Oh My

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-probe-of-petraeus-triggered-by-e-mail-threats-from-biographer-officials-say/2012/11/10/d2fc52de-2b68-11e2-bab2-eda299503684_story.html

There is nothing like a sex scandal to start a second term.  The Petraeus affair gets stranger and stranger.  I heard Ronald Kessler, who wrote The Secrets of the FBI, (so he must be a credible source, right?), say that what triggered the investigation, were emails that kept mentioning under the table.  According to Kessler, the FBI was concerned about corruption and under the table deals, not hot steamy monkey sex under the table.  Now according to the Wapo, the trigger was the harassing emails sent by the foxy Paula B.  I have to say I had a weird feeling about her when she appeared on the Daily Show.  I hate to sound like an old fuddy duddy, which in fact I am, but she brought the sleeveless trend to a whole new level, with not just her finely toned arms showing, but most of her upper body.  She not only gave a slightly creepy accounting of her relationship with Petraeus, but was such a shameless boaster that I started wondering why she didn't mention winning the Nobel Prize...Oh right, she didn't.  Of course the media is going to focus on the What did the President Know and When Did He Know It meme.  As though if the American electorate had known that David Petraeus was schtupping his mistress, they would have turned to Romney.  I don't think so.  Petraeus was so revered by everyone and was brought to national attention by W, that I don't the voters would then decide to vote for Mitt.  I have never been a big fan.  I was against the war in Iraq and thought that Petreaus was a Bush toady.  I will never forget his editorial in the Wapo in September of '04, which was basically an endorsement of Bush. 
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49283-2004Sep25.html
I don't want to gloat about his downfall - I am too busy gloating about the Romney and the gas bags who were sure he would win.  I feel badly for his wife, who stayed home, looked after the kids, while her husband traveled the world and was fawned over by all.

Good Bye Turd Blossom or Perhaps Another Good Thing to Come Out of the Election

http://nymag.com/news/frank-rich/gop-denial-2012-11/

Frank Rich has an excellent column about the blindness of the Republicans leading up to the election.  The whole time that the Romney campaign or their surrogates went on about the internal polls showing a Romney landslide, I would either worry that they knew something I didn't, or think they were trying to create the illusion that he was winning, so that if they manage to steal or suppress enough voters, they could then chant I told you so, and would give them cover if they were able to drag any election dispute into court.   It honestly never occurred to me that they might actually believe what they were saying.  Rove and Co. have built up such a reputation for genius, albeit evil genius, that I assume that everything done or said is a cynical manipulation for amassing more wealth and power.  In other words, it never occurred to me that theyactually believe any of the shit that comes out of their mouths.  Maybe the so called Wise Men of the Republican party really don't believe in evolution or science, or what we in the reality based community, regard as objective truth.  Prior to the election, I was a terrible weak kneed tremble chin, who had to check Nate Silver, oh about every time I possibly could, to be soothed by his well reasoned analysis of all the polls, but I was not running a campaign.  How could the Romney people not know that they were in deep, deep trouble?  They not only convinced themselves that he would win the electoral college and would surely win the popular vote.  Not all the ballots have been counted in some very blue states, so Romney's percentage of the vote is likely to go much further down, and imagine what the totals would have been if the Northeast hadn't been crippled by Hurricane Sandy.  It is hard to think about schleping to the polls if you haven't had heat, hot water or housing.  Romney's percentage is creeping downward to the 47% level.  How fitting is that?  So much for the genius of Karl Rove. 

Let the Carping Begin

I stopped blogging when Scott Brown won his Senate seat, saying I was done with politics. The voters of Massachusetts had effectively spat on the grave of Teddy Kennedy, electing a frat boy because he drove a truck. I turned away, sort of, or at least was marginally less obsessed.  So instead of reading every blog, I read just a few, and watched ESPN, where everybody cares deeply about unimportant things, and where they spend hours having circular arguments about the same subjects over and over and over.  I found it restful.  My daughter told me on election night, when Brown went down to defeat, that I had to start blogging.  I told her I have little to say, which is sadly true.  I am currently entertaining myself watching the GOP full of blame about everything except their horrible and unpopular ideas (hmmm... are they really ideas??? or just code words to elicit fear???  Their basic platform is that the American people are so stupid, that they can be manipulated to vote against their interest by fostering resentment and suspicion.)  It is nice to see that the money people are furious that they coughed up so much money for so little.  What I found mystifying is that Romney supporters were surprised at the results.  Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the election was called and how decisive the victory was.  I thought the Repugs had caused so many road blocks and disenfranchised so many voters, and made it sooooo hard to vote, that it was going to take a long time to determine the outcome.  Imagine, if voting were easier how much larger the margin would have been.  The one blot on election night was Tweety, aka Chris Matthews, who earlier in the week had given an impassioned endorsement of Obama.  After Obama's victory speech, which I thought was gracious, moving and pitch perfect, Tweety could not stop harping on the fact that he hadn't thanked Bill Clinton or made a bigger deal about other Democratic victories.  Now I consider myself exceptionally partisan, but boy do I think that would have been a BAD idea.  Of course, if Chris has an idea he never gracefully lets the idea go, despite everyone else on the panel disagreeing.  His post first debate swoon but the more liberal pundits was not helpful to the dems.  My son in law loves the Rev.  Al, who was true blue throughout and wouldn't say one critical thing about Obama's debate performance.  Note the word "performance," with all the swooning, no one ever said Obama said stupid things or lied that night.  I know he went on to really disgrace himself later in the evening regarding his comments about what a blessing hurricane Sandy was, and although Matthews can be very annoying, I am not sure I want him off the air.

Are They Really That Desperate?

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/04/nj_gov_chris_christie_criticiz.html

It is quite appalling watching Chris Christie fulminate about the evil teachers of New Jersey. He thinks everyone hates teachers - they don't work nine to five, they get to loaf all summer, their health insurance policies say that they and their families have free health insurance for life (if true, my husband plans to move to the Garden State), etc. He is gloating that more than half the towns voted against school budgets. In fact I am amazed that so many towns voted their budgets through. Having lived in a few small towns, I am acutely aware of how many residents that don't have children or whose children are out of school, feel no need to fund schools and seem to hate children. After all, according to them, when they were in school, there were forty five children in the class and they suffered no ill effects, which is debatable if you ask me. Often chool budgets are one area that locals have some control over, so there is often mean-spirited, contentious debate. It has been quite heartening seeing the support that teachers are getting from students, or should I say drug mules. Christie is now being touted as a possible GOP candidate for president, which I find pretty strange. Christie is a total political hack who used his US attorney's office for political gain. He filed corruption charges against Menendez right before election, charges that evaporated after his re-election. Christie was a terrible candidate, not to mention completely physically hideous and only won because voters hated Corzine. He just started his first term, and the very suggestion of Christie as a candidate smacks of desperation. Now where have I seen a first term GOP governor picked for higher office, and how did that work out?

My husband asked me to explain the Chris "The Count" Chocola, so I guess a little background is necessary. Aside from allegations about the energy money he received, his list of mentors and friends is a who'se who in GOP corruption. He counts among his BFF Tom Delay, the disgraced Bob Ney and Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who is currently doing hard time. "The Count" lost his re-election bid because of the stink that came out of his office.

Friendship and Morality, Republican Style

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/committee-spending-crests-1-mi.html

Charlie Crist is getting a fine dose of Republican payback. With all the whining about the importance of bipartisanship, the fact that Crist said positive things about Obama when his state was awarded a heap of stimulus money, doomed him with his party. That famous maverick, John McCain has backed Rubio, even though Christ delivered Florida for him in the primary season and was considered a potential VP. Hell, Crist even got married. No matter that Rubio, who establishment Republicans are flocking to, has been in the news lately because of corruption. And Crist is supposed to listen to the disgraced Count Chocola about what he should do with money sent him by Republicans? The Count is hardly someone that one should listen to about matters of morality. Among other transgressions, he was the one who accepted large sums of money from energy companies and refused to penalize them for price gouging. If you wait long enough, anyone, even the most disgraced, is recycled and is born anew in the Republican Party. I bet if Spiro Agnew were alive, he would be pontification on Fox News.

The Art of the Shameless

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/25/AR2010042501065_2.html

Lindsey Graham has a pretty peculiar reason for stomping away from a proposed press conference about a climate change bill with his best Joey Lieeeeeberman - immigration reform is going to be discussed in the Senate. Never has Lindsey seen such a cynical ploy!!! No, he is not talking about his behavior - he is talking about the Dems talking about immigration. Now what party's actions have pushed the need for immigration reform into people's faces? What state has become the shame of the country for its asking the populace to carry papers to prove citizenship. What party does the esteemed governor from Arizona belong to? Jan Brewer, a fine graduate of Glendale Community College (OK, that was a really snotty comment, but I couldn't resist) bears a striking resemblance to Connecticut's own Linda MacMahon and who is a model of coarseness. But let us take Graham's complaint of face value, so you think the environment is so important, that is should be the first thing on the Senate's agenda, and when it isn't you won't let it be discussed at all? That doesn't make any sense at all, unless you consider that ole Lindsey must be under tremendous pressure from the loonies in his own party to end this bipartisan nonsense and come back to the fold. Of course this is the same fold that welcomes so called Tea Party member, William Gheen who demanded that Graham confess that he is gay and being blackmailed by or in the thrall of the studly Joe Lieeeeeberman. Personally, I think finding Lieeeeeeberman attractive, either physically or intellectually, is worthy of blackmail. But to do something like that to distance oneself from such allegations would a shameless political ploy! Oh, where have I heard those words?

A Penny for the Guy

http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/04/23/republican-governors-pay-homage-to-guy-fawkes/#ixzz0lxs6HqRc

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/04/have-conservatives-gone-mad/39417/

As if we needed proof that the Republicans are bat shit crazy, but this is pretty amazing. It is pretty astounding that they are taking Guy Fawkes as their hero because he tried to blow up Parliament in 1605. I know that V for Vendetta glamorized Fawkes, but this clearly shows their tenuous grasp of history or reality. I wonder what the Brits think... I don't think Ron Paul and his ilk realize that every November 5th, children all over England burn Guy Fawkes in effigy. My father was a man of great ingenuity and enthusiasm, and when we lived in a small English Village, he took Guy Fawkes Day as a personal challenge. The village got together to burn all the Guys. Most Guys are rather primitive, but my father dressed our Guy in some of his old clothes and wired the Guy so that he would writhe in pain as the he burned. The villagers thought this was a bit over the top, saying things like "Oh these Americans, taking our simple holidays and making a mockery." This amused my father a great deal. Somehow, it seems strange that the Republicans are so eager to control government, the very government that they seem to want people to blow up. You would think they would learn something from the past. Is Timothy McVeigh a hero to the Republican Party? After all, he blew up a government building. They are truly a party with out thought.

Rats, Republican Style

It is sort of amusing to watch the Republicans scurrying towards supporting some sort of financial reform. No doubt self interest had a lot to do with it. Much as they would like to stymie anything Obama proposes, most of all they want to be re-elected. Sorry Mitch, but this was a non starter. It will be fun to count the votes- maybe only Jim Bunning, the genius behind blocking unemployment benefits, will vote against it. I guess they discovered that being the stalwart defenders of Wall Street didn't pan out on Main Street. Their cynical ploy of trying to cast reform as promoting bail outs didn't work out all that well. The American public maybe stupid about health care, but this was one issue where it was not possible to be so completely deceptive. Most likely they were giddy with their success at creating fear of death panels and didn't realize this was an impossible argument. It is nice to see that the odious Frank Luntz fell flat on his face.

Who do you trust?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/18/AR2010041802724.html
Much has been made about the Tea Party in the media, including massive media coverage of Tea Party demonstrations. This is the same media that completely ignored all the demonstrations against the was in Iraq. There are endless shots of the sparsely attended Tea Party events, whereas any anti war demonstration barely earned a yawn, even if attended by hundreds of thousand people. Hey, why weren't we a movement, endless courted and interviewed? Maybe it is because much of the Tea Party frenzy was sponsored by that fine network, Fox News. I am not dismissing all dissatisfaction with and trust in government, which Pew has reported on, but there are many people who would express concerns who do not fall into the Tea Party category, like me. Do I trust my government to do the right thing? Not always. Do I have faith in Congress? Not much. My auntie has been hounding me for a list of people in Congress I trust and respect, and I am sad to say the list is quite short and not growing. There has been incessant anti government rhetoric in the media for a really, really long time. I can't forget the segment on NBC called the Golden Fleece Awards, and there are often segments about idiocy in the Federal government. Well news flash - there is idiocy in every organization, large and small, and given the size of the Federal government, there are more examples of idiocy. But as many have pointed out, endless anti government talk encourages the crazies to do crazy things. It was nice to pass April 19th without something horrible happening.

I'm baaaaaaaack, sort of

I haven't posted in a long time, done in by the Scott Brown election, but my daughter tells me she misses my posts, and I like to make my children happy. So in December the world was going mad over Tiger Woods. Tiger frenzy has subsided a bit, especially after the Masters, where although he played well, he didn't win. I watched some of the Masters. For some reason, I find golf on TV strangely compelling. Unless a player is complete toad, I tend to want the ball to go in the cup. Tom Watson reached Toad status by saying something snarkey about Obama at an awards ceremony, and Retief Goosen is a permanent member of the Toad Club, along with Vijay Singh. Reteif for his mean and incorrect comments about Tiger dogging it during a tournament and making out that his knee was a problem. Tiger went on to have knee surgery and miss months of playing. Vijay Singh just for his generally stupid comments about women. But no longer is the press fulminating about all Tiger's transgressions, but perhaps since I don't read the tabloids, I am blissfully unaware of the latest woman claiming to have sex with him. One of the more disturbing aspects about Tiger was his brief hire of ARI FLEISHER!!! My god, not Ari. Who on earth would want ole Ari as their spokesperson. I guess Tiger's thinking was that if Ari could keep the public from uprising against the Idiot Prince, he could even represent Satan or at least the Pope. He must have figured his transgressions pale in comparison to those of the Bush administration, so why not give Ari a whirl. However, Ari blessedly disappeared from the scene, which was a great relief.

In the forest of the night

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/opinion/20rich.html?em

Frank Rich had a column in the NYT comparing Tiger Wood's bamboozling of the American public into believing his clean image to the fraudulent behavior of Enron and the Bushies pushing of the Iraq war. Sorry, maybe people shouldn't be so celebrity obsessed, but really does it matter Tiger fostered and image of being a squeaky clean family man? I mean, is he to blame for promoting a clean image, after all what celebrity is going to promote an image of being a whore master? Wanting to believe that a sublime golfer had an unblemished personal life is not the same as being lied to about weapons of mass destruction or people being taken for all their money. Newsweek has a cover picture of Tiger with the words, "Why We Can't Look Away." Well I can. Hearing the salacious details of his sex life and the destruction of his personal life are not entertaining to me. I think it is the press who can't look away.

Joe's Lump of Coal for America

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/editorial/ci_14010909
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/258566/december-15-2009/prescott-financial-sells-gold--women---sheep
The Senate was due to debate health care reform this weekend, but a huge snow storm is predicted. And where is Joe Lieberman? Why, despite the weather reports, he went home for the Sabbath. Now, I am respectful of people's religions, but surely there is a congregation in DC. I remember when he ran for VP, he said for important legislation Senate sessions on Saturday would not be a problem. But he isn't exactly someone who remembers or cares about what he says from one minute to the next. The ever brilliant Stephan Colbert noted that on one of the Sunday Gas Bag shows, he said he didn't know what was in the bill about Medicare extension, but he was against. Colbert said, "It takes real courage to oppose a bill when you don't know what's in it." After showing a clip from and interview with the Connecticut Post in September, where Lieberman stated his support for the idea, Colbert said that he was going from Joementum to Joementia, but Joe would be OK because as a sixty five year old, he was eligible for Medicare. It might be a fine time to go and harass him at home, but I think he is so pig headed that it would further his desire to thwart any kind of progress. After all, he decided to oppose the extension of Medicare because liberals like Anthony Weiner liked the idea, so he knew it was bad. What kind of a joke of a human being is he? Gail Collins had a good piece in the NYT, which mentioned that maybe he is really not bright. At least his press is beginning to sour. CBS pointed out that he approved the extension of Medicare benefits a few weeks ago. The Advocate had an editorial asking him to explain himself to the voters of Connecticut, but as a party of one, he feels he owes no one an explanation, but too little too late.

RIP Public Option, Thanks Joe

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/

Ezra Klein has declared the Public Option dead, dead, dead. Sadly, he is right. The health care debate has been a disaster and the final bill deeply disappointing. The Dems come out of this with a terribly flawed bill, looking inept, incompetent and impotent. It looks like Congress spent a good deal of time and energy debating and crafting a bill that will not seemingly make much a difference in people's daily lives. People can understand the importance of the public option, especially those who have unemployed adult children and can relate to the idea of extending Medicare benefits - it is simple idea that makes sense, but the finer points of the bill, like no banning people with a pre-exitisting condition or maxing out on their coverage, because luckily, most people don't have the experience of being turned away from an insurance company or denied major benefits. I am sure that the White House just wants to pass a bill, because what is first and foremost on people's mind is unemployment and the lousy economy. No matter that Lieberman's hypocrisy is unbounded, ie supporting the extension of Medicare to people fifty five and up, the just want this charade and humiliation over. I, for one, would have like to see Senators actually filibustering a bill while the economy continues to languish. It would not have been a pretty sight, and I think the public's patience would wane very quickly, especially since there is public support for some kind of public option. Right now it looks like a great deal of energy was for very little, especially since most of the changes take place years from now.

Joe, How Can You Live With Yourself? part 7,00000000 at least

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/13/lieberman-tells-reid-to-h_n_390416.html
Joe Lieberman has apparently informed Harry Reid that he will filibuster the current health bill that is before the Senate. I'm horrified but not surprised. He seems determined to halt any kind of health care reform no matter what is in the bill, even measures that he previously supported, like the extension of medicare. He has questioned the rush to pass any kind of legislation because of concerns about the deficit, the weather, and no doubt TIGER! A few weeks ago my husband and I went to an interfaith prayer vigil in front of his apartment in Stamford. It was organized by an interfaith group and the SEIU. We first met in the auditorium of Stamford High, ironically Joe's alma mater, and various members of the clergy, as well as Dan Malloy, the outgoing mayor of Stamford. The speeches were moving, particularly one given by a rabbi from West Haven. We then got our candles and walked to Joe's apartment. It was a very orderly crowd - no one jay walked to Joe's apartment which was directly across the street. We had been asked to write a prayer for Joe, which one of the rabbi's attempted to deliver, only to be turned back by the police. One of the residents of the building said she would take the prayers, but the police wouldn't let her bring them into the building. A few days later, my husband found some right wing blog site that talked about the vigil. It said it was a frightening, angry pitchfork carrying mob. Was he referring to the woman in the wheel chair, or the crowd in general? My husband and I are no spring chickens, but we were some of the youngest people there. He talked about the viscous chants. Was he talking about when the crowd chanted, "Take our prayers. Take our prayers!" or was it when we sang, This Little Light of Mine? I don't know what the Democratic leadership can do with him, but since he is basically a Republican, strip him of his committee assignments would be a good start. Since they can't count on his vote for anything, why caucus with him. He is impossible.

Tiger, Tiger burning bright

My daughter made me promise to start blogging again. I got caught up in the doldrums of the health care wars and became to gloomy to post. The Tiger Woods frenzy has prodded me out of semi retirement. I turned away from the dreaded MSM gasbags and discovered the restful nattering of Sports Center on ESPN. They all care so deeply about such trivial matters, that it is quite peaceful to hear them go on and on. But even that refuge is now lost to me because of TIGER! There is so much hand wringing about the poor, abused state of golf, which might loose some of their corporate sponsors, because no one particularly cares all that much about a tournament that doesn't include Tiger Woods. Without corporate sponsorship, the networks that cover golf loose money, which then has a terrible effect on the economy. So therefore Tiger has single handedly brought the economy to a screeching halt. Jeez, and I thought it was the miserly banks who won't lend money to the poor slobs on Main Street. And people are shocked, shocked that someone who makes a great deal of money in an extremely stressful profession, who travels a lot has sex with many cheese ball women. The conventional wisdom is that he right to slink away and try to patch things up with his wife and not play golf. Some golfer pointed out that his absence from the game might mean that other people might win a few majors, heh heh. Yes, it would be nice for him to salvage his marriage, but slink away from golf? Listen if David The Diaper Vitter and Larry Wide Stance Craig didn't slink away from the Senate, I see no reason for Tiger to pay a penance to anyone but his wife. And if anyone in the news business has any compassion for his wife, they should shut the f_k up and not cover all these women coming forward with all these torrid claims.

Not so nice when it happens to you, is it?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/sports/baseball/08yankees.html?em

I was very happy to watch the 15th inning of the Yankee/Red Sox game. It was wonderful to see A-rod, baseball's most despised player, hitting a game ending home run against the RED SOX. So much for not coming through in the clutch. I was most interested to see the reaction in the press when it was leaked that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez took steriods. There was much whining about how could this leak have taken place, etc. And then the story died - no further word about Big Poppy and Manny. All those journalists who delighted in trashing A-rod were quite muffled about Big P and Manny, who was no model citizen to begin with. Even though I took some grim satisfaction in seeing Big P and Manny twist in the wind, it is really creepy that these so called confidential drug tests keep getting leaked.

In the trenches or on the front lines, I'm not sure which...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/opinion/07krugman.html?ref=global
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/article1025529.ece

Paul Krugman has a good column about the crazies who disrupt the town hall meetings held by Democratic congressmen. My husband and I attended a town hall meeting held by our Congressman Jim Himes. I had gotten an email earlier in the day telling me that there was going to be a town hall meeting about health care that evening. I RSVPed and got linked to a grass roots Obama cite, which I didn't think much about. We got there pretty early, and I got my first taste of lunacy. We weren't supposed to go upstairs until a certain time, but people were pretty much ignoring that directive, so we decided to ignore it too. I slunk on the elevator first, and there was another woman on the elevator. She looked at me and said, "Are you for or against?" I said, mildly, that I was for health care. I asked her if she was for or against the bill, and she answered, "This is a bill that Hitler could have designed, but you won't hear that tonight." And although I had read that one shouldn't debate because these people do not listen to reason, I couldn't help myself and answered, "Because it is not true." Blessedly, we were only going to the second floor, and I took a vow of silence. The invocation of Hitler I find deeply offensive. Talk to any Holocaust survivor or anyone who lost family, and they will tell you just how deeply offensive it is. And I suspect that many of the people making those comparisons have some thinly veiled anti Semitic feelings themselves. Many more people turned up and it was quite a vivid crowd. It turned out that it wasn't a town hall meeting about health care, but a meeting with FAA officials about airplane noise in Fairfield County and that another meeting would be scheduled for health care, but after the noise meeting Himes would stay and discuss health care for a while. We decided to stay. We happened to be sitting in front of two lunatics, and there was one next to me. It is hard to describe the running invective that spewed from their mouths. One was a proud tea bagger and the other was a proud ignoramus, who gave a running commentary about the people at the meeting. His most awful comment was when a noise person said something asking the FAA officials what could they do about the noise, and he shouted out, "Shoot them down!" In my book that is advocating terrorism. The man sitting next to me started appreciatively snickering, and I looked at him with my jaw dropping and eyes rolling, and he knew I wasn't a fellow traveler. Some of the noise people were totally bat sh-t crazy, and several of them went on long prepared rants. The noise people talked more than the FAA officials which was not really the point of the meeting. After more than an hour of noise discussion, the FAA people and the noise people left. Dan Malloy stayed with Himes to hear the health care discussion and after hearing the noise people I was glad to see someone else in the sane column, as well as several police officers. I couldn't tell how many people were in favor of some kind of health reform and how many were against. I know that the anger is being stoked by the republicans and their stooges in the media, but the level of anger emanating from the anti reform people was astounding. I mean us pro reform people are the ones that are feeling currently screwed by the status quo, and I was happy to see that there were several people that supported a single payer system. I said on the way home that I thought that the anger had less to do with health care, but more to do with Obama, and I was happy to see that Krugman had the same thought and guessed that many of them were probably birthers. The angry crowd were white mostly, but not all, working class. My non fellow traveler was in a suit and joined a group of scary suited men who were sitting in a row. Whenever Himes mentioned undocumented aliens, he kept shouting, "Illegals! Illegals!" Himes was quite deft in handling questions, even from the hostiles and there were some sane questions and comments. We kept our mouths shut, except to say let him finish his answer. I was well coached from a piece in TPM who wrote, it is useless to debate, but encourage civility and urging people to let Congressmen finish. I still don't understand why everyone, except those robber barons in the heath insurance industry, are not behind reform. Doctors are getting screwed by the insurance companies, every business is being hurt by health care costs, hospitals are being squeezed by the industry, not to mention patients. Anyone who has ever had to deal with a serious illness has a full understanding of how these companies operate. We fled as soon as it was over. When we got home I read that a town hall meeting in Florida ended in a fist fight. Apparently there were many more confrontations at meetings, and I fear this is going to get uglier and uglier. Honestly, after being at the town hall meeting, it is wonder to me why anyone would want to run for Congress.

My epitaph

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/31/recess-harassment-memo/

I called Jim Himes' office last week to find out what his position was on the public option. The woman answering the phones said he hadn't made up his mind. I asked how the calls were running, and she said fifty fifty. I said that I found that hard to believe because he was elected because he was the more liberal candidate from a liberal district. I think I owe her an apology, not that I think that he should sit on the fence, but when I read how organized the opposition is, I realize it is quite possible that Himes' is being hounded by the right wing. However, he still should abide by his campaign literature, which I still have stuck to my refrigerator. There is a fine picture of Himes with Barack, and the quote on the back reads: "With a new president, new energy, and new ideas, together we will bring real change..." Where is his support of Barack now? What is that line about who you go home with? Isn't it the person who brought you to the dance? He never would have been elected if it weren't for Barack. Shays was quite popular in this district, and I confess I once voted for him myself, although wouldn't again. In my defence, I voted for him in his second election, after he had resisted pressure from the republican machine, including Ronnie himself, and voted against aid for the contras. My auntie won't let me forget my one vote for a republican. She swears she is going to put "Once Voted for a Republican" on my tombstone.

Keeping the Peace

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/27/AR2009072701907.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

The lovely Eugene Robinson has a must read column about the Gates arrest. I must admit to being stunned at the kerfuffle about what Barack had to say about the reaction to the Cambridge police and their arrest of Henry Louis Gates. I listened to the press conference about health care, and even though the question had nothing to do with the purpose of the presser, I must admit to being pleasantly surprised by Barack's answer to the question about the arrest of Skip Gates. I thought he was blunt, but accurate. I mean, come on, does anyone really think that race had nothing to do with the arrest? Please. Gates may not have been super polite, and maybe he was rude, and mabye he quoted Happy Days. I think it unlikely, but if he did indeed say something about Crowley's mother, who is the professional here? I thought that police had a mission to keep the peace. Does anyone think that what officer Crowley did defused the situation or inflamed the situation? It is his job to diffuse the situation. As the divine Eugene point out "...meeting a a Harvard faculty member who happens to be arrogant is like meeting a basketball player who happens to be tall..." If you, as part of your job, are supposed to keep the peace, what are you doing if you arrest a black cane carrying professor in his own home, who might have irritated you by being angry/superior/who knows what? It is sort of like a shrink bitching about "...all these people, they go on and on about how miserable they are...It is depressing!" ( Sad but true, I had a therapist friend who complained about her patients being so depressed.) Crowley must have known right away that he was not arresting a public menace, but more bringing in someone he found really annoying. If one were to arrest annoying people, that would bring the criminal justice system to a standstill. Crowley should have known better. But at least it appears that he is trying to diffuse the situation somewhat, by going to the White House. But I have read that the Gates flap has caused Barack's poll numbers to slip, and I find that very sad. It seems that it has given the racist right wing cover to unleash the demons of hate.

We need the Dog Whisperer

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25368.html

It is pretty amazing that the repugs are so up front about their real goal, which is according to Gentleman Jim, "breaking him." They offer no alternative, other than the status quo or cutting medicare and medicaid benefits. They want to obstruct any progress because defeating the Dems is more important than anything, including the wishes of their constituents. And they are not concealing their goal, not one little bit. What is more mysterious is the Dems. I just don't get it, here they have a wildly popular president, a strong majority in both houses, the Repugs poll numbers in the toilet, large public support for health care reform, including the public option, and yet many Dems are trembling in their boots about any kind of change. What surprises me, is that it is not just those Dems that were allegedly traumatized by '94, but even newly elected members of Congress. I initially thought that it was the dreaded Beltway syndrome, but there is more than that going on. I was initially encouraged when I heard that Rahmbo was on the case, but so far he has not brought them to their knees. I miss the old Rahm. The claim of the Blue Dogs that their reluctance is about fiscal responsibility rings hollow, because they are quite willing to spend on other things. What they seem to fail to realize is that if health care reform is not passed, they will have a crippled administration and a party that will be a deemed an utter failure. These centrists are so ridiculously self important. I think that if Teddy were well and knocking some sense into these fools, that the progress would be faster. It is such a shame that he is so ill during the fight over an issue that is so important to him. He is so respected Senator on both sides of the aisle that he is sorely missed.