…and there are always plenty of links, so let’s get started…

POLITICIANS BEHAVING BADLY:

• Representative Gregg Harper’s (R-MS) organization, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, has been recently called “bipartisan” by Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE).  When asked by Polico’s reporter, “What in the world does the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus do,” one might reasonably expect would be an answer along the lines of, “we support the rights and interests of sportsmen, fishermen, and hunters, in Congress.“  What one might NOT expect, was Harper’s response: “We hunt liberal, tree-hugging Democrats, although it does seem like a waste of good ammunition.“  Very nice…very responsible…very bipartisan.
• Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN), known most for conspiracy theories verging on the truly bizarre, has declared that she will not run for the presidency in 2012.  Which makes sense…since she may not even be able to win re-election for the seat she currently holds, as the residents of her district have grown more than a bit weary of her embarrassing statements, and the negative attention they attract.  However, Bachmann did provide an interesting recommendation for who she thinks SHOULD run:  Representative Steve King (R-IA).  That’s right…she’s recommending the man who brought us such hits as being the only vote against a resolution stating that it was wrong to use slaves to build our Capitol,  sponsoring his own resolution “recognizing the importance of Christians and the Christian faith,” and very recently stating that gay rights are a “purely socialist concept.”  Way to really think it through, Michele…he is a winner.
• I guess Republicans just LOVE Twitter.  It’s also being reported…that they love setting up fake Twitter accounts and webpages, where they pretend to be particular Democratic legislators and candidates.  They then use these fraudulent accounts to misinform and offend voters.  Twitter has caught on and is trying to close all the accounts being used by Republicans in this way.  I think I may know why they like Twitter more than actual blogs:  on Twitter nobody expects you to actually use facts and defend your position…you can get away with just blurting out a few words of nonsense.
• The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has put out an ad, claiming that Republicans have wasted over 1,000 hours in the Senate, through exploitation of parliamentary rules and procedures.  The DSCC does little to show how they arrived at this figure…but I would guess that much of what the GOP has fought for in Congress also qualifies as a waste of time.  Need examples? This clip, a spoof on the iPhone commercials, has been making the internet rounds, and I think it nicely sums up the kinds of platforms and positions the GOP is using to distract our attention, delay progress, and otherwise hinder real issues from being addressed:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_IAN081P8I

THE MEDIA -- HACKS, PUNDITS, AND OTHER INVETERATE LIARS:

• A Telling List: Want to see clips of the “Top Ten Distortions Perpetrated By FOX News?“  Well look no further than this link.  It includes such highlights as accusing an Obama czar of condoning statutory rape, editing a clip of Joe Biden quoting John McCain…so that it appeared as if Biden said the quote, editing a clip of Barack Obama so it appeared that he supported a European-style health care system…when he was actually opposing the idea, AND directly repeating, verbatim, GOP talking points as if they were news.  Enjoy…
• Glenn Beck, Part 1: A Hollywood charity is mounting a push to encourage more Americans to volunteer.  Since Obama has also supported volunteerism as important, Glenn Beck could only imagine one thing:  That Obama is using Hollywood…to turn us into Communist China.  No, I’m serious…here’s what he said: “Celebrities are coming together to make it cool to volunteer. Disney gives you a free day at the park. This is all fine, but doesn’t it seem a little bit convenient that all of this comes out now at the same time the Obama administration is calling for it? Obama controls the message through the media he holds in his pocket. Or in his little hand. And soon if you disobey, he’ll just go [Beck slaps his hand]. Now the message will be embedded in television shows. Isn’t this great? Aren’t you proud of what we’re doing? Oh, this certainly is change.“
• Glenn Beck, Part 2: Why is it that every time I write about something Glenn Beck said, I feel the need to also say, “No really…that’s what he said?“  Well, Beck was busy this week providing more ammunition for whomever is filling out the civil commitment papers on him, claiming that progressives/liberals…wait for it…have historically tried to take away everyone’s individual liberties, and could also be called “tyrants” or “slave holders.”  <<Sigh>>…
• Neocon Frank Gaffney has claimed in the past that Obama was some sort of “secret Muslim,” that there is evidence connect Saddam Hussein to 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing (there isn’t, of course, and shame on you if you didn’t know that), that Sarah Palin learned foreign policy just by living in Alaska, that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (but that the media hid this “fact” from us), and that Democratic officials who criticized former President George W. Bush…should be hanged.  I tell you all this…so it will be of no surprise that Gaffney has no more decency than he has sense.  In a recent appearance on Hardball with Chris Matthews, he told Ron Reagan…that his father would be ashamed of him:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMOBQZwDMAE

• John Stossel of the FOX Business Channel recently condemned Lou Dobbs’, of CNN, for Dobb’s ongoing “rants about immigrants wrecking America.“  Dobbs has now responded, and rather unkindly: “Fox Business News - their new hire John Stossel -- weighing in with his own brand of myopic idiocy and no information whatsoever sat down with self-described rodeo clown Glenn Beck…what a self-important ass…He doesn’t understand basic economics…He’s just a silly little trick waiting to do some sort of Libertarian flip…Immigrants wrecking America -  I’ve never said anything close to that. As a matter of fact, I embrace immigrants to this country, I welcome them, I want more -- and as a matter of public policy, we need them. In no way am I restrictionist, and to hear this ass continue his act over at Fox News. I just can’t wait until he starts blowing bubbles in the air -- that’s about all he’s equipped to do.“  That’s right Lou, you never said the “immigrants are wrecking America“…oh, except the time you accused them of bringing leprosy here…oh, or the time you claimed they were forming a conspiracy to take back their old national territory…oh, and remember the time you said they were a threat to the entire middle class, and working people everywhere?  Dobbs…before you start trying to play “friend to the immigrant,” and “holier than thou” with John Stossel…you might want to watch some your own clips on YouTube.
• How better to wrap up the “Media Gone Wild” segment of the post, than with an Ann Coulter item.  During her appearance on Joy Behar’s talk show, she stated that all Presidential assassins have been liberals: “As I have not only witnessed in my own life but described in ‘Guilty’, every presidential assassination or attempted presidential assassination was committed by some kind of left-wing loon, communist, anarchist, communitarian, or they had no politics at all.“  Behar attempts to point out that this statement is indefensible and patently false…but Ms. Coulter has never been the one to stop talking so that someone else can point out HOW WRONG SHE IS:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHBR8GYwtiM

COURTESY OF THE PENTAGON AND THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX:

• Apparently, there are at least 220 detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Prison…which have been found to have had no ties to terrorism, 9/11, or to pose any other kind of threat to the United States…but we’re still keeping them in prison.  The Supreme Court is preparing to look at this problem…yet another in a list of how Bush’s use of the military prison conflicts with seemingly EVERY aspect of Due Process listed in our Constitution.  A reminder: the base/prison is technically “American soil” and the Constitution does not say that it applies only to “citizens” but rather to all “persons.”  On a related note, a group called New Security Action, with the support of a number of retired generals and other veterans, has released a series of ads pointing out that Congress should step aside and allow Gitmo, which has come to represent nearly everything wrong about the Bush-Cheney way of thinking, to be closed.
• No surprise: Turns out the Pentagon was engaged in a highly organized program to sell the American people on the Iraq War and other Bush security policies.  Big surprise: Well…it wasn’t so much an “ad campaign” or a “public relations program“…as it was a series of psychological experiments being performed on the American citizenry.  Bonus surprise: One of the chief architects of this program?  He still works at the Pentagon in the same position.  Scully…Mulder…where are you when we need you?
• Most people were a bit surprised at the unmitigated gall of the 30 Senate Republicans who voted against Senator Franken’s (D-MN) bill, which would punish government contractors if they tried to keep employees from reporting rape.  Turns out, they’ve got company -- the Defense Department also doesn’t like the bill…because they would hate to have to do without KBR, Blackwater, and other companies that threaten/coerce/bribe victims of rape to be silent.

THE HEALTH CARE CARNIVAL OF DESPAIR:

• Amidst all the talk about a “public option,” few are paying attention to a development almost as big.  Democrats are very close to being able to strip away the anti-trust exemption given long ago to the health insurance companies, which has allowed them to behave as a monopoly.  Want to know why this is so important?  We know how the free market is SUPPOSED to work…but when a company is allowed to monopolize an industry or a region, then there is no competition to force the company to have fair pricing and offer good service…which leads to our situation today where the health insurance companies have high rates, giant profits, deny service, and mistreat customers.  Also…check out this map.  Yes, it’s disgusting: most states’ residents, RIGHT NOW, only have ONE or TWO insurers that they are ALLOWED to choose from.  “Free Market Capitalists“…are you listening?
• First it was “fat babies.”  Then it was “thin babies.”  Then it was “spousal abuse.”  What new excuse for denying coverage did we find out about now?  Yup…insurance companies, almost all of them, will not allow you to purchase a policy with them if you have been treated for RAPE.  To them…it’s just another “pre-existing condition.“
• The push for the public option is in full swing, and polls show it is working.  More of the public supports it each day, the House is within about EIGHT votes of being able to pass it, and we heard the surprising news today that the Senate may be within TWO votes.  Seriously: TWO VOTES.  Here’s a new ad, featuring Heather Graham, explaining why the option is necessary:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvaJYYeXf70

• Interesting fact courtesy of Representative Anthony Weiner (D-NY): 55 of the Republicans opposing the public option because it’s “government-run” or “socialism“…they’re currently ON MEDICARE.  Weiner says, “Even in a town known for hypocrisy, this list of 55 Members of Congress deserve some sort of prize. They apparently think the public option is ok for them, but not anyone else.“  Yes, indeed.

GAY RIGHTS…OR THE LACK THEREOF:

• Wow:  It’s rare that someone actually ADMITS that their argument against gay rights and/or gay marriage is hollow and baseless.  Ross Douthat, conservative columnist for the New York Times, was asked while sitting on a panel for “young, bright, neo-cons” what he thought about gay marriage.  His response:  “I am someone opposed to gay marriage who is deeply uncomfortable arguing the issue in public.“  He explained that his reason for feeling “uncomfortable” discussing the subject, was because his argument against it is purely religious, and that it therefore represents “a losing argument.“  He even went so far as to recognize that because he is embarrassed that he has no real, factual objection to gay marriage…and because he is embarrassed to say what his objection really is…perhaps that means he needs to change his position and support gay marriage.  Wow.  Again…wow.
• Related to the previous item, a mailing sent out in Maine is attempting to persuade residents of the state to vote “Yes” in the upcoming ballot item to prohibit gay marriage.  The reasons that it proposes? I happen to have FiveThirtyEight.com’s summations of the reasons…first, the mailing claims that the new law permitting gay marriage “won’t make gay marriage equal to straight marriage. Instead, it will create a new kind of marriage in which gay people and straight people are equal.“  Well, besides not making much sense…that’s certainly not going to “stir up” too many people.  The second reason it offers: “…we may not have proven any connection between gay marriage and public education, our opponents haven’t disproven the connection, and it’s their fault that the subject came up.“  Impressive…that doesn’t really say anything, does it.  I mean, it sounds like it’s saying something…but then it just…doesn’t.  And third, the mailing offers that, “if gay marriage is upheld, then marriage will exist solely to make people happy.“  Well, it’s hard to see how that’s true…would gay people marrying suddenly make heterosexual marriages “meaningless” and about nothing more than “happiness?”  And hell, I know some people who will tell you that marriage has nothing to do with happiness at all…I’m sure they were just kidding…
• Meet Philip Spooner: Want to hear a86-year-old man…lifelong Republican…and WWII veteran who fought on D-Day…defend gay marriage with all his heart?  Yeah, me too:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrEbJBFWIPk

• Despite the calls from Republicans that protecting gay Americans was the equivalent of protecting practitioners of  pedophilia, bestiality, and necrophilia…the new Hate Crimes Bill has passed.

MISCELLANY:

• The Nation, a well-known progressive magazine, is publishing a “companion piece” to Sarah Palin’s new book, “Going Rogue.”  It’s titled “Going Rouge” and features an almost identical cover, to match the almost identical title.  Some conservatives have complained that this might lead to some people purchasing The Nation’s book by mistake.  Perhaps they’re right…seeing as both books will likely be placed next to each other on a shelve in the “Humor” section…and due to the fact that many of the people seeking Palin’s book might not know how “rogue” is properly spelled.

That about wraps it up for this week in Reality Liberation.  Have a wonderful weekend, and we’ll see you on Monday…

Let’s get started…

THE HEALTH CARE CARNIVAL OF DESPAIR:

• Most people hadn’t heard of Representative Alan Grayson (R-FL) before…but they have now.  In a wonderful, congressional, “oh, no you didn’t” moment…Grayson laid out in simple terms the terrible truth about the Republicans on Health Care Reform:  tens of thousands of Americans are dying because they don’t have insurance…and the Republicans have offered NOTHING but opposition to changing this…therefore, they must just want people to just “not get sick” and if they do…they should “die quickly:“

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-usmvYOPfco

• Of course, the Republican backlash to Grayson’s statements was fast and furious, and they demanded an immediate apology, comparing what Grayson did to the actions of Senator Joe “You Lie!” Wilson…despite the fact that the two events have nothing in common, especially in terms of congressional procedures and policies regarding decorum.  Grayson…complied, but not in the way the GOP expected:  he apologized, not to the GOP, but to the dead and the dying and to their families…he apologized for Congress allowing this to happen.  So far, Pelosi has backed Grayson, along with the rest of the Democrats…and now some Democrats seem to be realizing: “Wait a minute…the GOP really HAVEN’T offered a plan…we should point that out!“  No kidding guys…that one was a gimme.
• Want the very definition of “out of touch?“  House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)…says nobody has ever approached him supporting the public option and he therefore doesn’t think most people support it.  Ummm, John…the majority of people in YOUR STATE support it…the VAST majority of the people in the country support it and would be willing to pay higher taxes to pay for it…and unless you, Snowe, and some of the Democratic Senators who voted against it in the Senate Finance Committee realize that the majority of your constituents want it…well, there will be obvious political consequences come reelection time.

POLITICIANS BEHAVING BADLY:

• Senator David Vitter (R-LA) has some new problems…stemming from his old problems.  It’s been very odd to watch a Senator, busted for soliciting prostitutes, question the morality of Democrats and claim that he and other southern Republicans are the ones representing “true values.“  Perhaps he mistakenly believed that the scandal was behind him…well, “not so” says the Louisiana Office of Disciplinary Counsel.  Apparently (who knew?), soliciting prostitutes just might violate the State’s laws regarding professional misconduct for a lawyer.  The law states that lawyers may be charged with misconduct and subsequently disbarred if they “commit a criminal act especially one that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects.“  Ooops.
• The Health Care bill contains a provision for health clinics to be established in schools, since studies show that access to health services can greatly increase academic performance.  This gave Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN) all that she needed to formulate a new “anti-reform” conspiracy theory.  Bachmann tells us…that these would actually be “sex clinics” where kids could go to get ABORTIONS without their parents knowing about it: “The bill goes on to say what’s going to go on -- comprehensive primary health services, physicals, treatment of minor acute medical conditions, referrals to follow-up for specialty care — is that abortion? Does that mean that someone’s 13 year-old daughter could walk into a sex clinic, have a pregnancy test done, be taken away to the local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic, have their abortion, be back and go home on the school bus that night? Mom and dad are never the wiser.“  Of course…Michelle only read item (II) under section 2511 of the bill…if she had bothered to read item (I) RIGHT BEFORE IT she would have known that the bills says: “SBHC services will be provides in accordance with Federal, State, and local laws governing-- (I) obtaining parental or guardian consent; and (II) patient privacy and student records, including section 264 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and section 444 of the General Education Provision Act;“  Your choice: bad reader…or just a liar?
• Governor Sanford of South Carolina…having been asked by both his fellow Republicans and his constituents to resign over his actions regarding the abandonment of his duties to pursue an illicit affair…now asks that the state ethics panel doesn’t release its findings.  I wonder why.  Hear that sound?  It’s the sound of Sanford’s fingernails dragging across the State of South Carolina…clinging on like grim death so that he can stay in office for just a little bit longer.
• The “Republican” brand name?  Not doing so hot…and given the types of things I’m reading and posting each week, this should surprise NO ONE.

THE MEDIA:  PUNDITS, HACKS, AND OTHER INVETERATE LIARS:

• FOX’s Sean Hannity is so consistently wrong in terms of his facts and historical data, that Jon Stewart was able to dedicate almost a third of one Daily Show episode…just to pointing out Hannity’s RECENT mistakes.  I submit this clip for your enjoyment and edification:

• Bernard Goldberg, a media critic, usually appears on FOX shows…to DEFEND the network against the constant stream of accusations that they have an obvious, right-wing bias.  So…you can imagine that people were a bit shocked to see him appearing on the O’Reilly Factor, and saying…that in many ways, FOX is to be held responsible for creating this perception, especially when it does things like “promoting” Tea Party protests rather than simply “reporting on” Tea Party protests:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ztDUgCqXSc

• Once again, Shepard Smith, host of FOX’s “The Fox Report” has chosen to speak the truth rather than simply parrot the talking points.  On a recent segment, a guest tried to levy criticisms at the current Health Care Reform proposals…by pointing out that Canada’s single-payer system is less than perfect.  Shepard is quick to point out that it seems like a false and deceptive comparison, since NONE of the bills in Congress propose a single-payer system.  When Shepard’s guest then tries to create a classic “straw man“/”slippery slope” argument…Shepard wasn’t going to allow that either.  Good for you Shep:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzr7Nnxjlfs

• Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), at a recent discussion in front of powerful Washington “movers and shakers,” came right out and said that the “birther” conspiracy theorists are “crazy,” that Obama is certainly not a “closet Muslim,” and that Glenn Beck “is not aligned with any party. He is aligned with cynicism and there has always been a market for cynics. But we became a great nation not because we are a nation of cynics. We became a great nation because we are a nation of believers.“  Wow…could there finally be a Republican who might realize that the votes you get from siding with the extremists…ARE NOT WORTH IT.

THE OLYMPIC FLAME…FIZZLES:

• Even after President Obama flew to Denmark to make the case for the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Chicago…the prize went to someone else.  In a shocking turn of events, Chicago didn’t even make it past the first round of voting…Tokyo would fall in the next round…and at the end Rio de Janeiro won over Madrid the right to host the games.
• In a display that can only be described as exceedingly puerile, conservative commentators/columnists including RedState’s Erick Erickson, Michelle Malkin, and Rush Limbaugh have been, quite literally, CELEBRATING the fact that America will not be hosting the 2016 games…simply because it allows them to claim that “Obama failed at something.“  That’s right: Conservatives are CELEBRATING, during an economic crisis, that America will NOT get the projected $22 billion in revenues, the 315,000 new jobs, and the $11 billion in new income that those jobs represent.  They’re willing to cheer against the best interests of the country…if it means a “failure” for the President.  Remember this, when listening to these same people discuss Health Care Reform, or anything else:  these people would rather America suffers…as long as it denies Obama check in the “win” column.
• While the President was unable to convince the voting members of the IOC to permit the games to be held in America…top White House Advisor David Axlerod is correct at saying there is more involved than the President’s charm.  It’s a well established fact that the IOC is an extremely political body, and that its voting process often produces unexpected results.  In recent years, the IOC has come under increasing pressure to allow the games to be hosted in a country OTHER than the United States, the nations of Europe, and the countries comprising Asia…and preferably a South American country.  Given this pressure, the decision to hand the honor over to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil…starts to make more sense.

PALINWATCH -- HOW CAN WE MISS HER IF SHE WON’T GO AWAY:

• Politico’s recent polls suggest that ex-Governor Sarah Palin is not well regarded among her fellow Republicans, Republican advisors consider her to be “electoral poison,” and many of her former supporters either tired of her during the Levy/Bristol business, or don’t respect her resigning the governorship before completing her term…but there is still a demographic that absolutely LOVES her:  Evangelical Christians, and Republicans living in small, country towns…and of course, there’s some overlap between those two groups.  I don’t think I even need to say anything else on the subject…draw your own conclusions.
• The New York Post reports that Palin’s new career as a “highly paid speaker” is not going so hot…perhaps due to the limited number of people (mentioned in the previous item) who still think she’s “bright” and “adorable.”  In fact, one industry expert told the Post: “The big lecture buyers in the US are paralyzed with fear about booking her, basically because they think she is a blithering idiot…Palin is so uninteresting to so many groups -- unless they are interested in moose hunting.  What does she have to say? She can’t even describe what she reads.“  And as with the previous item…I really can’t think of anything that I need to add to that.
• In a surprise move…perhaps due to her inability to book speaking gigs at $100,000 a pop…it was announced that Palin’s memoir would be released November 17, which is four months ahead of schedule.  The announcement regarding the book’s title generated even more surprised looks: “Going Rogue -- An American Life.“  It seemed strange to some…that Palin would want to reference “going rogue,” as it was a comment that McCain campaign insiders made referring to how Palin’s off-book, off-message, inconsistent, and completely unprepared remarks were TANKING MCCAIN’S PRESIDENTIAL BID.  In other words…it wasn’t meant as a compliment.  Pre-orders for the book suggest very brisk sales, causing some on the left to ascribe to a conspiracy theory that conservative groups and churches must be buying up the books in large numbers to increase the sales figures.  In reality…people just need to realize that not everybody who buys the book necessarily admires Sarah Palin…many will get it just for the likely entertainment value, the same way millions of people each day go out on YouTube and watch people ride bicycles into walls, fall off skateboards, and slip and fall while dancing.
• Want a good laugh?  Here’s Ann Coulter, appearing on Joy Behar’s new show on CNN…asserting that the effect of Sarah Palin’s “death panel” tweet shows that Palin is “a powerful woman” and that people listen to her because she is so “coherent.” Joy…took particular exception to the “coherent” part.  Many more excepts may be viewed here.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBoP08KPHUc

MISCELLANY:

• Remember Valerie Plame?  The undercover CIA agent whose identity was leaked to the press after her husband criticized the Bush administration?  Remember the Bush administration agreeing to “chat” with investigators, but not on the record or under oath…and how Scooter Libby was eventually “volunteered” to take the fall for leaking the information, despite the fact that conventional wisdom suggested it was Vice President Cheney’s idea?  Thursday, a federal judge, against the wishes of both the Bush and Obama administrations, ruled that the FBI’s notes of their interview with Cheney must be publicly released.  This could be embarrassing…on the upside, if Cheney’s statements are embarrassing/incriminating enough, maybe he’ll finally stop appearing on talk shows.  Fingers crossed…
• Just last week, I was criticizing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for not being assertive enough, in terms of getting Senate Democrats to do what’s right and not “what’s best for insurance companies.“  Apparently, Reid HAS grown enough of a backbone to send letters to President Obama and Secretary of Defense Gates…asking them to finally step up and lend their support to the fight to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which is causing highly trained interpreters, war heroes, technical experts, and other brave soldiers/sailors/airmen, to be discharged from the armed services…just for being gay.  Reid wrote, “As Congress considers future legislative action, we believe it would be helpful to hear your views on the policy,” he writes. “Your leadership in this matter is greatly appreciated and needed at this time,” and then goes on to include stories of highly valuable and distinguished soldiers being discharged under the policy.  Obama has voiced his opposition to both DADT and DOMA (The Defense of Marriage Act)…but so far his administration has done more to squelch challenges to the various anti-gay rights policies and laws, than it has done to repeal them.  At a minimum, they should be lending their support to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who has been fighting the good fight in the Senate.
• Turns out that the Secret Service’s investigation of the Facebook user who created a poll asking if the President “should be killed,” has identified a juvenile as the perpetrator.  No charges will be filed…but many are missing the obvious topic for discussion:  while the poll may not have represented a viable threat to the President, doesn’t it say something when the tone of our national discourse has become SO irrational, SO violent, SO hateful…that a child asks such a terrible question?  Glenn, Michelle, Rush, Sean, Ann, Bill, and others…won’t you please think of the children?

That’s all from the Reality Liberation Front for this week -- have a good weekend, and we’ll see you on Monday.

I’ve got lots of material on several different topics, so let’s just get started!

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HERE’S TO YOUR HEALTH:

• Here’s the short and sweet: back in the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill, Republicans supported a portion of the bill that would allow doctors to be reimbursed from Medicare for giving end-of-life counseling to patients who wanted to learn more about their medical rights and options (ie. hospice, DNR orders, requesting treatment or meds, refusing treatment or meds, living wills…).  In 2008, Sarah Palin endorsed a similar measure by proclamation on “Healthcare Decisions Day” in Alaska.   In the current bill, Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) co-sponsored a section calling for all such counseling to be reimbursed by insurance.  But…then a health care lobbyist decided to tell the public that this provision would force euthanasia on seniors…and then Palin chimes in that it is the equivalent of a “death panel“…and then Chuck Grassley (R-IA) backs up the “pulling the plug on grandma” claim…and then Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) further supports the preposterous “pulling the plug on Grandma” idea.  So many people started protesting the imaginary “death panels“…that they have now pulled the counseling reimbursement from the bill.  That’s right: the loudest, dumbest, most ill-informed segment of the population just gave the insurance companies millions in savings…and took millions out of the pockets of our seniors, because now if they want to talk to their doctor about what their rights and options are…THE SENIORS have to pay for it.
• Thanks for Trying: Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) at least attempted to bring reason to the debate.  At a large gathering she denounced Sarah Palin’s tactics: “It does us no good to incite fear in people by saying that there’s these end-of-life provisions, these death panels.  Quite honestly, I’m so offended at that terminology because it absolutely isn’t (in the bill). There is no reason to gin up fear in the American public by saying things that are not included in the bill.“
• In an Investor’s Business Daily editorial, the writer argued that the proposed health care bill resembles the British system (which it does not), and that it is a good thing that the brilliant quantum physicist Stephen Hawking wasn’t raised in Britain…because he wouldn’t have received care: “People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn’t have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.“  Raise your hand if you see what’s coming…that’s right, Stephen Hawking WAS raised in the U.K., and he has responded that, “I wouldn’t be here today if it were not for the NHS (National Health Service).  I have received a large amount of high-quality treatment without which I would not have survived.“  The IBD has since removed the mention to Hawking from its column, and Britain’s health care system is starting to get tired of the lies being spread about it.  They can make their point easily…their system outscores ours in almost every way.
• Meet Ezekiel Emanuel, brother of Obama’s chief-of-staff, Rahm Emanuel, and health advisor to President Obama.  On Sean Hannity’s FOX News show, Hannity proceeded to quote Ezekiel Emanuel, and then falsely claimed that the quote indicated that there were “death panels” in the bill.  Guest Ann Coulter’s response?  She said, “Totally ironically, Zeke Emanuel is on my death list. Hold the applause. I’m going to be on the death panel.“  And so…yet another conservative makes jokes about killing a public figure.  Emanuel, who is actually fervently AGAINST euthanasia, and does not appreciate having his comments misrepresented, is striking back.
• GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell…just admitted that he has not read the health care reform bill, but says that he knows enough about it, “saying it will put health care in the government’s hands, and create significant cuts to Medicare to pay the trillion dollar bill over ten years.“  That’s not good enough Mitch…read the bill, then complain about what’s actually IN IT, not about what you THINK is in it.
• Want to know how badly the insurance companies don’t want this bill to pass?  How about this: “six lobbyists for each of the 535 members of the House and Senate, according to Senate records, and three times the number of people registered to lobby on defense. More than 1,500 organizations have health-care lobbyists, and about three more are signing up each day. Every one of the 10 biggest lobbying firms by revenue is involved in an effort that could affect 17 percent of the U.S. economy.“  That’s over 3,300 lobbyists…working hard to make sure that your elected officials think of THEM before they think about what is good for YOU.

IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID:

• The Wall Street Journal recently surveyed 47 economists…most said the recession is over, but there is much recovery to be done.  I’ve said it before:  Huge mess…built over more than a decade…near economic collapse…recession over within a year.  Stop splitting hairs and just say, “Thank you.”
• Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman says that stimulus spending by governments has saved the world from a global depression and that all economic signs and indicators of export growth appear to be on the mend.  But he warns…recovery will likely take two years.  He also called for more government spending, and tighter global regulations.
• Despite what the “we’re becoming Russia!” fearmongers are saying…the rich are getting even richer and the poor…even poorer.  Not only does the top one percent in America have almost all the money…but their income growth is growing 66% more than the incomes of the other 99%.  In short: the richest one percent has almost all the money, and is making more money even faster than ever before.  Yeah…we really can’t tax the “millionaires club” to provide for health care reform…they’re OBVIOUSLY really struggling.

POLITICIANS BEHAVING BADLY:

• Representative John Sullivan (R-OK) recently held a town hall…where he supported both the crazed/conspiratorial claims of the lunatic fringe that Obama is not a citizen, and that Obama is compiling an “enemies list.“  He said, “This is a scary time in Washington.  It’s a very frightening time. I see Barack Obama is creating an enemies list of people who oppose this miserable health care plan. I think that’s frightening. That’s from a guy that can’t even show a long-form birth certificate. I think we all ought to be prepared to fight that.“  And people wearing tinfoil hats around the country jumped up and down and turned up the banjo music.
• Sources indicate that former senator and presidential candidate John Edwards is about to admit that the baby his former mistress, Rielle Hunter, gave birth to 18 months ago…is his.  To anyone who has seen some of the pictures of the baby girl…this is not much of a shocker.

• In April, Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN) tried to warn that Obama’s expansion of the AmeriCorps program, a volunteer community-service organization, was little more than “re-education” camps to turn our youth into Obama-following socialists.  She also said that, as a mother, she would not want her children to have anything to do with it…wait for it…what she didn’t know at the time is that her son, HAD ALREADY SIGNED UP.  Harrison Bachmann starts work with Teach For America, a division of AmeriCorps, shortly.
• Liz Cheney, daughter (and some say clone) of former VP Dick Cheney, criticized Obama for diplomatic efforts with “enemy” nations, and saying that he should have more supportive of the “brave Iranian men and women” who protested the results of the Iranian election.  Umm, Miss Cheney…almost every foreign relations expert, and most Republicans, agree that Obama handled the situation perfectly…if the Iranian government even caught a whiff of the United States government publicly supporting the protests, they would dismiss the protests as being coordinated by us, instead of seeing them as legitimate displays of their peoples’ discontent.

THE MEDIA -- HACKS, PUNDITS, AND OTHER INVETERATE LIARS:

• Financial Times’ Niall Ferguson thought he’d make a rather strange comparison between the President and an old cartoon character…it wasn’t received too well: “President Barack Obama reminds me of Felix the Cat. One of the best-loved cartoon characters of the 1920s, Felix was not only black. He was also very, very lucky. And that pretty much sums up the 44th president of the US as he takes a well-earned summer break after just over six months in the world’s biggest and toughest job.“  Yes…you heard him right.  He’s saying that Obama is like Felix the Cat…because they’re both “black” and “lucky.”
• In a Wall Street Journal article, the authors actually criticized Obama for telling us the details of the health care reform plan: “You know, every president has to make a decision, you know, are you going to fly way up high and look down on policy at 30,000 feet, sort of like George W. Bush did, or are you going to get down into the weeds and sometimes run into the risk of micromanagement, like Jimmy Carter did. Barack Obama has kind of tended toward the weeds….President Obama, not only does he want to hear about the unemployment rates — he wants to hear about the U6, the underemployment rate! A few weeks ago, they were talking about child obesity rates, and what to do about childhood nutrition. These things go into the weeds.“  I think we’ve recently experienced enough to show that the American people need MORE education and information…certainly not LESS.
• First CNN host Lou Dobbs caught attention for supporting the inane “birther” conspiracy…and then he decided to follow it up by calling DNC chair Howard Dean a “bloodsucking leftist” who should be killed with “a stake through his heart.“  Dobbs has issued an “almost apology” for the latter incident: “I’m sorry if a Bram Stoker allusion is too literary for some, and for those who could not make what was seemingly an obvious connection, my deepest apologies and I’ll gladly withdraw the latter part of my remark.“  It’s not a literary reference, Dobbs…it’s yet another irresponsible media figure advocating violence against a public figure.  Note:  The “Lou Dobbs Foolish Remark Trifecta” is now in play….one to go…
• Glenn Beck on FOX has called for armed insurrection against the government, warned of the end of the world, called the President a racist, compared the administration to Nazis, and recently joked about poisoning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  And now…his advertisers are leaving the show IN DROVES.  Stephen Colbert thought this might deserve treatment on his show:

MOB RULE:

• Conservatives keep claiming that racism isn’t a part of these town hall protests…which they keep trying to label as mere “energetic, democratic expression.” They also like to claim that nobody is comparing Obama to Hitler or the Nazis. Well…what about the town hall where the COUNTY COMMISSIONER showed up with a sign bearing a picture of Obama and a swastika?  Or maybe the town hall where the picture of Rosa Parks was torn down and destroyed?  Or how about the representative who held a town hall…only to find a swastika painted on his office door the next day?  Or the protest where a man was arrested for carrying a sign that read “Death to Obama?“  Face it: you have right-wing extremists among your ranks, some nothing more than domestic terrorists.  It’s time to clean house in the GOP…
• Representative Rick Larsen (D-WA) might have said it best at his recent town hall meeting: “With regards to the first comment about being forced to buy health care, I’ll say it again…The bill does not force anybody to buy health care…The bill does not force people to change their health care plan. If you’re in a plan, you will not be forced into the public option. You will not be forced into the health insurance exchange. Now folks will say that’s not true, but I’ve got facts on my side and you’ve got Glenn Beck on your side. It’s just not going to play out that way.“
• There Is A Relationship: The Southern Poverty Law Center is reporting a disturbing trend…militia groups are swelling their ranks with people either unhappy with the President’s race, or fearing that they will lose all of their liberties under this administration.  They are armed, training…and talking about the violent overthrow of our duly-elected government, which is as I have said in the past, ILLEGAL.  One such extremist attended the Obama town hall, and stood outside, with a loaded gun strapped to his leg, and a sign referring to Thomas Jefferson’s quote that the “tree of liberty” must be occasionally refreshed with the “blood of tyrants.“  Here, Chris Matthews interviews the extremist on Hardball and reveals that, like the other extremists, he cannot name any liberties that he has lost, cannot name one way in which the Constitution has been violated, nor can he provide any sane reason for his actions:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiDWbtOh1kY

• And lastly, on this subject, here’s Jon Stewart taking a look at the town hall mayhem on The Daily Show:

GHOSTS OF OUR PAST:

• They’ve identified the two men that the CIA turned to, in order to develop the U.S.’s interrogation program.  Neither one had ever performed an interrogation, but they’d done quite a few “mock” sessions based on the torture techniques used by the the Communist Chinese.  That’s right: they used the torture methods that the Chinese used to force FALSE CONFESSIONS, instead of proven techniques to perform INTERROGATIONS.  There’s a big difference.  In the “confession” scenario, you just want the prisoner to say what you want him to say….in the “interrogation” scenario, you want actual, reliable information.
• New documents from the House Judiciary committee, verify what we already knew:  The White House, through Karl Rove, asked the Justice Department to fire attorneys who wouldn’t look into bogus voter fraud claims that would benefit Republicans.  The same documents show also that when the Washington Post released an article about the political firings, two Bush staffers named Scott Jennings and Jane Cherry joked about it.  When Cherry asked “Good Lord, what have you done?” Jennings quipped, “Followed orders,” to which Cherry said, “Isn’t that what the Nazi’s claimed?“  Yes, Miss Cherry…it is.
• Former VP Dick Cheney is now complaining that at some point, President Bush “went soft” and wouldn’t support Cheney’s decisions anymore.  Given that Cheney wanted to use American soldiers, on American soil, to illegally arrest American citizens…and that George Bush wouldn’t go along with the idea…maybe we finally have something we should thank Bush for.

MISCELLANY:

• The Human Clown Car Is Back: FOX has announced that it will be airing a two-hour special on “Octomom” Nadya Suleman, with never-before-seen footage.  Meanwhile, FOX has released two clips to whet your appetite, here, one of which shows Suleman admitting: “I screwed myself.  I screwed up my life, I screwed up my kids’ lives…What was I thinking?“  Thank you, Captain Obvious.

That’s all for now…have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back on Monday (unless something I just can’t resist writing about pops up Saturday or Sunday).