Anti-Gov't Health Care Activists On Medicare; Fail to Note Irony

Here I thought that the item I ran earlier was an anomaly. Apparently many of the people decrying government health care are also recipients of Medicare. Which is government health care. Which makes them a) stupid, b) dishonest or c) hypocrites.
[Excerpt]

Local Fox Reporter Attends Town Hall And Finds ‘Some Attendees Admit They Don’t Live In The District’


. . .During the town hall, one conservative activist turns to his fellow attendees and asks them to raise their hands if they “oppose any form of socialized or government-run health care.” Almost all the hands shot up. Rep Green quickly turned the question on the audience and asked, “How many of you have Medicare?” Nearly half the attendees raised their hands, failing to note the irony. . .

Read more (with more video) at: Think Progress

Auto-Tune the News #7

I love this stuff.

Have Anti-government Health Care Advocates Denounced Their Own?

We keep being told that the government can't run anything effectively. The DMV, the Post Office. . .dreadful, right? And yet, there are recipients of current government health care already here in large numbers. Senators, Congressmen, veterans, and oh yeah, there's this. . .

[Excerpt]

Memo to pundits and the public: Medicare is a government program. Really, it is.

. . . from Arthur Laffer, an economist who is founder and Chairman of the Laffer Group:

If you like the Post Office and the Department of Motor Vehicles and you think they’re run well, just wait till you see Medicare, Medicaid and health care done by the government. . .

I'm not sure I've read anything else quite that stupid today.

Read more at: AmericaBlog

Faux Outrage: Loud, Proud and Bogus

Images from source, Brad Blog

If you think there's something fishy going on with all of these "grass roots" uprisings at various town hall meetings around the country, there's a reason for that. They're staged. Now, these wingnuts may actually be pissed off, but still in that vague, tea party, tea bagger way (also set-ups, by the way). In order to try to focus these lummoxes, they've given them a script, and instructions. The only problem is, with nut bars like this as your foot soldiers, there is the very likely consequence that they're going to start going off script. And boy howdy, I wouldn't put anything past these people, would you?

[Excerpt]

Wingnuts Receive Marching Orders On How to Disrupt Upcoming Town Halls With Phony Outrage

Are there simply no democratic (small "d") processes left that the Right isn't willing to corrupt to their own corporatized, nefarious purposes? It would seem not.

This from ThinkProgress, concerning the rightwing, corporate-sponsored (read: astroturf) "grassroots" FreedomWatch coalition, and their conveniently leaked talking points instruction memo [PDF] on how to create an appearance of dissension --- "Yell...Stand up and shout out...Rattle Him...Be Disruptive Early and Often" --- at upcoming town hall meetings back in Congressional districts over the August recess...

Read more at: Brad Blog

Rachel Maddow & Ana Marie Cox Have Fun With Birthers

On last night's Rachel Maddow Show, the host and Ana Marie Cox have a discussion about the benefits and drawbacks of treating the "birther" conspiracy theory too seriously, or too dismissively. They basically settled on seriously sarcastic, which is always the way I like to go. If you are a fan of either of these wonderful ladies, you'll love this. If not. . .well. . .you won't.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Blue States Trump Red States?

This map sure does look inspiring after the sea of red we've endured over the last dreary string of years. Of course, it means little if the Democrats we elected last fall don't grow a spine and get some stuff done.




Source: AmericaBlog

Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on Health Care Reform

It's been a while since Keith Olbermann had a spirited "Special Comment," but this one is a doozy. And before the inevitable "he only picks on Republicans" comments, you should know he lays into the Democrats as well. This will make progressives and Olbermann fans happy, but the blue dogs are not gonna like it.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Birthers, Deathers and Tea Baggers: A Parade of Stupid

These pictures are culled from a thread on Democratic Underground. To be fair, I'm only posting two of them, so please check out the source link below to get your full dose of stupid--or morans, if you will--and the splendor of today's base conservatives (pay attention to the spelling!).

Source: Democratic Underground

Blogiversary: 26 Months! 5,300 Posts!

Wow, another month gone by. We're only in the heart of summer, but this is the time of year--when I was in school--that felt like the beginning of the end. As soon as August comes, the back-to-school ads start, and boom! Summer's over. But for us adults, summer is just a hot spot anyway, since we still have to work. Bummer, right? And here in Las Vegas, summer feels like it extends into the early days of October some times.

So why am I yammering on about the seasons and the weather on a "blogiversary" post? Dunno. Not sure what else to say, and I always write one of these monthly updates. I guess I could talk about the fact that I had a slight uptick in readership in the past month. It really had nowhere to go but up. I could talk about the fact that I got my "new" computer fixed today with only two minor panics. It's working great now. Otherwise, we've got politics which seems stupider every day.

I am no economist, having hated every second of business and economics classes. So I can't really loudly support the President's or Congress' efforts on fixing the economy. But I'm sure the answer isn't an endless repetition of "no," like the Republicans are offering. I'm also not an expert on health care, though I have enough personal and anecdotal evidence to know something needs to be done. And for the life of me, I can't figure out how or why the public could be duped by the insurance industry to just--again--say "no."

With all of the stupid that surrounds those issues--including the recently revealed fact that the "grass roots" protests of the President's policies are nothing of the kind--the stupid has morphed into uber-stupid with the "birthers," the "deathers" and countless spinoffs. I can only hope that all of this stupid collapses in on the weight of itself. But I kinda doubt it.

But all of this does give me something to write about, and it's kind of fun. Snark is my specialty, and these people are particularly easy to mock. So, I forge ahead, onward into the next month. I will continue to try to diversify, and find interesting things to write about and share. I'll try to post a few more Las Vegas items per week. And though I'm keeping my "reduced posting" schedule for the summer at least, I'm not going anywhere. As always, thanks for reading, and please bring your friends!

Computer Woes: New Hewlett Packard Croaks

Well, my shiny new (as of 6 months ago) Hewlett-Packard computer blew a gasket this weekend. Or, more precisely, it blew its power supply. It's been randomly restarting of late, but I thought that had something to do with downloading the pre-release of Windows 7. So, Bill Gates can relax, as I won't be sending him an angry letter. Yet.

But HP might not be so lucky. Seriously, WTF? It is true that I rarely shut my computer off, preferring to have it ready when I'm ready to use it. But six months? We used to leave the computers at the bank I worked at on 24/7, and those were 1987 IBM PS/2s! This is the second PC I've owned from HP, and this is the second power supply burn-out as well. Now, I probably could have it fixed for free, since I'm still under warranty. But what a pain in the ass. I know how to change a power supply, and they're inexpensive, so I'll fix it myself.

Trouble is, I broke the power supply connector to the hard drive when unplugging it. I say I broke it, but it must have already been cracked, given I did nothing that should have broken it. So, we drove over to Fry's Electronics, only to find that they close at 7 pm on Sundays, something they don't put on their web site. Poop. So, until after work--assuming all goes well--I'll be using our inferior but serviceable Dell notebook computer, which has never had a power supply issue.

Definitive Article on the "Birthers"

Image from ImageShack

Below is one of the best articles I've read about the "birther" delusion that I've yet read. Good stuff.

[Excerpt]

To engage the birther fantasists is futile; to dismiss them, reckless

When Barack Obama delivered the speech to the Democratic party convention in 2004 that launched his national career, he began by telling his own compelling personal story: "Let's face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely. My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya … While studying here, my father met my mother. She was born in a town on the other side of the world, in Kansas. . ."

Read more at: Guardian.co.uk

Sunday Blogging

I could only suffer through two of the Sunday political chat-fests today, Meet the Press with David Gregory (which suffers greatly from the loss of Tim Russert), and FOX "News" Sunday, with the vaguely creepy Chris Wallace. I absolutely could not get interested in either program. It's worse than back when I was a kid, desperately searching for something to watch on a Sunday, and finding only religion, golf, tennis or politics. Bleccch.

Basically, it goes like this:

Host: "The President's policy on ______ has people talking this week. Do you think it's a success?"

Democrat X: "Undoubtedly. It's still early, but I think it's going very well, and the American people seem to like it. And the President has been clear: this is a program the people want."

Republican X: "Absolutely not. It's socialism, pure and simple. The American people are beginning to realize that the President does not have their interests at heart, and they don't want to be like a third-world country. I mean, Hitler or Stalin did the same thing. . .etc. . .etc."

Host: "Well, there you have it. Some say the program is working. Others say the President is the anti-Christ, and wants to eat your young. We'll just have to agree to disagree."

Harumph.

Shameless Gossip: Is Sarah Palin Getting Divorced?

Shameless Gossip is a Greenlee Gazette feature that departs from the usual straight-ahead news and commentary. Stories under this banner should be read with a great deal of skepticism. But you never know, they could turn out to be true. . .

This would certainly explain why Sarah Palin has "gone dark" lately, eh? I've often wondered where this story went after it popped up during the campaign. And didn't Cindy McCain have some sort of secret lovah too? Enquiring minds want to know!

[Excerpt]

Sarah Palin, Husband Todd Heading for Divorce?

Sarah Palin could be jettisoning more than the governor’s mansion in Alaska. Palin is possibly giving husband Todd Palin the heave ho. . .

Read more at: The Improper

Quote of the Day: Moron Magnet

I found the following on the comments section of the Los Angeles Times' Bill Maher article, posted below. This is too good not to share:

"It's as if someone passed a giant moron magnet over our country and all the half-wits have been pulled from beneath their rocks. Neutralizing them is like a game of whack-a-mole."

Posted by: vade D July 31, 2009 at 01:06 PM

Bill Maher: Evolution of a Joke

Image from source, LA Times

I found this very interesting. The excerpted article below is an opinion piece from The Los Angeles Times by comedian Bill Maher, on the topic of the "birthers." Last night, on live television, Maher used this piece as fodder for his "New Rules" segment on HBO's Real Time. As funny as the opinion piece is, the video triples or quadruples the jokes, and improves upon them. The piece goes from pithy and amusing to a real knee-slapper that just might get some of his guests in trouble for laughing at the Mormon joke (the funniest part, in my opinion). Anyway, check out the article here. . .

[Excerpt]

'Birthers' must be stopped

Never underestimate the ability of a tiny fringe group of losers to ruin everything.For the last couple of weeks, we've all been laughing heartily at the wacky antics of the "birthers" -- the far-right goofballs who claim Barack Obama wasn't really born in Hawaii and therefore the job of president goes to the runner-up, former Miss California Carrie Prejean. . .

Read more at: Los Angeles Times

And compare and contrast to the video, here (birther jokes start at about the mid-point).

Letterman: Top 10 Things Overheard at the "Beer Summit"

Why not. . .

Sarah Palin Goes Dark

Image from source, Huffinton Post

Sarah Palin worshipers (and they are legion) are experiencing a bit of what we Randi Rhodes followers went through when her radio network went. . .uh. . .nipples up. Back then, me--a Rhodes fan of the highest order--was hungry for any tidbit, any clue as to what was going on with my radio goddess. And it was a long, arduous slog until the wonderous Randi was finally reinstalled on the airwaves.

But whither Sarah Palin? She's no longer Governor of Alaska. No longer anything, other than a vague conservative touchstone, with ponderous, nearly poetic musings. All the Palinists have to cling to is the mocking she's taking by the great William Shatner.

[Excerpt]

Palin Goes "Dark," Leaves Supporters Wondering

Fans to Sarah Palin: Please, post a tidbit on Facebook. A little chirp on Twitter would be nice.
It's been five whole days since Palin stepped down as Alaska's governor and her Internet fans are dying to know what's next. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

David Ippolito's Resolution

David Ippolito, "That Guitar Man from Central Park" is best known for snarky tunes like Tom Cruise Scares Me. But this tune, which skews a little more toward rock and hip-hop than his usual folky style, targets the very serious subject of torture. And it takes George W. Bush and Dick Cheney (plus the rest of the sorry Bush Administration) to task for their part in it. And for you folks who think that liberals don't hold our own accountable, Ippolito does not spare President Barack Obama for his reluctance to do something about it either.

Anyway, despite the serious subject matter, the video is entertaining, and Ippolito is--let's face it--easy on the eyes, and ears. So, enjoy.



And a blast from the (thankfully past): They Don't Know Palin

Bill Maher's New Rules, July 31, 2009

Always entertaining, funny and on point. This week is no exception. Plus, Rachel Maddow cracking up.

Overtime With Bill Maher

Wow, this is the first time I've ever seen Overtime with Bill Maher, the internet extension of Real Time posted on YouTube. Cool. And with Rachel Maddow there, do you really think I could resist posting it?