Rolling Over in His Grave

Here's the great de-regulator, Ronald Reagan, back when he was an actor, explaining the horrors of socialized medicine. He spins a yarn about a hard scrabble doctor trying to make ends meets who gets run out of town because the town he wants to live in has too many doctors. I guess private health care systems have a way of balancing the population of doctors more evenly throughout the country.

"Let's F*cking Do This"

Jon Stewart looks at the misunderstanding that led Democrats to accuse innocent Republicans of inciting mobs to violence in the wake of jamming Health care Reform Down their throats. Health care reform proponent Wyatt Cenac, who somehow has guns too, wants to throw down.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Health Care Slime Machine
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

But Can They Turn On the Brain's Moral Center?

Scientists have recently determined that people's moral judgment can be "turned off" by disrupting part of the brain.

While they work on figuring out how to turn the morality center in people's brains on, Code Pink took matters into their own hammy hands and went after Karl Rove in, of all places, a book signing event in Beverly Hills.

KCAL's local, live and late breaking news coverage is all over it:


It's all quite surreal. Code Pink pretends that they'll ever be allowed to arrest people while Rove pretends that no one told any lies during the Bush Administration. I'm even getting in on it by pretending anyone cares, or even remembers anything about any of that.

That's a Bummer, Man

Butterflies are going the way of the bees, mysteriously vanishing.

Meanwhile, teachers are going the way of the bees and the butterflies, as a wave of mass teacher firings continues.

How Old is This Country?

Fox News anchor what's her name is clearly freaked out by volcanoes. My favorite part of this monument to stupidity is this gem, "This happened over 300 years ago, and when it did, researchers say it changed the weather pattern for the entire planet including right here in the good old U.S. of A." You're killing me, lady.

History Is Not Going to Revise Itself

World champion liar Karl Rove now claims that he was against the idea of Dick Cheney being George W. Bush's ruining mate. Rove even claims that Cheney himself thought it was a bad idea. Right. Then Cheney had another idea--just be president.

Rove told CNN's John King, who is surrounded by idiots, that he tried to convince Bush that they didn't need "Wyoming's three electoral votes". Turns out, they almost did. Rove's math is beyond even that Russian guy who turned down a million dollars.

Rove says that he was worried about "Cheney's voting record, and Cheney's health, and the fact he'd been Bush 41's Secretary of Defense - and we were trying to develop a separate image for 43." Different image for 43, eh?

Well:

Time to Go Home

Just moments ago, during a conversation with Democratic Representative James Clyburn, Chris Matthews made a very perspicacious observation about the tea-people's overreaction to the passage health care reform.

You're getting language from Bill McCollum, a former member member [of Congress] now running for Governor of Florida. He's referring to the health care bill you just helped to get passed as an invasion of the sovereignty of Florida. They're using secessionist language. I saw the Gadsden flag from South Carolina flying over the balcony of the Capitol being waved by members, the Gadsden flag was the don't tread on me flag of the Republic we used to fight the British. They are treating our central government in Washington as the enemy. As if it's a foreign government.

He went on to say, "This is real symbolism of a, uh, almost mutiny." Well, there's a whole lot of ugliness out there this week and it's just getting warmed up. What comes next could very well be disastrous. Obviously, I hope that I'm wrong. But the way this country works is that when the process plays out, the losers yield and come back later.

Wanna see what it looks like?

How to Interpret This?

The sequence of events depicted in this video goes like this: George W. Bush looks around. Jump cut. Bush and Clinton are shaking hands with Haitians. Clinton is super-engaged, feeling the island and it's people's pain. Bush pulls his hand back and does a little jazz hands finger wave like there might be something slimy on his hand. Then, he slimes Clinton, who doesn't even notice, with the real or imaginary hand funk. What the...???



What could the explanation for this be? Chris Rock knows.

"We'll look around and we'll see..."

The president mocks Armageddon. He's so the Anti-Christ that it burns my eyes to look at him.



Here's REM prophesying the end days--unplugged.

I Don't Know About You, But I Find This Economically Stimulating

If the Senate pulls through and passes the reconciliation bill today, a slate of student loan reforms will also pass. By eliminating government subsidies to banks for private student loans, this measure will reportedly save the government $8-10 billion dollars a year.

My favorite part is this bit here:

Section 2214. Income-Based Repayment. The section amends the Income-Based Repayment program to cap student loan payments for new borrowers after July 1, 2014 to 10% of adjusted income, from 15% percent, and to forgive remaining balances after 20 years of repayment, from 25 years.

Plenty of other reforms are listed over at the House Committee on Rules website.

By the way something, if this somehow fails, I will get angry and you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

To the Courts!

After only moments lamenting defeat, the anti-health care reform train is back on the tracks and headed toward the United States Supreme Court where they hope to eventually be able to challenge provisions of the bill that will become law when the president signs it tomorrow. Josh Marshall outlines this last Hail Mary attempt to kill all or some of "the package". Should the court overturn it? I'm being told "hell no". Might the court over turn it anyway? I'll answer that question with a question. Have you ever read the decision in Bush v. Gore? Buckle up, because nothing is over until the by god Supreme Court decides it is.

It Was All About the Sleepnumber Beds

Former Bush speechwriter David Frum, the man who fed his president the phrase Axis of Evil, authored a postmortem on Republican tactics in the health care reform debate, which came to a temporary conclusion last night. Frum, who has had a few somewhat lucid moments since leaving the White House, essentially accuses the Republican Party of overreaching. "Barack Obama badly wanted Republican votes for his plan," Frum writes. "Could we have leveraged his desire to align the plan more closely with conservative views? To finance it without redistributive taxes on productive enterprise – without weighing so heavily on small business – without expanding Medicaid? Too late now. They are all the law."

It's pretty shocking to me, since I believed that single-payer universal health insurance would be a slam dunk just as soon as a Democrat was elected president in 2008, to think that with just a little bit of cooperation from Republicans this bill could have been even weaker than it is.

Frum goes on to point his finger at right wing talk radio and cable news hacks who brought too much heat to the debate. He writes:

I’ve been on a soapbox for months now about the harm that our overheated talk is doing to us. Yes it mobilizes supporters – but by mobilizing them with hysterical accusations and pseudo-information, overheated talk has made it impossible for representatives to represent and elected leaders to lead. The real leaders are on TV and radio, and they have very different imperatives from people in government. Talk radio thrives on confrontation and recrimination. When Rush Limbaugh said that he wanted President Obama to fail, he was intelligently explaining his own interests. What he omitted to say – but what is equally true – is that he also wants Republicans to fail. If Republicans succeed – if they govern successfully in office and negotiate attractive compromises out of office – Rush’s listeners get less angry. And if they are less angry, they listen to the radio less, and hear fewer ads for Sleepnumber beds.

So, there it is. The hard truth from one of their own. Frum has been given the Scott McClellan treatment before from conservatives, so he's ready. Some of that heat will be directed his way today. He should just curl up in his Sleepnumber and unplug the phone for a few days.

Health Care Reform Instant Reaction Via Twitter

@SamSeder Bret Baier on Fox just said Obama to speak in 10 minutes, Baier expects to interrupt him in 10 minutes 20 seconds

@elmenzies US' abortion rate > Netherlands, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, UK, Denmark, Sweden, where it's public

@Stranahan it's good for corporations too. I am sure they are salivating over what to mandate next...

@DavidOAtkins Drudge leading with "A Date Which Will Live in Infirmary". I've never seen the Movement Conservatives freak out like this. Never.

@owillis Eric Cantor: DEMS DONT HAVE THE VOTES. LOL. #P2 #HCR

@DavidChalianABC: Space, Arcuri, and Lynch are the three previous YES dems who flipped to NO

@DavidChalianABC: 8 Dems flipped from NO to YES: Baird, Boccieri, Boyd, Gordon, Kosmas, Kucinich, Markey, Murphy

@maddow House under Pelosi has now passed stimulus, cap and trade, wall street reform, and health reform.

@CalebHowe C-SPAN says Obama high-fived Rahm after 216 reached. No info on whether Rahm was naked or not.

@SaraJBenincasa Serious moment: I truly believe better access to mental healthcare for all Americans will reduce illegal drug abuse and other crime.

@JayAllbritton I can't believe they fell for our plot. #hcr

@KLSouth Whoa! Stupak’s opponent on Facebook has gone from 1600 fans to 9500 in less than 2 hours. http://is.gd/aSlpr

@Ali_Davis Pelosi just went down in American history. And disappeared from Texas history.

@postpolitics Obama calls Pelosi, says "You've done what no other Speaker has done" #hcr

@floridagirlindc I love when @BarackObama says @JoeBiden... he always says it with a smirk, like he can't believe Joe's his veep.

@owillis shorter obama: i got this.

Health Care Is One-Sixth of Our Economy For a Reason

J.C. Watts, a former Republican Congressman now working as an "analyst" for MSNBC, just repeated one of the most infuriating anti-reform talking points, noting that one-sixth of the economy is dedicated to health care, as if that is a reason not to reform. I guess this talking point is supposed to illustrate how much of the economy the governmnet would be "taking over".

What is not mentioned is that the only reason that health care represents one-sixth of the economy is because the health insurence industry has been out of control for a very long time. The average household currently pays $15,000 per year. 20 years ago, it was half that amount, adjusted for inflation. That figure is also $6,500 more than the average of other developed countries.

This is devastating to the middle class and the poor because health costs go up every year while our salaries remain frozen. How can our employers give us raises when they're paying massive health care bills?

Even with the passage of the bill today, we will not be able to compete with the systems like the ones Canada, Japan and Europe have had in place for decades. Systems that our policy makers and experts helped those countries craft in the case of democratic nations rebuilding in the wake of World War II. Only single payer will do that.

Today's vote is a chance merely to stop the worst of the bleeding. The bill, according to Lawrence O' Donnell, will end the vile practice of recission and close the pre-existing condition loophole. Hopefully the rest of our system--this bloated and infected one-sixth of our economy--can be fixed before another three or four generations go by.

Seven Years Gone

Shock and Awe was seven years ago today. Here's CNN's coverage of that.

Going forward--McClatchy's Mohammed al Dulaimy and Hannah Allam breakdown the ramifications of the recent parliamentary election.

The Young Turks Are Coming For the Old Media... Coming to Their House

Journalism.co.uk's Judith Townend covered The Young Turks' host Cenk Uygur's appearance at the Guardian's Changing Media Summit. Cenk may be overstating the impending demise of the old media, but not by much. Here's the MP3 of the conference.

While Cenk is away, regular co/sub hosts Ana Kasparian and RJ Eskow cover Glenn Beck and Congressman Stephen King's assertion that passing the health care bill on Sunday is an affront to God. Jesus fucking Christ, people.

Fearless Friday Prediction

What's the over/under on Rahm Emanuel exiting stage right after the passage of the health reform bill on Sunday? I say he lasts no more than two weeks and he uses his passionate pursuit of health reform as his reason for moving on. This was a very important issue for him, he will say, and now it's time to go back to a) spend time with his family or b) run for Congress in 2010 or 2012.

I Can't Wait Until the The Texas Board of Education Tells Us What History Will Say About Them

Jon Stewart looks in on the process of the disappearing of history.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Don't Mess With Textbooks
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

The Young Turks and Stephen Colbert also weigh in.

It's a New Day for the Republican Party!~

Uh... Arizona Representative John Shadegg, a Republican, told David Shuster this morning on television that he would support single-payer health insurance. Now that is what I call going all out! This dude will say literally anything to disagree with the president.

The Afghanistan News--Afghan Bloggers, Cultural Engagement, DADT, More...

The BBC has a look at bloggers in Afghanistan.

General McChrystal is reportedly taking direct control of American Special Ops forces in Afghanistan as a means of reducing civilian casualties. Dave Lindorff doesn't buy it in large part because we're outsourcing the dirty work anyway.

Meanwhile, General Petraeus says that 2010 is going to be a tough year in Afghanistan.

McClatchy's Dion Nissenbaum has an excellent report on the military's efforts to destroy poppy fields.

A new poll shows that the troops seem ready for the end of Don't Ask Don't Tell. In fact, 58% of the vets polled said there were people in their unit that they thought were gay or lesbian.

The Afghan government pardoned all war criminals before 2001. Ruthless tribal warlords, the coast is clear.

Al Jazeera looks at cultural engagement as an alternative to military "solutions" in Afghanistan:

A Glenn Beck Of Their Own

CNN hired Red State's Erick Erickson. If I could stop laughing, I'm sure I would be quite indignant. Enjoy your purchase, CNN. Enjoy your purchase.

"The Problem is When the Dicks Are Stupid"

During the course of Jon Stewart's Monday interview with Michael Lewis, the author of The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, the title of this post was uttered by the very perspicacious Mr. Lewis. He also explains how, quite literally, in the blind world of Wall Street the man with one eye is king. At least he's a billionaire.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Michael Lewis
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

60 Minutes also spoke takes also spoke with Lewis.

Don't be Creepy

This video (h/t Russ), which is critical of the insidious proliferation of Google into all aspects of our lives, is, ironically, posted on YouTube, which is owned by Google, then reposted on this blog which is hosted by Blogger which is owned by Google.


Meanwhile, the MP3 blog You Ain't No Picasso has The Bird and the Bee's cover of "Private Eyes". You know, "they're watching you..."

And, just to bring it back around to the mighty Google, Tsururadio tells the sad tale of the day the music blogs died thanks to Blogger/Google.

Best Headline of the Decade (so far)

With all of this talk from Republican leadership and FOX News about "jamming (HCR) down their throats" this headline from January has to be the leader so far as "Best of the Decade".

Tom Brandt from Ypsilanti, MI wrote his op/ed on January 30th, 2009 at EasternEcho.com. The headline could only have been better if it had read "Teabaggers turned off...".

Just 82%?

A new poll finds that 82% of readers would ditch their favorite news site if it charged for content. While 82% is an overwhelming indication of the distaste people have for the concept of pay news sites, I have a feeling that the 18% who were not allergic to the idea will be seen as a green light for news sites desperate to make up for lost revenue from print outlets. If the math works--if, say, ten percent is enough for a stripped down site to get by--they will do it.

It's Not the Hate, It's the Stupidity

The Bugle's Andy Zaltsman and John Oliver take a look at ethics in politics in their latest episode.

Let's Not Ever Do the Time Warp Again

Stop stealing hours! No more spring ahead. Only Fall back. Figure that one out, Obama, and stick it in an omnibus spending bill. Load of crap.

Rachel Maddow covers the mayhem:

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

Resurrect the Second Bill of Rights

I just watched Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story. The bit about FDR's Second Bill of Rights knocked me flat. The man's not on the dime for no reason. This is the guy who beat the Depression and Hitler. Let's carry out his dying wish for this country.



Here's the Wikipedia overview for those on the go. And, for the overachievers, here's some heavier reading on the subject written by an actual member of the Obama Administration.

If You Were Going to Buy Karl Rove's Book...

...now you don't have to, because Steven Colbert hammed it up with Rove in this segment all about all the stuff you may have thought Rove did but in "reality" he didn't actually do. If fact, Rove didn't even do this segment with Steven, it's just a life-size version of his hammy head. Mmm... Ham...

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Karl Rove's New Book
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care reform

By the way something, no need to panic, Station Nation, I managed to get Beck out of the Control Center. Order has been restored.

Sending This One Out to the Birthers

It's 1:53 on all-Obama-was-born-in-Kenya radio. I'm you're new host Glenn Beck. I've taken over the Ice Station, I braved the penguins and the robotic security guards and now, I'm in control, so I'm sending this next anti-American number out to my peeps--the birthers. It's a little ditty by Bruce Springsteen called "Born in the USA", which our President, I'm talking to you Obama, was clearly not--Hey-Oh! Even Ronald Reagan knew what a commie tune this is. Makes me sick... It’s time for us to wake up out of our dream state! Out of the propaganda… This is the thing that people who come from the Soviet bloc or Cuba, they’re all saying, "How do you guys not hear this? How are you not seeing this?" Well, because we don’t ever expect it. Keep the faith birthers, the weekend is almost here. Let's jam!

Jon Stewart Plays Chatroulette

Earlier this week, Jon Stewart drove the Daily Show into the internets' latest wretched hive of scum and villainy only to find it teeming with reporters.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Tech-Talch - Chatroulette
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

That's Some Serious Homophobia Right There

When Constance McMillen, who is an 18-year-old senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Mississippi, petitioned the school board to bring a girl with her as her date to the prom, the school board responded by canceling the prom. They issued a statement that said, "Due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events, the Itawamba County School District has decided to not host a prom this year."

Prom? What prom? Never heard of it.

Also, if this girl passes 12th grade, then no graduation either, people. We're going into OT--yep, 13th grade, bitches.

"What Should We Do With These Extra Quotation Marks, Boss?"

From the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks.

Suppressing Your Own Vote

By Dana Summers, Slate.

More on the Iraqi elections from Al Jazeera:

Coffee Power!

Like many of you, this car:

Runs on coffee grounds.

I, however, run on this crap.

Rahm Emmanuel Should Go Too

Eric Massa has had quite a sad, strange implosion over the last few days. I had high hopes for Massa and it's too bad that this part of his story turned out this way, as a bug on Glenn Beck's windshield. There is no excuse for the type of behavior Massa has exhibited in his flailing exit from office, but it sure looks like Rahm Emanuel broke this guy. Maybe no one could have managed the conflict that developed between Massa and the White House to a smooth resolution, but I don't see it that way. I think Emanuel wins a lot of battles he chooses to fight--usually with the left, not the right--by rattling cages. Rattling Massa's set off a destructive mudslide that should finally sweep Emanuel out of the White House. Enough is enough with this guy.

Comedian Takes Helm of Firefly

And now, in a blatant attempt to broaden the scope of this blog--I offer this piece of news: comedian Patton Oswalt is writing a Firefly comic book. I respect comic books. I respect Oswalt, too, but what I am really excited about is the survival of the Firefly universe. I'm holding out for a reunion.

Funny How That All Worked Out

Karl Rove writes in his new book about how scared he was of facing John Edwards in a general election in 2004. "I worried most about Senator John Edwards," he said, "He was a fresh face, articulate and engaging, and attractive to the point of being almost too pretty."

Pretty. Like a doe.

Rove also wrote this about his former boss:

I have long admired America's leaders who thought big and acted on their convictions. George W. Bush was that kind of leader. His presidency was not without errors; none is. But taken in their totality, his achievements over eight years were impressive, durable, and significant.

I would say that Rove's characterization of Bush's presidency is right on. His actions over eight years were impressive, durable, and significant. Impressive--the balls it takes to kiss Saudis on the mouth while leading the military into the country that didn't invade us over weapons they didn't have is impressive. Durable--Iraq, our image in the world, the economy and New Orleans won't recover for a very, very long time. Significant--Chris Rock said it best, "He's made it hard for a white man to run for president."

Replacing Harry Reid

According to The Politico, which is kinda rough as virtual toilet paper goes, Senators Durbin and Schumer are likely to square off for the Senate Majority Leadership if and when Harry Reid gets crushed in Nevada this November.

I don't mind Durbin, and even Schumer has had his moments, but shouldn't we have a progressive candidate in this race? Shouldn't we start demanding a little transparency in this party insider's game? Why can't we get our own candidate--Boxer, Feingold, Whitehouse? Sure, almost anyone is better than Reid, but can we please try to get the best person for once instead of the candidate that's not as bad as the failure we have now?

The Oscar Nominees for Best Documentaries are Really Dark

I just watched Matt Damon introduce the films in the Best Documentary category and those movies were terrifying. All five--Burma VJ, The Cove, Food Inc., The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers and Which Way Home are all completely messed up on some or all levels. The truth is out there, and it is ugly.

By the way something, Oscars producers, stop rushing people off the stage. You put Tyler Perry out there, so maybe you should look in the mirror when you think about what to cut for time.

Democracy Now! Talks to Nir Rosen

Democracy Now! speaks to Nir Rosen, an independent journalist that has covered the Iraq war and occupation since 2003. Rosen explains that the situation has stabilized, meaning that the government will not be overthrown, but the situation in the country remains grave.

And As Quickly As He Came...

I was very excited to see that Pete Stark was named to replace the ethically challenged Charlie Rangal as Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee because he's a very good and very progressive member of the House. Then a day passed and he was replaced too. It took one day.

Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks spells it out.

Joe Castello is Doing Great, Progressive Radio

Just listen to the show he did yesterday.

Today's Visual Aid Brought To You by the Rachel Maddow Show

Rachel Maddow's show blog has this very helpful graph:

Best Show in Late Night Reduced to 140 Characters

After the big Romney v. Palin battle on Late Night TV earlier this week, I can only recommend that at 11:35 pm you people tune in to http://www.twitter.com/ConanOBrien.
ConanOBrien

This morning I applied for a job at Home Depot, but they couldn’t find an apron big enough to fit over my head. Tomorrow: Staples.

Anthony Weiner on Fox and Friends

I'm kinda shocked that Fox let a Democrat this capable on the air.

Every Now and Then You Gotta Give Sanchez the Juice

Anyone who lived in South Florida in the 80s and the 90s knows that maps freak Rick Sanchez out. South Florida's WSVN, where Sanchez first came to prominence in the 90's, presaged the circus atmosphere to which we've become accustomed on today's cable news shows. One of Sanchez's signature moves consisted of crouching over or kneeling on huge maps of regions where news had broke. Two examples that spring to mind immediately were a map of Cuba anytime rumors of Castro's demise ran wild in the streets of Miami or a map of Iraq when the first Gulf War was imminent.

In this clip from The Daily Show, we see that not only is Sanchez's geography a bit rusty, but when he can't get on top of a map when the shit is going down, he gets cranky.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Uninformant
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

You're out of order! You're out of order! The whole trial is out of order!

Last Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner from New York said something the Republicans didn't like. So he took those words down and he put up some other words for them.

Global Warming Denial Codified In Illiterate South Dakota Law

Finally, someone speaks up and tells the inconvenient truth about the way astrological and something called thermological dynamics can 'effect' weather. Before you watch, I'm issuing a snort-alert. Milk down. Proceed.

Off to a Good Start

I look forward to getting to know more about Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter as he mounts a primary challenge to the nominally Democratic Senator from Arkansas, Blanche Lincoln. I don't know anything about him so far other than the fact that he's not Blanche Lincoln, so, so far so good.