Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins – Maine’s phony Senators

As a citizen of Maine, I have called the offices of both Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins on several occasions.  For some reason these two women get some sort of credit for being moderate Republicans.  What the hell is a moderate Republican.  Considering that Snowe and Collins are the only two Republican representatives in Congress from all six New England states, one might think that Moderate Republican means a Democrat.  And now that Olympia Snowe has voted to allow the Baucus Healthcare Reform Bill to move forward to the full Senate, she has somehow become more important than she was yesterday.  Saint Snowe.  I don’t think so.  And apparently others are questioning it as well.    Everyone thought she would have a seat at the next bargaining table up the chain.  She won’t.  And she doesn’t deserve it.

On Tuesday, October 13, 2009, after the Senate Finance Committee sent the Baucus Healthcare Reform Bill to the full Senate, Snowe was touted as the focal point of the entire health care debate.  The truth is that the Finance Committee didn’t need her vote.  The vote was 14 to 9, but without her, it would have been 13 to 10.  Still a win for the Democrats in my estimation.  So all we really got was the appearance of bi-partisanship because ONE Republican vote yes.

My last phone call to Stowe’s office was about a month ago.  I asked what her position was on Healthcare.  I got the standard answer, which wasn’t an answer at all.  “What is your position on healthcare?” was all I got.  That and “Senator Snowe hasn’t come up with her final position yet”.  Really!?  The whole country is fighting for or against health care reform but Senator Snowe from Maine hasn’t decided what her position is yet?  I don’t understand why these Senators can’t just state a position.  I pay your god damned salary so TELL ME WHAT THE HELL YOUR THINKING!

I know, now, that I received no answers because there were no answers.  She voted “yes” on October 13, but as she said “today is today”.  Meaning, “don’t count on me for anything – I’m going to hedge my bet and see which answers will get me re-elected”.  I don’t care about your orphaned, rags-to-riches background, I really don’t.  You are there for six years at a time to represent ME.  When are you going to start?

I know so many people in Maine that don’t have health insurance and are suffering…badly.  And those that do have it don’t have very good health insurance, just like me.  I have coverage, but it doesn’t cover what I need it to cover.  So even with insurance my monthly expenses for medical bills and prescriptions are slowly and methodically driving me to financial ruin. 

Having said that, Olympia Snowe can’t possibly be representing her constituents accurately because if she was, she would be on her hands and knees begging other Republicans for a National Health Care System with a single payer.

Snowe is betting that there are enough rich Republicans in Maine who don’t want universal health care to re-elect her.  That’s it, that’s all.

Senator Collins is another story.  Well actually, no it isn’t.  It’s the same.  Collins is on the Insurance Industry payroll just like all the others.  Her public statements, both written and oral, have indicated she is flat out against what she calls a “Washington-run” health care system.  She is also against any single payer system.   Well, she is part of “Washington”.  Is she saying that she doesn’t trust herself not to run a corruption-free universal health care system?  Or is she saying that she can’t vote FOR health care reform because she can’t afford not to get campaign contributions from Aetna, Unum, or Blue Cross, all of whom have a big presence in Maine.  The answer?  Both.

I have called Senator Collins’ office many times as well.  I’ve asked what her position is on healthcare.  I get the same thing – “What is YOUR position on health care and I will relay that message to her”.  Here we go.  Another one of my “employees” who won’t tell me what her position is on health care reform.  I don’t know how the hell this woman got re-elected in 2008.  She’s sitting pretty now and must owe here contributors a LOT of favors.  Every time I watch her on television in an interview, she is cagey, evasive, and can’t seem to come up with just one straight answer; everything is hedged.

I dont’ believe that Senators Collins and Snowe should have health insurance for themselves, paid for by me, until all of the citizens of Maine have the same opportunities that they do to get coverage.  Why is this such a bad idea?  I pay their salaries.  She has one of the richest insurance plans available.  And I am going broke trying to pay for my medical expenses. 

Collins and Snowe:  You were elected by the people and for the people.  It’s time you did your jobs.  Listen to the citizens of Maine, not your own opinions and re-elections tactics.  You are in Washington to represent us, not yourselves.

Until you both give up your healthcare in solidarity, and until at least every Maine citizen has affordable, universal health care, I will continue to call you out, and call you nothing but phony.   You don’t know how lucky you are that the people in Maine who DON’T follow politics simply  recognize your name and pull the lever on Election Day.

Alan Grayson’s remarks are not the same as Republican Death Panels

More fake disdain from the Republican Party and political fat-ass pundits today.

Recently in an after hours session of the House, Democrat Alan Grayson help up a sign that said “Die Quickly”.  His verbal assault went further.  He said that the Republican answer to health care is “don’t get sick, and if you do, die quickly”.

While we all now this was a joke and a bad one at that, he was simply trying to make a point.  Let’s face it, the Republicans still can not come up with a health care plan but the are clairvoyant because they know that Democrat plan is wrong.  Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, NO, NO, NO.  But don’t ask them what the right plan is, they have no idea.  So I understand Alan Grayson’s opinions and tactics.

However, Republicans are comparing this to Joe Wilson’s “YOU LIE” comment at a joint session of congress.  Republicans are saying that Grayson should be censured or reprimanded in some way.  They say it is an unacceptable outburst of hate and misinformation.

Hmm.  Let’s think.  Wilson was the first person EVER in the history of the Congress to interrupt the President by yelling out disagreeable remarks during a joint session.  There are rules of conduct in Congress and Wilson stepped way over the line by yelling out “YOU LIE”.  He owed the President an apology and owed the Congress one as well. 

Alan Grayson merely put up a sign in a late night session of Congress when almost nobody was there.  None of the Republican leaders in Congress stuck around to hear all of the debates and to listen to “the juniors” like Grayson when it was his turn to speak.  It was below them.  The place was almost empty.  If it weren’t for C-SPAN catching it on tape, I’m not convinced many would have noticed Grayson’s remarks.  Bringing theatrics and visual aids is a long-standing tradition in Congress.  Grayson was trying to make a point.  Maybe Republicans don’t want you to die quickly, maybe they do, but it was a joke.  Not a funny joke, more of a ploy to get some attention.  A tactic to expose Republicans for what they are: in the pockets of the health care industry, and doing everything they can to maintain the status quo.

Alan Grayson’s sign CAN NOT be compared the Republican’s “Death Panel” crusade.  Republicans flooded the airwaves, both on talk radio and television, trying to convince the American public that Obama’s health care plan includes Death Panels and that they want to kill off grandma.  That tactic was real, scary, and many people truly believed it.  This is the perfect spot for a comment about the ignorant, hate-filled Republican base but I’m going to rise above it).   The words “Death Panel”  became part of the Republican mantra for weeks on end, and even when they knew it wasn’t true, Republicans still would not come right out and admit it there was no such thing.  They would talk in circles so as not to have to blatantly admin THERE ARE NO DEATH PANELS IN THE HEALTH CARE BILL.  I’ve heard them on political talk show saying things like “well there’s no real proof but if you read between the lines. yadda, yadda, yadda, and “government takeover of healthcare” blah, blah, blah.

Alan Grayson was trying to get people to WAKE UP.  For some reason, many politicians don’t understand, or just don’t want to understand, that without OPTIONS from which American’s can choose for their own healthcare, then there is no reform.  Covering pre-existing conditions isn’t going to cut it for people who DON’T HAVE INSURANCE anyway.  For people who don’t have insurance, or are under-insured, everything is a pre-existing condition.

The public option needs to be nothing more than an extension of Medicare or Medicaid to everyone who want it or needs it.    Placing some puny little rules on insurance companies doesn’t stop those insurance companies from jacking up prices and forcing Americans through miles of red tape to get the coverage they are due.  There is no way to enforce the “new rules” that might be imposed on insurance companies.  If an insurance company wants to cancel your policy, they will now cancel an entire line of business.  For example, they could easily say “Healthcare Plan A is being discontinued because it is no longer profitable”.  This is well within their rights.  If they can’t cancel individual policies, what is to stop them from cancelling insurance on a wide-spread basis using loop holes in the legislation.  Nobody can force an insurance company to continue a product that they are losing money on; so they will just discontinue it.  It happens every day.

And here’s one last thought:  My tax dollars pay for Federal Employees healthcare, yet I don’t have adequate healthcare myself.  What if we take away all healthcare for Congress, the White House, and the Supreme Court until Congress can figure out a way to give  all Americans the same health coverage that they have.  Then they can apply for it and fill out all the paperwork just like the rest of us.  If a federal employee is single, he will pay about $160 a month (or $77 dollars per semi-monthly paycheck) for his insurance.  But he will get one of the richest plans in this country.  I pay about that for myself and have a $3,000 deductible before my “insurance” even kicks in.  Yet, I am paying for this sample employee’s health insurance.  We could have the same illness and he will live, and I will die, because I don’t have $3,000.

Do you folks even begin to get this yet?

Maine Senators don’t care about health insurance reform, or you

Today I called the offices of both Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, you know the moderate Republicans, the progressive Republicans.  Bull shit.

According to the staff person that answered the phone, Olympia Snowe “hasn’t finalized here position on health care reform”.  She hasn’t??  Everybody else in the country has chosen a position.  And most of them don’t know what they are talking about.  So Ms. Snowe is the only person in America who hasn’t decided on a position?  They asked me if I wanted a response.  Of course I want a response.  I want to know why you don’t have a position and I want to know when you will publicly state what your position is.

As bad as Susan Collins position is, at least she has one.  She categorically is against a public option and against a single payer plan.  OK.  So if you extrapolate that, she’s against reform in general.  Susan Collins released a statement.  I couldn’t find it on her site but I found it on a political blog.  If you are interested, here it is: http://principalquattrano.com/images/collins_lg.jpg

It is FILLED with standard Republican talking points and phrases like “Washington-run public insurance” and continues to quote “The Lewin Group”.  Now, the Lewin Group is quoted by literally every Republican member of the House and Senate.  The Lewin group is touted as being the foremost  independent experts in the country regarding health care.  Well, by right wing politicians and pundits, at least.

In reality, the Lewin Group is a front.  They are a fake independent health care consulting firm wholly owned and operated by United Health Group, one of America’s largest health care providers.  There is nothing independent about Lewin.  Yet, if you listen to any Republican in Congress when they have the floor, or when they are on Fox News, you will hear each of them continually reference the Lewin Group as a preeminent source for what a catastrphe Health Insurance Reform would be on every level.

So Susan Collins, the moderate, is quoting the same bogus sources as every other republican.  Further, on one hand, Collins says that the reduced operating costs of a government backed health insurance plan would bring an end to private insurers and it’s not fair.  On the other hand she says we can’t accomplish Health Care reform because the cost is too great.  WELL IT CAN’T BE BOTH.  It can’t be a cheap-to-run health insurance plan AND too expensive at the same time.

The contradictions go on.  She states that the increased costs of health care are a burden to employers.  Well, that’s true.  But if employees don’t like their plan, or feel they could get better coverage from the government plan (and I can tell you from experience that many employees would bail on their existing health coverage), employer costs, in most circumstances would GO DOWN because fewer people would need private coverage.  Again, Susan, you can’t have it both ways.

And finally, she said she talked directly to the President.  She states that in her conversation with him, she pointed out that States with high-quality, low-cost health care like Maine (?) should not be harmed by reforms but rather rewarded for their efficiencies and innovations.  I don’t know what State she lives in but I can tell you the following:  finding a primary care physician, or finding mental health care, or finding a dentist in Maine is next to impossible.  There are not enough doctors, they are not taking new patients, there aren’t enough dentists, psychiatrists won’t take a new patient unless they have the right “kind” of insurance.  I don’t have a clue what she means by our “efficiencies”.  When I was out of work for 18 months, I was denied for the State of Maine health insurance program (for the unemployed, disabled, people on public asistance, etc) because they weren’t taking any new applicants right then.  They put me on a waiting list – a waiting list to get health care.  It was 2 months after I went back to work (18 months later) that I receive a letter from the State of Maine with an application to fill out for the State health insurance program for the poor.  What exactly was efficient about that.

In conclusion, if my Congressional representatives don’t want to fight for a national health care system, then let me join the health insurance plan that they have.  I want to pay the same amount that a Congressperson  pays our of his or her own pocket and I want the same level of coverage. 

That sounds about right, doesn’t it.  What could they possibly have against that.  I am not asking for anything more than Congress gets, and they work for me; I pay their salary.  Maybe as your employer, I will decide that we can’t afford to provide you with health insurance anymore.  That’s what employers are doing all over the country to make ends meet.  I think it’s worth considering.

Palin finally grants Alaskans their Independence

In the most patriotic gesture ever enacted on Independence Day weekend, Governor Sarah Palin announces that she will not seek another term as Governor of Alaska (thereby granting Alaskans their Independence from her).  Further, she is stepping down immediately as the Governor of Alaska.  Well, she’s stepping down in a few weeks but it may as well be tomorrow.

Irony was not lost on Palin’s almost incoherent, Sanford-esque press conference.  And this was a prepared statement.  On the banks of the lake in Wasilla where the Palins live, there were two ducks frolicking in the water behind her.  (Go ahead, check the video tape, I kid you not).  It almost appeared as if they were fighting, or playing, it was hard to tell, but after a little while the two ducks gave up and just sat there.  Lame ducks?  You be the judge.

Alaskans were seen parading in the streets with flags, banners, and streamers, celebrating their independence from the right-wing, uneducated, Jesus-freak, slutty-librarian governor.  Ironically, since Governor Palin doesn’t read newspapers, she’ll never see it in black and white in the local paper, or the New York Times, for that matter.  Hopefully, one of her children will cut out the article for her, and scotch tape it to the fridge.  Sarah is very good at learning from pictures.  It’s all those words that confuse her.

What greater gift could be bestowed upon the citizens of Alaska than Sarah Palin stepping down, and away, and out of the picture?  Once considered America’s most popular Governor, she recently came in dead last in a Gallup poll.

So is she going away?  Don’t bet on it.  She’s been in a bit of hot water lately, as more and more truth comes out regarding her run for the Vice Presidency, and many accusations are arising about her ethics violations.  Additionally, her husband’s loyalty to the Alaska Secession movement can’t be denied anymore because there is too much proof of it.

All of this can only lead to one conclusion.  Either there is one hell of a scandal coming down the pike for which she does not want to be in office at the time, or she thinks that if she resigns now, and pretends to go into hiding for a while, and pretends to do some book learnin’ about government, democracy, foreign policy, economics, health care, and any host of things that she can try and fake her way through later, she can run for President in 2012.  At some point she really, really wants to be able to yell out “They like me!!!   They really like me!!”   But who is going to back a candidate who quit her first term as governor because, in her words “it wasn’t fun anymore”.  If political office were supposed to be fun, everyone would be doing it.

What is sad for most of America, and a feather in the cap of right wing extremists, is that she’ll probably end up on the Fox Network hosting her own talk show.  She has to figure out some way to pay off half a million dollars in legal fees debt.  She’ll get great ratings, mostly because America can’t help but enjoy watching a good train wreck.  And there is no train wreck better to watch than Sarah Palin. You betcha!

The wheels on the Republican bus have officially fallen off

I didn’t think that the Republican Party could fall out of favor any further than it has.  But in true Republican fashion, they never let you down when it comes to disappointment.

I would not have believed if I didn’t see it.  Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher blamed Barack Obama for the violence and death on the streets of Iran.  He said that if Obama had spoken up and denounced the violence three days ago, the violence would have been avoided.  That woman who was shot and died on live television would be alive if it weren’t for Barack Obama.  Yes, this guy actually said it.

And what if John McCain was our President.  According to his recent remarks, we would be at war with another Islamic country; further degrading the standing of the United States around the world.  And thousands upon thousands more would be dead.  McCain couldn’t even answer this question:  Is Barack Obama on the side of Majmud Ahmadinajad or is he on the side of the factions that are protesting an unfair election.  McCain said “Well I know what side I”M on” insinuating that Barack Obama was on the side of the tyranical President.  He’s kidding right?  No he’s not.

Then, Republicans like radio host and columnist Mark Savage, and a Maryland Republican women’s group, and many others too numerous to mention, have been, just in the last few days, comparing Barack Obama to Hitler.  They are litterally trying to make direct comparisons between Obama’s actions and policies to Hitler’s reign of terror.  It is amazingly ridiculous and hateful, and so far off base that I can’t figure out who these people are trying to convince to join or support their party.  They should have stuck with the idea that Barack’s birth certificate is a fake.  At least that is a conspiracy theory the right wingers can REALLY get behind. 

And now Mark Sanford, South Carolina Governor, admits to infidelity with an Argentinean woman, which explains where he was over Father’s Day Weekend when neither his wife, his sons, nor his administration  knew where he was.  And all the while they thought he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.  He was lost in the woods, alright, metaphorically speaking.  I can’t wait to see how Sanford’s close friend, Joe Scarborough handles this tomorrow morning on “Morning Joe”.  Will he defend Sanford using tax payer money to go to Argentina for a booty call?  Just this morning (Wednesday) Joe was defending Sanford’s behavior.

This is like a bad plot in a bad daytime soap opera.  Even Luke and Laura knew when it was time to give up the Ice Princess plot line.

So Mark Sanford goes on TV today and gives a very long list of all the people he hurt; beginning with his sons.  The young people behind him in his news conference were giggling.  I don’t know who they were or why they were there.  But it was sad, demeaning, and even somewhat humorous.  If there were ever a reason to have a pre-planned speech or tele-prompters, that news conference was it.  This is a man who said President Clinton should resign for such sexually deviant behavior.  Well, Mr. Sanford, will you now resign, because you should based on your own moral compass.

Is it any wonder why the Republican Party is falling apart.   What comes next; calling Barack Obama a extra-terrestrial being while some other Republican congressman gets arrested for molesting pre-school boys. 

Barack Obama is poised to strike and get whatever he wants out of Congress; Republicans or Democrats.  Now is the time Barack.  DO IT!  Get health care passed.  Clean up the environment, Get all the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, create millions of jobs, send America over into the financial abyss; finance our asses off.  Who cares?  It can’t possibly be worse than anything that brain trust we call the GOP can come up with.

And just yesterday, the GOP had begun to lay out plans to take back Congress in 2010.  Sorry guys, I don’t think so.

And the cherry on top?  Rush Limbaugh said about Sanford – “he could have been our JFK”.

I can’t even keep up anymore with the train wreck and casualties that make up the GOP.

It’s time to Fade to Black.

Glenn Beck – CRYBABY or a Cry for Help – maybe both.

The first time I saw Glenn Beck break into tears, he was on CNN Headline News, when he used to have his 7:00 pm comedy hour (or whatever).  When CNN first gave Glenn Beck his own show, I thought he must be a leftist, I mean come-on, it’s CNN, well known as the “Clinton News Network”.  I can’t say as though I am a huge fan of CNN even when I thought they were more leftist.  But I checked in on this Beck guy because I didn’t really know all that much about him.  Had I given it more thought, I would have realized that the CNN Headline News Channel is NOT the same as regular CNN.  From what I know his ratings were good, at first, at CNN-HL but I, like others apparently, just could not stand to listen to him drone on with conservative, Neo-Con, Evangelical, born-again rhetoric about George W. Bush, the entire Bush Administrations, and Republicans in general.  I did not realize he was a Limbaugh in training.   And lied just as much.

 

Glenn Becks’ television crying sprees are all over the Internet now, so I won’t bother to waste more space and bandwidth by linking to them or uploading them to my site.  You can find them anywhere, just Google it.

 

He does a radio show, coast-to-coast, every day as well.  I don’t listen to him much except to sneer at him as I scroll through the dial.  I don’t recall hearing him cry on radio.  I guess because radio just doesn’t have the same punch if you’re going to do the “ugly cry” or the “televangelist cry”.   So, CNN-HL fired him.

 

His ratings are supposedly pretty good at Fox.  But then again, so were the ratings for the 9/11 attacks live on TV.  And speaking 9/11, Beck e started a new club called the 9/12 club to try and rekindle the feeling we all felt in the days immediately following 9/11.  Well, I think he’s trying to get to Patriotism, on the surface anyway.  But for me, the day after 9/11, which happens to be my birthday, was filled with deep, deep sadness, fear, confusion, uncertainty.  I DO NOT WANT TO JOIN A CLUB FOR THAT.  So, Beck, take it somewhere else.  And all of this faux patriotism, shrouded over neo-conservative double-speak,  isn’t’ fooling anybody. 

 

Some of Glenn Back’s most recent, infamous quotes are below (and remember, in your head, read them like Jimmy Swaggart when he was crying on TV saying “I have sinned”)  along with my responses to them:

• GLENN- “Are you ready to be that person you were the day after 9/11? – ME: – NO
• GLENN – “You are not alone” – ME:- I know, and I’m glad you’re not in my 5 favorites
• GLENN – “You are the secret, you are the answer” – ME:  To what?  I thought “The Secret” was a self-help book – maybe you should read it.
• GLENN – “To our military bases in Iraq where real heroes have gathered” – ME: Well I can’t argue with that.  Even the crazies have lucid moments.
• GLENN: “I’m like you, I just love my country and I fear for it” – ME: Hmm, I love my country; too, conservatives don’t corner the market on that.  But unlike Glenn, I’m not afraid for it.
• “It seems like the voices of our leaders, and the special interest, and the media…they’re surrounding us and it sounds intimidating” – ME: Glenn, we’ve talked about this.  If you start hearing voices in your head, you need to tell the doctor so he can up your medication.  Actually, I think it would be better if he just started drinking again.  He’d be WAY more fun at parties”
• “I’m a guy who cares an awful lot about my country” – ME: Couldn’t agree more. You do love it an “awful” lot.  It’s obsessive, dysfunctional, co-dependent, and I hate the be harsh but… The country just isn’t that into you.

I just want to be clear.  I cry at Hallmark commercials.  I have no problem with crying.  But this man is coming unglued.  He makes no bones about being a recovering alcoholic.  I’m well aware of the 12 steps.  But this is out of hand.  What step is “I’m a blubbering idiot who can’t formulate a complete thought and even though I know the whole world isn’t really against me, they really are”.

If this is how Glenn Beck behaves, if this is his platform on the Fox Network, if they simply stand by and allow this guy to mentally implode on a regular basis on national television just for the ratings, then Ruppert Murdock and the Foxtones are stark, raving mad; that’s what I first thought.  Then I realized what Fox is doing.  It’s all a ploy.

 

 

And what’s up with the big ratings?  Is that because watching him is like watching a train wreck in slow motion?  YES!  That’s exactly what it is.  People can’t possibly be tuning in to hear what he has to say because he isn’t saying anything, he just blubbering.  Here’s the deal – People are tuning in because the economy sucks, nobody has any money, and watching this piss-ant have a nervous breakdown on live TV is fun…and free.

 

 

Glenn Beck says he loves his country so much. Well I’ll say it out load because nobody else will.  He only loves the 39% of our country that doesn’t think Obama is doing a good job.  As for the 61% of us who want to give Our President a chance, even though we don’t agree with everything Obama says and does, Glenn Beck doesn’t give two shits about us.  He’s not crying for the democrats, the liberals, the gays who want to get married, the gays in general, the blacks and Hispanics, the middle easterners, the Asians, etc., etc.

 

What is he going to do for his next trick, pull a Howard Beale from the movie “Network”.   I mean really, what is he going to do next to keep the viewers attention span?  After all, he is an actor.

 

 

He’s not a journalist – he admits that quite frankly.  So what is he?  He’s an actor who can cry on queue to wrap up a neo-conservative message in a packet of tears, wrapped in fake patriotism and serve it to the hungry masses that are looking for entertainment.    If Glenn Beck, or Fox, thinks that people are tuning in because they like the guy, and agree with him, then they all belong in the loony bin.

 

 

The Glenn Beck Show, brought to you this hour by … “Glenn Beck Facial Tissues:  now with even more Scoville Units..”For those times when you’re own fake tears just aren’t enough”.  This is America damn it.   The Republicans are hurting.  Cry Already!!!!

Whether or not the tears are real or fake, this is a man who needs help.  If they are real, it is even more disturbing.  But if a conervative talk show host feel that the walls are closing in on him, who am I to suspend the Republican-backed gun laws in this country.  Go for it Glenn.

Eric Cantor says “No republican wants the President to fail”

On This Week with George Stephanopolis, Eric Cantor (R-VA) said (and the exact quote is) “No Republicans and No Democrats want the President to Fail”.  Well, it may be true of Democrats, nobody kmows for sure.  But it certainly is an out and out LIE when talking about Republicans.

Yesterday’s key note speaker at C-PAC was Lush Windbag (sorry I mean Rush Limbaugh, I just can’t help myself).  C-PAC is the annual convention of Conservative Political Action Committees.  These are the Republicans.  More clearly these are the Republicans who cook up innacurate media releases, invent the Republican talking points, and produce political attack ads).  With no real leader in the Republican party, Limbaugh has taken it upon himself, with a lot of help from the right wing who is too busy spinning out of control, and is so out of touch with America, they can’t find someone, anyone, to lead the Republican Party.

How the hell did a lying, manipulative, fear-mongering, radio talk show host (also known in English as a Comedian) become the leader of the Republican Party.  I don’t know, do you?  Is that really the best they can come up with?  Well, they tried Bobby Jindal and we all know how that worked out earlier this week.  On Tuesday, in a response to Barack Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress, he told a story which was an out and out lie.  I guess we should have known since he told the story as if he were reading a fairy tale during story hour at the local children’s library. 

Back to Windbag, he blatantly said on his radio show, and has repeated it several time, that he wants President Obama to fail.  He doesn’t deny saying it.  So how can Eric Cantor say that no Republicans want the President to fail when the de facto leader of the Republican Party said so, and doesn’t deny saying it.  In fact, Limbaugh continues to say it.

It is truly said so see the Republican party reduced to nothing more than a fringe political group in America.  The Republicans are the party of Abraham Lincoln; the first Republican every elected to the Presidency.  And now we have Rush Limbaugh as the person carrying the torch, more like a torch wielding villager than poetic symbolism, as the new Republican idol.  Hmm.  Republic Idol, that would be an awesome reality show.  I’d like to be a judge.

Right America Feeling Wronged

In Alexandra Pelosi’s new documentary “Right America Feeling Wronged” she does to radical, right-wing, evangelical America what family and friends would do to an addict at an intervention; she holds a symbolic mirror up to their faces and asks them to take a good, hard look at themselves. 

Like all interventions, if things go well, the addict will see the error of their ways, begin to take responsibility for their actions, and begin down the road of recovery, all with the support of those who intervened in the first place.  If things don’t go well, the the addict will continue to lie, cheat, steal, and fool themselves into thinking they are OK and not doing anything wrong.  Meanwhile, the addict spirals out of control once again.

Below is an exceprt from “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC where Rachel is interviewed filmaker Alexandra Pelosi and show some brief clips from the documentary.  While these two liberals don’t always have the same views on “middle America”, the certainly agree about shedding some much needed light on some real problems.

 I will admit right here, right now.  I recorded this documentary on my DVR and when I sat down to watch it, I had to turn it off after about 5 minutes.  Why?  Because I was truly freightened.  Some of this clips that I found freightening are those included in the very brief film trailer leading into the MSNBC interview.

As I switched channels and sat back for a bit watching something else, I just had to do it.  I turned it back on.  Once I again I wretched in disbelief and had to turn it off.  To me it was like watching a grotesque surgical operation.  You are curious and want to see it, but you sort of look through your fingers that are half-covering your face.  And when the really bad parts come, you look away and say “OOOH, GEEEEEEZ!!!

As I watched “Right America Feeling Wronged” a few thoughts came to mind.  First, it seemed to me that every person showcased in this movie had a glazed-over, blank-but-hate-filled look in their eyes.  Or maybe it was blank with fear.  Or both.

I encourage everyone who’s interested in what the Evangelical crowd is doing and thinking to see this documentary.  This is not a narrated documentary where you might be led down a certain path of opinion based on what the filmaker dictates.  This movie leaves the character development up to the characters themselves.  They reveal a great deal about themselves on their own without prodding from anyone.

While I know that the hatred exposed in this film is real and still exists, I can’t help but think what would have happened if McCain got elected.  What I saw in this film was what I have always seen in Republicans; they don’t tell you what they are “for” but hey will certainly tell you what they are “against”.  In fact at one point a woman was asked what all McCain supporters have in common and she said “We don’t want Obama to win”.  To this radical group the 2008 Presidential Election wasn’t about standing behind a candidate, it was about standing in front of an adversary.   To them Barack Obama became the enemy; out of fear, ignorance, hate, misinformation, and and outright lies by the Right Wing conservatives of the party.

I hope you watch the interview above but hope even more that you watch the entire documentary.  If you do watch to film and don’t see why Barack Obama should fear for his life, then you weren’t listening; play it again.

Why Obama is the right person, right now

We know the economy is a mess.  In a way I feel lucky because I lost my job in April of 2007, lost everything, was out of work of 18 months, without any programs to help me.  I’m now back to work making half of what I did before.  I am still struggling to stay afloat after those 18 months, for most of which I did not receive unemployment compensation.  And while I am working now, it is for a small business with 13 employees.  So I can’t count on anything going forward.

Lucky?  You ask quizzically.  Yes, because I already went through what many people are going through now and will continue to go through.  I don’t have a car payment anymore because I lost my car to the repo man.  I don’t have a mortgage because even before all this happened I didn’t make enough to own a home.  Some would say I did.  Many tried to convince me that a single person like me making the kind of money I made, should be investing in a home.  I’m glad I didn’t.  Rent is just fine with me.  And while I almost lost my apartment, the kindness of friends, family, and an understanding landlord have helped me hang on.

I watched President Obama (I still love writing that) last night in his non-State of the Union Address.  Have you ever in your life heard a President be so bold to tell the truth?  He told the truth about the current condition of our country and gave us hope that we can get through it.  There is an awful lot to be said for having the right attitude.  And Barack Obama has it.  I get the sense he truly does believe we can turn this situation around. 

The President is not letting the “party of NO” stop him from going forward.  The American public spoke.  They spoke in November of 2006 and in November of 2008.  One party is in charge right now for a reason.   Can you really imagine John McCain being the President right now.  Really?!  For Christ’s sake he’d still be talking about “the surge”.  And while I have learned a new respect for Hillary Clinton, I don’t think she would have the same oratory skills required for the job.  Not to mention that Bill Clinton would be an incredible distraction.  The Clinton’s would have been skewered by the neo-cons and so much distraction and shell-gaming would be going on that the country wouldn’t have a chance.

When they call the GOP the “party of NO” they mean it.  Republicans are so out of touch with the pulse of America right now that they should all be sued for malpractice”.  And soon-to-be former-presidential-candidate Bobby Jindal with his insinuations last night that Barack Obama’s message included something about America ‘s best days are behind her.  What is that all about?  Did you, or he, hear something I didn’t?  I watched the President and listened to what he said.  THAT, my dear Jindal, is NOT what he said.

What I am about to write is not an original idea but it keeps popping into my head.  Democrats will tell you what the are FOR, and Republicans will tell you what they are AGAINST.  That is one of the major differences between the two parties right now.  The GOP has no leaders, no platform, and has lost the trust of the American people.  Average Americans are not even listening to what Republicans have to say, because all that comes out of their mouths is blame, finger pointing, the word “NO”, or nothing at all.

There’s no question that I am a Barack Obama supporter.  I don’t agree with many things he has said or done.  The one thing I have to hold on to is that I trust him.  Unlike the Bush Administration,  Barack Obama is in this for the American people, the Americahe loves.  The Bush Administration was in it for their own egos, their own power, and in many cases, their own pocket books.  (Can you say “Halliburton”?).

And one last thing.  Karl Rove didn’t show up AGAIN for his testimony to Congress.  It’s time to hold him in contempt and throw in him jail.  That’s what we do to criminals, don’t we.  Barack Obama said last night, unequivocally, “The United States does not torture”.  But if Rove doesn’t want to play by our rules, let’s play by his.  Anybody have an extra water board lying around?

So back to my original premise. Barack Obama is the right man for the job.  There’s another Democrat (and certainly not a Republican) who has the balls to do what he is doing right now.  And as for these Republican Governors who lambaste the stimulus package and then want some of the money, you can’t have it both ways.  Grow a backbone already.  And if you don’t know how, ask Obama.

Limbaugh’s lies about PDF files

A PDF file is essentially a scan of a document.  PDF means Portable Document Format created by Adobe Systems in 1993.  For the most part, anyone with a computer has been using PDF files on a regular basis for AT LEAST 10 nyears.

While it true that at one time, PDF files were not as sophisticated as they are now, that is how software works.  If it is good software, it will stay around a while and evolve, grow, and improve.  I’ll be honest, I don’t remember when Adobe added the search functinality to PDF files because it has been so long ago now that I don’t remember.

Now to Lush Windbag.  He actually said that the Stimulus package dcouments were converted to a PDF format by the Democrats becuase the Dems didn’t want YOU (his words, not mine) to be able to see what was really in the bill.

So one of two thing is happening here.  Either “comedian Rush Limbaugh” is a complete idiot or “comedian Rush Limbaugh” knows exactly how PDF files work and is relying on his listeners that might be less educated to not question his premise.

Almost every piece of widely-used, text-based software produced in the last 10 or 15 years has had a built in search function by using the CTRL+F combination.  Not only do these software packages have the CTRL+F function, they also have search bars.  HOW COULD ANYONE WHO USES A COMPUTER REGULARLY NOT KNOW THIS?  And if you watch Limbaugh online during his radio show, the computer is sitting right there.  And hes been on the air for almost 20 years.

It’s not like this is some obscure keyboard shortcut.  There are a ton of them.  Control+U is underline, Control+B is bold, Control+I, is Italicize, this list goes on and on and on.

So is Rush Limbaugh stupid?  Is he pretending to be stupid to insight a riot against Democratic conspiracy?  Or is he just relying on the fact that when he says something, he uneducated minions won’t question anything?  The only reason he has such a widespread audience is because the ignorant and uninformed need a power greater than themselves to worship.   My bet is on premise #3.  Lush Windbag know exactly how PDF files work and tried to rely on the stupidity of the uninformed, Kool-aid drinking Ditto-heads (there’s a reason they call them that, they just agree with anything he says – “ditto”)

Did he really thnk we wouldn’t notice?  He’s getting sloppy.