check's in the mail, rick...

or better, yet, can't i just send you my nickel via paypal?

LAKE FOREST, Calif. — Evangelical pastor Rick Warren appealed to parishioners at his Orange County megachurch Wednesday to help fill a $900,000 deficit by the first of the year.

yes, virginia, there IS a santa claus

oh please, oh please, oh please...let it be true!

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hinted on Sunday that Republicans would campaign for office in the months ahead on a pledge to undo health care legislation, should it become law. But the Kentucky Republican refused to commit to pursuing a repeal, saying merely that the health care reform of 2009 would be a major issue come 2010.

like campaigning on something that a vast majority of american people actually WANT will drive them to the polls to vote for republican't obstructionists! bwahahahahahahaha.

file under: just as effective as telling a pyromaniac not to play with matches

full article HERE:

The health-care reform legislation pending in the Senate includes $50 million for programs that states could use to try to reduce pregnancies and sexually transmitted disease among adolescents by teaching to them to delay when they start having sex.

abstinence only sex education and "purity balls" would be laughable of the consequences weren't so heart breaking. sadly, delusional fundies (who were also more often than not engaging in premarital sex as teens) have forgotten the realities of being teenagers...much less recognizing the difference between being a teenager in the last half of the 20th century and a teenager in the first decades of the 21st century.

i know what bullsh*t smells like...and this is it:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/21/AR2009122103240.html

brain numbing emphasis added:

The OPM is between a rock and a hard place because the Obama administration wants to ditch the act, a.k.a. DOMA, something Kaplan subtly made clear by calling it a "so-called" act.

To emphasize the point, she added: "As the President has explained, the Administration believes that this law is discriminatory and needs to be repealed by Congress -- that is why President Obama has stated that he opposes DOMA and supports its legislative repeal."

discriminatory? discriminatory??? DISCRIMINATORY?!?!? SRSLY, WTF...why not just call it what it is: UNCONSTITUTIONAL!!!

President Howard Dean...

...in my fantasy land. still, it felt good typing it...

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/health-care/howard-dean-kill-the-senate-bill/

“This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate. Honestly the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill, go back to the House, start the reconciliation process, where you only need 51 votes and it would be a much simpler bill.”

"let's try 'double standards' for $1000, alex"

from the advocate:

When the partner of freshman Colorado congressman Jared Polis went to get his Congressional Spouse ID last February at Member Services, he thought the new administration had dawned a new day for same-sex partners of Congress members.

“They just snapped my picture and wrote ‘spouse’ on it,” recalled Marlon Reis, who celebrated his sixth anniversary with Polis in September, though the couple is not legally married. “It took all of five minutes — it was so easy that it gave me the impression of a semipermanent policy change.”

But the 28-year-old’s attempt to join Polis in June on a congressional delegation (known as a “CODEL” in Hill-speak) was a different story entirely.

The U.S.-Mexico Interparliamentary Meeting was being held in Seattle as an opportunity for U.S. lawmakers to meet members of the Mexican congress, and the Defense Department was providing transport for the trip. The military routinely flies congressional delegations and under House rules, members can take their spouses with them if there’s space on the aircraft (when CODELS fly commercially, spouses are responsible for their own airfare).

“A week before the CODEL, Jared’s chief of staff contacted me to say that the military was trying to block my trip,” Reis said.

In fact, Polis’s chief of staff, Brian Branton, was jumping through a series of bureaucratic hoops so that Reis would be able to accompany Polis on the flight to Seattle, just as several other spouses were doing.

“I just assumed naively that it wouldn’t be an issue,” said Branton, “but it was a huge hassle and the inequity was disturbing.”

read the whole article if you can stand the bigoted double standard.

A Sad Night In New York...but there were bright spots...

...bright spots like this, from the very FAITHFUL Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson:

O', SRSLY?!?11!! dana peroxide perino?

for frack's sake. this is like giving a puppy a treat for pissing on the carpet AND chewing up a new pair of jimmy choo shoes.

Since leaving office, Perino has attacked the Obama administration for calling out Fox News and for its handling of the swine flu epidemic, among other things.

article here.

at this rate, i'll be first in line for SOS when (s)hillary resigns to run for governor of NY!

Why DOMA must be repealed:

thanks a lot to "fierce advocate's" doj.

In its written response to the lawsuit, filed in September, the Justice Department argued that there is no fundamental right to marriage-based federal benefits and says Congress is entitled to address issues of social reform on an "incremental" basis. "

Congress is therefore permitted to provide benefits only to those who have historically been permitted to marry, without extending the same benefit to those only recently permitted to do so," the government said.

full article here

stewart channels beck...

...and out-becks beck:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The 11/3 Project
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

...i double dog dare ya', blanche!

the ever-fierce jane hamsher of firedoglake.com issues a threat to blanche lincoln (D-but you are a dino, blanche, you are).

colbert, glbt and "the word"

I don't believe it is a choice, I believe you're born thinking gays don't have the right to get married or even be joined in union. And folks, the gays have no right to out those people.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Don't Ask Don't Tell
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Religion

The signature piece of his campaign and "fierce advocate" isn't even willing to fight for it...

via huffpost (emphasis added). full article HERE:

"Everybody knows we're close enough that these guys could be rolled. They just don't want to do it because it makes the politics harder," said a senior Democratic source, saying that Obama is worried about the political fate of Blue Dogs and conservative Senate Democrats if the bill isn't seen as bipartisan. "These last couple folks, they could get them if Obama leaned on them."

WTF?!? SRSLY. "Fierce Advocate" needs to start worrying about those of us that put him in office based on his campaign platform. Regardless, those "blue dogs" and "conservadems" had better get ready for PROGRESSIVE CHALLENGERS in their primaries!!!

Solid as a Rock(efeller)

thank you sen. rockefeller! you do your legacy proud.

via huffpost. full article HERE:

One of the Senate's foremost champions of the public insurance option re-asserted on Friday his opposition to a compromise approach that would establish a government-run insurance plan only if certain market conditions aren't met.

In a statement issued apparently in response to news that the White House is leaning towards the so-called "trigger" approach, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) said the following.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Cojones): Poster Representative FOR Human Cloning

icanhazagrayson? kthxbai.

note to dick "dick" cheney: SYFPH.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

secondary note to joe "dead intern" scarborough: when you've been b*tch-slapped by lawrence o'donnell, just shut up and take it like a man.

Urvashi Vaid has a new fan...ME!

incredible address at the NEM where Ms. Vaid takes on O, the right wing, the religious right, et. al., and closes with "marching orders".

Organizers of the National Equality March Close the Day with Passion

oh, snap! Rep. Alan Grayson (D-cojones) smacks down obstructionist republiCAN'Ts

it's chow time.

The Gay After Tomorrow

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

we delivered for congress, now it's THEIR turn to reciprocate!

There are 60 senators caucusing as Democrats, and that should mean something, Stern said. "If the Democrats have told people like ourselves, supporters for a long time, 'Just give us 60 votes. Give us the money, give us 60 votes and we will show you what we can do.' Well, it's show time," said Stern. It takes 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

read the full article here.

i'm adding rep. grayson (d-cojones) to my short list of congressional heros

somehow, i don't think that's the apology that the repukes were demanding. a$$wipes.



ben bernanke should be boiled in hot oil...in public.



sweat like a turkey on thanksgiving eve, mr. liddy



hehehehe...timothy geitner on the hot seat!



...on children's health care

silly conservatives... they're against government intervention...unless they're FOR government intervention...

Where the Riled Things Are

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

the orangutan and the hound dog.

teh sweet.

Badges, Flyers, and Ways to Share

Badges, Flyers, and Ways to Share



Shared via AddThis

kaween with a kapital k!

he dances gayer than a pocketbook full of rainbows.

health care plan in 4 minutes...

...if only the rhetoric from the speech was reinforced by the president at every opportunity available, instead of seeming to acquiesce to every whim of resistance.

glenn beck, joseph mccarthy, edward r. murrow...WTF?

the man is either a.) batsh*t insane or b.) playing the right like a fiddle. either way, he needs to be muzzled. NAO.

i'm gettin' it in the can...

i'm shocked! shocked, i tells ya'!

teabagger/faux spews motto: we make sh*t up, you decide

h/t politifact:

"It was an impressive crowd," he said. But after marching down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol the crowd "only filled the Capitol grounds, maybe up to Third Street," he said.

Yet the photo showed the crowd sprawling far beyond that to the Washington Monument, which is bordered by 15th and and 17th Streets.

There's another big problem with the photograph: it doesn't include the National Museum of the American Indian, a building located at the corner of Fourth St. and Independence Ave. that opened on Sept. 14, 2004. (Looking at the photograph, the building should be in the upper right hand corner of the National Mall, next to the Air and Space Museum.) That means the picture was taken before the museum opened exactly five years ago. So clearly the photo doesn't show the "tea party" crowd from the Sept. 12 protest.

"pants-on-fire", indeed. mwahahahahahahaha.

"He did the equivalent of telling people that his penis is 53 inches long."

BEST! QUOTE! EVAR!

i expect that kind of brilliance from matt taibbi...but the ever-so-dry nate silver? totally caught me off guard.

from the original article, so it can be placed in context (plus it's an opportunity to bash that racist douchenozzle, michelle malKKKin):

But yesterday, someone told a real whopper. ABC News, citing the DC fire department, reported that between 60,000 and 70,000 people had attended the tea party rally at the Capitol. By the time this figure reached Michelle Malkin, however, it had been blown up to 2,000,000. There is a big difference, obviously, between 70,000 and 2,000,000. That's not a twofold or threefold exaggeration -- it's roughly a thirtyfold exaggeration.

The way this false estimate came into being is relatively simple: Matt Kibbe, the president of FreedomWorks, lied, claiming that ABC News had reported numbers of between 1.0 and 1.5 million when they never did anything of the sort. A few tweets later, the numbers had been exaggerated still further to 2 million. Kibbe wasn't "in error", as Malkin gently puts it. He lied. He did the equivalent of telling people that his penis is 53 inches long.

Malkin, who to her credit later corrected the error, frets that it might be used to by liberals to "discredit the undeniably massive turnout". She's right to be worried -- it absolutely will be used that way. If you don't want to be discredited, then don't, as Kibbe did, tell a ridiculous (and easily disprovable) lie.

get thee over to FiveThirtyEight.com and read the whole piece...TRULY a thing of beauty!

FINALLY! Learning from republicans... define the message and HAMMER IT HOME repeatedly!

...and i thought i was the only one...

...with the ability to see invisible laser beams...

color me rainbow surprised...or not.

Pew Research polling data on the most discriminated against by group:

http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/archives/178791.asp

the look of love...

NOT.

this was one of the highlights of the speech for me. nothing needed to be said in response. that was one of those looks a parent gives an insolent child...and it WORKED!

Obama's Very Scary "Socialist Indoctrination" Education Speech

...before we get to the speech, here's Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, on Sunday's Face the Nation:



http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/

Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama
Back to School Event

Arlington, Virginia
September 8, 2009

The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.

I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

why i would never want to be on letterman's bad side:

hello? is any body listening?

...he can but will he? i guess we'll find out next week.

full article (a must read) is here:

Here's one thing he could say: I'm not going to chase after the crazies on the right anymore. I cannot do business with these people, try as I may. I reach out and they accuse me of being a socialist who wants to pull the plug on grandma.

i'm ready for PRESIDENT obama to start delivering CANDIDATE obama's promises.

Pfizer's Chump Change

from HuffPo:

WASHINGTON — Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drug maker, will pay a record $2.3 billion civil and criminal penalty over unlawful prescription drug promotions.

Announcing the settlement Wednesday, the Justice Department said that it included the largest criminal fine in U.S. history – $1.2 billion. The agreement also included a criminal forfeiture of $105 million.

what the article fails to tell us, however, is that even after paying these chump change fines, Pfizer will still pocket over $$$FIVE BILLION in PROFIT for FY08.

if we could get REAL health care reform with a robust public option, this sort of behavior could be regulated. WE, in America, are paying through the nose for Rx's so that they can be offered at steep discounts in other countries. we're also paying FAR MORE for their advertising/graft campaigns than we are paying for research and development of new drugs.

this man should never be allowed to stand in ANY pulpit.

so many basic tenets of Christianity are DEFILED in this 7:36 interview.

good news...all from DavidMixner.com

...first, sorry to have been away for a couple of days. personal life has been, well, unmanageable at best and downright hellish at worst.

now for the good news:

-Didn't you just love the fact that during the funeral Mass of Senator Edward Kennedy part of the official religious rite included the words gay and straight? Right there in the Cathedral with the Cardinal reigning in his robes, Senator Kennedy, even in death, did not forget the LGBT community.

we've lost a champion for equality. Godspeed, Senator Kennedy...and TAKE THAT vatican city!

-In another historic first, Mayor Denise Simmons of Cambridge, Massachusetts (photograph) will marry her lesbian partner in an African-American church. Bravo to the Mayor and her partner and wishing them much happiness.

mad props to the AME church in mass! as one who attends a predominately AA Church, this is very encouraging!

-Famed political commentator Charlie Cook says that there are seven toss-up states in the 2010 United States Senate Races. The seven are Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Connecticut and New Hampshire. In addition Pennsylvania, California and Colorado are only 'leaning Democratic' which could spell a tough year for the Dems!

as a proud, LIBERAL texan, this is prolly the best news i've read in AGES! we're definitely moving towards the political promised land...about time, since i'm so OVER wandering in the desert!!!

best. universal. healthcare. explanation...EVAR.

WE FOUND OUR BACKBONE!!!

...like dorothy, who had the power to go home "all along", the democratic party's long-hidden spine has finally reappeared...thanks to the CONGRESSIONAL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS!!!

via huffpost:
(emphasis added)

"We're the group that speaks to the righteousness of an issue, [but] inevitably the decisions about how that issue's going to be addressed are conducted somewhere else," said Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), describing the traditional fecklessness of progressives in Congress. "The fact that we have stuck to our guns about the public option has surprised people."

A majority of the 81 Congressional Progressive Caucus members of the House have vowed to oppose any health care bill that does not include a "robust public option." That threat has kept it alive. With 256 seats in the House and 218 needed to pass a bill, Democrats simply can't move health care reform on their own without progressive caucus support.

snip

"It's not a question of allow. It wouldn't have the votes," she said. When the White House went squishy last week on the public option ("not essential"/"one sliver"/"a piece"), Pelosi returned to the basic calculus. "There's no way I can pass a bill in the House of Representatives without a public option," she said.

snip

"Quite frankly, we got motivated because there were other caucuses in the Democratic caucus who seem to get disproportionate attention based on their numbers," said Ellison. The Blue Dogs only number 51. "And we're like, wait a minute, we've got 80-plus members. How can we be ignored?"

snip

"We've done our compromising and we're not compromising any more. We've got our shot. Let somebody else show some flexibility now," said Ellison.

snip

As the prospect of a bipartisan bill fades, progressives hope their hand will be increasingly strengthened as Obama realizes where his allies are. "The White House does not know how to use the progressive community. They see us as kind of money in the kitty already," said Ellison. "The White House should be saying to the Blue Dogs and to the right wing, 'I cannot give you what you want because I have a progressive community that we're accountable to.'"

john mccain - recipient of government subsidized/funded health care for 55 years

doesn't think everyday americans are entitled to the same level of affordable care he receives.



a$$hat.

i *heart* bernie sanders...

...tell it like it is, bernie, tell it like it is!!!

"As a result of the greed, irresponsibility and illegal behavior of Wall Street our country has experienced the worst economic decline since the Great Depression," said Sanders. "Mr. Bernanke was head of the Fed and the nation's chief economist as this crisis, driven by reckless speculation, developed. Tragically, like the rest of the Bush administration, he was asleep at the wheel during this period and did nothing to move our financial system onto safer grounds."

"As the middle class of this country continues to shrink, we need a chairman of the Federal Reserve who is more concerned about expanding the productive economy -- increasing decent-paying jobs for all Americans -- than continuing to fan the flames of Wall Street greed and outrageous compensation packages."

silly democrats...

...don't they realize that tax cuts and tax credits are only supposed to benefit the WEALTHY?!? sheesh.

New Splits in Health Care Plan Talks

Republicans are pressing to reduce the size of tax credits for families with incomes that are below three times the poverty rate. They would also like to trim back insurance coverage mandates in hopes of lowering premiums that would have to be subsidized.

it's time to a.) put the brakes on the inept clown car known as "the gang of six" and b.) stop watering down health care reform to appease those that will never vote for it in the first place.

poor widdle chuckie todd...

...his skin is so thin he's practically transparent. way to go scahill, take no prisoners!!!

thank you, mr. president.

yes, i'm one of his harshest critics. however, when i see him like THIS, he appeals to my inner core.

IOKIYAR...especially if you're also a talking faux spews bobble head.

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how close did the last regime come to destroying our democracy, part 1 too many plus 1

SRSLY, folks... the director of homeland security wasn't in NATIONAL security council meetings????? "pushed" to raise the security alert to influence an election?????

and people are critical of the OBAMA ADMINISTRATION? sheesh.

via US News and World Report:

Ridge was never invited to sit in on National Security Council meetings; was "blindsided" by the FBI in morning Oval Office meetings because the agency withheld critical information from him; found his urgings to block Michael Brown from being named head of the emergency agency blamed for the Hurricane Katrina disaster ignored; and was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush's re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over.

...and the RIGHT (and tea baggers and town hall protesters parrot their talking points) have the audacity to call the Obama administration "fascist" and compare our president to Hitler??? somebody get those people a DICTIONARY.

now, this is going to leave a mark...poor, deluded sean insHannity.

sean:

a.) you are obviously using "new math" because your numbers don't work
b.) we DON'T have the best system in the world
c.) you can't come back from an 80% increase in premiums and a 400% increase in insurance company profits

result? PWND!!1!!11!!!

don't trifle with barney frank:

poor, poor dear. she didn't know who she was triflin' with when she "engaged" barney frank.

where were they during the shrub regime?

these are the same men that buy sports cars because they're inadequate (ahem) in other areas.

if they're so enamored with guns, why don't they go down to the local recruiting office and join the service. THAT, my friends, takes courage and patriotism. showing up at a political event with a fire arm...just because you can...not so much.

it bears repeating: why weren't these people promoting their 2nd amendment rights by engaging in this activity under the shrub regime? silly me, that really is a rhetorical question with an obvious answer.

balls vs. no balls...as presented by jon stewart via the selling of war vs. selling health care reform

as awful as the shrub regime was, team obama needs to go to their playbook on "message management 101".

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thanks for depressing me, rachel:

rachel raised a good point yesterday: if health-related stocks SOAR on a day when the market is DOWN, "they" know something "we" don't.



PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!

FINALLY! the "fierce advocate" has made a good decision...

with all the fubars...health care reform (oh, wait, we've massaged the message to health insurance reform), the financial welfare bail-out debacle, throwing the glbt community under the bus (and then running over us and then backing over us to see if we were ok and then running over us again to continue forward momentum), i was skeptical that sotomayor would turn out to be what she was "packaged" as.

Sotomayor made what appears to be her first public decision as a justice on Monday, voting unsuccessfully to delay the execution of an Ohio death row inmate.

She voted along with the court's liberal bloc – Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer – to stop the execution of Jason Getsy, whose execution is Tuesday.

for once, from this administration, we finaly get WYSIWIG (borrowing from the computer world: what you see is what you get).

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...take that, sean!

never in a million years did i think i would see even 1:45 of reality on FAUX SPEWS GNEWS!

poor focus on the family...

...profits down by $6Million so they're going to abandon their "xristian duty" to pray away teh gay.

Focus on the Family, James Dobson’s anti-LGBT empire and the largest organization in the religious right, announced earlier this week that it would be selling off its ex-gay therapy program called “Love Won Out.” The organization says it’s part of an effort to downsize in the wake of record profit losses of nearly $6 million. The news comes days after the nation’s largest psychological organization released a report condemning ex-gay therapies.

whatever it takes...just go away dobson! you give honest people of faith a really bad name.

popcorn, part II

OMFG! i *heart* lawrence o'donnel!!!



poor, poor pitiful teabaggeress. i expected her to eventually blurt out, "but, but, but BILL CLINTON!!!"

get the popcorn out...

...it's time for a little REAL hardball, courtesy of lawrence o'donnel:



video of "you just got PWND"!!! couldn't happen to a more useless congress critter.

it's time.

Gay & Lesbian Civil Rights... Now. from Jeffery Hammerberg on Vimeo.

if you can find or make excuses why glbt people shouldn't have full civil equality or should patiently wait even one more day for that equality, then you ARE exposing your bigotry.

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a righteous rant from keith o':

...i'm sure this is all over the toobz, but it's worth posting, sans comment...other than, keep up the good work, keith!

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the audacity of HYPE

all my fears and consternation in one article. i couldn't have said it all any better:

Does Obama have the ability to stand up to corporate interests? There's scant evidence of that so far. Indeed, most notably in the course of the financial industry bailout, he deferred to them quite spectacularly. And it's not just corporate interests, either. There's something about the military/national security complex that seems to set Obama back on his heels on such issues as dealing with Guantanamo detainees, coming clean about the Bush administration's torture legacy or "Don't Ask Don't Tell."

too bad CANDIDATE obama isn't the pResident

...yet another campaign promise broken to appease lobbyists and corporate interests.



negotiating bulk pricing for Medicare recipients could literally be a matter of life and death for many people.

a most glorious rant:

read it all HERE.

highlights:

... and no I can't show you an original copy of my birth certificate because Woody Harrelson spilled bong water on it.

At a recent town-hall meeting in South Carolina, a man stood up and told his Congressman to "keep your government hands off my Medicare," which is kind of like driving cross country to protest highways.

And among Republican governors, only 30% got their wife's name right on the first try.

And don't even ask about cabinet members: seven in ten think Napolitano is a kind of three-flavored ice cream.

That's right, half of America looks at books called the Old Testament and the New Testament and cannot figure out which one came first.

We should forget town halls, and replace them with study halls.

James Madison wrote that "pure democracy" doesn't work because "there is nothing to check... an obnoxious individual." Then, in the margins, he doodled a picture of Joe the Plumber.

oh, bill, these are going to leave MAJOR marks!

whether or not you acknowledge the 800 pound gorilla in the room or not...

does not mean it isn't an 800 pound gorilla.

note to "fierce advocate": big PhRMA is an 800 pound gorilla. refusing to allow the negotiation of bulk pricing and less expensive reimportation of prescription drugs is NOT an acceptable component of health care "reform".

WHITE HOUSE CONFIRMS: DEAL WITH BIG PHARMA BARS PRICE NEGOTIATIONS

once again, dan savage knocks it out of the park

President Obama: Was It a One Night Stand?

anything i try to add would diminish the impact of the article. clicky teh linky.

way to go, glenn. KKKeepin' it KKKlassy, as always

These are the people "fierce advocate" is afraid of offending

if "fierce advocate" wants to be truly "bipartisan", he should start negotiating with the Progressive Caucus!

"The Family", UPDATED!

it's too bad that the only person to be covering this story effectively is rachel maddow!

this is a nice overview:


fascinating interview with author, jeff sharlet, on The Thom Hartmann Show:



some of rachel's reporting:

...so, where ARE our leaders?

...we're ready to fight the good fight, but we lack a cohesive strategy that can only come from a leader of the glbt civil rights movement. this is the subject of a very good, albeit long, article in The Advocate.

buried in the 3rd page of the article, larry kramer speaks up and tells us what we need to hear: that we need to follow the strategy employed by Act Up that was so effective in the early days of the HIV/AIDS awareness fight.

from the article, emphasis added:

History offers an uncomfortable answer. At the start of the 1990s, when Bill Clinton had a vision for America and we were part of it, gay people were intoxicated with excitement and a sense of opportunity. By decade’s end, the president had signed DOMA and “don’t ask, don’t tell.” “The movement was not honest enough with itself about our own failures,” Guerriero says. “The president caved to Congress because we didn’t show up and provide the air cover he needed with smart, strategic, robust activism.”

That’s because, on the federal level, “we don’t have an organization that fights for us with sufficient teeth in their arsenal,” says novelist, playwright, and gay rights pioneer Larry Kramer. “I’m sick of saying it, and everyone thinks I’m nothing but a curmudgeon. But I am approaching closer and closer to death, to my death, without being able to marry my lover, without being able to leave my estate to my lover without it being taxed into oblivion.”

Kramer’s tone isn’t curmudgeonly. It’s weary, almost shell-shocked. Gay activists in Washington are feckless, he argues, because they are enchanted by a false idea of power. “We are not here to make friends,” he says. “We are here to get our rights. And these two statements do not join together to blend into one happy halo.”

The national gay rights movement is trapped between activism and politics, between anger and ambition. We are trapped between wanting equal rights and wanting to get invited to parties at the White House. Even Joe Solmonese, the president of HRC, who according to Kramer represents the movement at its most complacent, suggests that to become real players we are going to have to start acting a little more like heroes: “One of the things our movement does not give enough appreciation and reverence to is ACT UP. Their rage. Their anger. But always with an endgame, always with a strategic center,” he says.

Kramer, who cofounded ACT UP in 1987 to address the AIDS crisis, says the group worked on very simple principles. “We all, hundreds of us, got ourselves in a room, and we planned very specific points of attack, and we divided the various plans into segments, each of which was taken over by one or another of our committees and put into operation. You go after the things that you want. Marriage, inheritance, adoption, ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ repeal of DOMA. And then you start doing public demonstrations about each of them. Passing out detailed literature explaining the action. Naming names of the people who are preventing progress on these actions. You are merciless in confronting [those people], day after day. Consistency is so important. You have to be an activist every day, seven days a week, until you reach your goal. It’s not rocket science, any of this. You want something that somebody won’t give you? You find out how to get it.”

The gay movement today, he contends, lacks leaders with the level of commitment that animated ACT UP -- people who are willing to employ the shaming techniques that ACT UP used, and people who are willing to identify as gay first and foremost.

Kramer’s right on both points. Yet the problem is intractable. Shy of another dozen equally well-publicized Matthew Shepards or a new plague, it’s hard to see how a critical mass of gay people might be moved to experience themselves as “gay first and foremost,” how we might be moved to choose the radically separatist identity that has been, in our own history, our best weapon. Is it possible that the enemy has changed? If so, is it possible that different techniques are called for?

“I do not see a different enemy,” Kramer says. “The enemy is the enemy. We are hated too much by too many. And we are afraid to acknowledge this and to look it in its face for what it really is, hate, and to stare it down and fight it back. And become, as we did in ACT UP, our own heroes."

Blue Dogs, You Have Been Warned...

...and while olbermann's commentary was directed at the health care reform issue, progressives are going all the way in opposition. if you cast your lot with the republiCONS, you WILL be targeted for replacement in the primaries.

if you don't have time to read the full transcript or watch the full special comment (both of which i highly recommend), here's the "money" portion:

But I think you get the point. We don't need to call the Democrats holding this up Blue Dogs. That one word "Dogs" is perfectly sufficient. But let me speak to them collectively, anyway.I warn you all. You were not elected to create a Democratic majority. You were elected to restore this country. You were not elected to serve the corporations and the trusts who the government has enabled for the last eight years.

You were elected to serve the people. And if you fail to pass or support this legislation, the full wrath of the progressive and the moderate movements in this country will come down on your heads. Explain yourselves not to me, but to them. They elected you, and in the blink of an eye, they will replace you.

If you will behave as if you are Republicans — as if you are the prostitutes of our system —you will be judged as such. And you will lose not merely our respect. You will lose your jobs!

Every poll, every analysis, every vote, every region of this country supports health care reform, and the essential great leveling agent of a government-funded alternative to the unchecked duopoly of profiteering private insurance corporations. Cross us all at your peril.

and now, presented without comment, olbermann's "special comment":

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the full transcript (the names have not been changed, but they have been placed in bold, as have the health care lobby dollars secured by these crooks, to protect the guilty and links within the special comment are retained from the transcript at MSNBC):

Finally tonight, as promised, a Special Comment on Health Care Reform in this country, and in particular, the "public insurance option." In March of 1911, after a wave of minor factory fires in New York City, the City's Fire Commissioner issued emergency rules about fire prevention, protection, escape, sprinklers. The City's Manufacturers Association in turn called an emergency meeting to attack the Fire Commissioner and his 'interference with commerce.'

The new rules were delayed. Just days later, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. The door to the fire escape was bolted shut to keep the employees from leaving prematurely. One hundred and fifty of those employees died, many by jumping from the seventh floor windows to avoid the flames. Firefighters setting up their ladders literally had to dodge the falling, often burning, women. This was the spirit of the American corporation then. It is the spirit of the American corporation now. It is what the corporation will do, when it is left alone, for a week. You know the drill. We all know the drill.

You get something done, at a doctor's, at a dentist's, at an emergency room and the bills are in your hands before the pain medication wears off. And if you're one of the lucky ones, and you have insurance, you submit the endless paperwork and no matter whether it's insurance through your company, or your union, or your non-profit, or on your own dime, you then get your turn… at the roulette wheel.

How much of it is the insurance company going to pay this time? How much of it is the insurance company — about which you have next to no choice, and against which you have virtually no appeal — how much is this giant corporation going to give you back? What small percentage of what they told you they were going to pay you, will they actually pay you? You know the answer. And, you know the answer if you don't have insurance. But do you know why that's the answer?

Because the insurance industry owns the Republican Party. Not exclusively. Pharma owns part of it, too. Hospitals and HMO's, another part. Nursing homes — they have a share. You name a Republican, any Republican, and he is literally brought to you by... campaign donations from the Health Sector. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota? You gave the Republican rebuttal to the President's weekly address day before yesterday. You said the Democrats' plan was for"…government run health care that would disrupt our current system, and force millions of Americans who currently enjoy their employer-based coverage into a new health care plan run by government bureaucrats."

That's a bald-faced lie, Senator. And you're a bald-faced liar, whose bald face is covered by…your own health care plan run by government bureaucrats. Nobody would be forced into anything; and the Public Insurance Option is no more a disruption than letting the government sell you water, and not just Poland Spring and Sparkletts. But, as corrupt hypocrites go, Senator, at least you're well paid. What was that one statement worth to you in contributions from the Health Sector, Sen. Thune?

Five thousand dollars? Ten? We know what you are, Sir, we're arguing about the price. What about your other quote? "We can accomplish health care reform while keeping patients and their doctors in charge, not bureaucrats and politicians." Wow, Senator — this illustrates how desperate you and the other Republicans are, right? Because Sen. Thune, if you really think "bureaucrats and politicians" need to get out of the way of "patients and their doctors," then you support a woman patient's right to get an abortion, and you supported Michael Schiavo's right to take his wife off life support, and you oppose "bureaucrats and politicians" getting in the way, and we'll just mark you down on the pro-choice list. That's a rare misstep for you Sen. Thune. No twelve-thousand dollar payoff for that statement! I am not being hyperbolic, am I, Senator? On the money?

Sen. Thune has thus far received from the Health Sector, campaign contributions — and all these numbers tonight are from "The Center For Responsive Politics" — campaign contributions amounting to one million, $206,176. So much for Sen. Thune. How about Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite? Good evening Ma'am. You are the Florida representative who claimed on the Floor that Democrats had…"…released a health care bill which essentially said to America's seniors: drop dead."

Now those are strong, terrorizing, words — that's exactly what your Insurance and Medical Overlords wanted to hear. But are you truly worth every dollar of the $369,000,255 of them you have received over the years from the Health Sector? I'd reed the rest of the operative part of your speech myself, but your rendition actually cannot be matched:

Listen up, America, seniors have special needs. This bill ignored the, ignores the needs of Florida's health care system. We should be fixing what is broke. Not disseminate, disseminating, decimating, the care of our senior population. -- July 21, 2009

You can always tell, can't you, Congresswoman, when the hostage is reading her own ransom note, and when she is reading one written for her? So much for Rep. Brown-Waite. There are so many other Republicans, bought and sold — like the unfortunate Congresswoman there —by the Health Sector. Minority Leader McConnell of the Senate.

Rep. Bart Gordon of Tennessee. Congressman? Undecided on the public option? At $1,173,000 in donations from the Health Sector, I'm surprised. You should have already said no — and loudly. The only thing you should be "undecided" about, is whether or not you're really a Democrat. So much for Rep. Gordon. Sen. Max Baucus of Montana. Good evening, Senator.

So you're supposed to be negotiating all this out with the Republicans and hesitant Democrats? To gain bi-partisanship with a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Health Sector? Bi-partisanship that will get you, what? A total of no votes? And your price has been, let's see $414,000 in donations from Hospitals. About $667,000 from the insurance companies and just over a million from Big Pharma. There was a $1,300,000 from other health professional and $237,000 from Nursing Homes.

When you think of getting $237,000 in campaign contributions from nursing homes, Sen. Baucus, do you ever think about whether they subtract that amount of money evenly from all the patients suffering and dying in the lousy ones, or just from a few of the lousy ones? So much for Sen. Baucus. Sadly, this list could go on almost all night, too.

I could ask Blue Dog Congressman, Democrat John Tanner of Tennessee, if, since he's gotten $215,000 from hospitals over the years, if I and the appropriate number of my friends were willing to make it $216,000, if we could buy his vote — or would there have to be an auction?

We could bring up Senator Hagan, and Congressman Pomeroy, who, at 628-thousand, appears to represent the Insurance Industry and not North Dakota. I could bring up Sen. Carper, and Sen.Blanche Lincoln.

Senator Lincoln? By the way, considering how you're obstructing health care reform, how do you feel... every time you actually see Sen. Kennedy? I could bring up all the other Democrats doing their masters' bidding in the House or the Senate, all the others who will get an extra thousand from somebody if they just postpone the vote another year, another month, another week, because right now without the competition of a government-funded insurance company, in one hour the health care industries can make so much money that they'd kill you for that extra hour of profit, I could call them all out by name.

But I think you get the point. We don't need to call the Democrats holding this up Blue Dogs. That one word "Dogs" is perfectly sufficient. But let me speak to them collectively, anyway.I warn you all. You were not elected to create a Democratic majority. You were elected to restore this country. You were not elected to serve the corporations and the trusts who the government has enabled for the last eight years.

You were elected to serve the people. And if you fail to pass or support this legislation, the full wrath of the progressive and the moderate movements in this country will come down on your heads. Explain yourselves not to me, but to them. They elected you, and in the blink of an eye, they will replace you.

If you will behave as if you are Republicans — as if you are the prostitutes of our system —you will be judged as such. And you will lose not merely our respect. You will lose your jobs!

Every poll, every analysis, every vote, every region of this country supports health care reform, and the essential great leveling agent of a government-funded alternative to the unchecked duopoly of profiteering private insurance corporations. Cross us all at your peril.

Because, Rep. Ross, you are not the Representative from Blue Cross.

And Mr. Baucus, you are not the Senator from Schering-Plough Global Health Care even if they have already given you $76,000 towards your re-election. And Ms. Lincoln, you are not the Senator from DaVita Dialysis.

Because, ladies and gentlemen, President Lincoln did not promise that this nation shall have a new death of freedom, and that government of the corporation, by the corporation, for the corporation, shall not perish from this earth.

Good night and good luck.

best. quote. evar. regarding Senator Thune:

we know what you are, sir. we're arguing over the price.

that's gonna leave a big mark!