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June 12, 2010
I don't know which is the more disturbing possibility — that Alvin Greene won the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in South Carolina because he was a Republican plant, or because his name happened to appear first on the ballot.
Posted on 06/12/10 by
abi
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May 08, 2010
You might think it's a stretch for Michael Winship to compare what happened at Kent State and Jackson State (Jackson State? Read the link.) 40 years ago this week to what's happening in our country today, but it isn't. The same frustrating, maddening, self-defeating mindset afflicts us.
A friend wrote an editorial in one of the campus newspapers headlined, "The Frisbee Revolution." Those of us who were trying to keep the protests alive were annoyed at the time, but he was right. Once the impetus of the big rally was over, motivation vanished and kids went back to being kids. The war retreated, out of sight, out of mind. But it went on for another five, bloody, futile years.
Despite all the anger and worry today: an economy in shambles; the loss of jobs and security; wars continuing in Afghanistan and Iraq; and a dysfunctional government hobbled by the stranglehold of campaign cash and political hackery, there's a similar lack of interest afflicting many of those who rallied to the cause of Barack Obama in 2008, knocking on doors, contributing money - voting.
With that exciting and historic election over and done, the attention of many of them wandered elsewhere, consumed by self-interest or distracted by media's oxymoron, reality TV, where ex-astronauts dance with chorus girls and parents juggle eight children under the omniscient gaze of the camera.
And 40 years from now, it will be no different.
Posted on 05/08/10 by
abi
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May 02, 2010
I usually don't bother reading stories about so-called peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians because it's been such a hopeless exercise in self-delusion. But a report out of Israel this week that Obama has threatened to bypass Israel and force a resolution to the conflict himself sounds interesting:
US PRESIDENT Barack Obama has warned Israel that he will pave the way for an independent Palestinian state if the peace process is still deadlocked in September.
Mr Obama is proposing that, unless there is a breakthrough, the international community take over the Middle East peace process, Israeli officials have said.
We don't know if Obama actually made such a threat or if the Israelis are just trying to inflame their base. But if it is true, and if Obama is serious (two very big IFs), it may be just the fire that Israel needs lit under its ass:
The move would fulfill one of Israel's deepest fears by effectively stripping it of its power to dictate the course of the talks.
And we've seen how well that's worked out over the decades.
Posted on 05/02/10 by
abi
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April 04, 2010
The Massachusetts almost-kinda-sorta universal health care system, little sister to the new federal plan, is proving to be the canary in the coal mine for big sis. The latest evidence that the "reform" is not only a sham, but a very expensive sham, is that ordinary people and not just the insurers are finding ways to beat the system at the expense of the rest of us:
Thousands of consumers are gaming Massachusetts’ 2006 health insurance law by buying insurance when they need to cover pricey medical care, such as fertility treatments and knee surgery, and then swiftly dropping coverage, a practice that insurance executives say is driving up costs for other people and small businesses...
The typical monthly premium for these short-term members was $400, but their average claims exceeded $2,200 per month...
The problem is, it is less expensive for consumers — especially young and healthy people — to pay the monthly penalty of as much as $93 imposed under the state law for not having insurance, than to buy the coverage year-round. This is also the case under the federal health care overhaul legislation signed by the president, insurers say.
The fix suggested by the insurance companies? Are you sitting down? Regulation of the clever little scofflaws by allowing them to buy insurance on the open market only once per year (which means, of course, that they will pay a monthly penalty the rest of the year until they are allowed to buy the insurance).
How the hell do you force people to buy insurance and bar them from buying it at the same time? With a straight face, I mean.
But Governor Patrick will have none of it. In February, pretending to care, he filed legislation that would generously allow people to buy insurance twice a year, not just once. Also:
[The bill] would also bring back the rule allowing insurers to exclude coverage for preexisting conditions for six months...
Huh?
Not to worry, Bay Staters. The federal plan will reduce the waiting period for people with pre-existing conditions to just three months. In the meantime, people with immediate medical expenses will be on their own — you know, like they were before "reform."
And by the way, like much of the benefits of the federal plan, the pre-existing conditions provision doesn't kick in until 2014.
Posted on 04/04/10 by
abi
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March 28, 2010
No, not government bureaucrats or insurance industry bottom feeders liners. Wal-Mart:
When a rare form of cancer invaded Joseph Casias' nasal cavity and his brain, his doctor prescribed marijuana to help alleviate the daily pain.
Casias lives in Michigan, where medical marijuana is legal.
But his employer, Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, fired him in November 2009 after he failed a drug test.
We are becoming a pretty sick society. And there's not enough marijuana on the planet to help us.
Posted on 03/28/10 by
abi
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March 26, 2010
With their bloomers in a knot over the Democrats' victory in passing health care reform, Senate Republicans are doing what bratty adolescents who don't get their way do best — sulking:
So deep is their snit that GOP senators have been refusing to carry out a grave duty that sometimes falls upon lawmakers in difficult times: that of laboring on into mid-afternoon.
It takes unanimous consent to keep committee meetings going after the Senate has been in session for more than two hours. Or to keep attending to committee business after the clock has tolled the late and lonely hour of two. Two p.m., that is. And so Republican senators have been forcing committee hearings to come to an abrupt halt when that ungodly hour arrives.
With any luck, maybe next they'll hold their breath until they explode.
Posted on 03/26/10 by
abi
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March 21, 2010
Today the House will finally vote on the Senate's Health Reform bill. The odds are better than good that it will pass, and President Obama will immediately sign it into law.
And then, a beaming President, flanked by beaming members of Congress, will step before the klieg lights and microphones and proclaim that health care will now be "provided" to 32 million Americans who don't currently have it.
Which is like saying that every American will be "provided" a brand new car, as long as they march themselves into a dealership and, you know, actually buy one.
And if they don't, the government will grab them by the shorthairs, drag them down to the dealership and mandate that they buy one.
There's nothing "universal" about this health care "reform." There will still be Cadillac and Maserati plans for the wealthy and for those fortunate few who belong to the right unions or work for the right companies. And then there will be the Wal-Mart plans that many if not most of the 32 million will end up buying, because that's all they can afford.
With the high deductibles and high co-pays of these Wal-Mart plans, which will be the new barriers between the formerly uninsured and the health care they need, how much better off will these people really be?
We won't know until 2014, because that's when "reform" kicks in.
So as I watch our beaming pols tonight, I'll be thinking of that lucky game show contestant, Mrs. Presky, who was just handed the grand prize in an old Firesign Theater bit:
Mrs. Presky: But...this is a bag of shit.
Beaming Game Show Host: Yes, but it's great shit, Mrs. Presky!
Enjoy, Mrs. Presky.
Posted on 03/21/10 by
abi
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March 20, 2010
About the best that can be said for the Tea Party folks is that they're a bunch of frightened, easily manipulated marionettes. But the suspicion that they are actually racists, bigots, and assorted haters is getting harder to deny:
A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) had been spat on by a [Tea Party] protester. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a hero of the civil rights movement, was called a 'ni--er.' And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a "faggot," as protesters shouted at him with deliberately lisp-y screams.
The Christian god they pray to must be so proud.
Side note — when did childish expressions like "ni--er" and "the N-word" and the "R-word" come into being in news reporting, and isn't anyone but me embarrassed by it?
Posted on 03/20/10 by
abi
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March 13, 2010
Nine votes — that's all that are now needed for the Senate to accept a public option, as the House has already done. Nine:
The number of senators who have publicly committed to the option is striking because the momentum has come without any organized effort by Senate leadership or from the White House.
Polls show Americans want a public option. The House has already voted for one, and 41 senators say they would vote for one if given the chance.
You would think just a little push from the president is all we'd need to put actual "reform" into health care reform.
Your move, Mr. President.
Posted on 03/13/10 by
abi
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March 10, 2010
The Israeli interior minister has apologized for the timing of the announcement, made while VP Biden was visiting Israel, that it has approved an additional 1,600 units to be built in the Ramat Shlomo "settlement" in East Jerusalem.
If you believe that the apology was sincere, and that Israel had no intention of proving to the world once again that the mighty U.S. of A. is its big, dumb, slobbering lapdog, I have some prime coastal property to sell you in the Gaza Strip.
Was it a deliberate slap in the face? You bet'cha. But Juan Cole puts it in the correct perspective:
In my view, it doesn't really matter if Netanyahu's slap in the face to Biden derails the proposed indirect talks. The Likud-led government has no intention of allowing a Palestinian state, and there is now no place to put one.
To illustrate the point, Cole includes this graphic of the Incredible Shrinking Palestine:
Cole goes on to expose the 800-lb gorilla in the room that most Americans simply pretend isn't there:
Israel-Palestine has unalterably entered the era of Apartheid (actually something worse), and it will spell both the end of dreams of peace in our generation, and probably over time the end of Israel as Netanyahu's generation knew it.
Update: Cole provides details about what the maps represent here.
Posted on 03/10/10 by
abi
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