Michael Palin For Vice President?
I was the first to compare Sarah Palin to the more famous and, much more likable, Michael Palin.
Entries Tagged as ''
Bailouts Are Good?
I’m not sure that I’m buying the explanation that if it is good for markets, it is good for America. Isn’t that too simplest? The sub-prime mortgage was really good for the markets for years, it is only recently that the markets have thrown spitballs at sub-prime mortgages. So, I don’t think that the markets are a crystal ball.
What’s Going on: News Roundup
I’ll try and be more consistent with my news roundups. Sometimes my day job can be overwhelming.
- The National Football League’s most valuable player, Tom Brady, is done for the year. This is almost the exact same type of play that caused Carson Palmer to have major surgery 18 months ago. I’m not Tom Brady fan. I am a football fan. This is a sad day for the NFL.
- Roger Federer and Andy Murray of Great Britain are playing the U.S. Open finals championship as I type this. He is currently trailing two sets to none.
- A story that came out last week suggested that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had mishandled top-secret information by taking the information home without following protocol. And here you thought the Bush administration was supposed to be good at this national security stuff.
- A nuclear agreement with Russia has been pulled from Congressional consideration by the Bush administration. Just in case anyone was wondering what message the Bush administration was sending, Vice President Dick Cheney made it clear this weekend. The Vice President said,”Russia’s actions are an affront to civilized standards and are completely unacceptable.”
- The federal bailout for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is somewhat confusing to say the least. It seems to me that the message is that if you become “indispensable” then you can be as reckless as you want and the US taxpayers will rescued you. It seems to be the wrong signal if you ask me.
- Senator Hillary Clinton is campaigning in Florida for Obama.
- MSNBC will change its election coverage. It appears that Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews were too “liberal” so David Gregory will be injected into the show as a ringmaster. Conservatives were PO’ed. So, I wonder if Fox News is going to change their line up to be more liberal?
Obama And Biden On 60 Minutes
This is a great interview. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden with Steve Kroft.
Watch CBS Videos Online
Just How Could The Government Come And Take Your Gun?
This morning I listened to a radio report about a campaign appearance by Presidential Candidate Barack Obama in Scranton, Pennsylvania. A voter, who seemed friendly enough by the sound of her voice, asked Obama about rumors about whether he would take away people’s guns if elected.
I just shook my head when I heard this.
One thing I’ve always wanted to know is just how the government could go about taking people’s guns away? Let’s say that by some impossible occurrence, the Second Amendment were repealed. This could not happen for real, but let’s just say for purposes of this blog post that it did happen. Do you think people would just give up their guns?
How about the late Charlton Heston (in the photo above) and the National Rifle Association members he represented? Would they give up their guns just because they were instructed to do so?
Do you think this couple in the picture below would just go to voluntary drop-off point and give up that gun they have on the stove? Or hand it over to federal gun collector who rings the door to collect the guns?
( The picture was taken by Kyle Cassidy for his book Armed Americans–Portraits of Gun Owners In Their Homes.)
Or this guy– Would he quit hunting because a law was passed banning guns?
No. Whatever gun control laws passed with regard to the millions and millions of guns owned in America, none are going to involve going into people’s homes and taking away guns. Do you think Obama is going to be sitting in the Oval Office signing an order to round up people’s guns?
If we reached the point of government forcing everybody who owns a gun to give it up, we would be in a police state of some kind. Gun owners and the rest of us would be over-matched by the huge weapons and tanks that the government has.
Nobody is coming for your gun. People should be worrying about other stuff. If gun issues are stopping you from voting for Obama, you don’t have much to worry about. The NRA has a vested stake in keeping people hyped-up on this issue. Ask the NRA what they are going to do to get you higher wages or to improve the school your kids attend.
Congressman Westmoreland Still Impress Me
I’m a hard man to impress. As a trauma surgeon, I think that I have seen a lot. But Congressman Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia continues to impress me as one of the dumbest men in Congress. Today he called Presidential Candidate Barack Obama “uppity.” We all know what the next word that follows uppity is– especially when the term is said by a Southerner.
From the Washington Post:
Racism in Plain English
By Eugene Robinson
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, it finally happened: A Republican congressman has come right out and called Barack Obama “uppity.”
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.), often described as one of the most conservative members of Congress (which is saying something), used that racially loaded term to describe Obama in a conversation today outside the House chamber with a reporter from The Hill. As you can see in The Post’s news coverage, the reporter gave Westmoreland a chance to take it back. Bless him, he didn’t.
I love it when everybody’s cards are on the table.
A spokesman for the congressman said later that his boss didn’t realize that term has long been used to describe African Americans who don’t know their place. If so, he is the only born-and-bred Southerner alive who is so oblivious. I should note, however, that the last time Westmoreland’s staff got such a damage-control workout was in 2006, when the congressman sponsored legislation to post the Ten Commandments in the House and Senate — and then proved unable to list them.
The notion that Obama is somehow reaching beyond his station has been a subtext of the attacks on his eloquence, his academic resume, his ambition — qualities that are usually prized in a leader but that are somehow twisted by Obama’s opponents into negatives. It is within even Lynn Westmoreland’s limited grasp to understand that “uppity” means one thing: Who does this black guy think he is to run for president? If Republicans are going to ask that question, they shouldn’t be allowed to do it through hints and nudges. Just do like Lynn Westmoreland and put it in plain English.
Obama’s Small Town Values
From Melissa Harris-Lacewell’s Opinion Editorial in the Chicago Tribune:
Speakers at the Republican National Convention talked a lot about small-town values. They told America that a man from Chicago could not relate to the homegrown ethics of ordinary people. I know better. Barack Obama was my state senator. Right in the middle of that Senate district is my beloved small town, Hyde Park. There is no small town that knows more about sacrifice, honesty, hard work, community and patriotism.
We know about terrorism. In Hyde Park, I was embraced by dozens of neighbors on Sept. 11, 2001. We stood at Lake Michigan and turned our eyes toward our precious Chicago skyline. We kept vigil over our city, wondering if we would be targeted next.
We know how to be neighborly. Hyde Park is where a homeless man caught me when I stumbled while walking home in the snow eight months pregnant. He carried my bags 10 blocks. He wasn’t rich, but he was righteous. Hyde Park is where we make room for each other to set up tents and barbecue in the parks on warm summer days. We parade down 53rd Street on Independence Day and together we listen to blues and jazz. We celebrate America with the flair and flavor of the best patriots.
We know about the energy crisis. In Hyde Park we walk to work, take Metra or catch the No. 6 bus downtown. We are city people, but we share our trees with the monk parakeets and feed the pigeons in the park.
We know about the power of faith. In Hyde Park we brave the bitter winds to gather in Rockefeller Chapel on Thanksgiving morning. We are welcomed by African drums; we are blessed by rabbis, priests and preachers; then we are sent home to our holiday feasts by the smell of burning sage offered by Indian tribal leaders. (more… )
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Errington C. Thompson, MD, is a surgeon, scholar, fulltime sports fan and part-time political activist. He is active in a number of community projects and initiatives. Through medicine, he strives to improve the physical health of all he treats...
