Better the devil you know than the devil you don't

Paul Krugman on the health care bill. A 'must read':

It’s not the bill progressives hoped for. But it’s the bill that can pass, now.

And here’s what happens if a bill isn’t passed now: Democrats lose seats — maybe a lot of seats — in the 2010 midterms. A weakened President Obama wins reelection, maybe - but even that isn’t certain. No way he has the votes for another try at health care before 2015. Quite possibly, there isn’t another chance until 2021.

Some people say that we should throw it away and start over; is this what they have in mind? Because that’s the reality of what would happen.

We can come back to this. Progressives can push for bigger subsidies; stronger exchanges; a reinstated public option; stronger cost controls. Some of these things can be done through reconciliation. Having this bill in place will make it easier, not harder, to do these things than having passed nothing.

I’m not happy — this is too flawed a bill for joy — but I am relieved (or will be once I’m sure that Joe Lieberman isn’t going to pull a double-cross). You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you might find you get what you need.

Unfortunately, I think he's right, dammit. Please read it.

I Fought The Law

Nanci Griffith & The Crickets do their old tune made famous by The Bobby Fuller Four. Man, them Crickets got old...

Thanks to 1000Magicians, UK.

California Zephyr

This song was recorded quite a few years ago, but the video is new. Filmed, no doubt, and posted by her husband who goes by garrufat. Ms. McCaslin is on a cross-country tour and they are posting vids every few days of her travels. You can see her in the video.

Old locomotives are like old motorcycles - you can see what makes them work and there's nothing subtle about them.

Mary McCaslin ~ California Zephyr

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

Emmylou on the Beatles song, from a Lowell George Benefit concert in 1979. Poor video quality but thought worth sharing as rare to see Emmylou performing this song live.

Brian Ahern, Emmylou's then husband on guitar.

Emmylou Harris ~ Here, There, And Everywhere

Thanks to 1000Magicians, UK.

Just Shut. The. Fuck. Up ...

To quote Maru: "... the presiding officer, one huge-balled Sen. Al Franken, said no. "Sit down and STFU. Seriously."

Quote of the Day

Oliver Willis:

... On the course of this debate I’ve come to hate the U.S. Senate and if we played under the rules as they are used today, I would still be waiting for civil rights legislation to pass ...

Only England should have a House of Lords.

Basically ...

If you're seeking an abortion in the state of Oklahoma, you're a selfish whore.

Shopping Day

Breakfast at Q's and then Costco. Go hit the blogroll or wait 'til me or Fixer get home (wink). See yas later.

Headline of the Day dos

Todd Palin encourages himself to "get the hell" out of America.

Note to Todd: Build yerself a snow ramp pointed west. Get way the hell back and aim yer champeenship-winnin' snow machine at it and punch it! Maybe you can make it to Russia.

Headline and Quote of the Day

Hugo Chavez: If the climate was a big capitalist bank, you would have already saved it

Oy!

Late for work. Go hit the blogroll or wait until Gordon wakes up. Glad it's Friday ...

It's Miller Time

I think I'm going to relax for a while...

California population growth slowest in more than a decade

Halle-fuckin'-lujah!

LATimes

California's population grew less than 1% in the last year, the slowest growth rate in more than a decade as migration to the state barely kept up with the significant number of people leaving, according to state Department of Finance data released today.

Across the state, natural increases rather than migration accounted for the largest source of population growth. Los Angeles County, for instance, lost more people than it gained through migration but grew slightly to 10.4 million people from July 2008 to July 2009 because births outstripped deaths.

Now if we can just get deaths to outstrip births...

Maybe we can put something spermicidal in such water as we have left.

"...when that great ship went down..."*

I luurves me some cruise ship metaphors!

Thanks to YubaNet.

*Apologies to Titanic.

"California's Sarah Palin"

Oh fucking swell. Just what we need.

Read about it here. Listen to it here.

Beck defends clause counting blacks as three-fifths of a person

Batcrap Crazy Miss Becky has absolutely defined a Constitutional 'strict constructionist' for us: racist.

Raw Story

Glenn Beck offered listeners a rather unique version of U.S. Constitutional history on his radio show Tuesday.

In response to a question from an African-American caller, Beck defended the original "Three-Fifth Clause" in the Constitution, which deemed African-Americans to be "three-fifths of all other persons."

Beck's interpretation of the motives of the Founding Fathers for writing the three-fifths clause is highly curious, as it did ultimately serve as a key Constitutional justification for establishing African-Americans an unequal and thus holding them as slaves.

His assertion that Founding Fathers cleverly designed the clause to set the stage for the abolition of slavery is also a dubious version of history.

This is not the first time that Beck has made controversial comments about the Constitutionality and justifications for slavery.

To paraphrase one of the King Henrys in regard to Thomas Becket, "Will no one rid us of this turbulent racist cretin?"

Headline of the Day Plus

U.N. Officials Say American Offered Plan to Replace Karzai

Mr. Galbraith said in an interview that he discussed but never actively promoted the idea of persuading Mr. Karzai to leave office.

Heh. 'Persuaded' as in the way we persuaded one of our Presidents of the Republic of Vietnam, Ngô Đình Diệm, to leave office?

Hey, whatever works. Maybe it'll work this time...

W**-M*** Cheats Soldiers

Stars and Stripes

WIESBADEN, Germany — Overseas military customers ordering gifts online from certain retailers might get an unpleasant surprise when shipping and handling fees are tacked on at the end of the purchase.

Those same customers might be most surprised to find that retail giant Walmart had the biggest markup.

On a $120 purchase, Walmart.com charged $10.35 to ship to an APO address, compared with $2.10 to a stateside address. For most items, Amazon.com charged the same to ship to an APO address as a stateside address. And Target offered shipping on a $120 purchase to an APO address for less than to a stateside address.

But Earl Small, the postmaster at Wiesbaden Army Airfield, said that the shipping and handling charges have nothing to do with the military postal system or the U.S. Postal Service.
...

According to Small, when companies ship to APO addresses in Europe, the order is shipped to New York, after which the Department of Defense picks up the tab to get the package to an APO address.

On Walmart.com, the company says shipping costs will be higher to APO addresses due to higher transportation costs.

“There is no higher transportation costs,” Small said. “Companies are abusing the system and making a killing.”

Charging deployed service people for costs the taxpayers actually pay. Pretty similar to their stance on health care for their lowest-paid employees.

W**-M*** has a consistent M.O., in the absolute criminal sense, in the pursuit of profit. 'Support the Troops!' by cheating them. It's the American Way.

Senate Unveils CompromiseCare™

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) - The United States Senate today unveiled details of its health care plan, tentatively called CompromiseCare™:

* Under CompromiseCare™, people with no coverage will be allowed to keep their current plan.

* Medicare will be extended to 55-year-olds as soon as they turn 65.

* You will have access to cheap Canadian drugs if you live in Canada.

* States whose names contain vowels will be allowed to opt out of the plan.

* You get to choose which doctor you cannot afford to see.

* You will not have to be pre-certified to qualify for cremation.

* A patient will be considered "pre-existing" if he or she already exists.

* You'll be free to choose between medications and heating fuel.

* Patients can access quality health care if they can prove their name is "Lieberman."

* You will be entitled to natural remedies, such as death.

Olbermann!

His Special Comment (text and video) from last night. Spot on!

...

The "men" of the current moment, have lost to the "mice" of history. They must now not make the defeat worse by passing a hollow shell of a bill just for the sake of a big-stage signing ceremony. This bill, slowly bled to death by the political equivalent of the leeches that were once thought state-of-the-art-medicine, is now little more than a series of microscopically minor tweaks of a system which is the real-life, here-and-now version, of the malarkey of the Town Hallers. The American Insurance Cartel is the Death Panel, and this Senate bill does nothing to destroy it. Nor even to satiate it.

...