Propaganda
OPEN POLL: Do you know anybody who is dying because they couldn't afford heath insurance?
Am walking away from the computer right now. One of my business colleagues who is also a very good friend is basically dying. I have a blog post to write about that but that is not all. Hence the blog post to come. Hence the need to walk away ---just the thought of him makes me want to cry and scream and smack the shit out of any Republican that cross my way.
My friend is an incredibly smart guy and was working consistently albeit not as much as he would have liked. He would complain on and off about the hey-days, when he made so much money he could afford his own office in midtown and all, his weekends of non-stop partying and his own health insurance.
Now? We have no idea if he will be able to go back to work at all. Heck, we don't know if he's gonna make it all.
It is heart-breaking because as a talented and smart guy he was also very politically active. Health Insurance reform was one of his pet peeves.
As a freelancer and consultant for many years, it's what broke his back. He did a bit too much for MedicAid but not enough to be able to buy it on his own. And he and I bonded on this issue because we here for almot 5 years lived without being able to afford to pay for health insurance and with two kids.
That "kids' care" program or whatever it is called here in NYC? They still wanted us to pay close to $400/month for the privilege of our children's parents to not be able to afford out of pocket health care because all their extra money was going for their kids "state run" health insurance.
The system in the United States is just ridiculous. And it's killing people. People like my friend.
What gets me? The fact that those "compassionate conservatives" who like to think of themselves as better human beings than you and me for calling themselves christians, are the same cruel, hateful and callous people who would justify my friend's death as his fault for not trying harder.
I hate all these goddamn Republicans who are raising hell at town halls. Of course, all those assholes have medical insurance. It's not like they'd ever give that up and donate it to people like my friend to save their lives.
So back to my question : Do you know anybody who is dying because they couldn't afford heath insurance?
I have to walk away now. It just hurts too much.
Breaking down Ed Henry's stupidity (or why journalism as we know it needs to die die die)
Gawker is making fun, and pointedly so, of how some big media reporters are grousing about the fact that President Obama didn't call on most major newspapers but did take questions from Univisión and Ebony Magazine. Of course, given how awesomely impartial and objective this cadre reporters is, they attribute the snub to either Obama being too scared to mess up his opening speech or to his desire to control the message, even as far as "debriefing" the White House surrogates (or talkers) who would be hitting major TV news outlets after the press conference.
There is any more objectivity in journalism, particularly political reporting, than there is blogging and yet Lynn Sweet, Michael Calderon, Ron Fournier and Ed Henry would want us to believe that they are the only ones capable of asking the right questions to get the answers the public needs to hear. Well, if by right we mean, "talking points of the GOP", then obviously they are the perfect messengers.
Let's take the above clip of Obama smacking down Ed Henry. The CNN reporter's question was actually two republican talking points :
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Michael Moore : The bailout is how the United State's wealthy stage a coup
I have to reblog this because last night I saw one of the best quick comments about this bailout travesty : On the eve of a black man coming into the White House, they hustle all the money out of the Treasury. (H/T Ruby and Professor Kim)
Michael Moore sees it more broadly : this is the way the wealthy stage a coup before they're taxed in the coming administration.
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Proof Democrats hate the US and its flag [UPDATED]
Oh Democrats!
You are the ruin of "American the Beautiful" by wanting to have Change instead of just waving that flag and letting things be.
I was at Invesco Field the night of Barack Obama's acceptance speech. I thought I was there to witness history. Senator Inhofe has informed us that anything having to do with Barack Obama is all about his lack of patriotism. And since Democrats love Obama, it'll be easy to make up stories about how they hate the US of A too.
Did you hear the one about how 12,000 US flags had been "thrown away" by the Dems and later recued by a Republican patriot? Funny because the minute the event finished there were freaked out volunteers imploringus to take home the flags. If not, they were rather insistent on returning the flags to them immediately.
Anyway, who knew I was there to witness the gathering of 75,000 US of A hating Democrats. And it's more incredible to think I have photographic evidence!
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Michelle gets her own "War Room"
HOT!
She's not going to wait for the vultures to do the talking about her. Michelle Obama gets her own war room along with a new chief of staff:
Later today, the campaign is set to announce the hiring of Stephanie Cutter, a longtime Democratic strategist who worked as Senator John Kerry’s communications director in 2004, as chief of staff to Mrs. Obama. Ms. Cutter is scheduled to begin soon, with the first task of re-crafting the image of Mrs. Obama, who has come under intense criticism by Republicans and even some Democratic rivals. She also will lead a war room to fight attacks against Mrs. Obama.
At first I found it odd that, given Kerry's slow response to the Swift Boat attacks, his former communications director is working for Ms. Obama. Maybe it makes sense because she's already "been there, done that" and won't let that happen ever again.
Hopefully that's the reason why they hired a former John Kerry staffer. Because she's indeed lived through all the republican's filth and knows now how to handle it.
Think about it, though. Michelle Obama has a war room. She's gonna get her shero on.
How HAWT is that!
The sexiest astrophysicist in the United States talks about "Stupid Design"
I actually met Tyson on our way to New York at Washington DC's Union Square Station. I was with Chris Rabb of Afronetizen and we just bumped into him.
Chris just started talking to him and I was just standing agog. He actually reminds me of Fuzzy Bear from The Muppets. A really, really smart and sexy Fuzzy Bear. Make that what you wish.
I love this clip because the point he wants to make is that the universe was not made with us in mind. He also had the audacity to have pictures of aborted fetuses with extreme birth defects to make exactly that point.
Takes balls of steel in today's political environment to do that.
PS : As per his wikipedia entry, NdGT was vote the sexiest astrophysicist in the United States by People Magazine.
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