuse photos would cause deaths of Americans.  We need to move on, the President keeps saying, but we’ll just have to move on without seeing these photos.

Well, there’s a problem with that.  Several, actually, the most obvious of which is that our nation’s standing in the world cannot be any more damaged than it already is.  The world knows.  We Americans know.  Everybody knows, deep down, what has been going on and what has been done to the detainees of the United States.  And thousands of Americans are okay with it, according to polls, because they’re either (a) stupid or (b) still under the Bush-Cheney spell of 9/11 fear.  Think back to Abu Ghraib;  outrage would have been non-existent had those photos not been released, because it’s one thing to read about the shit our military does, but it’s another thing altogether to see it with one’s own two eyes.  So many Americans think that torture is acceptable because they don’t understand torture – they understand the definition of the word, perhaps, but they don’t truly grasp the concept, and they won’t, until those photos are released to the American people and to the world.  The President doesn’t want to damage America, but he’s doing a pretty damned good job at it by reverting to a Bush stance on transparency and hiding what the previous administration did from the entire world.  Does that make us look better, Mr. President?

I, like so many others, want to put this torture shit behind us;  it’s repulsive to think about, morose to talk about.  I want to move on with the business of pursuing a progressive domestic agenda for the United States.  But we can’t do that until we face up to what the Bush Administration did – which includes complying with the court order and releasing the detainee abuse photos – investigate and prosecute those responsible, and imprint the horrors of torture upon the collective mind of an entire generation of Americans.  Until we do that, until we salvage the text and spirit of the Constitution, which has been reduced to little more than toilet paper over the past eight years, we’ll never be able to move on.  Worse still, we’ll be empowering future Presidents, Vice Presidents, and Defense Secretaries with the ability to torture – and maybe more – and get away with it.  Do we want that?  Is that better for America, Mr. President?

I voted for Barack Obama partly because I believed in his dedication to the United States Constitution.  So don’t give me microwaved Bush leftovers.

May 14, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | Barack Obama, CIA/Torture/Terrorism | , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Memo to The Donald…

…Screw you.

Yes, after much thought and consideration, and after much review of the semi-nude photographs in question, Donald Trump – whose massive accumulation of cash is only surpassed by how big an asshole he proves himself to be, day in and day out, every day of his existence – has declared that Miss California, Carrie Prejean, will remain Miss California.  And the paparazzi applauded, The Donald smiled, and Miss Prejean’s fake breast popped out (just kidding about that part…but it could, since she apparently has more job security than a tenured professor).  The battles are over, and Miss Prejean has won the war, affirming that homophobia is okay as long as you have a cute smile and a persecution complex.

There are a few problems with this scenario, the first and most prominent of which is that Miss Prejean genuinely deserves to be fired.  This is not just the passionate opinion of a gay blogger – this is fact, this is reality.  As Keith Olbermann pointed out last night in his new “WTF” segment, freedom of speech is not the issue here;  for the record, I believe that a person is entitled to whatever half-assed, hateful, bullshit view that he or she wants to take.  This is America.  Unfortunately for Miss Prejean (or…not so much, thanks to the warmth of The Donald’s heart), she was really nothing more than a corporate employee.  By allowing Carrie Prejean to keep her crown, Miss USA Inc. (and Donald Trump himself) has essentially patted this homophobe on the back and confirmed her hateful views.  Then, of course, there’s the issue of Miss Prejean joining the efforts of a political action committee – the National Organization for Marriage – and using her platform as Miss California (as well as her failure at attaining the Miss USA crown) to further the anti-gay agenda of right-wing Christian fanatics.  And have I mentioned the semi-nude photos yet, which are in clear violation of Prejean’s contract (windy day or not)?

Does any of this matter?  Of course not.  Not in Donald Trump’s eyes, not in Miss USA Inc.’s eyes, and certainly not in Miss Prejean’s eyes.  Because this is not about the thousands of gay Americans who were hurt by Carrie Prejean’s hateful statement – a statement allegedly inspired and espoused by a homophobic God – nor is it about contractual obligations to a supposedly legitimate company run by the great Donald Trump.  This is about a poor Christian girl from Southern California – the granddaughter of a man who fought in the Battle of the Bulge to secure her right to spew hate at the LGBT community – who has been persecuted by gay bloggers, the liberal media, and, indeed, Satan himself.  This is about nothing more than a constitutional right to hate gays and an ongoing battle between God and Satan for the mind of Carrie Prejean.

So, in honor of my free speech rights, I want to make this perfectly clear.  Screw you, Donald Trump, and screw your irrelevant beauty pageant full of half-witted, wannabe porn stars.  And keep Carrie Prejean, because the society outside of your stupid Miss USA Inc. doesn’t want her.

May 13, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | LGBT Issues, Religious Right | , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

On Health Care Reform…and Unicorns, Too

What a great way to begin the week, huh!?  Just when everybody was all doom and gloom, BAM, “the industry” – you know, the insurers, the hospital execs, the Emperors and Darth Vaders of our capitalistic health care system – have signed on to health care reform!  They’re on the boat!  They’re onboard!  Not to mix up my metaphors, but Obama shouted, “All aboard the reform train,” and the industry as a whole (represented by America’s Health Insurance Plans, or AHIP) jumped on the caboose!  What a great day for America, what a day of celebration!  Obama has called it “a watershed event,” and the progressives of America are jumping up and down, drinking, and being merry.  Paul Krugman called the announcement of AHIP’s joining the Obama Administration and SEIU at the proverbial table “some of the best policy news” that has been divulged in quite some time.

And then a rinky-dink, no-life blogger has to come along and pour water over the whole goddamned parade.  The blogger’s name?  Me.

I really hate to spoil the fun and games and laughter and merriment – I really, truly do – but this is not a groundbreaking development in the health care reform quest.  This is not a fork in the road or a turning point or any other stupid, cliched phrase you want to apply to the situation.  In fact, this was as predictable, as sure-fire as an uninsured patient’s mammoth hospital bill for the crime of being sick.  Here’s what happened, in case you didn’t catch it.  For years, the health insurance industry has been taking huge cookies – one right after the other, sometimes two or three at a time – out of America’s cookie jar, at the expense of our sick and helpless.  And this was okay, because movement conservatism had captured the collective heart and mind of America, and everybody (especially the lobbied politicians) looked the other way as the health insurance industry ran our system and our nation’s health into the ground in a fiery crash.  Now that Barack Obama – a self-professed proponent of a government-run option – has been elected by a country that has grown increasingly tired of our sham of a private health care system, the health insurance companies realize that they have a choice:  give the impression of change or die at the hands of a popular movement for substantive reform.

Does anybody actually believe that these sons of bitches from the health insurance industry, these sniveling pieces of human waste, actually want to achieve health care reform?  Does anybody actually believe that they will sign on to REAL change?  Barack Obama and some members of Congress have slapped the hands of the health insurance industry, said, “NO MORE COOKIES,” and threatened to put the lid on the cookie jar.  “No, no,” the health insurance industry cries.  “We can be good!  How about we cut down on the number of cookies we take?  But in a non-binding, voluntary, non-specific sort of way?”  Then President Obama and his fellow progressives rub their chins, furrow their eyebrows, and say, “Deal.”  What kind of bullshit is this?

And, yet, this is what happened yesterday.  Progressives are throwing a party over something that has been going on since the dawn of capitalism – pretending to self-regulate in order to avoid real regulation.  The health insurance industy has agreed (again, in a non-binding, voluntary sort of way) to reduce the growth in health care costs to 4.7%.  Well, thank God!  The costs are ONLY going to grow by 4.7%…eventually!  Give me a break.  Our ECONOMY has grown by an average of 3.2% per year.  This is the reform that President Obama has in mind?  A non-binding resolution on the part of the health insurance scum to reduce the growth of costs to 4.7%?  What is this, an alternate universe?  In the meantime, we still have the worst health care system (of the six wealthiest nations), we still rank 46th in life expectancy, we still rank 42nd in infant mortality.  How is a reduction of the growth of health care costs to 4.7% going to fix this quandary?  But that’s not the concern of the health insurance industry;  its only concern is keeping a government-run option for health insurance off the table, because such an option would certainly run these thugs out of every city in America.

Does the Obama Administration realize this?  Of course.  Does the Obama Administration realize that a government-run plan has never been more politically feasible?  If it does, I don’t know what it’s waiting for, and I don’t know what it’s looking for in the health insurance industry.  Last I checked, the purpose of health care reform was not to preserve the obscene profits of the private health insurance industry, but rather to cover the millions of uninsured Americans and relieve the strangled budgets of so many American households and businesses.

Then again, what do I know?  Health care reform…I’ll believe it when I see it.  Oh, look…a unicorn…

May 12, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | Corporate America, Health Care System | , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Let the Battle Begin

Shit just can’t happen fast enough on the U.S. political scene;  just when we think we have a full plate, a Supreme Court justice goes and retires, leaving President Obama with a legitimate situation on his hands.  On the one hand, he can replace Justice Souter with a likeminded liberal, and, on the other hand, he can go against his electoral base (as well as the majority of the American electorate) and appoint a conservative wingnut.  We know that these are his choices.  But Obama, a genuine legal scholar, has a more pragmatic approach, announcing his intent to appoint a person who possesses an understanding of justice and the rule of law.  Who could argue?

Right-wingers could.  They’re gearing up already, putting on their camo and helmets, pulling out their arsenal of weapons (which, thanks be unto Jesus, hasn’t been confiscated by the liberals yet), and preparing for the battle of a lifetime.  Their beef?  Obama didn’t include a couple of crucial criteria – first, a desire to repeal a woman’s well-established right to privacy, and, second, a disdain for queers.  What’s all this talk about justice and legal scholarship? – we just want someone who can make women stop murdering their children and send the queers back to the closet!  Come on, boys!  Let’s go make our voices heard!

And so it begins.  You can bet that, no matter who Obama seeks to appoint (because, let’s face it – he’s not going to pick an opponent of Roe v. Wade or gay rights), the reactionary Right will be fully mobilized to thwart the confirmation.  They’ll dig up everything they can dig up…from the nominee’s childhood to the present, maybe even alleged connections with radical professors (God forbid that he should nominate someone with a connection to law professor Bernardine Dohrn) and past support for such atrocities as a woman’s right to choose.  It’s going to get ugly.  Will Obama win?  Of course.  But not before the Republican Party and the Religious Right (one in the same) continue to self-destruct to the detriment of our nation.

So let the battle begin.

May 5, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | GOP/Right Wing, Supreme Court | , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

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