Health care mobs = Swift Boat Vets. And the press plays dumb, again

Media Matters

During August's summer daze, right-wing mini-mobs (egged on by corporate interests) have run wild at town hall meetings, propagating all kinds of smears and misinformation in an effort to derail an important Democratic campaign. Yet the mini-mob members have been treated as deeply important newsmakers by the press during a slow summer news month.

Sound familiar? Recall August 2004, when the right-wing Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (egged on by corporate interests) stole a month's worth of campaign headlines by propagating all kinds of smears and misinformation in an attempt to derail an important Democratic campaign. Yet they were treated as deeply important newsmakers by the press during a slow summer news month.

Honestly, the only thing missing this time around is a crackpot, best-selling book.
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(The Swifties' right-wing publisher must be kicking itself over the missed marketing opportunity.)

But what has been perfectly consistent is the way the press has, again, fallen for a right-wing smear campaign and dressed it up as news. Just as with the Swifties, the press has turned over its summer coverage to a band of agitators spreading misinformation. Five summers ago, the Swift Boat Vets helped hijack the election. They lied about documents, they lied about eyewitness, and they lied about their partisan affiliations and connections. For several crucial weeks during the campaign, journalists turned away from the pile-up of Swift Boat falsehoods and contradictions, rarely daring to call the Swift Boat attack out for what it really was -- a hoax. Too spooked by the GOP Noise Machine and its charge of liberal media bias, the press propped up the Vets as serious men and showered them with attention.

[...] It turns out journalists are petrified of calling out right-wing activists as liars, and the other side knows it.

"Journalists" are scared shitless. Dems are scared shitless. Of what? Telling the truth? Losing their jobs and money? That the ruling elites are gonna come out from under their beds at night and say 'boo'?

I swear, corporate America, the Repug pols, K Street,and the wingtard loonies need to have a dungaree liberty held on 'em. Let the Dems and journos watch so they'll know the bigwigs they're so scared of are just plain old bullies (Repug policy) made of flesh and blood just like them. Lotsa blood, I hope.

I looked for a good definition of "dungaree liberty" but didn't find one, so here goes:

When Marines or Sailors from a base or ship get fucked with in town by gangs, merchants, bar girls, whomever, and get tired of it, their C.O.s have been known to call a dungaree liberty wherein they put on their working clothes, 'dungarees', arm themselves with clubs, rack ends, entrenching tools, belaying pins, etc. and go into the places they've been fucked with and clean house.

I did find this:

...mid 1950's I recall scuttlebutt about Chesty declaring war on Mexico, a Mexican gang, the Pachukos were fvcking Marines up in Tijuana and he supposedly turned the 1st MarDiv loose on the gangs down there. Dungaree Liberty.

The way I heard that one was that they went down there as units, combat load-out, in Marine Corps six-bys. Armed to the teeth and loaded for bear, many of them just back from the Korean War. It may be an apocryphal legend.

I'm gettin' more and more up for a little 'nightstick boogie' on these 'tard assholes.

"Blue Dogs and Republicans (on behalf of the industries that own them) must get what they want "

Glenn Greenwald on the White House v Progressives on the 'public option'. Today's 'must read'. Links at site.

Over the past decade, the Democratic Party has specialized in offering up one excuse after the next for its collective failures. During the early Bush years, the excuse was that they endorsed Bush policies because his popularity and post-9/11 hysteria made it politically unwise to oppose him. In later Bush years when his popularity plummeted, the excuse was that Democrats were in the minority and could do nothing. After 2006 when they won a Congressional majority, the excuse was that Bush still controlled the White House and had veto power. After 2008 when a Democrat won the White House, the excuse was that Republicans could filibuster.

Now that they have a filibuster-proof majority, a huge margin in the House and the White House, the excuses continue unabated, as Democrats are now on the verge of jettisoning one of the most significant attractions for progressives to the Obama campaign -- active government involvement in the health insurance market. [...]

When progressives refuse to toe the White House line, they get threatened. Contrast that with what the White House does with Blue Dogs and "centrists" who are allegedly uncooperative on health care -- they protect them:

The attempt to attract GOP support was the pretext which Democrats used to compromise continuously and water down the bill. But -- given the impossibility of achieving that goal -- isn't it fairly obvious that a desire for GOP support wasn't really the reason the Democrats were constantly watering down their own bill? Given the White House's central role in negotiating a secret deal with the pharmaceutical industry, its betrayal of Obama's clear promise to conduct negotiations out in the open (on C-SPAN no less), Rahm's protection of Blue Dogs and accompanying attacks on progressives, and the complete lack of any pressure exerted on allegedly obstructionists "centrists," it seems rather clear that the bill has been watered down, and the "public option" jettisoned, because that's the bill they want -- this was the plan all along.

The Washington Post today quotes an "anonymous White House official" excoriating what he condescendingly calls "the left of the left" for petulantly demanding a "public option." That article notes that the Obama White House is surprised by the intensity of progressives' insistence that the bill include a "public option," and who can blame them for being surprised? Ordinarily, progressives are told that they cannot have what they want because Blue Dogs and Republicans (on behalf of the industries that own them) must get what they want, and progressives meekly accept that because it's "better than nothing" (don't let the Perfect be the Enemy of the Good, they are lectured). More than anything else, it's vital that this dynamic change. Such a change -- a shift in Beltway power dynamics -- would be far more consequential even than the specific health care policy issues at stake in this debate.

He says some nice things about Jane Hamsher's efforts to goad Progressives into action on this.

The shorter version is all about 2010 and getting industry support by giving them what they want and fuck real Democrats like always. Business as usual. Yeesh. Go read.

Update:

Go read Our Gal Jane on this. Today's second 'must read', dovetails well with Greenwald.

We started this whip count effort on June 23 because it became clear that in the course of making their deals with stakeholders, the Baucus Caucus (who were negotiating on behalf of the White House, with the participation of the White House) had very likely already dealt the public plan away.

The goal of keeping stakeholders at the table was threefold:

1. Keep them from advertising against the White House plan
2. Keep them from torpedoing vulnerable Democrats in 2010 so there isn't a repeat of 1994
3. Keep their money out of GOP coffers

You can see the fingerprints in the deals that they made: the $150 million PhRMA was spending on ads for health care reform, the $2.5 million they spent helping vulnerable freshmen, and the total fury that Boehner has unleashed on PhRMA and other stakeholders for making deals with the White House.

People make a mistake when they think the battle for health care reform is about ideology, because it's not. It's about who controls K Street and the cash that flows from it, which could fund a 2010 GOP resurgenece -- or not.

A word about Jane - we've been big fans of hers since she started Firedoglake several years ago. Right in amongst being a Liberal firebrand, she took time out to survive breast cancer and barely missed a step. She's an American hero.

Update II:

Jane again:

Matt Taibbi says that Rahm Emanuel's health care debacle could be to the Obama administration what the Iraq war was to George Bush.

He's right.

Oh fucking swell.

What if ...

The Dems did health care the way the Rethugs did Iraq? Via Maru, the incomparably talented Tom Tomorrow.

Piling on ...

Yeah, I know everybody's got this up, but maybe if enough of us post it, the President might take a lesson from it. Barney Frank at his best:

I happened to steal this one from Creature.

Barking at the Moon ...

The White House on Wednesday rejected reports that it is abandoning its effort to secure a bipartisan healthcare reform bill.

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Ooookay.

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White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration remains committed to drawing Republican support for the bill, particularly in the Senate.

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What Republican support? They want to pick it apart until it's only one, drippy, shit-covered, square of single-ply asswipe.

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He said the White House believes some Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee "are still working in a constructive way to get reform through the Senate and ultimately to the president's desk."

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In what Senate? Our Senate? The United States of America's Senate? Because I don't think me and Gibbs are looking at the same group of 'lawmakers'.

Please, fellas, it's the Dog Days of Summer and it's too hot and humid here in NY for me to shove my head that far up my ass to understand your point of view. Idiots.

Care less ...

Stays on top today - G

So, since yesterday, we've heard administration officials running around, telling everyone that the 'public option' is still 'in', though there are no less than 5 drafts of the reform bill circulating through the House and Senate. It sounds, to me, that they are trying to keep progressives behind the 'reform' initiative until House/Senate reconciliation of the bill, whereupon it will be tossed aside like yesterday's trash. I don't give a shit anymore.

The way this health care initiative has been handled was fucked up from the beginning, taking 'single-payer' off the table from the get go - like the Army going to war and announcing they're going to win it without the field artillery and armor (more like the Army going to war with the goal of "winning hearts and minds" before the first bullet flew). Krugman puts his finger on it:

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Partly it’s a matter of style — as many people have noted, he has been weirdly reluctant to make the moral case for universal care, weirdly unable to show passion on the issue, weirdly diffident even about the blatant lies from the right. Partly it’s a spillover from his other policies: by appointing an economic team that’s Rubin redux, by taking such a kindly attitude to the banks, he has squandered a lot of progressive enthusiasm.

Add in the dealmaking as part of the health care process itself, and progressives can be forgiven for having the impression that Obama (a) takes them for granted (b) is way too easily rolled by the other side.

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As I said the other day, the campaign of "hope and change" that we all supported, that we all welcomed after 8 years of the Bush/Cheney corporate free-for-all, has become "business-as-usual". The limp, insipid leadership from the White House on an issue so important to a huge chunk of the American people makes you wish, as Kieth Olbermann put it last night, "for a little more of George Bush's certitude".

And, speaking of the past 8 years, you'd think they all would have learned something of the Republican modus operandi. My knee jerk reaction is "how can they be so naive" to not understand the nature of the bullshit thrown at them from the Right. It's as if they thought we would all join hands and pass something that was actually good for the American people whether they knew it or not. But I can't believe that in the end. Obama is, without argument, an intelligent man so I have to think he and his advisers knew what was coming. I did, Gordon did, and a couple thousand other bloggers did too. Most of us aren't political 'insiders' yet we got it and, from what we were promised during the campaign, we expected a champion to rise above the noise and dirty tricks from the Right, especially with majorities in both houses of Congress. Instead we got what, representatives scared of their own shadows and a White House that gets blown around by the constantly shifting political winds? Any real reform we could hope for has gone the way of 'banking reform' and what we'll get, if anything, will be a load of watery shit that offers no relief, only a burning sphincter.

The uninsured in this country will continue to live on the edge, wondering when a family member will get sick enough to ruin them. I, like Members of Congress and the news media, have good insurance that I can afford to pay for but that could change in an instant, as it can for 90% of us who are fortunate enough to be able to buy into 'the system'. It is the crux of the biscuit and why so many experts say the health care system cannot go on in its present form. It is why the call for reform is so strong, because so many people are hanging on with their fingertips. To let them fall over the edge is unconscionable but that is what probably will happen once the dust finally settles on this mess. I wonder, with all the deal-making going on, all the 'negotiations' behind closed doors, if anybody gives the un- and under-insured a passing thought anymore. They were thrown under the bus in favor of special interests months ago.

So I could give a shit less at this point. Whatever squirts out of the national sphincter will be less than what is needed and many will be left behind. It seems a foregone conclusion at this point, though I hope I'm wrong. Until the President stands up and provides the magnitude of leadership required to do the right thing, I can't get worked up over 'co-ops' and 'public options', and whether they're 'in' or 'out'. If a half-assed, watered down, gift to the insurance companies ends up on Mr. Obama's desk, I would hope he does the right thing and vetoes it. Somehow, I don't see that happening either.

What should be done, is scrapping whatever has been done so far and the White House should write a bill. It should then be given to Congress with a message to the Dems to "vote it down at your own political peril". That is what leadership looks like. Kissing the collective ass of people who would never support anything is a waste of time and a sign of weakness. Take heed, Mr. Obama or you just might be a one-term President. I mean, coming off this fiasco, you really don't expect to have a majority in Congress after the 2010 elections, do you?

Quote of the Day

Digby:

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45%of the American people actually believe the government will be euthanizing the elderly. What the hell is wrong with these people?

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The United States of Stupid.

I still care, but...

The only way real reform will take place now is if Barry gets up and takes control of the situation. - Fixer's comment on this post

What should be done, is scrapping whatever has been done so far and the White House should write a bill. It should then be given to Congress with a message to the Dems to "vote it down at your own political peril". That is what leadership looks like. - Fixer

It's uncanny sometimes how close Fixer and I think. We never collaborate on anything, but sometimes it's like a transcontinental mind meld. Ibuprofen helps.

Just yesterday I came up with the following for Obama to use to address a joint session of Congress:

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives. I want the health care and insurance reform bill that I want, so here's the deal - you people bring me a bill that reins in your thieving insurance industry by means of a strong public option and I will sign it into law. Anything less and I will not only veto it, I will veto every goddam spending proposal you bring me for the rest of my term and you ying-yangs will never get to bring one goddam dime of taxpayers' money to your districts ever again. This is so goddam important to change the criminally negligent way you clowns have conducted the people's business for so many years that I don't give a shit if I get re-elected or not. I'm puttin' my ass on the line for this and I'm puttin' your asses on the line as well.

"As to bipartisanship, I now know exactly what to expect from you Republicans, which is diddly squat for the American people and all out for big money special interests and their status quo if not further enhancement of profit at the public's expense and to the public's detriment. Business as usual. I suspected all along that this would be the case but I tried to work with you. Bent over backwards and frontwards. It didn't work. As a result, fuck you. We don't need you. You may leave. What passes these days for reporters are standing by outside to hear your usual bullshit.

"And to you Democrats, I have never seen such a spineless bunch in my life. You finally got a solid majority after years of getting shat upon and have the power and you're too goddam scared to use it! What's with you people? You just continue to let the goddam Republicans steamroller you with their lies and bullshit! You should stomp the fuckers! Frankly, you pussies disgust me. This may be your last chance to grow a pair and get on board on the side of the people who elected you. Do it.

"The 2010 elections? I will actively work against any of you who do not stand with me on this important legislation, to include Democratic campaign money for your primary opponents, not to mention selective leaks of some verrrry interesting material we have on file that the enquiring minds of your constituents want to know.

"2012? Couldn't care less. Health care reform is what the American people elected me to do for them, and good health care reform is what I'm going to get for them or die trying.

"This is it. The line in the sand is drawn. Stand together with me and the American people or stand with the special interests and prepare to have me shout it from the rooftops whichever way you go. The choice is yours.

"Good day, ladies and gentlemen. God bless the United States of America and may God have mercy on your souls if you go the wrong way on the most important issue you are likely to face in your careers. He's got your soul, but I'll have yer ass."

He might want to change a coupla words here and there. I just write like I talk. I threw the 'God' shit in there because politicians always do. Like God gives a shit.

Yes we can? Fat fuckin' chance.

Pulling the plug on the Republicans

I think I got a theme goin' today.

Mark Rubin, EssEff Examiner.

The worst part of Obama's mishandling of healthcare reform has been his attempts to have a bi-partisan bill. The question is why?

The country voted the Republicans and conservatives out of the federal government because the country had enough of the ineptitude, dishonesty, incompetence, and multiple disasters visited on the country as a result of conservative Republican policies.

If there is anything the Republicans proved in the last 8 years its that they are incapable of leading and running the government. And Senator Judd admitting they "weren't very good stewards of the government", and Senator Grahams's admissions of mismanagement, while sincere, isn't enough to give anyone confidence they can do anything right.

Bush all by himself did more damage to the United States in 8 years than the Soviet Union could in 50.

The results of having engaged the Republicans in the healthcare debate are evident. There's been lying, disinformation, smoke screens, and the loud, disruptive, dishonest, holier than thou groups dominating town hall meetings which were stuffed with Republicans and conservatives who still think, after being proved wrong about everything, that they know best. As we saw from the shouters at Senator Specter's town hall, the Republican idea of healthcare reform is limits on medical malpractice awards.

Obama's problem is he didn't take on the lying and disinformation from the beginning, and as John Kerry found out in 2004, lies that go unchallenged can be effective. And believed by ignorant people. Now that Obama has had a few "teachable moments" at the hands of the Republicans he may be a bit wiser (my em).

Soldiers and Marines train intensively to minimize 'teachable moments' in combat that can leave them dead. The fight against the goddam Repugs is less fatal, but war nonetheless.

What's needed now for the sake of real healthcare reform and getting a bill that will do the most good for the most people, which includes a public option, is for Obama and the Democrats to do what the doctor ordered. And that means pulling the plug on the Republicans, ramming the reform bill through with a public option. and asking Senator Grassley and Michael Steele where to send the flowers.

Fuckin' A.

Note to Barry: Look, dude, wise up. Bipartisanship was a nice idea. It didn't work. Those assholes aren't going to vote for real health care/insurance reform in any case, no matter what you do. Tell 'em to go fuck themselves and get a bill passed. Ram it down their fuckin' throats. With a public option or it's all for nought - when you took single-payer off the table, that was the compromise. More than I would have given them.

Time to man up and do what you know is right.

In America, Crazy Is a Preexisting Condition

Rick Perlstein

In Pennsylvania last week, a citizen, burly, crew-cut and trembling with rage, went nose to nose with his baffled senator: "One day God's going to stand before you, and he's going to judge you and the rest of your damned cronies up on the Hill. And then you will get your just deserts." He was accusing Arlen Specter of being too kind to President Obama's proposals to make it easier for people to get health insurance.

My response to that would have been, "Don't you dare tell me what your asshole God's gonna do to me for doing something you don't like, you arrogant sonofabitch!"

I wouldn't last long in politics. It's just as well.

So the birthers, the anti-tax tea-partiers, the town hall hecklers -- these are "either" the genuine grass roots or evil conspirators staging scenes for YouTube? The quiver on the lips of the man pushing the wheelchair, the crazed risk of carrying a pistol around a president -- too heartfelt to be an act. The lockstep strangeness of the mad lies on the protesters' signs -- too uniform to be spontaneous. They are both. If you don't understand that any moment of genuine political change always produces both, you can't understand America, where the crazy tree blooms in every moment of liberal ascendancy, and where elites exploit the crazy for their own narrow interests.

The orchestration of incivility happens, too, and it is evil. Liberal power of all sorts induces an organic and crazy-making panic in a considerable number of Americans, while people with no particular susceptibility to existential terror -- powerful elites -- find reason to stoke and exploit that fear. And even the most ideologically fair-minded national media will always be agents of cosmopolitanism: something provincials fear as an outside elite intent on forcing different values down their throats.

There is something to be said for 'forcing different values down their throats'. The 'tards ain't gonna get 'em any other way. When I was a kid, I got cod liver oil 'forced down my throat' a few times. I damn sure didn't like it, but I was the better for it.

I'd rather force a little common sense, wrapped around a phone pole, up the wingtards' asses, but that's just me. Ya can't fix stupid.

The tree of crazy is an ever-present aspect of America's flora. Only now, it's being watered by misguided he-said-she-said reporting and taking over the forest. Latest word is that the enlightened and mild provision in the draft legislation to help elderly people who want living wills -- the one hysterics turned into the "death panel" canard -- is losing favor, according to the Wall Street Journal, because of "complaints over the provision."

Good thing our leaders weren't so cowardly in 1964, or we would never have passed a civil rights bill -- because of complaints over the provisions in it that would enslave whites.

Yeah, how's that workin' out? Yeesh.

Someone made the point the other day that 'good' Americans don't like being told what to do, but they don't seem to mind being told what to think, if 'think' is even the right word for what they do.

Bob Novak is dead at last

More at HuffPo.

This isn't an obit, it's a victory announcement. One at a time is pretty slow, but it works.

Oddly enough, that old bastard may turn out to be an American hero. His outing of Valerie Plame had the unintended consequence of putting the first crack in the Cheney & Bush wall of secrecy and lies.

Beyond the taco..

LATimes

A new wave of mobile vendors is altering the way we look at that hallmark of Los Angeles' street cuisine, the taco truck. Broadening the offerings to be had on four wheels, these trucks demonstrate a decidedly more experimental -- and often more expensive -- culinary sensibility. These are the Nouveau Food Trucks.

The complete article is here, but here's a coupla examples. Most have links:

1. Baby's Badass Burgers

Baby's Badass Burgers, which rolled out Monday, Aug. 10, features gourmet burgers like the Man Eater (-half-pound beef burger) and the Cougar (aged beef, St. Andre cheese and black truffles), all served by babes in cheek-hugging hot pants and skintight tank tops.

Sounds OK so far...

3. Bool BBQ Truck

Born in Korea and raised in Sao Paolo and Los Angeles, owner Dan Kim dishes out Korean-Mexican barbecued tacos and Brazilian pastels.

Still OK. As long as Kim barbecues the 'meow' out of it.

Here it starts ta get a little weird:

9. Fishlips Sushi truck

This roving sushi truck serves spicy tuna rolls, California rolls and crunchy rolls plus tamari sushi.

20. Marked 5 truck

Hamburger, tonkatsu, curried chicken or tofu patties tucked between two "buns" made of pressed rice.

23. The Pupusamobile

This handmade mobile pupuseria is coming soon.

I ain't got the faintest idea what a 'pupusa' is. Sounds like a stage of insect development.

I'd say 'only in L.A,' but I'd be wrong. Anyplace ya got a good melting pot of cultures goin' on, yer probly gettin' an upswing of ethnic food trucks. Reg'lar ol' street food on wheels, and why not?

"Fuck off, wingers. We don't need you."

The Rude One on health care legislation:

The push for health care reform needs to be presented as a civil rights movement.

That's the bottom line, but let's put it at the top here: in the arguments about public options and co-ops and whatever, the left, in Congress and elsewhere, has allowed the right to control the language of the debate. And instead of arguing morality and greater good, this has all been about economics.
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Make it into the difference between being for a right and against a right. And that means taking all the risks that accompany the granting of a civil right.

At this point, we could continue to go over the myriad ways that the Obama administration and congressional Democrats have screwed this up like Jerry Lewis in a movie where he's asked to build a nuclear bomb. [...]

God, the lies conservatives spout when it comes to the perceived evils of giving people rights. [...]

[...] Now, with little time left before this debate comes to an end, there's no way to appeal to reason anymore. It doesn't work. The death-panel-look-it's-socialism gang has demonstrated that clearly. We don't have to lie. But we need to take it out of political theory and sell it as something courageous: we who want health care for all are good, brave people. The ones who don't are cowardly and bad. Do you want to be courageous or afraid?

Of course the Dems want to be courageous. Everyone does. Trouble is, they're institutionally cowardified.

Mostly, though, there's only one real solution: Democrats have to have the guts to tell Republicans that they're no longer part of the process. They have not negotiated in good faith and they're not gonna vote for shit, no matter how watered down. It's gotta be "Fuck off, fuckers" and bar the door and pass what needs passing.

Unfortunately, that would take balls the Dems don't have. And aren't likely to get.

Sweetheart deals ...

Not just for Halliburton/KBR anymore:

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Read the whole article and you'll see that this is a totally corrupt form of government contracting that is costing taxpayers a mint which keeps honest suppliers from being able to compete, which should, in a rational world be something that "free market" fetishists should be incensed about as well. Why this isn't highlighted as part of the "waste fraud and abuse" argument is beyond me.

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Because, my dear Digby, it's part of the game.

Overslept and running late this morning. See yas later.

Surprised?

Stays on top today - G

I'm not.

Via a combination of Republican Noise Machine, insurance lobbying groups, and the aggregate stupidity of the American public, this weekend we kissed any sort of 'public option' being included in the health care reform package goodbye.

I had as much 'hope for change' as anyone did after the elections last November, a majority in the House and Senate and a Dem President, I thought the sky was the limit. I know a lot of you did too. After all the rhetoric during the campaign and after, how could we not?

Once again we got screwed. Correction, 46 million Americans got screwed royally. The rest of us, those who fought for coverage for all Americans, merely were ignored in the face of special interest and the ranting of the 'Dead End Quarter'. For all the change we were promised, business-as-usual prevails. The insurance companies will still be in control with little regulation and no competition, still retaining their vast influence over public policy. Once again we, those who got these clowns elected, get handed a shit sandwich.

It's what it comes down to in the end. The average American is only worth listening to until his vote is cast, until any campaign contributions he can afford are issued, and then quickly forgotten. The 'Washington Bubble' seems to be impenetrable by voices from the outside, the voices of those our representatives owe their existence to. Even the 'town hall meetings' gave off the stench of manipulation by insiders, controlling the gullible to disrupt and sidetrack the 'debate'. And the worst offenders were the news media, giving the crazy credibility and playing the perfect 'straight man' to the Machiavellian machinations of the insurance industry, acting as if the obvious was an illusion.

The Fourth Estate, entrusted to protect the American people, abdicated any responsibility to us decades ago and instead adopted willful ignorance as its modus operandi. Lies taken at face value and allowed to sit unchallenged before the public, the most fantastic of them given a hearing and put up for debate when they should have been met with only laughter, did much to rouse the rabble, the gullible, and the uneducated. What passes for news nowadays is a joke, an industry now a full fledged accomplice of the corporate oligarchy of the United States. I wonder if Wolfie, John King, Charlie Gibson, and the rest ever worried about their financial situation whenever they got sick, wondering if this would be the illness that broke them. I would think not.

The whole evolution of this 'reform' package has me disgusted beyond belief. After what we were promised, after the hope we were given, I think this failure troubles me more than what happened throughout the Bush years. We knew what we were up against then, knew the forces that were arrayed against us, and knew it would be an uphill battle, especially after the '04 elections. But after '06, and again last year, we thought (at least I did) it would become easier. They were on our side and we had a majority. Anything (at least things within reason) was possible and health care reform was high up on the list. It seems anything meaningful is no longer a priority. It seems, once again, nothing will change.

Thank you, Democrats, for living up to my very cynical expectations of you. Once again you have proven you are no more fit to lead than the Republicans. I was hoping you'd surprise me this time.

Les Paul, 1915-2009

Click to embiggen

Les Paul...was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which "made the sound of rock and roll possible."

The Gibson Les Paul, one of the world's most popular electric guitars, was named in honor of Paul.

Les Paul & Mary Ford Show: World Is Waiting For The Sunrise

Thanks to oobleckboy.

Vaya con Dios, Les.

Cheney's New Gambit

Ray McGovern with today's 'must read':

The stenographers of the Fawning Corporate Media (FCM) are missing the most obvious explanation for former Vice President Dick Cheney’s widely reported “disappointment” with former President George W. Bush on the issue of pardons -- self-interest.

What Cheney is “urgently focused” on right now is staying out of prison. As he sits writing his memoir in his own Eagle’s Nest over his garage in a fancy Virginia suburb, Cheney is pulling out all the stops to ensure that he does not have to face the music for war crimes.

For Cheney, there apparently will be no trips to Paris? No, that’s where Rumsfeld almost got arrested two years ago. After a war-crimes complaint was lodged, he had to go out the back door of the embassy and dart to the airport for the first flight back to the U.S., before the Paris magistrate decided whether or not to detain him.

I do think that Hayes, the pundits for Time and Gellman have it right when they say that Cheney is angry with George W. Bush, but they are disingenuous about the reason why. They must have figured out that when Cheney vents his anger at Bush’s failure to pardon Libby, the ex-Vice President is really livid that Bush did not issue a blanket pardon for Cheney and other co-conspirators.

Cheney had every reason to expect the pardon (excusing crimes such as torture and launching an aggressive war by deceiving Congress), given that he seems to have engaged in those crimes with his boss’ full knowledge and encouragement.

But when Cheney accuses Bush of abandoning “an innocent man” who had served the President loyally; when Cheney excoriates anyone who would “sacrifice the guy who was asked to stick his head in the meat grinder” — he appears to be talking about himself as much as Libby.

It is such an obvious allegory, a classic example of self-pity masquerading as altruism; and the pundits don’t get it — or, more likely, pretend not to.

My sense is that Cheney is feeling abandoned; that he senses the real danger of being brought to justice; and that he is waging a series of pre-emptive strikes to head that off.

Reading recently about the post-WWII Nuremberg Tribunal, I was reminded that it was the film of Nazi concentration camps that wiped the arrogant smirks off the faces of senior Nazi officials, defendants like Hermann Goering and Rudolf Hess.

Bulldozers pushing corpses into open pits, bodies stacked like cordwood — the films of such atrocities had devastating effect. According to one witness, “Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel sat there, bent over and broken, mopping his lined face with a soggy ball of handkerchief.” The smirks never came back.

Cheney and his associates have got to be prepared for something similar, even though they were not vanquished in war. They probably consider the chances slight that they would be brought to an international court, even though Chief U.S. prosecutor, Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, pointedly warned at Nuremberg:

“…the ultimate step in avoiding periodic wars, which are inevitable in a system of international lawlessness, is to make statesmen responsible to the law. And … while this law is first applied against German aggressors, the law includes, and if it is to serve a useful purpose it must condemn aggression by any other nations, including those which sit here now in judgment.”

As for violations of U.S. law, the list is long. Interestingly, two of the three Articles of Impeachment against Richard Nixon approved by the House Judiciary Committee on July 27, 29 and 30, 1974, were based, in part, on misusing the CIA.

The bottom line for Cheney is this: Too much has gone wrong, and Cheney cannot afford to take any chances that there will not be more cracks in the wall protecting Bush-era secrets.

The good news, as far as Cheney is concerned, can be seen in the clear signs that neither Obama nor Holder have any stomach for holding Cheney to account — and still less for holding Bush accountable.

Obama and Holder sometimes appear so eager to prove themselves to the Washington Establishment that they protect Bush-Cheney secrets even when a disclosure would serve an important national security goal.

So, Cheney appears to be pursuing a new strategy of pre-emption. His most obvious tactic is to tie his actions on torture tightly to Bush. On May 10 when Bob Schieffer asked Cheney how much Bush knew about the “enhanced interrogation techniques," the former Vice President stated clearly, if redundantly:

“I certainly, yes, have every reason to believe he knew — he knew a great deal about the program. He basically authorized it. I mean, this was a presidential-level decision. And the decision went to the President. He signed off on it.”

Cheney was certainly eager to answer the question. The idea, of course, would be to juice the jitters he already perceives at senior levels of the Obama administration, and to make it clear that no one will take Cheney down alone; i.e., without Bush right beside him (my em).

Great article and you should go read the rest. Here's the money shot:

In Cheney's view, this image of a former President in the dock is sure to deter dithering lawyers and politicos at the top of the White House and Justice Department, who are more interested in sniffing the political winds than in enforcing the rule of law.

My worst fear is that Cheney may be right.

Until we get an AG and, yes, a President, who pay more than lip service to 'rule of law' and are willing to apply it to those who were at the very top of the Bush & Cheney criminal enterprise, he may just be right at that.

Note to MSNBC: Please Give Lawrence O’Donnell His Own Show

Pensito Review, with video.

Substituting for Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s “Hardball” yesterday, Lawrence O’Donnell was at the top of his game during an interview about Republican opposition to health-care reform with Rep. John Culbertson (R-Texas). O’Donnell exposed the Republicans’ hypocritical opposition to the government option because it is “socialism” while insisting they support the equally socialist Medicare program. He also called Culbertson on his party’s lies over “death panels” and the rest. It was a joy to watch:

He is one of the best of the substitute hosts on MSNBC, and certainly ought to be given his own show, perhaps in the hour before the “Ed Show” — and, what the heck, maybe MSBNC could have at least one show that is anchored from Los Angeles, which is not only where O’Donnell lives but also home of a huge segment of the network’s audience.

Mr. O'Donnell is very knowledgeable and has stones the size of basketballs. I always enjoy watching him and I agree that he should have his own show but I doubt he would be willing to take the cut in pay.

Quote of the Day

Steven C. Day of The Last Chance Democracy Cafe follows up on Fixer's post:

This has gone far beyond pathetic and all the way to pathological. Establishment Democrats have become so terrified of being painted as liberals, they continue to rub their most dependable supporters' faces in it even though doing so may well lead them to defeat.

It's really that simple: Democrats have become too scared of losing to win.

There is nothing I can add to that.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

U.S. Tops 153 Other Countries in Health Care
Only France, Italy, San Marino, Andorra, Malta, Singapore, Spain, Oman, Austria, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Monaco, Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, Colombia, Sweden, Cyprus, Germany, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Morocco, Canada, Finland, Australia, Chile, Denmark, Dominica, Costa Rica rate higher.

Swiss Bank Reveals Names of Americans Hiding Money There
To see if you’re on the list, go to www.ofcourseyourenotonthelist.com.

GM: New Chevy Volt Gets 230 MPG
In test drive from top of Pike’s Peak to Denver.

House Leaders Ditch Plans To Buy VIP Passenger Jets
Item stricken from budget to trim spending, prioritize limited resources, and because public found out about it.

Bring 'Em Home Now!

[A big welcome to Crooks and Liars readers. - F.]

This is what U.S. Marines do when they get bored in Iraq...

See the sequel, "Iraqi Jackass Number Two" from Butthungryassclown.

Thanks to puppet601.

Clark AFB gone, sex trade, er, limps on...

LATimes

Fields Avenue, the main pedestrian drag in Angeles City, is a legacy of the time when this row of run-down bars was the romping ground of restless young American airmen stationed at Clark Air Base.

A thriving sex tourism trade attracts foreign customers by the thousands in search of something they cannot find back home: girls young enough to be their granddaughters selling sex for the price of a burger and fries.

I bet a lot of 'em tried this on their granddaughters, but the girls just ate the burgers and fries and went on home. Heh.

Once populated by men in their early 20s who started each day with 100 push-ups, the place is now home to older men who need help pushing themselves out of bed in the morning.

The Air Force does pushups? Do tell!

Suddenly, a group of twentysomething men storms past, laughing and arm-punching. The news spreads and girls pop their heads out the doorways to catch a glimpse of boys their own age.

One calls after them with a deal she hopes they can't refuse:

"Free!" she says, laughing.

Heh. These gals deserve to have some FUN once in a while. With the young guys they can at least pass on the three-quarters of their work which is the, er, fluffing part.

There may be very little truth to the rumor I am starting here that many of the girls have been spotted with signs reading "Fixah, come back!"

Cheney Volunteers For Death Panel

CLG

BUNKER HILL, Wyoming - (PTSD News) - Once a fierce opponent to health care reform, former Vice President [sic] Dick Cheney made a surprise announcement that he now fully supports President Barack Obama's vision of health care. "When I learned that under Obama's health care bill there was going to be a death panel," Cheney said, "I realized that the president had finally gotten it right."

"In fact," Cheney continued, "after researching candidates to head the panel, I have nominated myself to be the death panel chairman." Cheney said that when it comes to experience, "who better than he to go the the dark side if necessary to carry out the elimination of unnecessary people?"

Cheney explained there would be huge savings to health care if old people were eliminated. "So much of our American tax dollars are wasted on the elderly who are going to die soon anyway," Cheney said. "I just can't wait to start passing judgment on some of those aging Woodstock hippies."

More.

What's wrong with this picture?

F** Noise could fuck up a junkyard with a rubber hammer, that's what. Their viewers don't know or care as long as they are sufficiently wingtardinous.



A tip o' the Brain to The Political Carnival.

Saturday Fantasy Biker Chick Music Blogging

Rare footage of when me 'n Mrs. G met...a lively tune as well.

In this completely unexpected source, a man from tribal Madhya Pradesh (India) sings about his fantasy woman riding a motorcycle.

Hey, don't we all?

Thanks to vm4202, India.

Bitten!

It's not hard to fall in love with Paris. It's been 4 years since the Mrs. and I visited. Too long.

Dick Cheney rolls in his grave

Yeah, it got my hopes up too, damn you Morford! A 'recommended read'. Belay that. A 'must read'.

Of course, he's not actually dead. He just wishes you were

(Author note: From here on out, the phrase "Dick Cheney" shall hereby refer not merely to the former vice-president himself, but also to the sour, clenched worldview he so perfectly encapsulated and still so lovingly represents.

Dick Cheney is a lexical wonder. He can be a violent action verb: "Dude I just Dick Cheney'd that squirrel with my F-150." He is a dark intention: "Let's pull a Dick Cheney on that queer kid in the locker room." He is, most of all, a state of being, a mindset, a fixed position of general disgust. "Sorry lady, I can't save you from this burning building. I'm far too Dick Cheney to give a damn." Clear? Excellent. Let's continue).

Who the hell wants to be known for demonstrating peaceful, effective humanitarianism and calm diplomacy, and saving human lives if it makes us look like a bunch of weak-kneed pansies? Where is the glory? Where's the firepower? Image is everything. Strut the plumage. Carry the biggest stick. In Cheneyland, sneering intimidation is not only useful, it's vital. There is nothing else.

Or maybe not. Maybe the Obama Way is already turning out to be far more effective, more subtle and intriguing, and much more in America's favor, as tyrannical psychopaths like Kim Jong Il are stupefied into compliance by even the pretense of being taken seriously by the Great Satan, and sane world leaders across the globe finally see a country they can deal with intelligently on pressing matters instead of merely joining them at the gun range to blast stuff to hell.

You might say Dick is not pleased. In fact, Dick Cheney -- and the entire hawkish, antagonistic worldview he embodies -- is downright furious at this country's dangerous new direction. Which, in its way, just might be the best news I've heard all year.

Yep.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

An old favorite from more years ago than I care to remember.

Emmylou Harris ~ Making Believe

Thanks to benbruch, Netherlands.

Go away, kid ...

Kids generally annoy me until they get into their later teen years. Then I can be a bad influence without having too much guilt. Heh ... This kid is great.

Let's keep the Death Panels simple

From: Death Panel Czar Gordon

To: All employees

Hi Gang,

Let's keep this simple. I propose two rules:

1) We'll only euthanize old right wingers, and

2) We'll sterilize the rest of 'em.

A simple phrase to remember the rules: "Off the old and cut off the rest!"

Be happy in your work!

There may be a program to convince the 'tards that there is, in fact, an all-seeing, all-knowing, omnipotent Progressive God, as opposed to the Asshole they have long professed belief in, who will let them live if they confess their sins, repent, and STFU. I'm still ponderin' that one. Might be too much trouble for too little gain.

Update:

Due to the inescapable fact that the best ideas sometimes come hours after the post, the merciful (to us) euthanization/sterilization program will henceforth be known as "Operation Snuff 'n Snip".

Republican Death Trip

Paul Krugman

Some of us were skeptical. A couple of months after Mr. Obama gave that speech, I warned that his vision of a “different kind of politics” was a vain hope, that any Democrat who made it to the White House would face “an unending procession of wild charges and fake scandals, dutifully given credence by major media organizations that somehow can’t bring themselves to declare the accusations unequivocally false.”

So, how’s it going?

Sure enough, President Obama is now facing the same kind of opposition that President Bill Clinton had to deal with: an enraged right that denies the legitimacy of his presidency, that eagerly seizes on every wild rumor manufactured by the right-wing media complex.

This opposition cannot be appeased. Some pundits claim that Mr. Obama has polarized the country by following too liberal an agenda. But the truth is that the attacks on the president have no relationship to anything he is actually doing or proposing.

So much, then, for Mr. Obama’s dream of moving beyond divisive politics. The truth is that the factors that made politics so ugly in the Clinton years — the paranoia of a significant minority of Americans and the cynical willingness of leading Republicans to cater to that paranoia — are as strong as ever. In fact, the situation may be even worse than it was in the 1990s because the collapse of the Bush administration has left the G.O.P. with no real leaders other than Rush Limbaugh.

The question now is how Mr. Obama will deal with the death of his postpartisan dream.

What’s still missing, however, is a sense of passion and outrage — passion for the goal of ensuring that every American gets the health care he or she needs, outrage at the lies and fear-mongering that are being used to block that goal.

He's right. Barry, if you're ever going to get fist-shakin', preacher-shoutin', stack-blowin', cringe-inducin' angry about anything, now's the time. Go find a Marine Gunny to show you how to do it.

Re the title of Mr. Krugman's article and this post: I hope it's a short trip. We could all use some peace and quiet.

The main difference between...

...lefties and conservatards.

The Truth Will Not Out, on Its Own

Robert Parry has today's 'must read' about massive right-wing fearmongering and lies.

The right-wing fury at town hall meetings over health care and the Republican obstruction of any serious reform in Washington are not just symptoms of a complex debate on an issue packed with powerful special interests; it is a test of whether reality matters in the United States.

There is a direct lineage from the Iraq War hysteria to the current madness surrounding the health-care fight. In both cases, the hysteria was stoked by leading Republicans and their right-wing media allies. Both involved disseminating farfetched, nightmare scenarios to a gullible (if not paranoid) segment of the population, which was then whipped into a frenzy that spilled over into intimidation and silencing voices of disagreement.

Some rational Americans, it seems, have their own erroneous beliefs that justify inaction. Over the years, I’ve often heard the hopeful slogans that “the truth will out” or that “the pendulum will swing back,” when the reality is that there are no automatic mechanisms for stopping lies and distortions.

Truth is a battle, much as democracy is. Bringing truth to light requires resources and infrastructure, as well as personal honesty and courage. That is especially true when the other side in the battle has opted for a strategy of falsehoods and exaggerations – and has assembled both powerful artillery and well-trained mercenaries to carry out what it calls “information warfare.”

Every word could be a quote. Go.

A question ...

Can Dick Cheney's book be used as evidence against him? I mean, from what's leaked out already, he basically admits to usurping the power of the presidency, for the Chimp's first term at the least. Maru:

...

A bitter Dick Cheney still can’t believe Bunnypants found the stones to ignore his orders… uhhhh, advice during their second term in the White House, saying the little dumbass showed a "surprising independence" near the end, especially when he fired Rumsfeld, when he refused to pardon Cheney BFF Scooter Libby, and when he refused to bomb the bejeebus out of Iran and North Korea or torture Democrats.

...

I still can't believe we actually survived the past 8 years. Off to work ...

Just STFU ...

I'm so sick of this health care 'debate'. The people who yell loudest about the issues have no clue (or worse, are paid shills for the insurance industry) and yet they're given a forum and credibility. The seniors, those who will be affected least by any reform, allow themselves to be scared into apoplexy instead of finding the facts for themselves. Our pal PC has a good idea for those who want "government to keep their hands of my Medicare".

...

And various old farts who have been enjoying the Socialistic, Government-run and funded Medicare for a good part of their worthless lives, are out in force screaming and yelling and acting like idiots and making the rest of us old farts look bad.

Hey, lookit, you ignorami: If you're THAT het-up about Socialism, get off Medicare! Find someone willing to insure you and pay for it out of your own fucking pockets. The rest of us will take your place. I'd be happy for some government-run and funded Medicare. Die already, you worthless, oxygen-stealing sacks of shit, instead of embarrassing the rest of us who might be in your age demographic. Jesus fucking J.H. Christ, what a worthless lot of louts.

...

A cornucopia of links over there with a great Cheezburger pic too.

This whole 'controversy' has been an obvious ginned-up fake to begin with and it really surprised me (though after blogging for 5 years it shouldn't have) how many people swallowed the craziness, hook, line, and sinker. How many people allowed themselves to become terrified over rumor and outright lies? It's disgusting and ridiculous.

I don't have much hope for whatever ends up being called reform after all this horseshit being spread so deeply. The next time somebody wants to reform something, I suggest they try the campaign financing system or the news media. If it weren't for the corporate apologists in the media and the bought-and-paid-for politicians, this country might just have a chance. I have a bad feeling the corporate/political system is too entrenched to be changed by anything short of cataclysm.

Marijuana, gateway drug to Jesus

Mark Morford

Does pot lead to total enlightenment? Rehab? Scientology? Let's find out!

Just...go.

Update:

Link is fixed. Sorry 'bout that.

The Missed Opportunity

The Rude Pundit in a post about the town hall screamers:

Now, follow the bouncing ball: Another miscalculation by the Obama administration was in not seeing the political value of investigating and prosecuting Bush administration officials, including Dick Cheney. See, having the Justice Department under Eric Holder threatening to arrest and drag off the ex-VP and others would have been the perfect shiny object for the right wing. Who has time (or as much time) to argue about whether or not Obama wants to kill Granny if he's wanting to jail Alberto Gonzales? Let people protest and let Rush Limbaugh pop like a diseased pimple over it while Glenn Beck weeps that he's next. Hey, Obama has no control, really, if Justice wants to go ahead, right? And think of what it would have forced Republicans to do: state whether or not they support the actions of the Bush administration, the presidency they dare not speak of because it reminds people of what they're actually angry about. Yes, such action against the Bush White House would have been a distraction, but in a good way. The other thing it would have done is to ameliorate the rage of much of the nation, the gnawing sense that "they got away with it."

Exactly.

ZOMG!!!!!1!!!

The Obamas really are alien reptile human impostors!!!!11!!!1 That must mean the Vogons are going to destroy the Earth to make way for an interstellar bypass! I hope Captain Picard arrives in the nick of time to save us!!!!!!

The stupid really does burn ...

Sense ...

POP's got it:

I suggest they cancel these town hall meetings all together. They are nothing more than a stage for birthers, deathers, and tea baggers to grandstand.

Nothing of importance is happening at these meetings and a quick phone call to a representative or senator would probably garner more information on health care reform than spending three hours at one of these meetings.

...

They've turned into a fucking joke. If you want to see the equivalent, just watch one of the cable 'news' talking head shows. The 'town hall meetings' have turned into nothing but screechfests.

Update:

So does Res Ipsa:

If I were a member of Congress on August recess I wouldn't waste my time on this "Town Hall" nonsense. Who started the modern day version of town halls, anyway? I know they're part of our long and glorious history, but they don't work in an era of lunatics who think the government is going to ration their toilet paper after murdering their grandma at the behest of a "Death Panel comprised of Bill Ayers, the Reverend Wright, and the Black Panthers.

...

Death Panels ...

No money ... no life support.

Update:

More here.

Trust me, it would be better if government took over everything regarding health insurance/care.

So that's where 'batshit crazy' comes from...

Great illustration for Fixer's post!

Click to embiggen

Pakistan police book former President Musharraf

Apparently, 'book' doesn't mean the same thing there as it does here.

AFP via Raw Story

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan Tuesday registered a criminal case against Pervez Musharraf, a precursor to potentially putting the ex-president on trial over his 2007 detention of judges as he attempted to cling to power.

Musharraf imposed a state of emergency and sacked about 60 judges on November 3, 2007 when the supreme court appeared poised to declare him ineligible to contest a presidential election while in military uniform.

On a plea filed by lawyer Mohammad Aslam Ghuman, Islamabad district and sessions judge Mohammad Akmal directed police to register a case against Musharraf, who is currently in Europe.

Gee, why can't we do that here? Here's the paragraph I'd like to see:

"On a plea filed by law firm Gonif, Swindle, and Finagle, a federal judge directed police to register a case against Bush and Cheney, who are currently in Texas and Washington D.C."

Book 'em, Danno. Ah, to dream...

German Jews back campaign to reprint 'Mein Kampf'

Haaretz

German academics who have been engaged for years in a campaign calling
for the reprinting of an annotated version of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" ("My Struggle") received support from an unlikely source. The Central Council of Jews in Germany expressed its support for reissuing the book, whose production has been banned in the country since the end of World War II.

Stephan Kramer, the council's general secretary, called for publishing the book in an academic format so that the next generation of Germans could learn about the Nazi ideology. "A historically critical edition [of the book] needs to be prepared today to prevent neo-Nazis from profiting from it,"...[...]

German neo-Nazis can read? Imagine that! Ours barely know how to turn on their AM radios or F** Noise to get their marching orders.

Marines assault Taliban town in Afghanistan

Yahoo!News

DAHANEH, Afghanistan – Helicopter-borne U.S. Marines backed by Harrier jets stormed a Taliban-held town in southern Afghanistan before dawn Wednesday, the launch of a new operation to uproot Taliban fighters from a longtime base and provide security for next week's presidential election.

The Taliban put up such fierce resistance that Marines said they suspected the militants knew the assault was coming.

The Japanese knew they were coming at Iwo Jima too. In the end, it didn't help there either.

Other Marines met heavy resistance as they fought to seize control of the mountains surrounding Dahaneh in the southern province of Helmand. Another convoy of Marines rolled into the town despite roadside bomb attacks and gunfire.

Note to the AP correspondent - 'heavy resistance...Marines rolled into the town despite roadside bomb attacks and gunfire'

Jesus Christ, lady, just exactly what is it you think Marines do? If there's one thing Marines understand, it's that you gotta bring some to get some, and they bring a lot to any party they attend.

Go read, and click 'play video'. There are several.

The larger political picture be damned when my Marines are on the assault. Get some, lads. Bring some serious smoke on the Taliban's ass.

Semper Fi.

The Heart of the Matter: Racism

Mark Karlin

Ever since the Nixon Southern Strategy, race has been the seedy, reprehensible political card played by the GOP whenever they need to win in a tight spot.

So it is now, as they try to cripple the Obama presidency by crushing the common good of healthcare for all Americans so corporations can feast and grow fat with profit at the expense of our well being.

Race again is being used as the scapegoat to arouse the hordes that laid dormant through 8 years of Bush tyranny: they would be against anything Obama would do because he is black and represents a symbolic psychological flashpoint of anger to middle and lower class white Christian (males in particular) who thought that they owned America, and that democracy was just for whites.

But what the GOP and its media shills are igniting now may lead to violence in the streets (there have already been several mass shootings committed by wing nuts) or even, God forbid, an assassination. The purpose of the GOP is to castrate Obama's power, a gruesome but apt metaphor for what slave owners did to male blacks who were not obedient.

So the pawns -- the virulent racists are empowered by FOX and Limbaugh and the GOP leadership -- and they are on the loose, this time in Wal-Mart get ups instead of White Sheets.

Go read the rest and the comments.

I guess the best we can hope for is all this bullshit crazytalk blows up in their faces before too many people actually get hurt or killed. Some have already. Let's hope that, like in most instances, when all is said and done, more will have been said than done.

Miers fingers Rove

Raw Story

House Judiciary Committee released thousands of pages of new documents concerning the firing of nine US Attorneys under the Bush Administration — and they heavily implicate the office of onetime Bush adviser Karl Rove.

Moreover, former Bush Supreme Court pick and legal adviser Harriet Miers fingered Rove during her testimony to Congressional investigators.

Nothing we didn't know or at least heavily suspect, but now it's official.

Now to start on locking the sonofabitch up.

Yo, Turdblossom - be glad I wasn't in charge. I'da had her wearing a red dress to finger yer ass.

More at the link, and

The full interview transcripts and documents can be found here.

Update:

More at NYTimes.

230 mpg?

Real good, but who's gonna buy the fucking thing?

General Motors announced on Tuesday morning that its Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric car had delivered a fuel-economy rating of 230 miles a gallon — which sounds outrageous. With that kind of gas mileage, you could practically drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on a single gallon of gas, or for around three bucks.

...

Of course the range on pure electric power is about 40 miles, and then the gas engine kicks in to keep the battery up. That's fine, it's still pretty economical and most people drive less than 50 miles in a day, so driving it should still be inexpensive.

I'd like to know who can afford to buy one with a price tag of $40K?

Ein Volks auto ist 'es nicht.

Honda, Toyota, Ford, and Chevy make hybrids (I'd stick to the Japanese brands if you're in the market) a lot cheaper which are also economical to buy, drive, and repair (something unknown about the Volt). The Chevy Volt is nothing more than a cachet vehicle; something with which the well-to-do can show off their 'greenness'. Hopefully, GM will use the technology to make small sedans in the $12 - $15K range that will be more accessible to the masses. Thing is, as GM has done for the last 30 years, it looks like they've already missed the boat:

...

Team Nissan is referring, of course, to the electric vehicle in the photograph above (and the video below). The LEAF, which will go into production next year – with a tentative release date of 2012 – is expected to be much cheaper than the Volt. How much cheaper? Nissan isn’t saying. Wired, for one, thinks the cute-as-a-button car could come in at $25,000 – some $15K cheaper than the Volt.

...

Toyota has had electric vehicles for the better part of the decade and Honda is also producing their own version. It's probably a safe bet the Japanese will do them better.

And if you do want to spend a lot for an electric, Herr Daimler has a car for you:

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Daimler plans to roll out a Mercedes-Benz model that runs on electricity in 2010, its chief executive said in a newspaper interview.

"We plan an electric Smart for 2010 and for the same year a Mercedes (electric) model as well," Dieter Zetsche told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in comments to be published in the Saturday edition.

Daimler currently has in London a fleet of 100 first-generation Smart cars that run on electricity.

...

I'm sorry to say, as reports have claimed, that if GM has staked its survival to the Volt, there won't be many sunny days ahead.

Cross-posted at F&G.

Quote of the Day

Ol' Fez:

Apparently, Sarah Palin's political career did not make it past her "Death Panel".

Heh ...

What the 'teabag', 'birther' twatholes don't get ...

Is that you shouldn't feel so warm and comfy (like you just peed yer pants in a dark suit) if you have some sort of health insurance:

... Plainly, those who have insurance are on thin ice too, every last one of them.

...

No shit. How many can afford their COBRA payments for any amount of time after they're laid off? How many, after they're laid off can find a job that gives them the same level of benefit and coverage? How many will take a job with no benefits at all?

An aside: I worked for a guy once, in a gas station (a Mobil station in Queens), who employed a buncha Indian (Indian-Indian, not American-Indian) guys to cashier in the snack shop and pump gas at the full-serve islands. The prick owner also owned the apartment building where all these guys lived. He paid them little-to-nothing and let them live almost free in a rat hole. They worked 12 hours a day (the gas and snack shop were 24 hour operations), 7 days a week. One of the Indians asked for a shift off one day to go to a family function. The owner basically told him that there were a hundred guys waiting for his job and if he took the day off, he might as well not come back.

The mechanics didn't get benefits, think the Indian guys did? How many 'American' guys are in the same spot now? There are a lot of bastards out there who don't give a shit if you got 5 little kids at home and a 6th on the way. With millions of jobs lost over the past 18 months, do you think folks can afford to pick and choose where they want to work and expect their employer to give them health benefits?

So now, those all happy with their insurance, how long you think it'll last once you lose your job? How fast will you be screaming for a 'public option' when you're on the unemployment line? A job you feel secure in today could be gone tomorrow. Try not to look down your nose at those who are going under because they had the misfortune of getting sick.

I got mine ...

So fuck you. Mr. Philadelphia in toto:

Republican on medicare is worried about government health care because nobody can compete with the government. He does, at least, recognize that Medicare is a government program, he just doesn't think most people should have it as good as he does.

Update:

To wit.

See yas later

I am just so disgusted and fed up with corporate-led and media-enabled wingtard hate, bigotry, and ignorance that I am taking the day off.

And you wonder ...

Why I'm cynical about anything worthwhile emerging from the 'health care debate'?

I'm no fan of Chuck Schumer ...

But Oliver Willis is correct:

... Schumer is progressive, aggressive, has no fear of losing his seat to a wingnut, and knows how to operate in the media.

...

He'd be a decent Sentate Majority Leader. Show Harry Reid the door.

Quote of the Day

Josh Marshall:

Once you thoroughly unfasten yourself from reality, truly all things are possible.

...

I lost my grip once for a few years. I can't understand how people would actually want to live their entire lives in that state.

Link thanks to Watertiger.

More on Sibel's testimony

Here's a little follow-up on Fixer's post.

Thanks to VRAdmin.

More Sibel Edmonds videos here.

Also, National Whistleblowers Center.

"Mom, what's a blow job?"

Something a little different. The clip below is the most work-safe one I could find from the Joan Rivers Roast last night on Comedy Central. Many, many more.

From her wiki, I discovered she's a Russian Jew from New York. Imagine that! (wink)

I remember Joan from her early days at Marshall Edson's Ye Little Club. I was too young to go inside and couldn't have afforded a drink in that joint anyway, but I could hear the laughter from the sidewalk. There wasn't much to do in Beverly Hills.

From HuffPo:

Actress and comedy writer Whitney Cummings took it from there, saying Joan looks like David Spade after a grease fire,

Roast of Joan Rivers	Sun, Aug 9 10pm / 9c
Melissa Rivers
www.comedycentral.com
Live Twitter Roast Roast Master Kathy Griffin Zombie Paparazzi Game

Froomkin's New Home

Canned for telling the truth at a major newspaper, Dan Froomkin has found a new gig.

As for me, this is the first of many posts in my new capacity as Washington bureau chief for the Huffington Post. Starting today, I hope to write fairly often - but that won't be my main job anymore. I'll also be working with a team of reporters who are redefining how Washington should be covered.

We'll be putting a premium on accountability journalism, focusing relentlessly on the corrupting effect of lobbyists and money on our government, and calling out those people in the national discourse who traffic in misinformation and know-nothingism rather than argue in good faith.

It's an opportunity to directly encourage and shape the kind of journalism that, in my previous incarnation, I occasionally championed - but more often yearned for.

Wish us luck. Follow our work. Come back often. I'm glad to be here.

I'm glad you're there too. Best of luck, bud. We'll be watching.

Fuck You, Sarah Palin, Just...Fuck You

El Rude-o on Moosebreath's "death panel" statement:

The only possible response? "Hey, quitter, fuck you." And, then, as if to demonstrate said "fuck you," the Rude Pundit offers the following:

From the Columbus, Ohio TV station WBNS, here's a story about Margaret Druko, a woman with a four and a half year-old child with Down's Syndrome. Druko had to quit her job because child care centers wouldn't take her daughter. The only insurance she could get was for catastrophic care at $5000 a month. "Margaret said insurance companies told her Emily was considered a death risk. Without health insurance Margaret couldn't afford to pay for Emily to continue with her physical and occupational therapy. The Druko's go without medication for themselves because it's just too costly." The final fuck-you-Sarah? That story is from two weeks before Palin made her statement.

Or, in other words, ex-Governor, the death panel is there. It's called "the profit margin." Indeed, if the Grukos were a bit poorer, they'd qualify for government-run health care. Which would ensure that their daughter gets the care she needs. Denial of private insurance coverage because of Down's syndrome is unsurprisingly common. That's called "rationing."

Or, in otherer words, ex-Governor, now that you're out of a job, and by the time your COBRA runs out, and you're applying for new health insurance policies, Trig better hope that pre-existing conditions clauses or excessive risk denials don't bite his mom on her lying ass.

If all her lies and general bullshit bite her on the ass all at once, it'll be like the biker who put 'Odor Eaters' in his boots - all they found of him was his Buck knife and belt buckle.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Stimulus: $2.4 Billion to Make Cars Greener
Earl Scheib announces 10,000 job openings.

Paula Abdul Quits “American Idol”
Exit could signal presidential run.

Procter & Gamble in Deal with NFL
Cover Girl named official eyeshadow of Pittsburgh Steelers.

CORRECTION

Responding to the Senate Finance Committee’s desire not to rush the drafting of health care legislation, we quoted Barack Obama saying, “Millions do not now have protection or security against the economic effects of sickness. The time has arrived for action to help them attain that opportunity and that protection.” In fact, the quote comes from a speech by Harry S. Truman on November 19, 1945.

Sibel Edmonds testifies ...

The back story is long and has been going on for years, interwoven with the Valerie Plame case, and Edmonds has been gagged by a 'State Secrets' order imposed by the Bush administration. She testified at the National Whistleblowers Center this weekend and Brad has been on it since the beginning. You know you won't hear any of this on CNN; maybe Olbermann and Maddow might mention it, so you owe it to yourself to read Brad's live blog of the event.

...

From my opinion, if I'm some of the current members of Congress, I'd be very very worried about the information that's going to come out of this. There are current members of Congress that she has implicated in bribery, espionage. It's not good. It's crazy, it's absolutely crazy. For people in power situations in the United States, who know about this information, if they don't take action against it, in my opinion, it's negligence.

[Which current members have been implicated?]

...

You know they'll do their best to cover all of it up. You. Must. Read. The. Whole. Thing.

"... Linda Lovelace without the talent."

Our pal D-cap is one of the best bloggers around (in league with the great Driftglass) and I can read his writing all day. This time he takes on the 'Palin Fan Club' with sexual analogies that make his point so very well:

...

Even worse than the idolization of Sarah Lovelace is the fact that the so-called "fourth estate" – there to protect the public from lies and deception - has barely made a whimper about her saying Obama will murder her child or about the other lunatics on the right who claim Obama is going to euthanize granny. For politicians and insane cable hosts - if there is no negative consequence for their irresponsible behavior and incendiary speech, you betcha there will be a lot more of it – and a lot more of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck. What passes as journalism today is nothing short of dildo party.

...

Why bother?

Reporting from Washington -- U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. is poised to appoint a criminal prosecutor to investigate alleged CIA abuses committed during the interrogation of terrorism suspects, current and former U.S. government officials said.

A senior Justice Department official said that Holder envisioned an inquiry that would be narrow in scope, focusing on "whether people went beyond the techniques that were authorized" in Bush administration memos that liberally interpreted anti-torture laws. [my em]

...

If you're gonna do it, go all the way. If you're gonna do it half-assed, don't even bother. It was the interpretation of the laws that was criminal in the first place. Everything else flows from that.

Marine Corps Rap

These guys seem to be in good spirits, but I'm not sure whether we need to bring them home now to prevent further brain damage or to leave them overseas (NOT in Iraq!) for the rest of their thirty years and let the brain damage run its course where the rest of us can be safe from it...

Run-DMC ~ It's Tricky

Thanks to stingdar.

Quote of the Day

Avedon:

...

Now, at this juncture, we expect the Republicans and the Villagers to do this crap, but I really wish I could smack those lefty bloggers who went along with the idea that it was over-the-top to compare the Bush regime with the Nazis, because they helped make it even easier for the little fascists to do what they did then and do what they're doing now. [my em]

We're stupid ...

U - S - A! U - S - A! I've been saying it for years, stupid has become chic over the past decade. Bill Maher thinks so too:

...

I'm the bad guy for saying it's a stupid country, yet polls show that a majority of Americans cannot name a single branch of government, or explain what the Bill of Rights is. 24% could not name the country America fought in the Revolutionary War. More than two-thirds of Americans don't know what's in Roe v. Wade. Two-thirds don't know what the Food and Drug Administration does. Some of this stuff you should be able to pick up simply by being alive. You know, like the way the Slumdog kid knew about cricket.

Not here. Nearly half of Americans don't know that states have two senators and more than half can't name their congressman. And among Republican governors, only 30% got their wife's name right on the first try.

Sarah Palin says she would never apologize for America. Even though a Gallup poll says 18% of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth. No, they're not stupid. They're interplanetary mavericks. A third of Republicans believe Obama is not a citizen, and a third of Democrats believe that George Bush had prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks, which is an absurd sentence because it contains the words "Bush" and "knowledge."

...

It's always been amazing to me that people pay more attention to soap operas and the other drivel on TV (almost everything) than they do to the workings of the government. The annoying part is they feel free to spout their uninformed bullshit to the rest of us (and that they're allowed to vote).

...

And these are the idiots we want to weigh in on the minutia of health care policy? ...

And the big problem is that we give morons the same credibility we give those who know what they're talking about. We are stupid, and it's the corporate criminals who (face it, they run everything) exploit it for personal gain. Collectively, we deserve everything we get if we're dumb enough to let them brainwash us into complicity.

Cynic that I am, I get the feeling we've already passed the proverbial 'point of no return'. The 'American IQ' has fallen too far to work our way out of the mess we let the last Moron-in-Chief get us into. The 'teabaggers' and 'birthers' are just the latest example of 'American Stupid' in action. And you wonder why so many people fall for African email scams?