At a recent town hall meeting, a man stood up and told Representative Bob Inglis to “keep your government hands off my Medicare.” The congressman, a Republican from South Carolina, tried to explain that Medicare is already a government program — but the voter, Mr. Inglis said, “wasn’t having any of it.”
It’s a funny story — but it illustrates the extent to which health reform must climb a wall of misinformation. It’s not just that many Americans don’t understand what President Obama is proposing; many people don’t understand the way American health care works right now. They don’t understand, in particular, that getting the government involved in health care wouldn’t be a radical step: the government is already deeply involved, even in private insurance.
And that government involvement is the only reason our system works at all.
Posted by Len on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 3:46 pm CT in Politics, Republicans
The following is an actual comment left on the post prior to this one. It is a perfect example of the type of fear-driven campaign the right wing Republicans and their bosses in the big money insurance industry have chosen to run against the Democratic plan for health insurance reform…
Other things you’ll get:
- Healthcare rationing
- End of life therapy
- Higher taxes
- Lower cancer survivor rates
- Left out of the decisions
- Loss of privacy in medical records
- Unqualified doctors (who will waste time in med school if the g’ment is dictating (yes dictating) how they can help people
- A longer wait to see the doctor for a cold
- “pain killers” when you need a pacemaker
ad nauseum
Ain’t none of that stuff gonna happen, folks. The right wing of the Republican party has gotten this fear mongering business down to a science. Remember those WMDs in Iraq and those mushroom clouds that were going to appear over America’s biggest cities within 45 minutes? Those weren’t real, either.
Don’t fall for the Republican/big money insurance company line this time around, people. Show them you’re smarter than they think you are. Let them know that you are not going to let them run our country into the ground. Above all, let your Senators and Representatives know that you expect them to do the job for which you hired them. Explain to them that you expect them to look out for your interests and not the interests of the selfish and self-centered insurance executives and their minions/servants in the Republican party.
Enough is enough. We voted for change last November. We want change. Let our representatives in D.C. know that if they won’t deliver the change we voted for, we will replace them with someone who will.
I am not a huge Conan O’Brien fan and likely would never have seen the following clip had it not received so much praise online throughout the day today. I just thought I’d share it in the event you have not yet had the chance to see it. It is, as many have pointed out, genius.
Ladies and gentlemen, William Shatner does Sarah Palin’s farewell speech in a way that (almost) makes it make sense…
Bet you can’t watch it just once.
P.S. I thought Shatner was brilliant as Denny Crane. Much better than his James T. Kirk. In my opinion.
(Click here if you are unable to view Hulu video.)
Posted by Len on Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 2:24 pm CT in Politics, Republicans
“We eat, therefore we hunt.”
Did you happen to catch Barracuda “Always The Victim” Barbie’s farewell performance yesterday? One certainly cannot blame you if you didn’t. The lady is nuts. (I’m sorry if anybody is offended by that statement, but sometimes you just have to tell it like it is.)
Here are some highlights from Mrs. Palin’s farewell address to the state of Alaska:
Alan Colmes bit the bullet and watched the whole fiasco. You can read his excellent review here.
Posted by Len on Saturday, July 25th, 2009 at 3:06 pm CT in Politics
From the White House weblog:
The President discusses a key factor that has been considered in the development of the health insurance reform proposals that are being considered: the impact of reform on small business.
“Now I know there are those who are urging us to delay reform. And some of them have actually admitted that this is a tactic designed to stop any reform at all. Some have even suggested that, regardless of its merits, health care reform should be stopped as a way to inflict political damage on my Administration. I’ll leave it to them to explain that to the American people.
“What I’m concerned about is the damage that’s being done right now to the health of our families, the success of our businesses, and the long-term fiscal stability of our government.”
Watch the video of the President’s address below or read the full text, as prepared for delivery, after the break.
Click below to listen to the audio only:
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Posted by Len on Friday, July 24th, 2009 at 3:22 pm CT in Politics
Henry Gates
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past two days you know all about the altercation that recently occurred between Harvard professor Henry Gates and the Cambridge, Massachusetts Police Department. In his press conference Wednesday evening, President Obama stated that he thought the Cambridge police had “acted stupidly” (his words) in arresting Professor Gates.
The official police report of the incident may be read here.
The President made an unscheduled appearance in the White House briefing room today in an attempt to explain his statement and his assessment of the situation. Here is video of that appearance:
A transcript is available after the break.
Since this is my blog and my opinion may count for something here, I will just say that I believe the President may have over-stepped and rushed to judgment just a bit in his response Wednesday evening and may still be giving this incident more importance and more credence than it is really due. I do not see this as a race issue, as obviously many do. In my view, this is just a case of a cranky and tired (and perhaps just a bit “full of himself”) old man (though not really that old), who was already upset that he could not get into his home, overreacting to the fact that a neighbor had summoned the police and disrespecting and obstructing the officers in the performance of their duties. He should have been arrested. You and I both know that if we had behaved in the manner that Professor Gates behaved, we would have been arrested and the charges would not have been dropped nearly as quickly.
Posted by Len on Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 6:35 pm CT in Humor, Politics
This is for all you “birthers” out there…
You would think that would put an end to all the nonsense, wouldn’t you? It won’t. There are those who will persist in making fools of themselves. They always do. (See previous post.)
