Where’s the Outrage?

Ms. Edwards was just blogging at the Daily Kos. There were some great questions. She had some very good answers. The best exchange that I could find had to do with Health Care.

Blogger: I am voting for John. And I have AIDS.

Will people with HIV/AIDS who can’t afford any health insurance be covered with no fees? Or how will that work for people who can’t afford anything?

Ms. Edwards: Health care is subsidized for incomes up to $100,000. No one will pay more than 4% of income. And pre-existing conditions will not be subject to restriction or exemption from coverage. John’s UHC plan is just what you need.

All the best to you.

Democracy in action. I love it.

Tags: Blogging issues, Healthcare by ecthompson
1 Comment »

The more that we learn the higher the body counts are getting. 500? That’s the latest that I have seen and the Bush administration and the neocons continue to tell us that things are better. Where? Not in an isolated pocket. In the whole country!! If Iraqis are returning to the country by the thousands then you know things are getting better.

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From CNN.com:

The death toll in the suicide bombings Tuesday in northern Iraq has risen to at least 500, local officials in Nineveh province said Wednesday.Iraqi Army and Mosul police sources earlier put the number at 260, but said it was likely to rise. 320 were reported wounded.

The Tuesday truck bombs that targeted the villages of Qahtaniya, al-Jazeera and Tal Uzair, in northern Iraq near the border with Syria, were a “trademark al Qaeda event” designed to sway U.S. public opinion against the war, a U.S. general said Wednesday. (more…)

 

 Terrible bombing in Iraq [0:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Bush Administration, Iraq by ecthompson
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It looks like all of his co-defendants have something to say and are cutting a plea deal. This probably means that everyone will testify against Vick.

This reminds me of that old Bill Cosby bit - Noah and the Ark. Noah is bitching at God about all of the work that is left to be done and God says, “Noah, how long can you tread water.”

This video clip both Emmitt Smith and Tom Jackson make excellent points.

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From ESPN.com:

Facing increasing pressure to strike a deal with prosecutors, Atlanta Falcons star Michael Vick conferred with his attorneys for hours Wednesday.

“The defense and Michael are meeting,” Collins R. Spencer III, a spokesman for Vick’s five lawyers, said Wednesday afternoon.

At least some of the parties were participating by telephone in a meeting that began in late morning and continued well into the afternoon, he said.

“It seems they’re going to be talking a while,” Spencer said. (More…)

 

 MOre on Michael Vick [3:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Sports by ecthompson
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Update: Bohammer noted that Dick Cheney was a part of the Project for a New American Century (a radical neocon think tank). You can find his signature here. Thanks for the heads up! Again, the question remains when did he change his tune and why? Did it have something to do with Halliburton and profits? Or was he lying then?

It seems that there is this clip of Dick Cheney back in 1994. He is asked if he believes that we should have invaded Iraq. He says no. He lists all of the reasons that he now rejects. What changed? I know the official line from the neocons is that 9/11 changed everything but Cheney changed before 9/11. He wasn’t was a part of the Project for a New American Century but all of his pals (Wolfowitz, Perle, Rumsfeld) were.

Ain’t recording devices cool!

 

 Cheney did not want to go into Baghdad in 1994 [1:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Domestic Issues, Mess O'Potamia (Iraq/Iran/Israel/Palestine) by ecthompson
4 Comments »

Update II and Re-Posted Again:  Eric Boehlert of Media Matters has a nice article on this.  The importance of Eric’s piece can’t be understated.  Eric states that if a Democratic candidate had said the same thing they would have been roasted on the front page of every major paper in the country.  Most papers didn’t even cover it in their political sections or even in their political blogs.   Retardedly stupid gaffes by Republicans are overlooked or not important.

Updated and Re-posted: Video Added

I think that it is funny that we have these Hawks talking about how important this war in Iraq truly is but they can’t seem to convince their own family. None of the major Republican hawks have a loved one serving in the military.

Here’s what Romney said when asked the question -

“Hi, my name’s Rachel Griffiths, thank you so much for being here and asking for our comments. And I appreciate your recognizing the Iraq War veteran. My question is how many of your five sons are currently serving in the U.S. military and if none of them are, how do they plan to support this War on Terrorism by enlisting in our U.S. military?”

Governor Romney: “Well, the good news is that we have a volunteer army and that’s the way we’re going to keep it. My sons are all adults and they’ve made their decisions about their careers and they’ve chosen not to serve in the military and active duty. I respect their decision in that regard. I also respect and value very highly those who make a decision to serve in the military. I think we ought to show an outpouring of support just as I suggested. A surge of support for those families and those individuals who are serving. My niece, for instance, just to tell you what a neighborhood can do and how touching it can be.

“My niece, Misha, living out West, her husband I think he got a call on a Tuesday. He’s in the National Guard. He got a call on a Tuesday that he was going to be called up and shipped overseas on a Thursday. And they just bought a home -– they hadn’t landscaped it -– but the rules in the neighborhood were that unless you got your home landscaped within a year of the time that you bought your home, they began fining you, because they didn’t want people having mud holes in front of their homes. And she was very worried and just before the year expired, she woke up one morning and looked out the window and all the neighbors were out there, rolling down sod, putting up trees, getting it all done.”

“It’s remarkable how we can show our support for our nation and one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping to get me elected, because they think I’d be a great president. My son, Josh, bought the family Winnebago and has visited 99 counties, most of them with his three kids and his wife. And I respect that and respect all of those in the way they serve this great country.”

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I just hope that Romney’s hair continued to look perfect.  His hair seems to be his only redeeming quality.   Any one who would stand up and equate service in the military with service for his father’s self serving campaign is frankly nuts.  

 

 HB - Romney ChickenHawk [4:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Election 2008, Hardball, Iraq by ecthompson
9 Comments »

I’ve begun reading The Colonial Mind 1620-1800 by Vernon Parrington.

Professor Parrington taught English at the University of Washington. He died in 1929. The Colonial Mind was published in 1927. It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1928.

I have some observations and reactions to Parrington’s chapter on John Cotton of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

John Cotton lived from 1584 until 1652. A deeply religious man, Cotton moved in his lifetime from religious liberalism to orthodoxy. He arrived in Boston from England in 1633. He wanted to practice his vision of faith in a new world. Though here, I’m not as interested in Cotton’s religion as in other aspects of his life.

Parrington writes that according to Cotton’s grandson, “Twelve hours in a day he commonly studied, and would call that a scholar’s day.” [Read more →]

Tags: Books, General, Religion by Texas Liberal
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That almost brings a tear to my eye. The Half Hour News Hour which has been on the air about 3 or 4 months looks like it is going down. I think the problem was that it wasn’t…funny!!! Stewart is funny, first. Stewart has been perfecting his schtick for over 15 years. He started it on Saturday Night Live. Stewart then hired funny people to be around him and write for him. The Half Hour News Hour started with a stupid title and that was the highlight.

Update: video added. (When you go to the Fox Web site and then go to the News Hour this is the video that you can see. So, I didn’t chose a bad one. They chose this as an example of their humor and wit. 9th graders can write stuff like this. Actually, they can do better.)

Update II: Darin Murphy from the Huffington Post writes why the 1/2 Hour News Hour failed. I would add that comedy is hard. Good comedy is even harder. We all have friends that try to be funny but simply aren’t. They try and try but they aren’t funny. Sooner or later you make a pact like several of my friends and I did in 9th grade - we do the jokes and you do the laughing.

 

 Half Hour News Hour gets canned [3:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Media by ecthompson
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