Caught Red Handed. Sen. Grassley Voted for "Death Panels" in 2003
Oh those lying liars and the lies they tell.
According to Amy Sullivan at Time many of the very same death panel liars voted in favor of end-of-life counseling in 2003.
You would think that if Republicans wanted to totally mischaracterize a health care provision and demagogue it like nobody's business, they would at least pick something that the vast majority of them hadn't already voted for just a few years earlier. Because that's not just shameless, it's stupid.
Yes, that's right. Remember the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill, the one that passed with the votes of 204 GOP House members and 42 GOP Senators? Anyone want to guess what it provided funding for? Did you say counseling for end-of-life issues and care? Ding ding ding!!
Yesterday I posted a video clip of a former physician/death decider for Humana and Blue Cross/Blue Shield who had testified at a Congressional hearing in 1996. Dr. Peeno admitted that she had made decisions in favor of the profit margins that resulted in the deaths of patients.
Thirteen years later, after the Republicans and health care lobbyists devastated all hopes and efforts at any kind of healthcare reform, the death panels remain in full force today. I suppose this is the reason Sarah Palin suddenly ratcheted down her rhetoric about them. Someone in the GOP likely reminded Ms. Clueless that um, er, silly, silly woman, the insurance companies are knowingly killing off patients. Don't bring attention to it for crying out loud!
Poor, poor short-sighted, seriously uninformed Sarah. That woman does not know when to quit. This time she let the real death panel genie out of its hole in hell.
The poll's findings are a monumental embarrassment for Texas and the South. It should also be extraordinarily humiliating for the Republican Party to know that it has become a regional rump Party of the South comprised largely of old folks and and a majority of the racially intolerant and xenophobes.
By now many of you have seen the many YouTube videos of right wingers and libertarians "protesting" Democratic members of Congress as they attempt to hold town hall meetings or public forums during the August recess to discuss healthcare reform, among other things.
Be sure of a few things, but most importantly be sure that these are not meant to do anything other than raise hell, create a disruption, shut down discourse and steamroll anyone and everyone in the way.
Certainly it is well within the right of every American to voice their opinions, protest, and, yes, even raise hell...especially with their elected officials. But that isn't really what this is about.
This is about harnessing the frustration and anger of middle class Americans and working folks. The very same folks who were victimized and injured by the policies of the disgraced, former President Bush.
So why are they so mad? Is it really about health care? Does cap and trade really light their britches on fire?
Somewhat, perhaps, but not really.
I try and refrain from lenghty, Unabomber diatribes, but this is a special case.
With their coverage of the Gates/Crowley incident, the myopic corporate media is fighting the last war, not the next one. In this instance, America's history of ethnic profiling and Police mistreatment of minorities is not the troubling issue. I do not believe that Sergeant Crowley is a racist or that his treatment of Professor Gates is a product of racism.
This unfortunate event is a symptom of a new affliction permeating Law Enforcement; the impetus for Crowley's actions was Authoritarian Machismo.
Since 9/11, our law enforcement departments have become more and more authoritarian. In his training, Serpent Crowley learned to regard every perpetrator, regardless of race color creed or national origin, as a potential enemy of the State. Police officers see themselves as front line foot soldiers in the struggle to protect the Fatherland.
Professor Gates was upset and rightly so. Who wouldn't be? He is in his own home and confronted as if he were a criminal; even after he proves his identity. Did he shout at Crowley? Yes. Did he accuse Crowley of racism? Probably, but unless he pulled a gun, knife or other weapon and physically threatened Sergeant Crowley, Professor Gates did not break the law.
Even after Crowley notifies dispatch that Gates is the resident, the incident continues. At that time, Crowley should have said: "There has been a misunderstanding and I'm sorry for inconvenience. If you would like to file a report with my supervisors, here is my badge number and contact information". Crowley should have defused the situation by backing down and leaving. He did not. Why not?
Professor Gates may have said something that insulted Crowley's manhood and challenged his position. No pumped up alpha male would tuck his tail between his legs and skulk off. Ever fiber of his being, every element of his training, every aspect of his psyche required that Sergeant Crowley confront the threat to his authority.
The bottom line, Sergeant Crowley did what he did because he had too much testosterone coursing through his system.
When I (James) went on MSNBC two weeks ago to talk about immigration reform, I didn't think that I had anything that outlandish to say. Contessa Brewer, the daytime host, asked Republican strategist Ben Porrit and me if we thought we were going to get immigration reform passed and I said frankly that we won't, because there is a segment of the Republican party that is racist and will stand in the way of real reform. Simple enough, right?
(This is a really interesting piece, worth reading the full extended entry. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
"This is not Jasper, Texas."
I have heard that phrased used more than once, in conversations referring to how Bryan and College Station are not as racist as other places. That phrase is actually ridiculous when you think about it because it is comparison based on what is well known as the location of one of the most racist events in recent history. What that phrase is really saying is that there are racist here but we have not yet dragged anyone behind a truck.
When you listen to conversations or read the comment sections on the local newspaper you will see code words. These are words that are used in place of the racial epitaphs and the racist language, and give people of privilege the plausibility deniability of saying that they are not racist. Even the names of the cities, Bryan and College Station, have themselves been turned into code words.
I wondered what was so odd about the follow up speech to Rick Noriega this past Monday night at the Voter Registration Rally at the University of Texas. Read this from the Firing Lines in the Daily Texan.
[I]n a year where race has played far too large a part in the campaign, I was appalled to see blatant racism a few feet in front of me directly following Noriega's speech Monday evening. Harry Ettmueller, a veteran invited to speak by the College Republicans at Texas, started off his speech with a racial slur. He blatantly called Noriega "Manuel," then followed that up with, "I mean Rick." A collective gasp fell over the crowd after his words, and from my mouth came booing. Ettmueller then called me out of the crowd, saying "They don't teach ignorance here." While he is certainly right about that, the last time I checked, we shouldn't be teaching racism on this campus either.
What was entertaining was having a veteran begin his speech pointing out the need for leaders who had served... when the person speaking before him was Rick Noriega... Lt. Col. in the Texas National Guard... Sigh.
Seriously, Manual Noriega? I think someone in the press might have noticed if he was the nominee.
The portrait of John McCain painted in Gook is far more disturbing than any racial epithet.
A central thesis of the book is that war fertilizes racism, and racism justifies wars and the killing of civilians. This dynamic thrives within the most dangerous leaders of the world. Is John McCain one of them?
Join discussion on the power of words, symbolism, racism, hate, war, violence, and ultimately hope.The Social Justice Action Coalition & Upstream on KVRX present: Irwin Tang, author of Gook: John McCain's Racism and Why It Matters
1925 San Jacinto Boulevard Free Pizza! All welcome!
"I have a dream that my four little children
will one day live in a nation where they
will not be judged by the color of their skin
but by the content of their character."
This election marks a potential turning point in American history. The American people will either elect the first black President, following the dictates of logic, self-interest and absolute common sense... or they will elect John McCain and prove that at least a slim majority of the voters in this nation are ignorant fools, religious extremists, blind believers of the partisan propaganda of the right wing, outright racists -- or some horrifying combination of those descriptors.
Yesterday I posted a 
