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.

Uncle Walter

I felt sad to hear about Walter Cronkite's death. My mother worked for him for many years, back in the very early days of CBS News, and back when reporters were actual reporters and not corporate tools. She had great respect for him and found him decent, smart and kind. In fact he went to bat for her when her job was threatened. It is galling to hear him celebrated by "reporters" who are everything he wasn't. Although he never revealed his party affiliation he never concealed that he had actual thoughts. He was called the most trusted man in America, but he earned that trust by becoming a truth teller, something that is clearly not a goal of today's network reporters. Reporters today crave access over everything, which creates an imbalance and a sychophantish relationship with those in power. Right before the War in Afghanistan I heard him on the radio saying what a bad idea he thought it was to invade. I don't think you will hear much about that statement in the grief orgy.

Cone...Cohen...?

I must truly be a masochist. The weather has been changeable, so for some reason I thought it would be productive to try to watch or listen to the Sotomayor hearings on and off. Today they have been dull, dull, dull, and I often crack and turn down the volume on my computer, like when they had the ding bat from the NRA testifying. One high point was seeing David Cone testify. He said in essence, that some may call it an exageration that she saved baseball, but she succeeded getting the players out on the field where many others had failed, including Congress, various mediators and the President. The other high point was hearing Jeffrey Beaurgard Sessions welcome "David Cohen." Huh, he must be thinking... well I know he played for New York teams, and he is recommending a wise Latina to become a Supreme, so I must be saying his name right..."Cohen."