TURTLE THOUGHTS

Where Was This Woman Last Year?

Cindy McCain, the wife of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is coming out for gay marriage. Here she poses for the NOH8 campaign. NOH8 is a gay rights group challenging Proposition 8 passed by California voters in 2008 banning same sex marriage. (AP Photo/Adam Bouska/NOH8 Campaign)

What Is Joe Lieberman's Deal?

Any rational person can see there's something going on with Senator Joe Lieberman. Seems kinda needy. Wants a bit of attention now and then. His latest attention-grabbing stunt is to scuttle any kind of meaningful health care reform. Since Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid and the rest of the leadership seem to have no problem with Lieberman leading them about by a nose ring, he continues to sabotage reform.

Happily, MoveOn has already raised a million dollars to put Joe Lieberman out of our misery. Let's hope they're successful.

In the meantime, I have to wonder just what is Lieberman's deal? Is he really just getting his revenge on liberals who replaced him with Ned Lamont in the last Connecticut Senate race? Is he still hatin' on those mean ole progressives who almost kicked his sorry vacillating behind out of the US Senate?

And while we're talking about what makes Joe tick, I'd like somebody to answer Susie Madrak's question: Is he really a devout Jew or a pious egotist?

And why aren't we hearing more about a possible conflict of interest since the Senator's wife, Hadassah Lieberman, works for the pharmaceutical industry?

And I must admit it's crossed my mind. Is he just crazy with grief from missing an old boyfriend who moved out of town? (Hey, it's possible!)

Nope, I think the only thing that can explain Lieberman is Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Yup. Gotta be the ole NPD

Hey there are Joe Lieberman jokes now. Did you hear this one?

What do you get when you cross Joe Lieberman with a frog?

A fascinating, frog-voiced lump of wrinkles whose blood runs cold with reptilian contempt for those in need. And a frog. (by David Rees, courtesy of Riotjoke)

 It's all about Joe.

Houston Makes History

The city of Houston has elected an openly gay mayor. Annise Parker is the first gay or lesbian to be elected to lead one of the country's Top Five cities.

Former "Family Ties" Star Comes Out

File this in the "Wow-I-had-no-idea! Is-my-gaydar-broken?" category. Meredith Baxter, the mom on "Family Ties," has come out as a lesbian. She's been in a committed same-sex relationship for the past seven years. She decided to go public on the Today show rather than be outed by a tabloid. Good for her!

World AIDS Day--December 1st

Today marks the 21st World AIDS Day, and it's a fair time to assess what's being done to combat the disease. This is from AIDS and human rights activist Michael Kavanagh.

Where is the $50 billion for global AIDS promised by President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Secretary Clinton when they were campaigning for our votes? The 2010 budget certainly didn't have it.

Where's the promise to double the number of people on AIDS treatment around the world they pledged? With no new money we're hearing reports from Uganda and Nigeria of people being turned away from clinics because doctors cannot afford to start them on life-saving treatment.

And so on World AIDS Day activists have put together a report card, and the result is not pretty: a D+.

Catholic Church Hypocrisy Knows No End

Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy, the son of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, has been barred from receiving communion by Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin. The Church is punishing Kennedy for his belief that women should be allowed a choice about whether or not to go through with a pregnancy. Kennedy says he was told he'd be denied the sacrament because he is "not a good practicing Catholic because of the positions that (he has) taken as a public official."  

Catholic politicians who supported and continue to support the war in Iraq haven't been barred from Communion, even though the pope came out strongly against it. Catholic politicians who vehemently support the death penalty are not barred from Communion, even though the Church is against it. But when it comes to abortion, we see that there is a different standard. Why in the hell is the RCC still tax-exempt? If they want to function as a political entity that lobbies and puts pressure on lawmakers, I say, have at it. But don't pretend you're not doing it so you can retain your tax-exempt status.

More Scientology Horrors

People are coming to their senses and realizing that the Church of Scientology isn't a religious organization but a money-making scheme. Several former members in Australia are charging that the cult abused them and even ordered forced abortions. Australian Senator Nick Xenophon shared letters from the victims with his colleagues in Parliament.

“These victims of Scientology claim it is an abusive, manipulative, violent and criminal organisation, and that criminality is condoned at the highest levels.”

Among the letters he tabled was one from a former follower from Western Australia, who was born into Scientology. The man wrote in a letter that as a member of the organisation in both Australia and the US he had participated in the “forced confinement and torture” of others. His letter also states: “Several abortions were ordered as well”.

This comes as France considers whether to ban Scientology outright. Despite my revulsion for it, I don't think Scientology should be banned. It just shouldn't have tax-exempt status. And it damned shouldn't be giving out incorrect and deadly medical advice.

See link for more info on Elli Perkins.
 

Remember, It's Only Okay If You're a Republican

Some conservatives are outraged, OUTRAGED, I tells ya, because Barack Obama dared show respect to the emperor of Japan by following protocol and bowing when they greeted one another and shook hands. It purt near gave Bill Kristol and Bill Bennett the vapors on the Sunday gasbag programs.

"I don't know why President Obama thought that was appropriate. Maybe he thought it would play well in Japan. But it's not appropriate for an American president to bow to a foreign one," said conservative pundit William Kristol speaking on the Fox News Sunday program, adding that the gesture bespoke a United States that has become weak and overly-deferential under Obama.

Another conservative voice, Bill Bennett, said on CNN's "State of the Union" program: "It's ugly. I don't want to see it."

"We don't defer to emperors. We don't defer to kings or emperors. The president of the United States -- this coupled with so many apologies from the United States -- is just another thing," said Bennett.

Good, I hope THAT'S settled. God knows George W. Bush would never have done anything like that.

So Maybe Heather Could Have Two Mommies AND a Daddy

A team of Japanese researchers doing work on in vitro fertilization in older women has stumbled upon a way to combine ovarian material from two different women to form one egg, which can then be fertilized. They've done it in the lab, and they speculate the fertilized human eggs with three genetic parents would have a good chance of making it if they were to be implanted. According to the UK Telegraph:

IVF often fails in older women because there are abnormalities in the outside of their eggs, known as cytoplasm, which surrounds the nucleus.

The team at St Mother Hospital in Kitakyushu, Japan, believe one way around the problem would be too implant the healthy nucleus - which contains most of the information to produce a baby - into the cytoplasm of a donor, usually a younger mother.

The team successfully did this in 31 eggs and of these seven formed "early stage embryos" when injected with sperm in a test tube.

It turns out a team of American scientists has already successfully conducted this experiment with monkeys. BTW, the point is not to make some kind of freaky hybrid baby (though that might be interesting), but to stop the misfortune of some mothers passing along incurable diseases to their children.

Catholic Church Tries to Bully District of Columbia

The District of Columbia is poised to join the 21st Century by approving marriage equality for everyone, but a last minute blackmail threat from the Roman Catholic Church could throw a monkey wrench into the deal. The bill before the DC Council would not force any church or organization to perform or make space available for same-sex marriages, but the RCC says that doesn't go far enough. They are afraid they'd have to pay domestic partner benefits to employees and would no longer be allowed to deny adoption rights to gay and lesbian couples, so they're threatening to stop providing social services for anybody in the District if the bill passes as is. The Washington Post reports:

The church's influence seems limited. In separate interviews Wednesday, council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) referred to the church as "somewhat childish." Another council member, David A. Catania (I-At Large), said he would rather end the city's relationship with the church than give in to its demands.

"They don't represent, in my mind, an indispensable component of our social services infrastructure," said Catania, the sponsor of the same-sex marriage bill and the chairman of the Health Committee....

...Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), chairman of the judiciary committee, said the council "will not legislate based on threats."

"The problem with the individual exemption is anybody could discriminate based on their assertion of religious principle," Mendelson said. "There were many people back in the 1950s and '60s, during the civil rights era, that said separation of the races was ordained by God."

Catania, who said he has been the biggest supporter of Catholic Charities on the council, said he is baffled by the church's stance. From 2006 through 2008, Catania said, Catholic Charities received about $8.2 million in city contracts, as well as several hundred thousand dollars' worth this year through his committee.

"If they find living under our laws so oppressive that they can no longer take city resources, the city will have to find an alternative partner to step in to fill the shoes," Catania said. He also said Catholic Charities was involved in only six of the 102 city-sponsored adoptions last year.

Poor Catholic Charities, they might have to obey the law and treat people equally, and if they can't, they'll just take their ball and go home. Exactly what Jesus would do I'm sure.

 

Tennessee State Representative Still a Moron

State Representative Stacey Campfield of Tennessee is one odd dude. Not only has he introduced legislation to grant a death certificate to each abortion granted in Tennessee, he's also been under scrutiny for being an alleged slum lord and falsely claiming that a political rival had been arrested several times for drugs. But you get a better sense of what kind of buffoon the guy is when you realize the fear-mongerer has never successfully passed a piece of legislation.

 
Now there's word that Campfield was escorted by security out of the stadium on October 31st when the University of Tennessee hosted South Carolina in Knoxville. Despite the 'no masks' rule enforced at the football stadium on that Halloween day, the State Representative--who is now running for a State Senate seat---argued with security officers who asked him to remove his luchador (or Mexican wrestler's mask...no word on why he chose this outfit.) Campfield complied by taking off the mask, but he continued to give the officers a hard time. When they asked to see his ticket, it turned out he wasn't even seated where he was supposed to be. His ticket was for section LL, but he'd been sitting in section B. So he was invited to take his luchador and go home.

Marriage Equality Voted Down in Maine

I wish this weren't a surprise. My only consolation is knowing beyond any doubt that those opposed to my right to marry my partner of 17 years are on the wrong side of history. Shame on them. Shame on anyone who denies that marriage is a civil institution that should be available to all Americans.  Religious-based opinions...or opinions based on irrational hatred, ignorance, or fear...should not trump equal treatment under the law for all Americans. This is not a religious argument, it's an equality argument, an AMERICAN argument.    

  And how long can we morally justify putting other people's civil rights to a vote?

Putting Civil Rights to a Vote

Tomorrow the citizens of the state of Maine will go to the polls to exercise their god-given right to vote on their fellow citizens' civil rights. They'll decide whether gays and lesbians can have the same rights as heterosexuals to marry the person they love.

The vote is expected to go the way such votes have gone in the past. It was a great day, for instance, when Americans voted to legalize marriage between blacks and whites. I'm thinking that strong majorities of people, especially in the Deep South, must have been really glad to grant that right.

And when everybody got a chance to vote on school desegration? That was cool too. Big majorities of people, especially in my home state of Mississippi, were very supportive of that. They had to be, or it wouldn't have passed, right? ...Right?

Naw, it didn't happen that way at all. It was courts who stepped in to protect the rights of the minority from the tyranny of the majority in those cases. Why weren't all those things put to a popular vote? Isn't that the American Way? No, it's not. And it shouldn't be.

Patrick Kennedy: An American Catholic, Not a Catholic American

       

Two Roman Catholic bishops are calling for Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) to apologize for daring to criticize the Church for opposing health care reform. 

Archbishop Timothy Dolan, of the archdiocese of New York, and Bishop Thomas Tobin, who is Kennedy's bishop, called on the Catholic lawmaker's criticism of the church's opposition to healthcare reform, citing concerns over whether the bill would allow funding for abortions.

"I can’t understand for the life of me how the Catholic Church could be against the biggest social justice issue of our time, where the very dignity of the human person is being respected by the fact that we’re caring and giving health care to the human person," Kennedy said in an interview with the Catholic News Service.

"I thought they were prolife?" Kennedy added. "If the church is prolife, then they ought to be for health care reform, because it’s going to provide health care that are going to keep people alive."

Tobin demanded an apology, calling Kennedy's statement "irresponsible and ignorant of the facts" in a statement last week. Dolan, who occupies one of the most prominent and influential positions in the U.S. Catholic church, followed suit this week.

"His remarks were sad, uncalled-for, and inaccurate," Dolan wrote on his blog. "The Catholic community in the United States hardly needs to be lectured to about just healthcare."

"All we ask is that it be just that -- universal -- meaning that it includes the helpless baby in the womb, the immigrant, and grandma in a hospice, and that it protects a healthcare provider’s right to follow his/her own conscience," Dolan added. "This is what the President says he wants; this is what we bishops say we want."

The important thing to remember here is that Patrick Kennedy is an American first and a Catholic second. That means he's a REAL American, which is the least we can expect from elected Members of the United States House of Representatives.

Patrick Kennedy was not elected to represent Catholics, he was elected by a majority of the voters in his district to represent all the people of Rhode Island. Those people need affordable, decent healthcare, and they don't all share the Catholic Church's belief that having an abortion is a mortal sin. If the Church can force a politician to thwart the will of the people in order to meet an arbitrary set of faith-based beliefs, then that politician isn't fit for office.

If the Catholic Church forces its will on elected officials, then what's to stop Scientologists, Islamic fundamentalists, Christian fundamentalists, Moonies, and every other radical religious group from trying to do the same thing? That may sound preposterous now, but who knows what the cultural and religious landscape will look like in 40 or 50 years? We cannot allow a precedent of letting a particular religious group guide American policy. By definition, that is un-American.

Patrick Kennedy, just like his late father, is a patriot. That means he's not going to allow a narrow set of religious beliefs to dictate his decisions--he's going to abide by the US Constitution and thereby represent all of his constituents. The United States of America is not a theocracy. At least not yet, and we have elected leaders like Patrick Kennedy to thank for it.

 

Calling Anglican Haters. Have I Got a Church for You!

The Roman Catholic Church has a problem. Hardly anybody wants to become a priest anymore. Well, hardly anybody who is a celibate-minded penised-person, that is. That's why the Vatican is now slumming by inviting into the fold all the Anglicans (aka Episcopalians in the U.S.) who are mad because their current church doesn't hate enough. All those Anglican women priests and gay priests (and gay women priests!) are scary and wrong, so the RCC is hoping to capitalize on that irrational fear by converting angry and disillusioned Anglicans. And get this: If you're a married Anglican priest, you're still welcome and so's the little lady! So you now have two separate classes of priests, the married and the unmarried. Separate but equal. There's no way you can go wrong with that.

 

Feds Will No Longer Interfere When States Allow Medicinal Pot

 
The Obama administration is letting states that have legalized medicinal marijuana continue the practice without fear of federal interference.

"The Obama administration will not seek to arrest medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws," according to new policy guidelines to be sent Monday to federal prosecutors, the AP reports.

"Prosecutors will be told it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state laws. The policy is a significant departure from the Bush administration, which insisted it would continue to enforce federal anti-pot laws regardless of state codes."

"Fourteen states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. ... A three-page memo spelling out the policy is expected to be sent today to federal prosecutors in the 14 states and to top officials at the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration. ... The government will still prosecute those who use medical marijuana as a cover for other illegal activity, the officials said."

I disagree with Obama on some key issues, but I'm with him on this. The feds have plenty to do already without wasting resources arresting seriously ill people who smoke pot to simply combat pain or allow them to eat without becoming sick. Having a rational president is a nice change.

  

Louisiana Official Refuses to Grant Marriage License to Interracial Couple

I wished this kind of news surprised me, but it really doesn't. A Justice of the Peace in Louisiana has refused to grant a marriage license to an interracial couple. Terence McKay, who's black, and Beth Humphrey, who's white, ended up getting married by another JP.

Meanwhile, Keith Bardwell, the elected official who refused to give the couple a marriage license, says he's not racist. No, he's just worried about the children. Get that?   Not granting them a license is for their own good. Bardwell doesn't believe it's right, so he's not upholding his duty as an elected official. His personal and religious beliefs trump the American rule of law. As an individual he can be as stupid and racist as he wants, but as an elected official of Tangipahoa Parish, he must treat all citizens equally and fairly. Since he won't, he should lose his job.

....and on a related note:

We Ignore Radical Christian Fundamentalist Hatred At Our Peril

I've posted about Frank Schaeffer in the past, but this new interview of the former Christian Evangelical leader by Raw Story is still worth a look. Schaeffer says he feels like the canary in the coal mine when it comes to warning America at-large about the dangers posed by radicalized Christian fundamentalists who have taken their persecution complex and irrational fear of The Other to a new level since Barack Obama was elected president.

The bestselling status of the Left Behind novels proves that, not unlike Islamist terrorists who behead their enemies, many evangelical/ fundamentalist readers relish the prospect of God doing lots of messy killing for them as they watch in comfort from on high.

They want revenge on all people not like them -- forever. Knowingly or unknowingly, Jenkins and LaHaye cashed in on years of evangelical/fundamentalists’ imagined victimhood. I say imagined, because the born-agains had one of their very own, George W. Bush, in the White House for eight long, ruinous years and also dominated American politics for the better part of thirty years before that.

Nevertheless, their sense of being a victimized minority is still very real -- and very marketable. Whether they were winning politically or not, they nurtured a mythology of persecution by the "other." Evangelical/fundamentalists believed that even though they were winning, somehow they had actually lost.

Click over to read the entire interview. It's worth your time.

Happy Columbus Day. Or Not.

Today is Columbus Day, a federal holiday commemorating Christopher Columbus' discovery of native Americans, and, of course, America.  Yet some people content that the native Americans had already discovered America (and themselves along with it). The Europeans didn't like to think of it that way. Some of us still don't.

     

Republicans (A Lot of Them) Support Obama's Healthcare Reform Plan

One inherent weakness in today's news media mindset is that issues always boil down to two equal and opposite sides. And they keep reporting within that frame of reference--Dems vs Reps for instance--even when a cursory review of the facts shows that an issue in question, say, Obama's healthcare reform plan, is something supported by all Democrats and abhorred by all Republicans. Not the case at all, when you know there are a few Dems who are against it, but a much more impressive list of Republicans who have endorsed Obama's vision for heatlhcare reform:

"And earlier this week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg came out in support of reform, joining two former Republican Senate Majority Leaders: Bob Dole and Dr. Bill Frist, himself a cardiac surgeon. Dr. Louis Sullivan, Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George H.W. Bush, supports reform. As does Republican Tommy Thompson, a former Wisconsin governor and Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush. These distinguished leaders understand that health insurance reform isn't a Democratic issue or a Republican issue, but an American issue that demands a solution.

That's a quote from today's weekly radio/internet address by Obama, lifted from Steve Benen at The Washington Monthly's Political Animal.

Nobel Committee Explains Why They Chose Obama

I can buy this.

The five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee - four of whom spoke to The Associated Press, said awarding Obama the peace prize could be seen as an early vote of confidence intended to build global support for the policies of his young administration.

They lauded the change in global mood wrought by Obama's calls for peace and cooperation, and praised his pledges to reduce the world stock of nuclear arms, ease U.S. conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthen its role in combating climate change.

"Some people say - and I understand it - 'Isn't it premature? Too early?' Well, I'd say then that it could be too late to respond three years from now," Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, told the AP. "It is now that we have the opportunity to respond - all of us."

 

Obama Wins Nobel Prize

In news that will undoubtedly cause some rightwing nutjobs to gouge out their eyeballs, President Obama has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. He becomes the third sitting president--after Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson about a century ago--to win the Nobel.

  

Gay Marriage Continues, World Keeps Turning

I realize that legalized gay marriage has probably resulted in untold numbers of hetersexual marriages to disintegrate (I mean, how could it not?) but they don't have the word yet in Iowa.

One of the most common arguments against marriage equality is that the legalization of gay marriage threatens the institution of traditional marriage. But a recent poll conducted by the Des Moines Register finds that 92% of Iowans believe that "gay marriage has brought no real change to their lives." The study comes just months after the Iowa Supreme Court's unanimous decision to overturn a 10-year-old ban on same-sex marriage.

Wow, I guess heterosexual marriage must be stronger than some people thought, huh?

Jimmy Carter Calls It Like It Is

Jimmy Carter might not have been a very effective president, but he has proven over and again that he is the most important former president ever. Carter has told NBC's Brian Williams what so many people have observed but haven't had the will or opportunity to state: Opposition to Barack Obama has nothing to do with his policies, it's rooted in the fact that many white people simply don't think a black person is qualified to run the country.

"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man," Carter said. "I live in the South, and I've seen the South come a long way, and I've seen the rest of the country that share the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African Americans."

Carter continued, "And that racism inclination still exists. And I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply."

Teabaggers On Parade

Tens of thousands of angry white people (not hundreds of thousands or millions, as they'd have you believe) met up in DC over the weekend to stoke their rage about having a black president. Or something like that. Anyway, the teabaggers brought some lovely signs. This assortment of images comes via the good folk at the Great Orange Satan.

        

UPDATE: Some of the anti-healthcare reformers are trying to inflate their numbers by trying to pass off a five year old photo as a snapshot from this past Saturday.  

Thanks, Joe!

If you're an obstructionist Congressman who hates the president, why not scream out that he's a liar during the middle of a joint session of Congress?  One reason not to do that is because it will enrich your election opponent by more than $200,000 in just a few hours.

That's what South Carolina GOP Representative Joe Wilson is learning today after his disrespectful outburst during last night's presidential address to Congress. Wilson, sitting among a pack of smug Republican Members, apologized almost immediately, but the damage has been done. Along with raising money for his opponent, Rob Wilson, he made himself and his party look like shrieking babies.

     

UPDATE: Rob Miller has now raised $600,000.

Headline of the Day: Is Your Baby Racist?

Seems it's a just a tiny step from diapers to Klan robes for some babies. Beyond that, the Newsweek article by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman has some important points to make about children, parental attitudes, and race. It features work conducted by the Children's Research Lab at the University of Texas.

Vittrup also asked all the kids a very blunt question: "Do your parents like black people?" Fourteen percent said outright, "No, my parents don't like black people"; 38 percent of the kids answered, "I don't know." In this supposed race-free vacuum being created by parents, kids were left to improvise their own conclusions—many of which would be abhorrent to their parents.

The study took place in relatively liberal Austin, TX, where researchers got another surprise:

These parents were to discuss racial equality on their own, every night for five nights.

At this point, something interesting happened. Five families in the last group abruptly quit the study. Two directly told Vittrup, "We don't want to have these conversations with our child. We don't want to point out skin color."

Vittrup was taken aback—these families volunteered knowing full well it was a study of children's racial attitudes. Yet once they were aware that the study required talking openly about race, they started dropping out.

It was no surprise that in a liberal city like Austin, every parent was a welcoming multiculturalist, embracing diversity. But according to Vittrup's entry surveys, hardly any of these white parents had ever talked to their children directly about race.

The article's in-depth and goes on to talk about education, how kids group themselves according to race, and how topics like Black Pride have a significant impact.

 

Not Your Typical Policy Debate: Man Gets Punched Then Bites Off Opponent's Finger

If the people on both sides of the healthcare insurance reform debate keep at it like this, they'll need to start bringing doctors and medical supplies to the rallies. Forget healthcare. They need triage.

          

Have I Mentioned I'm Really Glad She's Not Vice-President?

I have to hand it to Levi Johnston. He has turned his 15 minutes of fame into something a lot longer. At least it feels that way. His latest?  An interview in Vanity Fair in which he says his baby's grandmother, Sarah Palin, tried everything she could to hide the fact that her daughter Bristol was pregnant.

Sarah told me she had a great idea: we would keep it a secret—nobody would know that Bristol was pregnant. She told me that once Bristol had the baby she and Todd would adopt him. That way, she said, Bristol and I didn’t have to worry about anything. Sarah kept mentioning this plan. She was nagging—she wouldn’t give up. She would say, “So, are you gonna let me adopt him?” We both kept telling her we were definitely not going to let her adopt the baby. I think Sarah wanted to make Bristol look good, and she didn’t want people to know that her 17-year-old daughter was going to have a kid.

Johnston also said that after losing the election with John McCain, Palin just walked around the house pouting about how being governor was hard, and she just wanted to quit and make "triple the money" writing a book or having her own show.  It's a real shame this nutjob didn't become V-P, ain't it?

                           

Senator Edward Kennedy Laid to Rest

You know you've made an impact when you have three former presidents, the current president, and Jack Nicholson all show up to your funeral. RIP Teddy Kennedy.

 

When Is a Racist Remark NOT a Racist Remark?

Why, when a Republican says it, of course.

The reason the GOP isn't in power has a lot to do with the fact they say stupid shit like this.

"Republicans are struggling right now to find the great white hope." 

   

--U.S. Rep Lynn Jenkins (R-KS)

Senator Edward M. Kennedy Dies

                           

The youngest Kennedy brother loses his battle against brain cancer. Ted Kennedy was 77.

Jim Cooper Upset with Kos

You know the poll I wrote about earlier that the Daily Kos commissioned in Congressman Jim Cooper's District?  It made Jim all mad and stuff!

Health Insurance Lapdog Jim Cooper Not Representing Constituents

Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN) represents one of the two liberal Congressional Districts in Tennessee (Steve Cohen of Memphis is the other...I wish they could all be like him.) Cooper is best known for putting a knife in the back of the Clinton health reform plan 15 years ago. He's doing his thing again, shilling for the insurance companies, ignoring his constituents, and generally begging for a Democratic primary opponent. New polling from the Daily Kos shows a genuine Democratic candidate would have a real shot at putting Cooper out of a job. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

                                              

Ridge 'Fesses Up, But Only When It's Too Late to Make a Difference

Former Homeland Security director Tom Ridge reveals what a number of people suspected all along: The Bush administration used terror alerts to help Republicans win elections.

How is it that people like Ridge and former Secretary of State Colin Powell knew about this kind of stuff but didn't have the testicular fortitude to say something about it when it might have mattered? Political cowardice is the enemy of a democratic republic.

             

                Image from the.zzzone

Bob Novak Dies

The death of Washington mainstay Robert Novak puts me in mind of that great Moms Mabley quote:

"They say you shouldn't say nothin' about the dead unless it's good. He's dead. Good."

 Robert Novak (1931-2009)

A Fresh Sign of the End Times

Former professional insect killer, accused money launderer, and GOP House Majority Leader Tom Delay of Texas will be joining Dancing With The Stars in the coming season. I think I speak for a majority of viewers as I say, "Kill me now."

                         

Tom Delay--politician, exterminator, alleged money-launderer, dancer

The DC Disconnect from the Rest of America

If you're looking for a good example of why the DC Villagers are out of touch with the rest of the United States, just click over to the Washington Post website where you can read all about "poor" families barely getting by on just $300,000 a year. And it's not a tongue in cheek kinda story but a full-blown, miss-the-mark, WTF-were-you-thinking kinda story. Here's a sampling of the comments:

Is this satire ?? Are you kidding me ??
Please tell me that this is a joke ... please, please
The reality that someone in a position of responsibility in a FINANCE company is so far moved from financial reality ... I'm speechless! Someone needs to send this article to her employer.

I keep looking for a point in the article where the Post goes "Yeah, we know this sounds like we are the most out of touch morons since Thurston Howell the Third" but there doesn't seem to be one. If it was a joke, then yes, they managed to fool me into thinking they somehow consider the travails of someone that has gotten *down* to merely ten times the average salary in the U.S. as somehow tragic. Are they are out of their pointy little heads?!?!

I agree with Brandip_77: this was insulting for the Post to waste 40 inches of newspaper space, countless hours by reporter/photog to write an article on a woman who has SO MUCH MORE than most Americans have or will ever have. Please -if the economy is taking a bite out of the Steins lifestlye , cut a bunch of s*** out of your ifestlye (i.e Nanny, cell phone for kid, gardner, etc).
The Post should keep writing stories about those REALLY struggling, not wasting precious newsprint and newspaper space on a ridiculous story like this. An editor approving this story idea missed the boat

This article points out a major problem with the media. How many WAPO reporters identify with Ms. Steins more than they identify w/a single mom making less than $100k living in PG county or any other less prosperous area?

Our media members no longer help provide the checks and balances to protect those who have less power. Everyone is cynical and everyone wants money.

Senate Staffer Turned Journalist Turned Marine Killed in Afghanistan

Bill Cahir was the best kind of American. You could count on him to do what's right. He was a Senate staffer and later a journalist. But when 9/11 happened, Cahir joined the Marines. He wanted to be on the frontlines for his country. I am sad to learn of Bill Cahir's death on August 13th when he was killed by enemy fire in Afghanistan's Helmand province. He leaves his parents and his wife of three years who is pregnant with twins. This report from Cahir's former employer, the Lehigh Valley Express-Times, is heartbreaking.  

          

Fears That Senator Ted Kennedy Is Nearing the End

Senator Ted Kennedy, the 77-year old senior Senator from MA, who has been fighting brain cancer since last year, hasn't been seen in public for months. 

Add that to his absence from a White House ceremony this week honoring him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and his being unable to attend the funeral for his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, on Friday, and you have some grounds for concern. The Hill reports Senate insiders as saying they fear Kennedy may not be around to vote on healthcare reform, a cause that he's championed for decades. Here's hoping he's able to see that legislation through.

                

The "Slippery Slope" to Raging Violence

Frank Schaeffer, the son of ultra-conservative theologian Dr. Francis Schaeffer, is also the author of Crazy for God: How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back. In a disturbing post on Alternet, Schaeffer draws a straight line between his late father's vehement opposition to abortion and the crazies who are now disrupting townhall meetings because of the lies they've been fed about health care reform.

To the uninitiated, this linkage sounds unhinged. To me it sounds an alarm bell. I know that it taps into 30 years of slippery-slope rhetoric resulting in four abortion doctors being shot and countless acts of violence against clinics. We too began by yelling at people in our marches. In the end, our words opened a door to violent actions.

I'm not sure if the insurance-industry leaders using lobbyists to stir the pot know what they've just hooked into. Do they know that the comparisons of Obama to Hitler, and the call to break up a wholly imaginary "conspiracy" against the elderly may lead the fringe of the fringe to the next step? Is this fear of mine farfetched? I don't think so.

Schaeffer continues...

The fact that otherwise-sane people now believe that United States government is in a conspiracy with the Obama administration to kill our elderly makes sense only when seen in the context of the hysterical, Armageddonlike expectations of the religious right/pro-life movement.

When you understand the link between the hatemongers, the lobbying groups carrying water for the insurance industry and the ideology that came out of the pro-life movement, then you can you understand what is happening today in town hall meetings that are being disrupted by screaming people.

I'm very afraid he's right about all this. We know that people who murder abortion doctors believe they are acting on behalf of God. It's not a large step for them to go after pro-health reform politicians for the same reason.

 

       Frank Schaeffer with his father (date unknown); Frank's book; Frank today

Senator Chuck Grassley Perpetuates "Death Panel" Lie

Iowa Senator (and the world's oldest living Twitterer) Chuck Grassley is one of those strange Republicans who's pretty right wing yet enjoys the undeserved reputation of being a moderate. 

Well, he put that image to rest today when Grassley agreed with Sarah Palin that Obama's health care reform would include 'death panels.' Sam Stein writes about Grassley's appearance at an Iowa town hall meeting this afternoon:

There is some fear because in the House bill, there is counseling for end-of-life," Grassley said. "And from that standpoint, you have every right to fear. You shouldn't have counseling at the end of life. You ought to have counseling 20 years before you're going to die. You ought to plan these things out. And I don't have any problem with things like living wills. But they ought to be done within the family. We should not have a government program that determines if you're going to pull the plug on grandma."

And Grassley's not just any Republican--he's one of the key GOP players who is supposedly helping to create bipartisan health care reform. If this is one of their moderates, just how batshit are the hard core Republicans?

 Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Clowntown, IA)

Bill Clinton: He's Still Got It

 This is a few days after the fact, but I've been thinking about two very different but compelling pictures that came out of former president Bill Clinton's diplomatic trip to North Korea. Clinton met privately with N. Korean dictator/nutjob Kim Jung Il and persuaded him to release two American journalists being held captive there. After the meeting, this photo of Clinton and Kim Jung Il along with some of their lackeys was released to the public. It's pretty instructive.

      

As far as diplomatic photos go, this is pretty much the bottom of the barrel. No handshake, no smiles, no back pats. Just a picture that documents, "Yes, we did meet," but not much else. Clinton knows that Kim Jung Il was waiting around for the United States to kiss his Communist Butt and give him a little acknowledgement. Clinton knew if he did that, the journalists would be freed. Seemed to work.

The other picture is less instructive and more an oddity. Former President Bill Clinton and former VP Al Gore meeting with the returned journos and their families. But Gore wasn't there in an official capacity as the former vice-president. No, he was there as the founder of the cable network Current, which employs the captured journalists. It was just a coincidence that the diplomat who freed the women was the former president and the businessman who employs the women is his former vice-president. Kinda neat.

Corporate Lobbyists Go To Any Length in the Assault Against Health Care Reform

As you follow the health care reform debate (and any other significant debate in Washington), it would be helpful to keep this in mind from consultant Bob Lewis, president of IT Catalysts, Inc., a consultancy specializing in IT organizational effectiveness and strategic integration.

In mass media, the entertainment or information isn’t product — it’s bait. The audience is the product, of which advertisers are both customer and consumer.

Lewis wrote those words in a column posted in 2002, and it's even more salient today. Don't be suckered by talk of horrible "government bureaucrats" making decisions about your health care. The people currently making those decisions are insurance company employees who have every incentive in the world to deny a claimant's coverage.

Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are government run programs, and I'm not hearing anybody enraged about health care reform talking about doing away with them. If government run health care is bad, there'd have been a long-running grassroots movement against it.  So don't be fooled: This fake, corporate/ industry astroturfing we're seeing now is just smoke and mirrors.

            

(Image from FarLeftSide.com--h/t to Crooks & Liars as well as D.Aamodt)

Helen & Margaret Remember Sexy Uncle Walter

Margaret and Helen ("Best Friends for 60 Years and Counting"), the world's most amazing old lady bloggers, remind us that the late Walter Cronkite wasn't just a great news man--he was a stud.

Helen gets started by talking about the critics of health care reform...

 Rush Limbaugh,  a man who will never have to worry about the cost of insurance and  admits to a prescription drug addiction, actually wants to challenge Obama on healthcare reform.  Really? I am just stunned.  And now they attack Walter Cronkite … the most trusted man in America… Uncle Walter.   I guess the Americans with Disabilities Act needs to be revisited again to include “Republican” as a form of mental impairment because this has gotten out of hand.  And I will gladly give up my  mobility impaired classification and the great parking space that goes with it to make room for them.

Let me tell you about Walter Cronkite.   Besides being sexier than Rush will ever be, Cronkite was someone you could respect even if you didn’t agree with him.  He knew the difference between news and opinion and was quick to announce when he had switched from one to the other.  Each evening for years he brought millions of Americans together to know and better understand the world around them.  He was a man’s man who wasn’t offensive to women – unlike Rush who is an ass’s ass who couldn’t pay a woman to respect him… and I am sure he has tried.

Margaret responds....

Helen, dear, we can certainly agree on one thing for sure. Walter Cronkite was a very sexy man. I  tell you, he was the Anderson Cooper of his day. He could melt my butter each and every evening.   He could toast my bread on both sides.   He could float my boat, row it out to sea, and wait for it to return with the tide any day of the week.  Although, I’m not quite sure what that means, I do know that Walter Cronkite was a real man.  And, my dear Helen, that’s the way it is…

I just love them. (h/t to Bill in Portland Maine, the funniest writer at the Daily Kos)

Beer Summit? This Is Why TV News Sucks

So Obama has a beer with the blowhard professor and the cop who got mad because the blowhard professor didn't kiss his ass. And the media are calling it The Beer Summit. If they gave half as much attention to healthcare reform as they give to this piece of stage craft, we'd all be a lot better off.

They focus on this trivial nonsense because it's easier to report than, say, the war, or H1N1, or healthcare reform. But in order to justify it, they call it The Beer Summit, mostly because it's cute, but also because it confers a veneer of importance and/or relevance to the event that doesn't otherwise exist. 

                    

Some New Obama Conspiracy Theories to Consider

If you have real questions about Obama's birth, you owe it to yourself to read this piece. If nothing else, at least you won't look like a complete idiot when someone brings it up.

Even though there's evidence proving Obama was born on American soil, that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of other Obama conspiracies to keep the wingnuts busy. See for yourself.

 

GOP Forces TN State Senator to Resign Over His Affair With Intern

It took about a week of behind-the-scenes arm-twisting, with plenty of name-calling, hair-pulling, and finger-pointing no doubt--but Senator Paul Stanley (R-Germantown) has finally decided to call it quits. He'll be stepping down effective August 10th. This comes after the ex-boyfriend of 22-year old legislative intern McKensie Morrison allegedly tried to blackmail him. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says Joel Watts demanded $10,000 or he'd release the nude pictures Stanley had taken of Morrison when she was in his Nashville apartment.

Stanley had stepped down from a major committee chairmanship when the scandal first broke, but that wasn't enough, so it surprised few when he announced Tuesday night that he'd be leaving the General Assembly altogether. (h/t to the News Ho)

Proof the 'Birthers' in Congress Are Just Playing Games

If you honestly believe there's any doubt about whether Barack Obama was born in the United States, why on earth would you vote for a resolution recognizing Hawaii as Obama's birth place?

The answer is even though you leap at the chance to get the rightwing base in a froth by insinuating there's a conspiracy of deception involving the president's birth certificate, you don't have the guts to say it on the record. It's spineless moves like these that work up both sides, right and left. Lather up the base, get a bump in donations, over-promise, then under-perform, and blame the other party and/or the media for your shortcomings. Works every time, and we all keep falling for it.

Progressives are seeing it as much as Conservatives are--politicians will say anything that works to get them in office, but in the end, they all end up playing a friendly game of DC Insider.

We must change the way we look at politicians in the U.S.  The old left/right dichotomy doesn't work any more.  Take the Political Compass test to get a sense of where you are. My spot on the Political Compass shows:

Economic Left/Right: -6.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.05

If you want to know what that means exactly, you can start by reading the Political Compass FAQ. I'm not sure what my point on the Compass indicates, but it puts me close to Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, so I can live with that.  Take the test and feel free to leave your results in comments.

Is Ann Coulter Comparing GOP Senator Jim Inhofe to a Klansman? (yes)

If you're so rightwing-batty that even Ann Coulter thinks you're crazy, then you can rest assured you're paving new ground in the Completely Insane department. Coulter was talking about the 'Birthers' and their obsessive contention that the president is not an American. As she told Geraldo Rivera on Foxnews...

"So for CNN or MSNBC, or you Geraldo, the liberal on Fox, to be bringing this out as if it's an issue, you know, it's just a few cranks out there," said Coulter. "It's like when networks bring on the three remaining Klanners in America, on TV."

I can't decide which pleases me most...Is it that Coulter compares Republican Senator Jim Inhofe to a Klansman; or that she is blaming the liberal media for the Birthers' hystrionics.

                                                                         When even this nutjob thinks the whacked-out theory that Obama is an undocumented alien is crazy, well...rest assured, it's frickin' certifiable.