Sep 21 2009
Are you one of those who is wondering what the fuss is all about? Frankly, it kind of baffles me too. Here, in four short minutes, is President Obama’s health care plan:
P.S. Remember that President Obama will be the guest on tonight’s Late Show with David Letterman. See “Obama Tells Letterman: I Was Black Before the Election.”
Sep 19 2009
Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) spoke at a Values Voter Summit last Friday night. He was preceded by Carrie Prejean, the young “lady” who was fired as Miss California, and introduced by Tony Perkins, the head honcho at the homophobic Family Research Council.
Mr. Blunt (who wants to be elected to the United States Senate next year) told a joke about monkeys in Washington, D.C. You’ll just have to listen (and decide) for yourself…
Do you believe in the kind of America that Mr. Blunt and his audience believe in?
Please pass this video around, especially to anyone you may know in the state of Missouri. Here is the YouTube link.
P.S. What’s the deal the Republicans and monkeys?
Sep 19 2009
From the White House weblog:
With the next G20 Summit approaching in Pittsburgh, the President goes over the progress in stemming a global economic crisis. He discusses the impact of the Recovery Act, and pledges that “lobbyists for big Wall Street banks” will not prevent real reform for the future, including a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
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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Sep 18 2009
Each week at this time it is our pleasure to present to you the best and brightest political and editorial cartoons published during the week just passed, as determined by our most humble and benevolent editor-in-chief. All you have to do is click on them to make them bigger or to start a manually-controlled slide show (notice the icons that will appear at the bottom of your browser window). Remember, your mileage may vary. Enjoy.
As always, our thanks go to the talented and observant cartoonists who, each week, help us smile through the pain.
Bonus video:
Saturday additions:
Sep 18 2009
Howard Dean was a guest on Keith Olbermann’s show last night. He told us what he thinks of people like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly: “Those kind of people I don’t hang around because they’re not good for the country and they’re not good human beings.”
Watch:
Sep 17 2009
It is high time for the Democrats to realize that bipartisanship is dead. They could hand the Republicans a health care bill written entirely by the Republicans themselves and the Republicans would vote against it. Why? Because it was handed them by Democrats. These attempts by the Democrats to “bring the Republicans into the process” are nothing short of ridiculous. The Republicans do not want to be part of the process. Their leaders Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck have told them so. The sole purpose of the modern Republican party is opposition. Unless they are opposing whatever the Democrats (and most especially President Barack Obama) are proposing, they no longer have reason to draw breath.
David M. Herszenhorn hit the nail squarely on the head in yesterday’s New York Times…
Most Republicans have been deeply unhappy with the Democratic health care proposals so far, and Republicans on the Finance Committee were said to be bracing for two possibilities: a partisan proposal that they were going to oppose, or a bipartisan proposal that they were going to oppose.
Almost. He just needs to remove the word ‘most’ at the beginning of that paragraph and the words ‘on the Finance Committee’ from the middle. Then he needs to change to ‘unhappy’ to ‘opposed’ and… Well, here, let me rewrite it for him…
All Republicans are deeply opposed to the Democratic health care proposals and they are bracing for two possibilities: a partisan proposal that they are going to oppose or a bipartisan proposal that they are going to oppose.
There, that’s better.
The Democrats do not need the support of the Republicans to give Americans the health care reform that they so desperately need, and that is a good thing because they are not going to get it. Hopefully, the Democratic leadership (and President Obama) have by now come to that realization. It simply does not matter how many compromises they offer or on how many points they cave, the Democrats are not going to win one single Republican vote.
It is time for the Democrats to write the health care bill they want, pass it and have it signed into law by the duly elected President of the United States. They then need to move on and tend to other business. The Republicans have held the country back long enough. If our Republican friends want to act like petulant children, it is time to start treating like petulant children. Send them to their rooms while the adults take care of business.
Sep 16 2009
This will mark just the second time I have participated in Music Monday Wednesday, but it somehow seems appropriate tonight…
Thanks for the music, Mary.
Sep 15 2009
‘You Lie!’ Shout Brings Vote on Sanction
House Democrats plan to formally reprimand Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) on Tuesday for his outburst last week in which he accused President Obama of lying about proposed health-care legislation.
The vote on punishment will resolve the issue in the House, but behind the incident some see a broader question: Is racism a factor in the way the president is being judged?
With two simple words — “You lie!” — shouted during Obama’s speech to Congress, Wilson helped escalate an issue that has been on a slow burn for weeks, especially among African Americans. Many watched the rancor at last month’s town hall meetings with suspicion that the intense anger among some participants — including signs calling for Obama’s death and a movement questioning his citizenship — was fueled by the fact that a black man sits in the Oval Office.
Led by their most senior black lawmakers, House Democrats decided Monday evening to hold the vote. The decision risks escalating the partisan warfare that has erupted since Wilson’s outburst…
A vote would reverse the initial sentiment voiced by the president and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that it was time to “move on” to the debate on health-care. But the White House and Pelosi yielded to senior black Democrats, led by House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), and other members of the leadership team, who argued that Wilson’s remark was a breach of conduct that must not be tolerated.
Clyburn has said behind closed doors that many black voters saw Wilson’s actions as part of the heated rhetoric from conservative activists whose protests, including one on the Capitol grounds Saturday, have included depictions of Obama as Adolf Hitler and the comic-book villain the Joker, according to those attending the meetings. It was one thing to have such remarks at town hall meetings during the summer recess but completely different during a presidential address to a joint session of Congress, Clyburn and other black Democrats argued, and Democrats needed to stand up for the nation’s first black president.
Anybody out there who believes that racism does not play a huge part in the Republicans’ hatred of this president and his policies is really deluding themselves. Seriously.
People like Strom Thurmond Joe Wilson have no place in today’s society, let alone in the government of the United States of America.
UPDATE: The resolution disapproving of the actions of Mr. Wilson has passed the House of Representatives. The vote was 240 to 179. Twelve Democrats voted against the resolution while seven Republicans voted in favor. Five gutless Democrats voted “present.” Ten members (six Democrats and four Republicans) were absent.
Sep 14 2009
Presented without comment (though you may if you feel so inclined)…
Here are some photos. Click on them to make them bigger. Fair warning, though… they are not pretty (and most likely not safe for work).
