I saw this cartoon in the Financial Times yesterday morning, and couldn’t agree with it more…

The story,  is along the lines of a blog that I did not too long ago entitled “Hoping for Audacity”.  While reading some of the comments on Mr. Crook’s blog page, I was glad to see I’m not the only one asking … Where is the audacious, ‘yes we can’ leader we elected?

I do not believe it is an insult to ask,” Mr. President, what are you afraid of?” or “what are you waiting for?” I believe in fact it’s the prudent thing to do because he may just be thinking that if he holds out for just a little bit more, then maybe the GOP will just fall in line and do as he pleases..

The problem here is…  that will never happen.

The GOP would rather turn on it’s own than step one foot into the bipartisan arena and that is because of is this newly emerging ‘religious-like’ dogma code the GOP are living by these days. It’s been slow to take shape, but it’s become undeniable that the GOP followers see their party as a type of religion and their leaders as some kinds of prophets or disciples to be worshiped at all costs. You only have to look at Mark Sanford to see what it is I’m talking about.

Since when do Republicans endorse abandoning their post, turning off their cell phones,lying to their aids and leaving  their state without a leader for a few days while  going out and getting their love on in another country with their mistress, who their wife had told them they couldn’t visit all of the 8 times they asked  if they could visit?

I seem to remember not too long ago the outrage wasn’t that Clinton had sex with that woman (wink-wink), but it was that he did it while in the Oval office and while being on the phone with members of Congress. ‘What kind of leader would do such a thing’ was demanded and ‘he should be run out of town for it’ seemed to be the reply.  Well, who would have known that had Bill just left his secret service detail,wife,child,phone, office and gone missing in Argentina for a week with Monica.. we could have save  bundles of time and energy.

Image via Wikipedia

The contortion one has to accomplish to justify Sanford’s actions are only mimicked in religion. I am surprised that Bill Maher hasn’t picked up on this yet.  This, need to excuse everything at all cost because any dent in the dogma  may bring it all down upon them.

What Sanford did was wrong. The reason he did it, to have a quickie, is not the issue.. atleast not for the Democrats. Their only reason for even bringing up the affair is because it’s too great an irony that the ‘righteous’ and ‘moral’ party is once again caught with their pants down, so great in fact that it just can’t be ignored. But, that is not the meat of the issue in the questions surrounding whether he should resign  or not. OF course he should resign! He went missing for 5 days without a care in the world as to what happened to  the state he was governing.  I can see not wanting his wife to know where he was, but he didn’t even tell his aids or turn his phone on just in case  something happened that he needed to be reachable for.

There is no question that he should resign, not for his affair.. but for his going AWOL. The bizarre part isn’t in thinking that, it’s in watching someone justify why his excuse for the adultery is the reason why he should not resign for leaving his job. Sure King David fell, but number one, he’s not King David and number 2, he’s not being asked to step down because he can’t be trusted to keep it in his pants, he’s being asked to step down because he can’t be trusted to govern. Sanford  and not so bizarrely, Rush, used the excuse that he had just come off a hard defeat in trying to fight President Obama’s socialist march through South Carolina and he needed the rest. Well… what is going to happen after the next stressful time? Is Sanford going to pretend he and one of his children have been car-jacked when he actually just ran off to Disney World?

There is something in the GOP these days that not only fears coming out against one of their own when that person is absolutely  and on every level, wrong.. but when there are some that do come out against the holy see, they are excommunicated for their dissent.

The party of the religious has itself turned into a religion that must not be disputed, doubted or  diverged from.

If those in their own party can’t compete with this without fear of being tossed out, how can President Obama think he can accomplish any bipartisan achievements? The simple truth of it is, he can’t. But that’s why he was elected with such a majority and given all the congressional tools he needed to accomplish his vision. We  the people wanted certain policies enacted or changed. We hoped to finally be able to say “Yes we did” but someone forget to tell the President this and it’s time someone reminds Superman that he doesn’t have to duck when the gun is thrown at him.

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I have had the honor and horror of watching both ends of the health care spectrum over the last couple of weeks. My grandmother, who is 86, has spent 17 of the last 22 days in the hospital. The first go around was because her lung collapsed from an injection given in the wrong place. The end result of that stay was a new prescription of coumadin, a blood thinner, to keep her from having a stroke from the collapsed lung. The second and current reason is that after a few days of coumadin she started feeling extremely sick and dizzy, the hospital did a few tests and found a blood clot on her brain. She had fallen a few weeks ago, she was fine after the fall but apparently she suffered a pretty bad bruising that normally would have healed on it’s own, but which the blood thinner  had since made

it worse because it made injury bleed a little more.

She is doing fine by the way.. or as fine as an 86 year old, end stage renal failure, 3 days a week dialysis patient with a recently re-inflated lung and a blood clot on her brain would be expected to be doing. This isn’t about her as much as it’s about the specrum of health care in this country.

My grandmother has spend most of her time in the hospital in the  brand new section called the “The Heart Center“. They offer more of a personal and intensive medical service, not too mention all the comfort of a 4-star hotel. The ’suite’ she is in really is better than most hotels I’ve stayed at. I’m not complaining about her treatment or her room or any of the other services she has been fortunate to receive. In fact just the opposite. I have been completely impressed with this new section of the hospital. When they decided to call the rooms ’suites’ they didn’t exaggerate. The rooms are the size of a normal 2 patient room, but they are private with hardwood floors,wood wainscoting and cabinetry. There is a personal desk that has all the ‘technological’ necessities such as an internet port,cell phone charger hook up, iPod/mp3 port, there is even a personal fan and temperature control. Finally a medium size plasma-screen tv and DVD player for each room.

For visitors the suite offers recliners, extremely  comfortable chairs and a couch that makes into a bed. Oh, did I mention the view of the river?

Yes, the “Heart Center” is a top of the line stay for anyone who is lucky enough to get sick and admitted to it and I am glad that her stay has been as comfortable as it has.

I don’t know much about insurances, but I know that she has
“Tri-care for life” add that in with their medicare and both of my grandparents haven’t a care in the world when it comes to health care and I am thankful for this. They are of the ‘Greatest Generation‘ who were asked by their country to sacrifice and serve and they stepped up and happily did their duty.  They deserve to be cared for in the older years.

But compare my grandmother’s care to that of her house cleaner’s. I know there is a stigma attached to the  ‘house cleaners’ as somehow being beneath us in some way, but I think that’s because we’ve never really thought about them. I want you to take a minute and do just that. If you have a house cleaner she probably spends 2-4 hrs at your house every 1-2 weeks doing the things for you that you don’t want to do. You pay her to vacuum,dust,pick up the living room and not only do you pay her $20-25 a hour to do your job for you, but you are not her only client. If she spends 4 hrs at your house she still has enough time, to do another 4 hours house and at $25 an hour.. well she just made $200 that day to do something a simple as cleaning your kitchen. No, I don’t believe house cleaners are beneath us, I believe they are smarter than any of us give them credit for. They wear whatever they want to work,they are their own boss working their own hours, telling people which product to buy them so they can use. They work in comfortable climates and pretty much have the run of your home while they are there, watching tv and listening to your radio as they go.  A good one, with an established clientele and the time to work a 10-12hr day can make as much as $1500 a week for their uneducated labor. Yes, we are beneath them in them grand scheme of things.

My grandmothers house cleaner was a family friend who started her business very late in  life. She had been married and was never required to work or pay her own bills but one day her husband decided to take off and live with his new girlfriend and Dot was left with nothing to turn to, so she did the only thing she knew… she cleaned houses. She was just starting to get back on her feet again when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It was a devastating diagnosis because there is no recovery and the outlook is a fast and painful death. That wasn’t the problem though. She had no money to stop working and she had no insurance to cover her. She was building up to all of these creature comforts and just hadn’t had the time to get there yet, another year maybe and she would have attained some of what the rest of us take for granted. But that still wasn’t her problem, her problem was that she wasn’t going to die fast enough.

Because her type of work depends on her actually working, she couldn’t take days off, because while she was diagnosed to die within the next 6-9 months, she still needed to pay her mortgage, utilities,food, car payments, gas and then if anything was left after that, her prescriptions and other medical costs. Her doctor of course tried to get her into the public health systemts but unfortunately she made too much money to qualify and if she were to reduce her income she wouldn’t be able to survive. Her doctor, knowing that she had nothing, spent hours calling around to various hosiptals in and out of the state to see if he could find anyone to give their time to her for free so that she could be treated in some way or helped in some way to die in whatever peace she could.

He couldn’t find anyone out there willing to help.

Dot didn’t let any of this phase her, it was what it was and that’s all there was to it. She did finally find another house cleaner to take on her work and split the pay with her. The house cleaner she found had to drop many of her full-paying clients in order to take on Dot’s clients for 1/2 the price she was getting on her own, but even at 1/2 the price she could survive and she knew that at that point Dot didn’t have much time left anyway so she wouldn’t working at the reduced rate for long.

After buying her own pain medication and paying to keep her electric on, Dot didn’t really have much money left over. She was approved for hospice towards the end but that was of littel comfort since she only lived 5 days in their care. Through it all Dot never cried about the pain she was living through or the predicament she was in. She was proud of what she had accomplished after her husband left her without a penny and all the monthly bills. She didn’t cry that she had been forced from the home she had shared with her husband because she could no longer afford it, she was proud of the 2 bedroom cottage she fixed up with the money she made from her job. She had started from nothing, lost everything and had built up a pretty decent life-style all on her own when most people at that time of  their lives are starting to wind down and think of the vacations they will take when they retire in the next few years. No, Dot never asked “why me” or “who will help me”.. And Sherry, the cleaner Dot  got to work for her, never complained when she had to trade in her car for a cheaper one or when she had to put off paying for her own daughters wedding. Sherry sacrificed her time and lively hood, her daughter’s wedding and many other things when she didn’t have to but it was just the ‘human’ thing to do. I sometimes wonder if the doctors who told Dot’s physican that they just didn’t have the time to take on a non-paying patient or couldn’t afford to write off her care.. how would they feel if they heard that a relative stranger and lowly house-keeper stepped up and offered her sacrifice and service when they wouldn’t.

There is a class-warfare going on in this country right now and it ’s called “Health care”. I am more grateful than I can express at the coverage my grandparents receive. I know that if  they hadn’t had the great insurance that they have, they would have been dead a long time ago. But at the same time, I can’t help but ask.. why couldn’t Dot have had just a part of that golden coverage? Throughout time there has always been the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ and there is nothing wrong with that. For it takes the ‘have-nots’ to spur on new innovations and creativity.  It’s when you do without that you find out exactly what you are missing and you find a way to get it. Our country couldn’t have become the power it is had everybody been given everything equally. What do I want to ‘keep up with the Jones’ for if they are going to get what I have given to them? Why do I want to work 80 hrs a week if Slacker-Billy is going to get a steak dinner and  comfortable roof over his head for working a 3rd of the hours. Why do I have to go to school and study,  then incur thousands of dollars of debt, when 1.0 GPA Sam is going to get the same things I am. I understand the tenants and the benefits of Free-Market Capitilism and I agree those who promote this type of lively-hood.

What I don’t understand is… why does health care have to be one of those things that only the rich and insured are entitled to. Why is the  health of someone a pawn in the Political and Pundit game of ‘Capitalism V. Socialism’. It’s a person’s health. Not their education, status,wealth.. it’s their health, their vision, hearing.. their life.

Is there anyone out there that can explain to me why the ones who could have afforded to help Dot, ignored her plight and the one who couldn’t afford it sacrificed and helped a dying woman who did nothing wrong except be unable to afford a platinum health care policy? Or instead..  explain why we are forced to have platinum policies in the 1st place. We are not talking about giving a Rolex out for Christmas to every peon worker-bee we employ.. we’re talking about giving them doctor visit when they have a cold, giving them a shot when they are in pain, giving them a test to see what the blood in the toilet is from..or what the newly discovered lump on a breast is.. Who cares how we pay for it, seriously..who fucking cares!  We pay for the research of fruit flies sexual reproduction, we pay for prisoners and death row inmates to have better health care than 75% of our population, we pay for roads,bridges,statues, humanitarian aid to other countries.. Forget the money for once, if we were attacked tomorrow we would pay for the latest and greatest defense system.. Forget the money for once..

There is a ‘let them eat cake’ philosophy on people’s health.  .. On their health! Why?

Someone… anyone… Please tell me why a dollar… your dollar.. is worth more than a persons life? Because they didn’t work for it and you did? Because if they received the same benefit as you, well then you will just quit your job, give up everything else you have and live off the government tit? Would you really just decide to up and quit everything and go from Prince to Pauper just because everyone has health care?

Why are we bartering in human life? Instead of asking me how to pay for it, how about you tell me what I have to give up to help those around me.  We’ve been asked to sacrifice and serve this country before and many people stood up when asked, so tell us what we need to sacrifice now to save a human life.. Because I am done bartering with the souls of the people around me.. You tell me what a life costs and what I have to give up to save it and we’ll go from there.

What is the point of having these elite medical centers that could compete with a 4-start hotel, if most of the people living in this country can’t afford to use them?

Why have we let someone’s ability to be treated when they are sick, become the latest  status symbol of elitism?

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I’d like to take a minute for this “Friday Rewind” to introduce my friend and politically polar opposite, Lil Mike. He has an amazing ability to argue his side of an argument and like me will go on for days on a single subject. At present time, we have logged over 10000 hrs(ok, that may be exaggerated a little) into the “Valerie Plame, Leak case” and I haven’t a single doubt that no two people on the planet,including those involved and the so called ‘experts’, are more well versed than we are when it comes to that subject(that’s not an exaggeration) . We both are abnormally addicted to current issues and researching them in order to prepare for the debate that will follow. There have been many topics that I had no knowledge of until Mike decided to bring them up for debate.. and then I was forced into learning the minutia of said topic in order to keep up with him.. as he has had to do with me…HA!

I can’t say that either of us have ever changed each others mind on any particular issue.. and given our politically polar opposites, that’s not a surprise… what is a surprise are the things we actually agree on. But those are so ‘eclectic’ that they can not be predicted… and that’s what makes it fun.

Mike is the best adversary I’ve ever come across. He can make me laugh,cry,wonder wtf planet he is from.. he can even anger me to the point of having to drown small animals just for the ‘release’.. but through it all, after 10 years we’ve been able to go from such extreme emotions on one topic, to another topic with not a single hard-feeling or ‘carry-over’. Each conversation is a clean-slate no matter how intense the last one, or in most cases, the current one is.

He will be joining The Velvet StraitJacket soon.. and you will soon see that Lil Mike is always right. (even when he’s wrong)

and without further ado.. Your (late) Friday rewind…

Banana Republic

Some wag once said that Obama keeps all of his promises; they just have an expiration date.  I guess that’s how we got from “President Barack Obama will not pursue the prosecution of Bush-era officials who devised torture policy against detainees” to it “is going to be more of a decision for the attorney general” within a few days.  That was a quick turnaround, even by Obama standards.  However events and leftie blogs pushed Obama rather quickly after the release of the “torture memos,” which reveal the legal underpinning for what is euphemistically referred to as “enhanced interrogation.”

The timing strikes me as odd considering just a week ago a Spanish court decided to investigate whether to pursue charges against Bush administration officials who provided the legal underpinning for those interrogations.  Then low and behold, the Obama administration declassifies those very documents written by those Justice Department lawyers.  That could hardly be a coincidence.  The message seems to be that the Obama administration will not attempt to protect and may even assist, in international prosecutions of Bush administration officials, and who knows, maybe even prosecute a few themselves.

I took a look at the torture memos out of curiosity and to confirm that things people were saying were in there actually was.  I’ve learned you can’t trust someone else’s interpretation.  Full disclosure:  I didn’t read the whole thing.  I just don’t have the legal background to make a determination if the case the Justice Department attorneys tried to make made sense or not, but I was curious about a few things.

First of all, what was the classification of these damn things?  Looking at the pdf of the memo, I could see that the pages were all classified Top Secret (scribble scribble) NOFORN, but what was the caveat or code word that was scribbled out?  I magnified and tried to see through the blackened areas, but no such luck.  Just curious I guess.  I was just wondering if it was a cool sounding codeword, Top Secret Maximum Hammer, or just something dorky, Top Secret Loosie Goosie?

Another thing; what was the deal with all the waterboarding?  The original leaks described it as the most successful interrogation technique since “good cop, bad cop.”  Abu Zubaida supposedly broke after 35 seconds.  However page 37 of the memo details something more complicated:

…where authorized, it may be used for two “sessions” per day of up to two hours. During a session, water may be applied up to six times for ten seconds or longer (but never more than 40 seconds). In a 24-hour period, a detainee may be subjected to up to twelve minutes of water appliaction. See id. at 42.  Additionally, the waterboard may be used on as many as five days during a 30-day approval period.

…The CIA used the waterboard “at least 83 times during August 2002” in the interrogation of Zubaida…and 183 times during March 2003 in the interrogation of KSM”

So somebody check my math, but that that means either the guidelines for waterboarding are wrong, they ignored their own guidelines, or the number of waterboarding sessions is wrong, since the could not have waterboarded that many times in a month if they followed the guidelines.  Or they are counting applications, instead of sessions.  It’s too vague to tell.

As far as I know, I’m the first person to discover this, so somebody give a prize or something.

However I’m not the first person to notice the incongruity of it being reported that Zubaida broke after 35 seconds and being waterboarded 83 times in one month.  I don’t see how both of those can be true.

But like a 23 minute Arlo Guthrie song, that’s not what I’m here to talk about.  OK well maybe a little, but what I am really worried about is the Obama administration deciding to settle scores.  Since President Obama is the Attorney General’s boss, going from being not interested in pursuing prosecution of Bush era officials to saying it’s up to the Attorney General is tantamount to giving the green light to prosecute.

Now I am of two minds on this.  There is one part of me, the mean, hateful part, that would love to see lawyers have to take responsibility for writing legal opinions, and by taking responsibility I mean forced to pull their orange jumpsuits down in a dark corner of a federal prison and get doo doo raped.  I’m not a fan of lawyers as you might notice.  Generally, lawyers don’t have to take any responsibility for their poor performance. Their clients do. These lawyers, if prosecuted, certainly would.

Also there is the precedent.  Once one administration opens the door to prosecuting the previous administration for policies it disagreed with, every time there is a change in power, the new administration will do the same.  In 4 years I could sit back and watch members of the Obama administration be indicted for all manner of crimes.  What comes around goes around eh?

But that is only one side.  I have a more dominate opinion on this, not one based on score settling, hatred of the bar, or getting revenge on wrongs, real or otherwise, on the current administration at some point in the future, but based on reason, rule of law, and the dangers setting bad precedents.

 First of all, I’m not sure there is even a crime here.  There may be a crime somehow under Spanish law, but I’m fairly certain there is no Federal Statute against giving a legal opinion that the current administration disagrees with.  One can imagine the kangaroo courts if we decide it’s OK to prosecute judges for ruling on a decision that’s been overturned, or a legislator who votes for a law that is later found to be unconstitutional.  That would be as criminal as anything those Bush Justice Department attorneys did.

The precedent of one administration getting revenge on the previous one would be a bad one.  Senator Leahy’s idea of a truth and reconciliation commission; as if going from the Bush administration to the Obama one is equivalent to eliminating apartheid, or the Nuremberg Trials, is ridiculous.  During every election, we always like to repeat the old canard about “the peaceful exchange of power” but how long would that be true if we up the stakes every time  political parties switch positions of power?  If hundreds of administration officials could expect nothing but indictment if a rival party takes power, are we really not that far from Peron’s Argentina?

It’s one thing to indict and prosecute officials who have actually done criminal wrongdoing, but I’ve noticed from my friends on the left is their tendency to want to criminalize policy differences.   They would love to have Bush and Cheney doing the perp walk, weighed down with chains, but ask them what sort of charges its usually something vague, like “war crimes” or just that they were criminals.  Their real crimes?  Holding different policy positions.  Not violating federal statutes.  If we try to prosecute attorneys for writing legal opinions, that won’t be justice, it will be punishment.  Punishment for losing the election.

Once we cross that particular Rubicon, it’s damage that cannot be undone. Rome could never go back to it’s Republic, and if we allow score settling after every change of power, we won’t be able to go back either. 

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TMZ is reporting

Michael Jackson is dead.

We’ve just learned Michael Jackson has died. He was 50.

Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. We’re told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back

A source tells us Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived.

Once at the hospital, the staff tried to resuscitate him but he was completely unresponsive.

We’re told one of the staff members at Jackson’s home called 911.

La Toya ran in the hospital sobbing after Jackson was pronounced dead.

Michael is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince “Blanket” Michael Jackson II.

Pop singer Michael Jackson

has suffered cardiac arrest,

CNN affiliate KTLA reports

Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Steve Ruda said paramedics responded to a 911 call at Jackson’s home around 12:26 p.m. He was not breathing when they arrived. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda says.

TMZ has updates HERE
UPDATE: The 911 call came in at 12:21PM at his Holmby Hills home in L.A.

UPDATE: A Jackson family member tells TMZ Michael is in “really bad shape” and the brothers are headed to UCLA.

UPDATE: We just got off the phone with Joe Jackson, Michael’s dad, who says “he is not doing well.

Yesterday, on the MucheDumbre forum a great question was asked..

What Kind Of Healthcare Reform Do You Want? (If Any…)

Healthcare reform is gonna be the big subject this summer. Rather than just bash one party’s ideas over the other, I thought I’d just express what I would like to see. Personally. And invite others to do so as well.

My health insurance is employer-based. I am unhappy with it. The insurance I had with my previous job was less expensive and I had developed a relationship with my doctor, who is not on my current plan. Now, I could opt out and get insurance on my own, but it would be considerably more expensive for the same level of coverage.

Right now I am pretty much locked into my employer’s choice. I want a system that provides real choice. I choose my insurer. I choose my doctor.

I don’t think a government-run system is the answer for everybody, but I do think there should be a safety net for the uninsured and under-insured.

For me, I just want something affordable and portable.

Let’s face it, health care is broken. Blaming who broke it or who wants to fix it  isn’t doing a bit of good for anyone. It’s time to finish the dialog on whether people want reform.  Those options have been weighed, they have been measured and they have been found wanted!

The question asked on the Muche forum is a good one and my list is probably on par with most people’s list, to put it simply…

I want a plan that allows me to have a yearly well-being check for me and my family, office visits with a reasonable co-pay until a certain deduction( based on income), is met for the adults. Children under 19, if still in school full-time, have a much smaller deduction if any at all, prescriptions with a co-pay(even the ones that are ‘free’ now unless you just cannot afford them), hospitalizations decided by doctors(after they have been reformed) and major medical disasters covered… I want all of this for a reasonable monthly price based on your income. The biggest thing is  an end to the “pre-existing  condition”, if you’ve had cancer, you can still get coverage  but you might have to pay 5-10% more a month than the person who’s never had cancer.

So how do we decide who pays what? The complaint is “He doesn’t pay as much as me waaa-waaa-waaa, so why should he get what I get” !  How can this be done in a fair way? Ask the student loan program! It’s not perfect, but if you can pay back your loans at X amt, you pay them back at that amount. If you can’t make those payments, do an ‘income contingency’ payment that’s based on your income.  Can’t do that payment.. you get deferred for 6 months to year at a time and the minute you start making more you get on one or the two above payment plans.

As I said,it’s not perfect and I am sure there are people screaming how wrong this is,  but the Federal Student Loan program  is able to set up re-payment plans  for millions and millions of people and still have the money to ‘loan’ out for more loans.

What else do I want in my health care reform? I want my medical records put in a huge super-computer system so that any doctor, anywhere can see what I’ve been treated for, what medications I’m taking and what I’m allergic too… if I can walk into any Wal-greens in the world and get my prescription history, I should be able to walk into any clinic/ER in the world and they know my medical history. Seriously, if Wal-green has mastered this Einstein-like algorithm.. so should the federal government.

Health care and Education are not ‘rights’ guaranteed  to every citizen of this county by decree of some document,  but they should be. Capitalist and Socialists alike, we are all only as strong as our weakest/dumbest link and right now we are in serious trouble and headed towards an all out ‘class warfare’ and  eventual destruction from within.

It’s not like I’m explaining some foreign concept to you, some… “Obama liberal socialist” movement that no one really cares about.. On the contrary, 72% of Americans polled say they want a Private plan and  PUBLIC plan, a plan similar to Medicare, offered. 72%! That’s not 72% of Obama Democrats, no their numbers are at 87%, those numbers are Americans.. ALL Americans, even 50% of only Republicans polled want a Private and PUBLIC plan offered, most amazingly is 50% want the government to run it. Even more astounding are the numbers who will for vote for a tax increase to pay for it. 57% of Americans would be willing to pay higher taxes so that everyone can have health insurance. Has there ever been an issue that 72% of the combined political population agreed on something and 57% said “tax us” to get it?  If we can’t agree on this, there is one thing we can agree on..

(CBS)

Democrat senator Dianne Feinstein from California said that she doesn’t think the Democrat caucus will support President Obama’s agenda on installing a ‘public’ plan… Well guess what, when 87% of your constituency says they want it.. and the democratic senators won’t give it..I think we can all agree it’s time to get new Democrats.

53% of the American population has already done more than answer a CBS/NY Times phone call… They walked their happy ass into a booth and voted. I’m sorry conservatives, but you lost. These Democrat Senators are afraid that they won’t have their Republican constituencies  support when they go up for re-election next year, well guess what? You won’t have that support anyway, but with the support of 87% of your own people and 50% of the Republicans,  giving them what they want is not the road to retirement from your coveted seat.

But, ignoring them is.

I’ve seen many an argument on gay marriage come down to “Well, the Gays need to get it through their heads that this is a democracy and all you have to do is look at California, the most liberal state in the Union, and see that people just don’t want gay marriage. The Gays need to respect the voice of the people” To  you I say, sit down and shut the fuck up, or pick up your phone and tell your senator that even though you don’t agree with it, 72% of the American population does.

There isn’t an excuse anymore. The question is no longer.. “what kind of reform in health care would you like to see?” The question is when are you going to do what almost 3/4 of the American public and your president is demanding you do? The only place this is a ‘bi-partisan’ issue is on Capital hill, the American people have spoken…it’s as simple as that. If those on Capital Hill  aren’t listening to the majority of Americans demanding change, then who are they listening to?  The Insurance lobbyist? The Pharmaceutical lobbyist? When it’s time for their re-election, Congress had better have listened to the ones who actually put the votes in the ballot.. instead of listening to the ones who put the money in their pockets.

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There are times when these people just make me want to scream and run at them with sharp objects.. and then there are times when they make me point and stare at them.  Now they have reached a whole new level… I believe the not so politically correct term from our youth is.. “Retarded”!

Since once again I am forced to re-visit this issue, I must post another past blog to help refresh you once again of my plight … So please.. I beg you to bear with me.

Last year I saw this news story

FDA Approves 1st Drug for Obese Dogs

and I wrote an blog about it.Since it bears on my current topic, here’s a recap.

__________________________________________

Proper Gander
a skewed view

I sit here today with my mouth open and my mind boggled. I’m stunned! No, I’m past stunned and entering into a whole new world of shock. I can’t believe what I have just read. What has me so flabbergasted you ask? I’m sure you’re thinking it must be Bush’s intention to increase the troop level in Iraq against the wishes of … Well, everyone. But no, there is something out there more staggering than that.

FDA Approves 1st Drug for Obese Dogs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Is your hound round? Too much flab on your Lab? Is your husky, well, husky? A new drug may provide some help.

The government approved the first drug for obese canines on Friday. Called Slentrol, the Pfizer Inc. drug is aimed at helping fat Fidos shed extra pounds.

“This is a welcome addition to animal therapies, because dog obesity appears to be increasing,” said Stephen Sundlof, director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine at the Food and Drug Administration.—-

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! This can’t be a headline on drudge, yahoo and cnn. We can’t really be so fucking lame, weight conscious and lazy that our scientists had to find a ‘doggie diet pill’ before finding a cure for something like….I don’t know… Cancer!

I love my dogs. I really do. The newest one, a fawn Chihuahua mix I got for my birthday has barely touched the ground since he came into my household. For Christmas I bought him a bright pink tutu to go with his leather studded collar. Cujo is the man in pink and leather! As much as I love him and Fatty, and as much as I spoil the shit out of them I will NEVER stoop to the craziness of diet pills!

Of course just by his name, you can tell one of my dogs might actually need them. Fatty is a cross between so many dogs that he looks like a lab/chow mix that’s had his legs chopped off at the knees. But he is the coolest dog I’ve ever had. He’s my ‘hippie’ dog. You’d think he was named for a blunt instead of a weight problem-HA~! but when he gets too ‘fatty’ I’ve learned a little trick that I am seriously considering patenting and selling online. Here’s what I do

1. Stop feeding him so much!

Fucking Genius I tell ya! Genius!

Come on people! it’s a DOG! It can’t eat unless you feed it! If it’s too damn fat then cut back on the food! I know we can’t cut back on the food ourselves, but Christ on a bike! Use some common frigging sense! Yes fat kids are a problem too but they make more noise than dogs do so we have to feed them Mc’Ds and KFC. Plus HRS gets all pissy when you only feed them once or twice a day. But the ASPCA is cool with you only giving Fido his one or 2 cups of food a day.

Stop the madness people! Let our scientist go back to real research on another dick pill. Tell Fido NO he can’t have another milkbone and get a ball and play ‘fetch’ with him! Hell you don’t even have to leave the couch for that because you just throw the ball and the dog brings it back to you!

I thought the Paul Mitchell shampoos and conditioners at my local “Hair Cuttery” was the most insane pet product I’d ever see. I’m sad to say I was wrong! Diet Pills for dogs! Fucking amazing! What kind of world are we leaving our children? Well besides a world with svelte dogs that have beautiful hair that is.

___________________

At that time I thought we couldn’t get anymore ‘weird’.. Plain and simple, diet pills for dogs is the reason they want to kill us.

I know, I know…It’s embarrassing to be associated with a species that is too weird to just stop feeding their dogs when they get fat.

It’s embarrassing to know all the other species are pointing and laughing at us.

Yes, this may be the reason they want to kill us. .. But I’ve always said  this isn’t the reason why we should let them. Sure we give our pets diet pills. Sure we can’t get enough news about a washed up pop princess and their random meltdowns. Sure we elected a buffoon  twice. But there is nothing out there reason enough to justify our extinction..

Hooo boy am I wrong about that. We’ve reached our summit. We can finally say “YES! we are too stupid to live! Please, put us out of our misery”

Are you ready..

…

Are you sure?

…

This will change your life…

Once you’ve read this you can never go back. You will always and forever know that we are… truly stupid. You will know that we should be wiped from existence before we infect the world anymore than we already have.

…

…

Suicidal pets get anti-depressants
PETS at risk of self-harm are increasingly being prescribed anti-depressants because they cannot discuss problems in their lives with others, a leading veterinarian says.

.

..

…
You see, there really is no hope for mankind…

_____________________________________________________________________

…and you thought we couldn’t get any stranger… you thought .. “Oh yeah, diet pills for fat dogs and prozac for  suicidal hamsters is where even God draws the evolutionary line!” My friend, you were wrong.  It’s OK, I was wrong also. I never thought we could get any farther down the food chain, I never thought we would finally deserve to be farther down the food change… Yes, Dear reader.. I was wrong too.

Before I show you I need to make sure that when our Alien Overlords(yes, that’s a real link) come to enslave us that they know that I am not one of these people. These are not my species, but another… crazier, uh… ‘touched’ if you will, species that evolved separately from my species. Enslave them and I, along with others of my kind will help you throw things at them in their cages.

Pegetables The ‘vegetable’ treat for your dog.

There are just too many issues with this to list them all. I mean, seriously.. vegetables, that look freakishly like real carrots, corn and celery for Dogs!? We couldn’t just give them real carrots for their eyes, real corn for their fur and real celery for their urinary tract could we.. ? No! I wonder why that is? Oh, I know  BECAUSE THEY’RE FUCKING MEAT-LOVING-EATING CARNIVORES! So instead, we’ll give them a pretend celery stick that’s made with MEAT!

Now, either some idiot read the ‘FDA approves diet pills for Fido” story and thought “Hey, they just need a healthier snack like celery!” (which by the way, could be forgivable..) OR, and this is what really scares me, what I really want our Alien Overlords to remember the whole’ separate species’ thing for.. Or, a vegetarian/vegan/weirdo non-meat eater wanted to make their pet,or make it look like their pet was also a ‘vegetarian/vegan/weirdo non-meat-eater so they could stay ‘pure’ to their belief.

I was raised on the belief of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I just wish I had been told their names were “Celery”,”Carrot”,”Corn” and “Mixed”.

Say what you will.. but I love having ‘cool’ in the white house..

Pro skateboarder takes a glide

through White House

WASHINGTON – Hey, kids, don’t try this at home. Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk on Friday took a brief ride at the White House as part of a Father’s Day celebration.

Hawk, 41, skated in the grand foyer and the nearby Old Executive Office Building, with the permission of White House officials.

STORY HERE…

I’ve been blogging for quite awhile now and I will eventually be bringing over some of my old stuff from it’s original home, to help you get to know me a little a better I will occasionally re-post some of the older stuff..

The one I’m re-posting today is something I think all of us have gone through many many…too damn many times. It’s enough to drive you crazy… enough to put you in a straitjacket even… a velvet one.. why velvet you ask?  Well, because insanity should be comfortable.

It won’t be over politics,religion… or Global warming

I don’t care what climatologists, political hacks or religious extremists say.. Our world will not come to

an end because of any of their woes. Our world will come to an end because of the goddamn automated phone system.

True story.

My convection/microwave oven stopped working. I took it to the manufacturers repair shop and 7 days later they called and said it was like brand new again. I brought the machine home, plugged it in and… it didn’t work. Ok, if that was end of the story it would be enough to make someone in the tension-filled climate we live go a little whack-o-nut, but no… that’s not the end.

I took the machine back to the prominent repair company and said “Um, yeah… it’s still broken.” The nice gentleman asked “What seems to be the problem?” My reply,  “The same thing that was the problem when I brought it down to you last week, that  you were to have fixed and sent it home ‘as good as new’ yesterday”. He looked confused, I don’t know why he would have been confused unless he had a memory like a child or a dog because he had just seen me 20 hrs earlier and explained to me everything they had fixed. One would think he would remember what was wrong. But whatever, I explained once again my problem.

Fast-forward 8 days. Now, if you have ever had to live without a microwave for any amount of time you already know how  problematic  that can be.

“Hey honey, I’m just going to re-heat some leftovers for dinner because it’s been a super crazy day”…

and then WHAM! No fucking microwave. So why bother with leftovers since you have to get out all  the pots and pans to reheat something. As if that wasn’t enough, try re-heating your coffee, making the kids a quick after school snack, rapid-thawing out the pork loin you forgot to take out that morning. Yes, not having a microwave is more difficult than not having indoor plumbing. Because a bucket and some air freshener can work in a pinch, but nothing replaces that good ole instant radiation-zapped mac and cheese.

So, tensions are already at a strained level when  I listen to the message on my machine.

“Hello, this the very well known repair center, please call us about your microwave/convection oven that we have now had for a total of 20 days and tell us what is wrong with it so we can fix it, thank you and have a good day

Seems simple enough, let’s get out the phone book and call them right back. hmmmm, an (800) number, well that shouldn’t be too difficult I’ll just ask for the local shop’s number.

ring-ring

“Hello and thank you for calling…para el español, marque nueve”

and now, the fun begins.

“If you are calling about a service appointment you scheduled, please press One”

nope, not calling for that

“If you are calling to schedule a service appointment, please press Two”

nope, not calling for that

“If you are calling to find a local repair center, please press Three”

Image via Wikipedia

hmmm, well maybe that’s it but lets listen to the other options

“If you are calling about anything else, please say ‘Other’”

uhh.. well ok maybe I do need 3….. ‘beep’

“Please wait while I  transfer you”

hmmm.hmmm.hmmmmmmmm

“Please say your telephone number starting with the area code”

… 321-555-5555

“Thank you, You said 374-995-5959, is this correct?”

uh, no

“I’m sorry, please say your telephone number starting with the area code”

321-555-5555!

“Thank you, you said 965-555-9999, is this correct?”

NO!

“I’m sorry, please enter your phone number using the key pad”

stupidfuckingtelephonewhoreshouldhaveletmedothatinthefirstplace

“Thank you, please press 1 for the address to the nearest repair center”

grrrrrr

“The nearest center is located at 301 driving you nuts road, because I can, 32935. If this is it, you may hang up now”

motherf..bitchwhore.. I need the phone number, I need a person and NO this is not all!

“If you would like to return to the previous menu, please press 0″

arrrggggggggg..beep

(repeats original options}

No, NO I don’t want any of those…

“If you would like assistance, please say Help’

Help

“If you would like to repeat any..”

Help!

“..please press 9″

HELP ! HELP !HELP ! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPP
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!

enter husband carrying a hammer, “What the hell? I thought you were getting raped or something”

“Shut up! I can’t hear what this bitch is saying”

“What do you mean shut up? You’re the one screaming and I just came in here because you’re screaming your everlovin’ head off for Help”

“I swear to Christ if you don’t shut the hell up.. .I’m going to stab you!!”

“Thank you and have a goodbye”

“Sweet Jumping Jesus…Do you see what you did? Now I have to call that crazy bitch back and go through that insanity all over again because you want to come in here and talk?

“You’re nuts you know that? Next time you’re being attacked don’t call me unless you want me to make popcorn so I can watch!”

“You can’t make popcorn because we don’t have a GODDAMN MICROWAVE!”

“HA! Ever hear of Jiffy-pop, Ms. know-it-all? “

“Take my advice.. sleep with your eyes open tonight and have the kids ‘test’ your food for you!”

“Oh yeah! Back at you baby!”

slams door!

“asshole!”

dialing….. ringing.

“Hello and thank you for calling…para el español, marque nueve”

yes yes.. hurry up…

“…Press Two”

fine two whatever.. just for the love of GOD give me a human to speak to!

“What kind of appliance are you calling about?”

Oh dear God… A microwave

“A Microwave, good let me transfer you to the small appliance center”

ahhhhhhhhhh…..yes. Yes YES!!!

“Hello, this is Bob can I help you?”

“Oh Bob.. Bobby.. Robert, yes you can help me. I took my microwave/convection oven down to my local repair center to get it worked on and they called me to ask what the exact problem was and I’m trying to call them to let them know but I don’t have a local number I only have the (800) number, do you have the local number”

“Let me check….”

waiting.. hear typing..waiting…

“What’s your phone number”

321-555-5555

“Ok… Yep got it right here.. 407-555-1212″

“Um wait, 407 that’s Orlando.. I’m Melbourne, you don’t have the number to the local repair center, I have the address if you need it”

“Sorry, let me look again…. Yeah, no I don’t have that number but let me transfer you to the automated system and it will help you out”

“wait!.. WHAT?”

“Hello and thank you for calling…para el español, marque nueve”

Image by oddsock via Flickr

Oh My…

“Hey Mom, how can I heat up this left over chicken?”

Lord, please forgive me for what I am about to do to those around me.

There is a great photo essay on what’s been going on in Iran located at Welcome  to my world in his   Iran Update section.

Hundreds of thousands people showed up  today to mourn and protest…

Simply amazing.

Beacuause  things are about to get nasty out there..

Report: NKorea plans to fire missile toward Hawaii

China and Russia better do something about their ‘pet’ soon..they may not mind him shitting all over their carpet.. but we don’t like it when he shits on ours..