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.