You hear leading Republicans say that the U.S. has the best health care system in the world.  

They say that at press conferences.  
They say that during interviews on cable news networks.  
They say that to the Washington Press Corps.  

But will a Republican dare say that in front of their own constituents at a live town hall?  

Imagine a 53 year old woman stands up and says her husband died of cancer last year.  She says he had limited coverage but couldn't afford the out of pocket costs for treatments that could have saved his life.  Now she has cancer and her insurance company just rescinded her plan.  She's too weak to work now.  She asks "Senator Shelby, what am I going to do?"

Would Senator Shelby have the spine to tell her what he's been telling everyone else in the media?  That the U.S. has the best health care system in the world?  

Would Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell fare any better at a live town hall?  Imagine a  recently unemployed steelworker in Kentucky stood up and said "I've got three kids and our family has been denied health care since I got laid off last year.  Senator McConnell, have you ever been denied health care?

What would Senator McConnell say?  "Well, no, my government-funded plan guarantees that I have health coverage for the rest of my life, even when I'm no longer a Senator.  But trust me, you don't want the government involved in your health care."  

The fact is, Republicans cannot talk to Americans about health care.  They can talk a big game to the press. They can recite pre-fabricated think-tanked talking points on the Senate floor.   But their bluster would shrivel away if they dare come face to face with real Americans.  This is why they stay well inside the safe confines of the DC bubble where they are protected from engaging in an honest dialogue about the health care atrocity in America. 

President Obama, on the other hand, does not have to dislocate himself from Americans.  He's out there holding town halls and answering the tough questions.  He's face to face with people who are dying.  With people who are under-insured, not insured, or facing bankruptcy because of the outrageous contemptible cost of taking care of a loved one.  

It's important to recognize, especially in times of crisis, just who has the courage to talk honestly and directly to Americans and who does not.  

I understand that there are plenty of Democrats, not just Republicans, who are cowering in the face of a public option.  And we really need to exert unrelenting pressure on these Democrats to support legislation that would not only pass--that would not only be a step in the right direction--but would represent the kind of leap in reform that every American can count on, in good times and in bad, in sickness or in health.  

They must demonstrate a commitment to Americans before Americans will demonstrate another commitment to them.   

Today, Iraq officially regained full control of its towns and cities and declared June 30th National Sovereignty Day--a celebration of the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops.

But Iraq wasn't exactly handed over to Iraqi citizens. It was handed over to the international oil conglomerates.  Iraq's oil ministry held an "auction" for eight contracts to its oil and gas fields.  Only one contract has been awarded so far, to the BP group, which included China National Petroleum.  Here's an Aljazeera article that has more details.    

Interestingly, The Status Of Forces Agreement requires that U.S. combat forces withdraw from cities and redeploy to rural bases. 

I don't know the precise location of all Iraq's oil and gas fields.  But is it possible that troops are now being concentrated in rural areas of Iraq where many of the oil fields and pipelines are expected to go on line?

Does anyone have any research expertise in this area?

Was it the goal of the U.S. to liberate Iraqi citizens?  Or Iraqi oil?

They say follow the money.  
And opensecrets.org has made all the wheeling and dealing that goes on more transparent than ever.  They have a whole section dedicated to the money the health care industry has sunk into the pockets of Senators and reps to buy the verdict on health care reform.  It also tracks the movements of ex-congressional aides that have moved directly into lobbying spots and then back to congressional positions--the revolving door.  

It makes you realize that much of what is going on is not a debate.  It's an auction.  
Votes go to the highest bidders.   

The death of Michael Jackson is tragic.  So many stories of his life are tragic.  What is beautiful is the music and the timeless universal cross-cultural appeal of the brilliant entertainer.  
They say he was a tortured soul.  
Because of that, I ask:  
Must his death be a major production?  A frenzy of controversy?  Must we re-adjudicate his sordid past?  Must the media play over and over again the speculation about his sexuality, his cosmetic surgeries, his bankruptcy, his family difficulties?  Do we have to televise the people around him who will be fighting for his remains?  His money?  His child?  
Must we hear about the seagulls descending to collect every shred of what he's left behind?
Can the media give his soul the peace in death they couldn't offer it in life?

 

Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com has an excellent statistical analysis of how special interest money actually influences each Democratic senator's vote for or against a public health care option.
One highlight: 

What happens if we set the lobbying variable to zero for all senators?That is, suppose that the health care insurance industry were prohibited from making political contributions? In that case, the model predicts, 47 senators would currently support the public option, as opposed to the 38 who actually do. In other words, the insurance industry's influence appears to swing about 9 votes against the public option. Whatever number of senators wind up supporting the public option, add 9 to it, and you'll have a decent ballpark estimate for what the level of support might be if not for insurance industry contributions. 

Just a few, really: Senator______________. Have you ever been denied access to quality affordable health care? Senator______________. Did you know that the number of Americans without access to health care exceeds the entire population of Canada? Senator______________. Since you receive government-funded health care, you have first hand experience. What do you think, does it work? Or do you find that Washington bureaucrats make it impossible for you to get quality care? Senator______________. If you believe that plans in the private insurance market are are all equally affordable and competitive, would you be willing to switch your own taxpayer funded healthcare for one of them?

I don't subscribe to any conspiracy theories about 9/11 and that is why I'm recommending this documentary from the families who fought to create the 9/11 truth commission.  

The Iran election of 2009 is the first live event I have ever followed on Twitter.  To me, Twitter is like a live world status report on practically everything and, in this case, a defining political event in the middle east as it unfolds.  What makes it so unique is that you get so many diverse and unfiltered perspectives;  it's like what theaters once coined a 360 "sensurround" experience.

It can be anyone in the House or Senate. Someone you can absolutely count on when it comes to fighting for your interests on health care. Or energy and the environment. 

If you can't name anyone, then why did you vote for them?

I just came across this post by Brad Johnson on ThinkProgress.  It outlines a particularly brainless passage from the GOP American Energy Act.  

Hate speech and hate crimes are sociological, not just psychological.  It's ridiculous to look at one of these crimes from the shortened perspective of the point of the gun to the victim.  It's much bigger than that.  That's why I think it's a misconception to conclude any racist who takes someone's life "acted alone" or is "a lone wolf".  

Think about what you really believe in, what you want, what would improve your life, the life of your children, your parents and grandparents.  Think about what will improve our society, what standard of moral and ethical and social responsibility and accountability you hold yourself to, and what standard you expect leaders in our community to hold themselves to.  

Think about all these things and ask yourself a few questions:

Who can you count on in government?  

Who can you count on in the financial industry?  

Who can you count on in the transportation industry?

Who can you count on at the Department of Justice?

Who can you count on in the pharmaceutical industry?  

Who can you count on in the insurance industry?

Who can you count on in the telecommunications industry?

Who can you count on in the church? 

Who can you count on in the defense industry/Pentagon?

Who can you count on in the energy industry?  

Who can you count on in the corporate media?

Who can you count on when it comes to keeping our air and water clean?

Who can you count on when it comes to food safety?

What system of accountability for anything can you presently trust?

Who can you count on to actively root out corruption and apply the rule of law?

How do you know for sure that anything your told about Al Qaeda or Bin Laden or  "those who seek to do us harm" or the nuclear weapons ambitions of other countries is actually true?

How do you know that what your told about Iraq or Afghanistan or Pakistan or Iran or Israel or Lebanon or Egypt or Saudi Arabia or Syria or Somalia or anything that seems to require our military engagement is the absolute truth?  

What about the war on drugs?

How many stories that you now read about in the news do you trust as an honest objective assessment of any situation?  How many anonymous sources are you willing to offer the benefit of the doubt?

How many news organizations do you trust implicitly?

And finally, do you think things are getting better or worse?

Just wanted to generate a discussion about what, if any social responsibility the FCC requires of broadcasters.  

Blunderdick delivered his speech to the American Enterprise Institute yesterday, but it didn't all go as planned. Right before he got on stage, he had the teleprompter arrested and sent to Guantanamo for questioning. People in the audience were in utter disbelief-- a look of genuine concern descended upon everyone in the room. As a gesture of reassurance, Blunderdick reached in his pocket, pulled out seven index cards, held them up and said "No need to worry folks, I got it all written down".

This must have been on his Pentagon list of "what if" scenarios.

Armed with the quiet confidence of a man who just foiled an inanimate object's sinister plot to destroy the world, Blunderdick stood behind the lectern and began his address. He had a very captive audience-- all naked, hooded, shackled to the seats and wearing leg-irons. There was a lot of love in that room.

Blunderdick talked about how ready he was to lead on day 1. He was referring, of course, to the first day he took office as Vice President of the United States of America--September 12, 2001. (Some may remember a different day 1, which took place on January 20, 2001. While there exists footage of Blunderdick being sworn in on this day 1, he categorically denies the existence of January 20, 2001.)

Blunderdick would refer to his index cards often. You may have also noticed that when he speaks, it looks like he talks out of the side of his mouth. Don't be misled. He talks out of a completely different part of his body. I know. I know. It's deceiving because his upper lip opens crookedly, up and to the left as he speaks, then it snaps shut when he's finished. That's just a nervous tick; the result of an unfortunate snorkeling incident in the Bering sea. He was underwater, yelling at a very puzzled orca, when he noticed a piece of floating hamburger and chomped down on it, not realizing it was bait on a hook. Blunderdick was tugged all the way up to the surface. Imagine that. How does an orca even begin to process such an odd encounter?

Regarding national security, Blunderdick has had to walk back a few things he's said in the past, no need for me to repeat them all here, be captured, thrown in a secret Egyptian black ops prison and forced to share a 4'x4' cell with some vengeful hardened teleprompter.

Striking a lighter note during the speech, Blunderdick reminisced about some of the people he's met on the world stage throughout his years in public office. He shared charming anecdotes about some of his favorite conversation starters- water boarding, electrocution, eye-gouging, testicle-vicing, and others.

Before you knew it, Blunderdick had completed his remarks, the trap door beneath him opened, and he was instantly sucked 700 miles downward via the secret vacuum tunnel that bends space and opens a portal to his undisclosed location on Pluto.

The speech couldn't have lasted more than 20 minutes. I say it couldn't have lasted more than 20 minutes because Blunderdick can't include 99% of the things he did during his Vice Presidency.

Because 99% of the things he did was an unmitigated disaster.  Why harp on it in a speech?

Look to the future and let others like me dwell on your past:

Let's say you were handed one of the most critical pieces of intelligence in the history of America--that Bin Laden was determined to fly planes into buildings in major U.S. cities--how could you possibly extrapolate that Bin Laden was determined to fly planes into buildings in major U.S. Cities? The fact is that after 9/11, Blunderdick sprung into action. Singing here-I-come-to-save-the-day, he exacted revenge by invaded the wrong country, plunged our country into endless war, redacted most of the constitution, helped inspire the slowest response to a natural disaster in modern history, ushered in an unprecedented era of corporate corruption with no oversight whatsoever, sent the U.S. economy into a downward spiral, causing the insolvency of major banks, and, having crafted the least visionary energy policy for the 21^st century--helped bankrupt the entire American Auto industry.

Everyone has tiny missteps, right?  

Make enough of them and you can collect your award for the most incompetent Vice President in the galaxy, get invited to the American Enterprise Institute, and deliver your acceptance speech.

Just like Blunderdick did yesterday.