This has the be the strangest, saddest, most tragic argument for nationalized healthcare you’ll ever read.
I hope Mr. Lazenby sends a special thank-you to the Congressional Republicans for voting down a proposed amendment to the bankruptcy bill that would have exempted those in debt from medical bills.
Unhealthy
Blog Update
Just a note: I’ve changed the way the post authors are identified to make it more obvious. Too often, I’m given credit for things that Paul has written, and though it’s easy enough to clear them up here, sometimes other bloggers link to one of his posts and credit me, which isn’t fair (and I worry that I might not always notice).
I’m immensely grateful for Paul’s contributions here, and I want to make sure everyone else appreciates them as much as I do.
Thank you, Paul.
xox
Good Grief
Read this.
Then this.
And hats off to the King of Zembla, who pointed us in that direction last week.
Will Scotty answer questions about this? How about this question: Would it perhaps not have been wise for the current White House policy of not discussing ongoing investigations to have been invoked back then, even if the President did need a lift in the polls?
Criminals.
Quote of the Day
Me4President on the father who killed his three-year-old son because he suspected he might be gay (link):
Guy was probably pro-life too. Jackass.Yes. He probably was.
Tres Funny!
The Brick Testament. Via Perspective of Pete, who noted he almost peed. So did I. So will you. It’s very funny.
On the List of Important Things Going on Right Now, This Is Very, Very Low
Hillary Clinton needs to shut up with her useless rambling about some internet code download that lets PC players of Grand Theft Auto access explicit sex scenes.
The game is already rated M, which indicates it’s for players 17 and up. Any parent who’s buying this game for a kid too young to view sex scenes has some seriously screwed up priorities; Mr. Shakes has the game and it’s not for kids. It is extremely violent. And guess what? Any kid who’s sophisticated enough to access this code is sophisticated enough to find all kinds of internet porn, anyway, which is why parents need to monitor their kids’ computer use if they don’t want them trolling for jerkoff material.
Could it make me puke any harder to see our likely 2008 nominee pandering like Liebertwat to the culture vultures? Ugh!
Go give a speech about the Downing Street Memos and leave the sex policing to the wingnuts, wouldja?
Oh my GOD – Continued
An addendum to Paul’s post, below, about the father who beat his 3-year-old son to death because he thought he might be gay…
First of all, the father, Ronnie Paris, Jr., has been convicted of second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.
Secondly, I wasn’t able to find an answer to the question many of us were asking: What behavior in a three-year-old possibly could have indicated that he might be gay? The closest I came was this:
''He was trying to teach him how to fight,'' said Shanita Powell, Nysheerah Paris' sister. ''He was concerned that the child might be gay.''Pig.
Even Sheldon Bostic, who was Ronnie Paris Jr.'s Bible-study friend, said he warned the father several times not to play so rough with his son.
''He really did what other fathers do - slap box,'' Bostic said. ''He always said he didn't want his son growing up to be pushed around.''
''Did Ronnie use a term for that?'' asked Jalal Harb, an assistant state attorney.
''He didn't want him to be a sissy,'' Bostic said.
It doesn’t even sound as though it was something like the kid enjoyed playing with dolls or something equally as innocuous that may be have been misconstrued through the lens of homophobia as somehow “gay.” It sounds like this baby cried when his father hit him, and so his father decided he was a “sissy.” What an absolute monster.
And on a side note, how many of your father’s “slap boxed” with you when you were three years old, or for that matter, at any time??? I don’t even know what “slap boxing” is. What idiocy. And what a stellar Bible-study participant Mr. Bostic is, who hasn’t even managed to learn that God doesn’t want you beating your kids.
Oh my GOD.
Father Kills Toddler He Thought Was Gay
(Tampa, Florida) A 21 year old Tampa man is charged with murder after his 3-year old son was pummeled into unconsciousness and then died.
Ronnie Paris Jr. went on trial for his own life this week in a Tampa courtroom. The toddler's mother, Nysheerah Paris, testified that her husband thought the boy might be gay and would force him to box.
Nysheerah Paris told the court that Paris would make the boy fight with him, slapping the child in the head until he cried or wet himself. She said that on one occasion Paris slammed the child against a wall because he was vomiting.
-Snip-
"He was trying to teach him how to fight,'' Nysheerah Paris' sister, Shanita Powell told the court. "He was concerned that the child might be gay.'"
Gay.
At three years old.
This is what your homophobic hysterica gets you, wingnuts. Toddlers beaten to death.
I'm sure Pam will have some Freeper quotes on this that will make me want to projectile vomit.
No more reading news today. I just can't take it.
(Energy dome tip to Americablog. Cross-post.)
What Have You Done For Me Lately?
Two interesting posts at Pam’s today. The first is about Dems bleeding black voters to the GOP, a particular interest of Pam’s about which she has written before (as have I). It boils down to a very simple question: What have you done for me lately? The Dems have been precious little more than the lesser of two evils for minorities for quite some time. Granted, that’s can make a big difference on certain issues, but in terms of solving problems like endemic poverty that consistently plagues many minority communities, the Dems haven’t done much to help, and keeping an already dire status quo from becoming worse only can take them so far. As Pam notes:
The Dems are going to have to explain themselves to a black audience that is now paying attention to a party that has taken this constituency for granted. The message is stale, the politicians only show up at a church to mingle with black folks when the vote is on the line. That's hard to defend in a sound bite. Actions speak louder than words.And right now, the party that’s taking action is the GOP, cynical though it is—which brings us to Pam’s second post, in which she discusses Ken Mehlman’s recent “apology” for the GOP’s “Southern Strategy,” a policy started under Richard M. Nixon in 1968 wherein race was used as a wedge issue, courting white southern (bigoted) voters by appealing to their aversion to issues such as desegregation and busing.
In a truly disingenuous bit of bullshit, Mehlman says:
By the '70s and into the '80s and '90s, the Democratic Party solidified its gains in the African American community, and we Republicans did not effectively reach out… Some Republicans gave up on winning the African American vote, looking the other way or trying to benefit politically from racial polarization. I am here today as the Republican chairman to tell you we were wrong.It’s utter nonsense, of course. The GOP might have given up on trying to benefit politically from racial polarization, but only because they’ve discovered polarizing the black community using the wedge issue of gay rights is more beneficial. They’ve captured the white bigot vote pretty securely at this point, so they’re moving on, trying to pull the homobigots off the black (traditionally Dem) voter bloc. They aren’t giving up on divisive politics; they’ve just moved the dividing line, substituting one prejudice for another.
Evidence? Let’s go back to Pam’s first post, where she quotes conservative blogger Fee Benamon:
Most black people are against Homosexual marriage, or anything of the sort. Many blacks switched and voted for President Bush over this big issue last year during the Presidential election. That and the issue of abortion. Those seem to be the two biggest topics that have dominated news headlines in the past few years. Black people want to keep our traditional values. So we turn to the Republican party… The next time you go to a gathering of Republicans, look around. These are people who are bonded together by their love of family, conservative values & traditions, love of God, etc. It shows mightily.Although I sincerely doubt that Benamon is any more representative of the entirety of the black community than I am of the white community, the point remains that the GOP strategy of divide-and-conquer (whether it’s called the “Southern Strategy” or “effectively reaching out”) is working, to one degree or another.
So now the question is: what are the Dems going to do about it? They’ve taken their black constituents for granted, coasting on their good work during the Civil Rights era, for too long. It’s a party weakness, and like they always do, the GOP has found a way to exploit it.
It seemed like a good idea at the time
Florida Town Apologizes for Using 9/11 Calls
DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. - City officials apologized for playing a song during Fourth of July celebrations that was mixed with voiceovers of 911 calls from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
About 70,000 people had gathered to celebrate the Fourth of July when the song "God Bless the U.S.A." was played. The version had voices of people recorded during the terror attacks.
One voice on the mix said, "Oh my God, another plane has just hit." Another said, "Some of the casualties are in the collapsed building."
People at the celebrations said the mood of the night changed when the song was played.
Gee, who would have thought the 9/11 Funky Remix could be such a downer? Come on, people... anyone dancing? I'm dancing! Doesn't the sheer terror in their voices just make your Independence Day??
Vince Kendrick, the town's director of parks and recreation, took responsibility on behalf of city officials Tuesday in a written apology. He did not name the employee who put the song in the lineup.
"If it was Memorial Day, no one would have minded," Kendrick said.
Yeah! What's wrong with you people? If these people weren't dead, killed in the worst terrorist attack in our country's history, you wouldn't have minded! Come on, doesn't hearing the voices of the doomed set to music make you want to celebrate?!?
Jesus Christ. How fucking stupid can you be?
(Bolds mine)
(This cross-post's in love with you...)
No, seriously, what the hell are you watching?
For those of you that love Shakes' Friday Night Name-That-Movie, I'm doing something similar over in Spudville, B-Movie style.
I have a serious, crippling affection for cinematic crap, so I won't sully this pristine site with my obsessions. But over in Spudville, we're free to enjoy all the sleaze life has to offer. ;)
Schadenfreude
If you could use a good laugh (and who couldn't, these days?), toddle on over to Crooks & Liars and check out the current issues of the Young Republicans.
You'll notice how all of their faithful followers are immediately coming to their aid, too. *snort*
(Cross-post through the tulips...)
Tricky Dick: The Sequel
At least, that’s what Larisa Alexandrovna thinks. The intrepid Raw Story editor theorizes in the Huffington Post that it’s really Dark Lord Cheney who’s the ultimate Oz behind the Plame leak, and plays a little six degrees of separation through the scarily omnipresent slimeball, John Bolton.
Interesting thoughts. She points to the Washington Note and Ray McGovern as other sources on this possibility.
As for me, I’ve not no fucking clue anymore, and I really hope that Patrick Fitzgerald can explain it all to me someday soon.
Dems Seek Resolution of Inquiry
Raw Story reports that Rush Holt (D-NJ), joined by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Jay Insley (D-WA), with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) coordinating the effort, plans to introduce a Resolution of Inquiry “calling on the White House and other Bush agencies to produce any and all documents relating to the outing of a covert CIA agent.” Don’t get too excited—Holt introduced essentially the same thing in 2003, which was voted down by the GOP-dominated House, and it will be again. But it’s nice to know they’re trying.
That the Democrats are filing the resolution tomorrow -- on the second anniversary of the Robert Novak column outing covert agent Valerie Plame -- is not a coincidence, an aide said.Nice symbolism, if nothing else. How totally pathetic that it’s a foregone conclusion the Republicans will vote down an inquiry into the outing of a covert CIA operative specializing in WMD proliferation. Strong on defense indeed.
Defense of their own is all I see.
Gore-geous
Okay, I know, I know, a lot of you don’t share my passionate fervor for Al Gore, who I love more than words can say, so I don’t expect you to share my enthusiasm for this little news item, but I am absolutely over the moon:
The first annual Gore Family Dinner will be held later this month in Tennessee to help raise money for Democratic candidates in 2006, but some political observers are noting that this is the first time Al Gore will be politically active in his home state in quite some time, the Nashville City Paper reports. "Gore’s name is already out there for the presidential election in 2008" and some think that Gore’s popularity could make him a less "divisive candidate" than Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY).Please let it be true.
Ever since I was 17 years old, I’ve been waiting for Al Gore to be my president, and the thought that he might actually consider running is such sheer, unadulterated happiness that it’s not even remotely mitigated by the fact that he’d probably never be afforded the chance by his own stinking party.
If liberals were smart, we’d be begging him to be our candidate—because he may be the most brilliant statesman and honest politician in America today. (Not to mention that he cares passionately about the environment, which I why I knew about him as a teenager, long before Clinton picked him as his running mate.) And all the crap about his being wooden, or angry, or awkward is all just a bunch of horseshit created by the media (as Shaker D astutely noted awhile back), who decided not to like him—something we all ought to be smart enough to ignore.
What a different country we’d be living in right now if he had become our president in 2000. What a different world it would be for us all.
Uh-Oh
Bush’s honesty rating has plummeted to its lowest point in his presidency; only 41 percent give Bush good marks for being “honest and straightforward,” down 9% since January. (The Green Knight suggests the Dems get all post-modern on his ass and run against Bush legacy on an integrity ticket—ha!) The saddest news for Bush is that this survey was taken before Rove’s role in the Plame affair exploded onto the news scene. Yowza!
Things aren’t looking good for President Lies-a-Lot. That means it’s time for another edition of…
Third Degree Burns
Poor Scotty is still getting the shit kicked out of him by the press.
--------------------
Q Scott, some White House advisors expressed surprise that the President did not give a warm endorsement to Karl Rove when he was asked about him at the Cabinet meeting. They had expected that he would speak up. Can you explain why the President didn't express confidence?
McCLELLAN: Sure. He wasn't asked about his support or confidence for Karl. As I indicated yesterday, every person who works here at the White House, including Karl Rove, has the confidence of the President. This was not a question that came up in the Cabinet Room.
Q Well, the President has never been restrained at staying right in the lines of a question, as you know. (Laughter.) …
[…]
Q Scott, you know what, to make a general observation here, in a previous administration, if a press secretary had given the sort of answers you've just given in referring to the fact that everybody who works here enjoys the confidence of the President, Republicans would have hammered them as having a kind of legalistic and sleazy defense. I mean, the reality is that you're parsing words, and you've been doing it for a few days now. So does the President think Karl Rove did something wrong, or doesn't he?
McCLELLAN: No, David, I'm not at all. I told you and the President told you earlier today that we don't want to prejudge the outcome of an ongoing investigation. And I think we've been round and round on this for two days now.
Q Even if it wasn't a crime? You know, there are those who believe that even if Karl Rove was trying to debunk bogus information, as Ken Mehlman suggested yesterday -- perhaps speaking on behalf of the White House -- that when you're dealing with a covert operative, that a senior official of the government should be darn well sure that that person is not undercover, is not covert, before speaking about them in any way, shape, or form. Does the President agree with that or not?
McCLELLAN: Again, we've been round and round on this for a couple of days now. I don't have anything to add to what I've said the previous two days.
Q That's a different question, and it's not round and round –
McCLELLAN: You heard from the President earlier.
Q It has nothing to do with the investigation, Scott, and you know it.
[…]
McCLELLAN: …This is all relating to questions about an ongoing investigation, and I've been through this.
Q If I wanted to ask you about an ongoing investigation, I would ask you about the statute, and I'm not doing that.
McCLELLAN: I think we've exhausted discussion on this the last couple of days.
Q You haven't even scratched the surface.
[…]
Q Scott, from Africa, Mrs. Bush says, Karl Rove is a very good friend of mine; I've known him for years. And she's not going to speculate on any other part of the case. Well, does the President feel the same way about Karl Rove, the relationship with Karl Rove, a very good friend for many years?
McCLELLAN: Yes, he does.
Q And at this point, is it ebbing or flowing? Is that relationship with the President ebbing or flowing? (Laughter.)
McCLELLAN: Again, this is a creative way to come out to the same kind of questions.
Q You're right, it is, and I want an answer.
--------------------
Damn.
And while I’m as happy as sex addict in a whorehouse on payday about the press’ Great Reawakening, it only serves to bother me all the more that such tenacity was so woefully absent through so much of this president’s administration, to such dreadful result.
Meanwhile, the intrepid Crooks and Liars has a nostalgic video that you will no doubt enjoy, for—as usual—the most pathetic of reasons.
Debunk-o-rama
A complete set of retorts and rebuttals to the GOP talking points on the Plame affair, care of eriposte at The Left Coaster (not blockquoted due to length):
TALKING POINT: Valerie Plame (Joseph Wilson's wife) was not covert.
FACT: She was.
TALKING POINT: Karl Rove did not leak Valerie Plame's name.
FACT: Please. Her name was not the secret, her identity was (which is the issue here) and he leaked that. (also see here and here).
TALKING POINT: Karl Rove was "not the leaker".
FACT: Rove's attorney's statement and Cooper's email shows this claim is false. Rove did leak Plame's identity. (Whether or not this is found to be prosecutable is another matter).
P.S. It's not like this is the first time Rove has been in the spotlight for leaking secrets.
TALKING POINT: Karl Rove has never lied about his role in this matter.
FACT: Yes, he has.
TALKING POINT: The White House has never lied or misled people about its role in this matter.
FACT: False.
TALKING POINT: Karl Rove never knew that Valerie Plame was covert.
FACT: Really? Then why not state this on the record, something Rove's attorney refuses to do.
TALKING POINT: Matt Cooper of Time magazine "burned" Rove.
FACT: Rove's lawyer, who made the above fake claim, himself has been expounding again and again about how Rove gave complete waivers to all his journalist contacts to testify.
[Shakes' note: I think Luskin's claim that Rove was "burned" was in reference to Cooper "distorting" his conversation with Rove to make it look like Rove was talking about Plame just to be vindictive toward Wilson, rather than in reference to Cooper talking to Fitzgerald. Nonetheless, it's a ridiculous assertion, since Rove's claim is that he wasn't calling to be vindictive, but to let Cooper know that Wilson wasn't credible. See two paragraphs below on the debunking of that premise.]
TALKING POINT: Bob Novak used the word "operative" by accident and his sources did not say she was one.
FACT: This is false, after-the-fact spin from Novak.
TALKING POINT: Rove "was discouraging a reporter from writing a false story" based on Joe Wilson's "false premise" (that DCI Tenet or VP Cheney authorized his trip)
FACT: False. Moreover, Joe Wilson did not make such a claim before Rove exposed Valerie Plame's identity.
TALKING POINT: The Senate Intelligence Committee said that Valerie Plame was the one who set up Joe Wilson's trip.
FACT: False and false. (Also see here). (In fact, there is no consensus view that Valerie Plame even suggested that Wilson be sent on the trip.)
TALKING POINT: The White House/GOP cannot comment on questions regarding Rove or his role because of the ongoing investigation.
FACT: False. A completely bogus claim considering that they are talking behind the scenes or issuing false/misleading press releases (also see here and here) spreading fakery about Wilson. (Not to mention, they felt free to comment self-servingly about the whole matter until the Rove story broke.)
TALKING POINT: Karl Rove is not a target of Fitzgerald's investigation.
FACT: He is a subject of the investigation.
TALKING POINT: The Butler Report etc. vindicated Bush's "uranium in Africa" State of the Union claim
FACT: False. The Butler Report was intended to exonerate Tony Blair and George Bush to prevent them from facing criminal charges. For obvious reasons, it excluded reams of information about Bush's claim that showed that the White House lied through it's teeth in defending Bush's claim. (Indeed, as the link shows, people from the NSA, CIA etc. themselves stated that the SOTU claim did not have a sound backing.)
TALKING POINT: This is all just a partisan attack by Democrats (or Joseph Wilson)
FACT: False. The GOP leadership has a habit of minimizing numerous acts of treason from individuals inside the Bush administration over the last several years, by smearing truth-tellers. This is just the latest episode among many. In private, even Republicans admit that this kind of nonsense would have resulted in Congressional hearings "in a second", if the President had been a Democrat. Not to mention the hypocrisy of Rove himself.
TALKING POINT: Even if Karl Rove leaked Valerie Plame's identity, it's no big deal and deserves a medal.
FACT: The GOP's Ed Gillespie and George Bush disagreed (with an emphasis on 'd'). In fact, if it's so not a big deal, why all this intrigue about what the White House can or cannot comment on? Just tell the truth then rather than hiding behind reporters and smears of people who had nothing to do with the expose. (As for medals, it probably deserves a medal in prison, to define the "role model" for fellow prisoners at Gitmo - while eating rice pilaf in the process).
TALKING POINT: There was no legal crime committed with the Plame expose.
FACT: False and false. So much for offering "a stiff dose of truth" instead of "more lectures, and legalisms, and carefully worded denials".
TALKING POINT: Joseph Wilson supported John Kerry.
FACT: So? He also supported Republicans in the past (before they turned on him and his wife, treasonously) and was recognized by George Bush Sr. for his bravery against Saddam Hussein in Iraq - where he was ambassador before Gulf War I.
TALKING POINT: President Bush is committed to upholding the honor and dignity of his office.
FACT: For the umpteenth time, false, false and false.
Many thanks and much admiration to eriposte for the awesome work putting this together.
Bush Won’t Comment on Rove
Huh. Considering Bush commented on it previously while the investigation was ongoing, as did members of his administration, I guess that’s kind of a flip-flop.President Bush said Wednesday that he will not comment on Karl Rove's role in leaking the identity of a CIA operative while the investigation is ongoing. "This is a serious investigation," Bush said at the end of a meeting with his Cabinet, with Rove sitting just behind him. "I will be more than happy to comment on this matter once this investigation is complete.
"I also will not prejudge the investigation based on media reports," he said.
Wouldn’t ya say?
