Grover Norquist is an idiot

And a traitor. His vision for America will turn us into a third world nation. He wants nothing less than the wealthy to become an entrenched oligarchy, accountable to no one and in control of every resource.

Patriotic Millionaires tell Norquist to move to Somalia

The most telling paragraph in the piece is the Norquist quote where he actually says “Somalia suffers from too much government.”  What the fuck?  Not only is he an idiot when it comes to American economic policy, he knows nothing about the world outside his own head.

And that’s what’s wrong with modern conservatism.  Ignorant, uninformed, and in control of too much power.

I stand with OWS

Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy

Right-wing con artist and fraudster James O’Keefe has hit a snag in his latest attempts to expose “institutions of the American left.”

It seems no one wants to give the little scumbag money.  His so-called “Project Veritas” (the name itself an irony), has run into funding problems and infighting.  Read on...

Well, it was bound to happen.  See, the problem with trying to expose “liberal corruption” is that the people you’re “exposing” tend to be well educated and, let’s face it, much smarter than him.  The insignificant little lizard ran into a snag recently when he tried to run a sting against the Economic Policy Institute.  Unfortunately for him, he’s already well known in liberal circles and they were on to his lies.

O’Keefe, of course, made a name for himself producing doctored videos and ruining the lives of people much better than he will ever be.  Here’s hoping this brings down his fraudulent little racket.

I am the 99 percent

And I stand with the protesters in Oakland, California.  And in New York City.  And in Atlanta, where they were evicted from their rightful place on the streets.  And everywhere they choose to exercise their Constitutional rights to peacefully assemble and seek redress of their grievances from their government.

This is a disgrace.  The police are deliberately using violent force to disperse peaceful protesters.  Whom are they protecting?  They have more in common with the protesters than they do with the brigands, pirates and kleptomaniacs on Wall Street; they should be marching in the streets as well.

So should teachers, firefighters, postal workers, and anyone else who collects a paycheck.  Anyone who isn’t a millionaire should be demonstrating and demanding accountability from Wall Street and justice leveled against them.  Not one more protester should go to jail for exercising his or her rights until the robber barons and ripoff artists in the so-called “financial industry” have been brought to justice.

This is a global struggle.  It will not go away, and the more they crack down on the protests, the louder they’ll get.

And don’t give me any shit about “class war.”  The Republicans have been waging class war on the middle and lower classes for over 30 years now, eroding our rights to unionize, crafting tax policies that ensure the rich get richer and the rest of us stay in our place, giving power to the bosses and ignoring the needs of the workers.  The fact is, they only complain about class warfare when their victims fight back.

The new face of Right-Wing violence in America

On Saturday, January 7th, 2011, congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was shot in the head while making one of her regular appearances in Tucson.  The shooter, a 22 year  is now in custody and being held for questioning and trial.  In addition to Mrs. Giffords, 17 others were hurt in the shooting.  Six have died including a federal judge and a nine-year old girl.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the tragedy.  We don’t expect this sort of thing to happen in America.  It’s horrific, it’s senseless, and most of all, uncivilized.

It was, sadly, also completely predictable.  You see, for the past two years, the rhetoric from the right has been all about violence, hate and bigotry.  All too often, people seeking public office have deliberately used language designed to appeal to the irrational and the violent.  Don’t believe me?  Let me provide a few examples:

Here’s former senate candidate Sharron Angle blithely talking about “Second Amendment Remedies”:

Translation:  “If we don’t get our way, we’ll start shooting people.”

And here’s Allen West, who was recently elected to the House of Representatives, actually exhorting a crowd of lunatic Teabaggers to threaten his opponent:

Wow.  Domestic terrorism as a campaign strategy.  What a guy.

And here’s a timeless classic:  Faux News gasbag and liar Glenn Beck “joking” about poisoning the Speaker of the House:

Because we all know how funny assassination is.

And last, but certainly not least, here’s a timeless classic from none other than former half-term Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin:

Aren’t they cute?  They look just like little gunsights!  And three of them are in Arizona!  I’m sure nothing bad will come of this…

Ever since the shootings, the lunatic fringe right wing has been falling all over itself to distance itself from the event.  Of course it’s not their fault, they can’t be responsible for the actions of a crazed lunatic, and besides, the kid read the Communist Manifesto, so doesn’t that make him a … liberal?

No.  He also quoted Ayn Rand and may have had ties to a right-wing hate group called American Renaissance.  And, he rambled on about declining currency and the gold standard, two obsessions shared by Rand and Glenn Beck.

Besides, if he was a leftist, why did he go after a Democrat?

No, at the end of the day, the Tea Party owns this tragedy.  It was their rhetoric that set the stage for it, it was the irresponsible behavior and speech of Beck, Palin, West and Angle that give lunatics the idea that killing opponents is acceptable.  They made this shit sandwich, and it’s our job to make sure they eat it and the stench clings to them.

Keep them in your cross-hairs.  I’m sure they’ll appreciate the irony of that imagery.

Of course, I don’t mean it that way…

Happy New Year!

Well, another year is passed, and another just begun.  Here’s hoping the next two years will be better than the previous two.  But then, how could they be worse?

Oh, that’s right.  THIS half-wit will be Speaker of the House:

And for further fun reading, here’s a record of Agent Orange’s voting record.

Gee, with “leadership” like that, how can we lose?  Forecasts call for increased deficit spending, blame-throwing, and slavish pandering to plutocrats!

For the middle class, more of the crap we’ve been through since Bush crashed the economy in 2007.

No Mercy

It’s been a while.  Looking back, I see my last post was about this time in 2009.  I know I have a few readers, and some of you have stuck with me in that time, so I apologize for not maintaining the appearance of keeping up with current events.  The truth is, I was so swept up in those events that I had no time to comment on them.

I’ve been busy.  Took my tax return from 2008 and used the money to pack up and move across country to go back to college.  Because, you know, in America, 21 years of active duty military experience counts for shit these days.  “Support the Troops” is nothing more than a bumper sticker.

Thank God for the new G.I. Bill.  It’s what’s keeping me in school, and what’s keeping food on the table.

But enough about me, what about the country?  President Obama has had two years to clean up the mess the Republicans spent eight years creating, and so far he hasn’t done much.  Why aren’t things better?

Of course, I’m being sarcastic.  The Republicans didn’t spend just eight years creating this mess, they spent the better part of the past 30.  This disaster has its roots in the Reagan administration, when that half-wit went on his union-busting crime spree and began to dismantle the fabric of the American middle class.  The collapse of the housing market in 2007 was just the final stroke.  This mess has been thirty years in the making.  It’s gonna take a lot longer than that to clean it up.

Elephants leave huge piles of shit everywhere they go.

With the new year approaching, and a new crop of Republican country-wreckers about to take over Congress, I thought it was time to start blogging again.  Call it my late Christmas gift.  And to celebrate the momentous occasion, I’d like to give them another one.

No mercy.

That’s what they deserve most.  If conditions don’t improve right away, hammer the bastards.  Question their motives.  Question their abilities.  Question their right to lead.  And never, ever let up.  They got us into this mess, they’re in charge now, so give ’em both barrels.

And when they fail, don’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

Happy Fucking New Year, Republicans.  Good luck.

What the Republicans have become

What do you call a group that incites violence, relies on fear, intimidation and lies to influence political and social change, has no respect for others’ opinions and holds a country hostage to its own twisted desires?

That’s right, terrorists.  The Republican party has become the Al Qaeda of American politics.

Let’s all send ’em a message:

They don’t deserve the time of day.  The Democrats and President Obama should pass health care reform, with a robust public option, with or without their support, interference, intimidation, lies, hypocrisy or terrorism.

It would destroy them once and for all, consigning the lot of them to the dustbin of history.  Permanent minority status – that’s what they deserve.

Boneheaded “Birther” Bitch Bamboozled by Bogus B.C.

In case you missed it (and let’s face it, who hasn’t seen this by now), here’s radical nutcase Orly Taitz demonstrating why no one with more than room temperature IQ takes this “movement” seriously:

Wasn’t that fun?

I’m beginning to think the President actually should petition the state of Hawaii to release his “long form” BC, just to shut these morons up.  Not that it’ll help.  They’ll probably accuse him of forging that as well.

I couldn’t help but notice, in this interview Ms. Taitz is talking from Tel Aviv.  I wonder, does she have a green card?

Hmmmmmmm?

Healthcare Craziness

One of the perils of actually being employed during the worst economic disaster in 70 years is that you sometimes have to put up with some pretty stupid stuff at work.  Take, for example, this email recently spammed to the company on the company network by the owner of the company (names have been removed to protect the ignorant):

—–Original Message—–
From: XXX XXXXXX
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 11:19 AM
To: All Outlook Users
Subject: HC disaster synposys (or: Healthcare Hell)

Just think about these for a second or two..
_______________
Following the mad recommendations of Peter Singer made in NYT’s Sunday
magazine, it pays to take a look at what is actually in the healthcare
bill.

It’s worse than you can possibly imagine. Somehow, it manages to be
Singer on steroids. Who wrote this bill. It has Singer’s footprints all
over it.

Peter Fleckstein (aka Fleckman) is reading it and has been posting on
Twitter his findings. This is from his postings (Note: All comments are
Fleckman’s) _______________

Here:

Pg 22 of the HC Bill MANDATES the Govt will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS
that self insure!!

Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC bill – THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides
what treatments/benes u get

Pg 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill – YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!!

Pg 42 of HC Bill – The Health Choices Commissioner will choose UR HC
Benefits
4 you. U have no choice!

PG 50 Section 152 in HC bill – HC will be provided 2 ALL non US
citizens, illegal or otherwise

Pg 58HC Bill – Govt will have real-time access 2 individs finances & a
National ID Healthcard will b issued!

Pg 59 HC Bill lines 21-24 Govt will have direct access 2 ur banks accts
4 elect. funds transfer

PG 65 Sec 164 is a payoff subsidized plan 4 retirees and their families
in Unions & community orgs (ACORN).

Pg 72 Lines 8-14 Govt is creating an HC Exchange 2 bring priv HC plans
under Govt control.

PG 84 Sec 203 HC bill – Govt mandates ALL benefit pkgs 4 priv. HC plans
in the Exchange

PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill – Specs for of Benefit Levels for Plans = The Govt
will ration ur Healthcare!

PG 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill – Govt mandates linguistic approp svcs. Example
– Translation 4 illegal aliens

Pg 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18 The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN &
Americorps 2 sign up indiv. for Govt HC plan

PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill – Specs of Ben Levels 4 Plans. #AARP members – U
Health care WILL b rationed

-PG 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill – Medicaid Eligible Indiv. will b
automat.enrolled in Medicaid. No choice

pg 124 lines 24-25 HC No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No
“judicial review” against Govt Monop

pg 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill – Doctors/ #AMA – The Govt will tell YOU what
u can make.

Pg 145 Line 15-17 An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into pub opt
plan. NO CHOICE

Pg 126 Lines 22-25 Employers MUST pay 4 HC 4 part time employees AND
their families.

Pg 149 Lines 16-24 ANY Emplyr w payroll 400k & above who does not prov.
pub opt. pays 8% tax on all payroll

pg 150 Lines 9-13 Biz w payroll btw 251k & 400k who doesnt prov. pub.
opt pays 2-6% tax on all payroll

Pg 167 Lines 18-23 ANY individual who doesnt have acceptable HC accrdng
2 Govt will be taxed 2.5% of inc

Pg 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from indiv.
taxes.
(Americans will pay)

Pg 195 HC Bill -officers & employees of HC Admin (GOVT) will have access
2 ALL Americans finan/pers recs

PG 203 Line 14-15 HC – “The tax imposed under this section shall not be
treated as tax” Yes, it says that

Pg 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill Govt will reduce physician svcs 4 Medicaid.
Seniors, low income, poor affected

Pg 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill – Doctors, doesnt matter what specialty u have,
you’ll all be paid the same

PG 253 Line 10-18 Govt sets value of Dr’s time, prof judg, etc.
Literally value of humans.

PG 265 Sec 1131Govt mandates & controls productivity for private HC
industries

PG 268 Sec 1141 Fed Govt regulates rental & purchase of power driven
wheelchairs

PG 272 SEC. 1145. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS – Cancer
patients – welcome to rationing!

Page 280 Sec 1151 The Govt will penalize hospitals 4 what Govt deems
preventable readmissions.

Pg 298 Lines 9-11 Drs, treat a patient during initial admiss that
results in a readmiss-Govt will penalize u.

Pg 317 L 13-20 OMG!! PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Govt tells
Drs.
what/how much they can own.

Pg 317-318 lines 21-25,1-3 PROHIBITION on expansion- Govt is mandating
hospitals cannot expand

pg 321 2-13 Hospitals have oppt to apply for exception BUT community
input required. Can u say ACORN?!!

Pg335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339 – Govt mandates estab. of outcome based
measures. HC the way they want. Rationing

Pg 341 Lines 3-9 Govt has authority 2 disqual Medicare Adv Plans, HMOs,
etc.
Forcing peeps in2 Govt plan

Pg 354 Sec 1177 – Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs ppl!
WTF. My sis has down syndrome!!

Pg 379 Sec 1191 Govt creates more bureaucracy – Telehealth Advisory
Cmtte. Can u say HC by phone?

PG 425 Lines 4-12 Govt mandates Advance Care Planning Consult. Think
Senior Citizens end of life

Pg 425 Lines 17-19 Govt will instruct & consult regarding living wills,
durable powers of atty. Mandatory!

PG 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3 Govt provides apprvd list of end of
life resources, guiding u in death

PG 427 Lines 15-24 Govt mandates program 4 orders 4 end of life. The
Govt has a say in how ur life ends

Pg 429 Lines 1-9 An “adv. care planning consult” will b used frequently
as patients health deteriorates

PG 429 Lines 10-12 “adv. care consultation” may incl an ORDER 4 end of
life plans. AN ORDER from GOV

Pg 429 Lines 13-25 – The govt will specify which Doctors can write an
end of life order.

PG 430 Lines 11-15 The Govt will decide what level of treatment u will
have at end of life

Pg 469 – Community Based Home Medical Services=Non profit orgs. Hello,
ACORN Medical Svcs here!!?

Page 472 Lines 14-17 PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORG. 1 monthly payment 2
a community-based org. Like ACORN?

PG 489 Sec 1308 The Govt will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which
means they will insert Govt in2 ur marriage

Pg 494-498 Govt will cover Mental Health Svcs including defining,
creating, rationing those svcs

Wow.  I sure am scared now.  This sounds pretty much like the status quo.  God help us if all those health insurance bureaucrats ever get replaced by government bureaucrats.  The sender didn’t have the guts or decency to include a copy of the actual bill, though.  We’re supposed to accept this screed as fact and get all panicked and worked up about nationalized health care.  What bullshit.