UGA Liberal

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) Siding With Health Insurers In Health Care Debate?

2009-06-26T12:00:00.000-04:00

In a closed-door meeting of Senate Finance Committee Democratic members and their staff Wednesday evening, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) suggested that if the committee bill didn't have enough votes for a public option it include a ten-year delay between passage of health care reform and the implementation of a public option that Americans could buy into, according to two Democratic aides.

Under the plan floated by Kerry, a public health care option would only be triggered by private insurance companies failing to meet certain criteria after ten years. Known as the "trigger" in legislative lingo, the idea is vociferously opposed by health care advocates who consider it the death of reform.

Reform advocates say that the system is already broken and that there's no need to wait any longer, also warning that the insurance industry might be able to game the criteria and prevent the public plan trigger from ever being pulled.

One source familiar with Kerry's unexpected suggestion said that the idea seemed to have little impact on the meeting and that the senators quickly moved on.

How in the world are senators -- especially Democratic Senators from ultra-blue states like Massachusetts -- thinking they can get away with standing against what the overwhelming majority of people in the country want?

There is no "Plan B" on this one because this is Plan B. Plan A was single payer. Having a robust public option available as soon as possible is the line in the sand, and if the committee doesn't have the votes for it, make them vote again. And again. And again. Keep voting until you have the votes to pass it.

Flynt Leverett and David Frum Debate Iran

2009-06-26T11:00:00.002-04:00

In this bloggingheads.tv episode, we see Flynt Leverett from the New America Foundation and David Frum of the American Enterprise Institute debate the legitimacy of the Iranian election and the American response.

While I don't agree fully with either of them, I'd say that Leverett tends to be a bit more credible (even though I disagree with his central thesis that Ahmadinejad got the most votes). He's a foreign policy expert and a former senior director on the Middle East National Security Councill. He's a proud civil servant, and he doesn't really have ulterior motives.

Whereas David Frum is a long-time hawk and GOP political operative and I don't find a lot of his posturing on Iran to be all that credible as evidence of his concern for the Iranian people, especially given that he has held the post of one of the most disingenuous jobs I can think of -- speechwriter for George W. Bush.

Nearly Half of Iranian MP's Refuse To Go To Ahmadinejad's Election Party

2009-06-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

The BBC reports:

More than 100 MPs appear to have snubbed an invitation to celebrate Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election win, local press reports say.

All 290 MPs were invited to the victory party on Wednesday night but 105 did not turn up, the reports say.

A BBC correspondent says the move is a sign of the deep split at the top of Iran after disputed presidential polls.

I don't really know how Ahmadinejad was planning to celebrate, but he had a lot less friends to do it with than he expected.

Michael Jackson Dies at 50

2009-06-25T17:55:00.005-04:00

Michael Jackson is dead at 50, according to TMZ:

We've just learned Michael Jackson has died. He was 50.

Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. We're told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back.

A source tells us Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived.

Michael is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince "Blanket" Michael Jackson II.

Jackson had 13 number one hits during his solo career.

Sad day for music!

Strip Search of 13-year-old Unconstitutional

2009-06-25T15:00:00.000-04:00

In what appears to be a no-brainer, you cannot strip search children to look for their... advil. ThinkProgress says the following:

In an 8-1 decision today, the Supreme Court held that school officials violated the Constitution’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures when they strip searched a 13 year-old honor student because they falsely suspected her of bringing ibuprofen to school. Ibuprofen is the same drug used in the painkiller Advil. The Court reasoned that, because there was no evidence that a commonly used painkiller presented a danger to the student body and there was no evidence that the honor student was concealing drugs in her underwear, the school overreacted by strip searching the student.

Justice Thomas was the lone dissenter, meaning he believes it is constitutional to strip search 13 year old girls. You can read the opinion here.

I must say, between the rampant drop out rate, ACTUAL drugs in school, and kids who legitimately have headaches, we can allow the horrible drug... Advil... into our school system.

Obama Not Going To Vigorously Defend Public Option In Healthcare?

2009-06-25T14:00:00.000-04:00

Paul Krugman is furious:

Really bad news on the health care front. After making the case for a public option, and doing it very well, Obama said this:

“We have not drawn lines in the sand other than that reform has to control costs and that it has to provide relief to people who don’t have health insurance or are underinsured,” Mr. Obama said. “Those are the broad parameters that we’ve discussed.”
There he goes again, gratuitously making a big gift to the other side.

My big fear about Obama has always been not that he doesn’t understand the issues, but that his urge to compromise — his vision of himself as a politician who transcends the old partisan divisions — will lead him to negotiate with himself, and give away far too much. He did that on the stimulus bill, where he offered an inadequate plan in order to win bipartisan support, then got nothing in return — and was forced to reduce the plan further so that Susan Collins could claim her pound of flesh.

Given the fact that single payer healthcare was kicked off the table before negotiations even began, I'd say a robust public option would be the next best thing. It'd allow people to drop their greedy and inefficient private insurers and join a Medicare-style government-run plan. This wouldn't do a whole lot to control costs in the long-run -- it'd be almost unsustainable to not talk about the bargaining power of single-payer in the future -- but it would guarantee people affordable healthcare in the short run and force private insurers to curtail many of their more vicious practices.

Obama at one point was a strong advocate of a single-payer system, and now it looks as if he's retreated so far back that he's willing to negotiate away offering any sort of publicly run plan to every single person in the country. That's a huge leap backwards.

The reason the private insurance industry is so fiercely pressuring the Democrats right now is that it fears competition from the government. If it had to compete with an efficient, low-cost plan like Medicare, there's no way the industry could survive in its current form.

What does that current form consist of? I'll let ABC News explain:

"[T]hey confuse their customers and dump the sick, all so they can satisfy their Wall Street investors," former Cigna senior executive Wendell Potter said in remarks prepared for a hearing on health insurance today before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Potter, who has more than 20 years of experience working in public relations for insurance companies Cigna and Humana, said companies routinely drop seriously ill policyholders so they can meet "Wall Street's relentless profit expectations."

"They look carefully to see if a sick policyholder may have omitted a minor illness, a pre-existing condition, when applying for coverage, and then they use that as justification to cancel the policy, even if the enrollee has never missed a premium payment," Potter said. "&(D)umping a small number of enrollees can have a big effect on the bottom line."

Of course they don't want to compete with the government. They might have to behave in a civilized manner if that happened. The question is, is Obama ready to force them to do that, or is he going to back down in the face of tremendous lobbying pressure?

Would Nixon Abort Obama?

2009-06-25T13:00:00.001-04:00

I am surprised the quote from President Nixon, released earlier this week, has not gotten more attention than it is.

Speaking to Charles Colson after the January 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, the president said: "I admit, there are times when abortions are necessary, I know that." He gave "a black and a white" as an example.

"Or rape," Colson offered. "Or rape," Nixon agreed.

I find this particularlly offensive. Basically, Nixon is arguing that it would have necessary to abort someone that was bi-racial, such as president Obama?

Anyone not see a problem here?

Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC) Has Been Acting Irresponsibly For A Long Time

2009-06-25T12:00:00.000-04:00

The outrage over Governor Mark Sanford's affair has begun.

Conservatives have started to throw Sanford overboard and have begun the usual process of lamenting the state of their party that has gone on every time one of these recent scandals has appeared. The New York Times reports about one such conservative who has commented on the Sanford scandal:

“Personal circumstances over the course of the last week have managed to shrink the front line of the 2012 possible-contender list by 40 percent,” said Phil Musser, a former executive director of the Republican Governors Association.

Speaking of Mr. Sanford’s confession, Mr. Musser said, “The concern here is that this continues a broader narrative that is completely unhelpful to the Republican Party’s rebuilding — that’s life, but it’s a personal tragedy that fairly or unfairly compounds a series of problems.”

I expect that we'll see alot more Republicans come forward and say that Sanford's affair is unfortunate and "unhelpful" to the party, and we'll probably witness a lot of hand-wringing and distancing from the Palmetto state governor, too.

I have major problem with the right's distancing fom Sanford -- it focuses on exactly the wrong thing.

Sex scandals are bad. Cheating on your wife is a terrible thing, no doubt. But let's be honest with ourselves here, Sanford is responsible for a lot more irresponsible behavior than adultery.

My aunt recently retired from teaching in the public school system in South Carolina. She taught at one of two IB schools in the entire state. Due to the Sanford's right-wing antics of trying to reject stimulus package money or use it to pay down state debt, her school was in danger of having to cancel its IB program -- and thousands of teachers were expecting layoffs. Sanford's pandering to the far right -- which apparently values "small government" over the welfare of the children who rely on teachers and the educational system -- threatened to sink his state even further.

Yet he was lionized for his 19th century views on government and his reckless behavior in the face of economic crisis. Newsweek even proudly proclaimed that he may very well be "the last conservative standing" and a major GOP Presidential contender due to his lack of concern for the welfare of the families in the state who couldn't afford private education.

But now, he cheated on his wife, which is a pretty bad thing to do, but let's be honest -- it's nowhere near as bad as trying to starve your state's educational system, doubtlessly plunging thousands of poor children into poverty as a result. Yet the former action has made him persona non grata, and the latter made him into some kind of hero. What kind of moral system are we using to judge our public officials, anyway?

By the way, the South Carolina Supreme Court forced Governor Sanford to take the stimulus money for schools, ending his shameless pandering to the anarcho-capitalist right once and for all. Gotta love those activist judges.

We're Finally Banned In China!

2009-06-25T11:00:00.000-04:00

Repeat after me: UGALiberal is not sufficiently loyal to the Revolution!

I recently received this tip from a friend of mine studying in China:

Well Zaid congratulations, ugaliberal.blogspot.com is on the list of websites that I cannot access while in China. Now I cannot read more witty titles about contemporary politics.

All I can say is -- YES!

Now I can knock that off my list of things I need to accomplish before I die!

I think it's somewhere around #35. Ah, here we go:

#34 Hot date with Scarlett Johansson

#35 Get political blog banned in China

#36 Hot date with Noam Chomsky

Victory, comrades!

Sanford: My Thoughts

2009-06-25T10:00:00.000-04:00

I am just going to throw this out here. If Republicans would spend more time maintaining their marriages than campaigning on their marriages, then maybe there would be less Mark Sanford's, Newt Gingrich's, Larry Craig's, Ted Haggard's, John Ensigns, etc...

Now I know democrats are not perfect, we had Clinton and Edwards and a number of others, but the difference is, we do not make our marriages one of the central parts of our campaigns. Sure, marriage is important, but there are more things we run on.

Johnny Depp's Excellent Tips

2009-06-25T09:00:00.000-04:00

I definitely need to find some way to be Johnny Depp's friend:

The waiter who received a $4000 tip from Johnny Depp has told RadarOnline.com about his night with the superstar!

Mohammed A . Sekhani -- a veteran waiter at Chicago's legendary steakhouse Gibsons -- told RadarOnline.com: “Johnny and his party arrived just after 11.30pm at the restaurant and requested a private room. He had visited our restaurant several times before while he was filming Public Enemies and he promised me that he would return after the premiere."

Sekhani says Depp and his party ordered appetizers like shrimp cocktails while they prepared his favorite dish Clams Casino – which is clams baked with garlic, pepper and cheese.

Good taste in food, too!

Terrorist Plot in the U.S. foiled!

2009-06-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

The FBI has arrested a man for threatening to kill Federal judges. He did so because he of a recent decision the judges made regarding hand guns. ThinkProgress has the story.

Today, FBI agents went to the New Jersey home of white supremacist blogger/radio host Hal Turner and arrested him “on a federal complaint filed in Chicago alleging that he made internet postings threatening to assault and murder three federal appeals court judges in Chicago in retaliation for their recent ruling upholding handgun bans in Chicago and a suburb,” according to a statement released by the Justice Department. A summary of Turner’s dangerous tirade against the judges:

Internet postings on June 2 and 3 proclaimed “outrage” over the June 2, 2009, handgun decision by Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook and Judges Richard Posner and William Bauer, of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, further stating, among other things: “Let me be the first to say this plainly: These Judges deserve to be killed.” The postings included photographs, phone numbers, work address and room numbers of these judges, along with a photo of the building in which they work and a map of its location.

When will people realize that there is going to be a rise in the amount of violence by domestic terrorism. These people are just as dangerous as foreign terrorism. Hate is hate and violence is violence. Your loved ones are no less dead when they are shot by a foreign terrorist than a domestic terrorist.

We must stand up against all forms of violence, even if they come from our own countrymen.

Speak No Evil: Melancholy of a Space Mexican

2009-06-24T22:51:00.003-04:00

This short comic was nominated for an Eisner this year (Eisners, dear friends, are like the Oscars of comics). Though the artist denies any political opinions attached, it is an interesting meditation on what it is to be a lower working class immigrant in this country: voiceless, faceless (in this case, literally), with no advantage or agency against anyone who would take advantage of you--and, ultimately, treated like so much stock and merchandise.

A very good comic, and a very brief read. Click the post title to go directly to the comic.

Lost and Found

2009-06-24T17:00:00.001-04:00

I guess hes not running for president anymore:

South Carolina GOP Gov. Mark Sanford admitted Wednesday to an affair, and resigned his position as chair of the Republican Governor's Association following a strange week in which the governor dropped off the grid and could not be located.

“I have been unfaithful to my wife. I developed a relationship with what started out as a dear, dear friend from Argentina,” Sanford said in a rambling and often emotional news conference at the state capital in Columbia.

“I’m a bottom line kind of guy I’m just gonna lay it out. It’s gonna hurt and I’m going to let the chips fall where they may,” said Sanford, often touted as a potential 2012 presidential hopeful.

The Governor of South Carolina was not hiking, at least not in the United States as his staff said he was, but instead was in South America:

Sanford Resurfaces — From Argentina
By KATE PHILLIPS
Updated The whereabouts of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford this past week just became a bit more curious, as if they hadn’t already stirred quite a bit of chatter in his home state and beyond.

Earlier this morning, Gina Smith, a reporter for The State newspaper in Columbia, S. C., acted on a tip and confronted the governor at the Atlanta airport as he deplaned from, uh, not the Appalachian Trail as his staff had finally disclosed on Monday night, but Buenos Aires.

In a short interview, he told Ms. Smith that he didn’t know why his staff said he was hiking, although he conceded that he had considered that activity as a way to take a break after a bruising legislative session ended last week.

“But I said ‘no’ I wanted to do something exotic,” Mr. Sanford told Ms. Smith. “… It’s a great city.”

The governor said he had been traveling alone. Ms. Smith said she asked him if he had been staying at a hotel, but he wouldn’t answer her question.

Update: Mr. Sanford’s spokesman, Joel Sawyer, just sent out a notice saying the governor would hold a news conference at 2 p.m. in the Statehouse.

The governor’s mysterious disappearance had captured national attention in part because the governor is frequently talked about among conservative Republicans as a potential candidate for the presidency. But it also unfolded in a bizarre way, with his wife Jenny indicating that she wasn’t aware of his traveling plans over the Father’s Day weekend and with rival Republicans in the state contending that the governor’s staff had lied to them.

Various staff members had told reporters that they were unable to reach him. But Ms. Smith said in an interview with CNN this morning that obviously, someone knew his whereabouts because of the tip she received and because he was whisked away by someone who met him at the airport.

In the airport interview today, Mr. Sanford suggested that he was confounded by how his absence was “blown out of proportion.”

This story was not "blown out of proportion." Governor, unless you have forgotten, you are in charge of a State. The staff and officials in the state need to be able to contact you. You should, of course, have vacations, but keep in contact or leave a method to be found. You running a state, not working at the local Starbucks!

You can get fired for now showing up to work without explanation in some jobs. I guess in South Carolina, they make you governor.

Miyazaki We Can Believe In

2009-06-24T13:00:00.000-04:00

Miyazaki's films always explore the human experience and the wide breath of what this world can be --good and evil. That's why I love everything he directs.

It's always good to see news items like "New Miyazaki Movie Trailer Up!" to distract us from the headlines about the new ways we've designed to kill eachother.

Whaaaaat? Exxon-Mobil's CEO Backs a Carbon Tax

2009-06-24T12:00:00.000-04:00

Totally failing to uphold their stereotype of being an earth-raping evil corporation.

The Wall Street journal reports:

ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson is bound and determined to join the Pigou club.

In a speech today in Washington, Mr. Tillerson said that he much prefers a carbon tax—rather than a cap-and-trade scheme—if the government takes steps to curb greenhouse-gas emissions.

“My greatest concern is that policy makers will attempt to mandate or ordain solutions that are doomed to fail,” Mr. Tillerson said, reports Dow Jones Newswires. “A carbon tax would be a more direct and transparent approach,” he said.

Wait, so the CEO of Exxon-Mobil is advocating a position to the left of Congressional Democrats, who favor "cap-and-trade"?

Somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming.

Barney: "This Isn't Monopoly Money"

2009-06-24T11:00:00.000-04:00

This was on ThinkProgress... I knew there was a reason I loved Barney Frank:

On a press call hosted by the Center for American Progress Action Fund this afternoon, Frank pointed out Republicans’ hypocrisy in railing against the deficit while simultaneously funding a $2 billion air force jet that has never once flown a mission in Afghanistan or Iraq. Frank said so-called deficit hawks act as though the Pentagon is funded with “Monopoly money”:

I am of course struck that so many of my colleagues who are so worried about the deficit apparently think the Pentagon is funded with Monopoly money that somehow doesn’t count.

Frank also dismissed concerns that eliminating the F-22 will cost jobs:

These arguments will come from the very people who denied that the economic recovery plan created any jobs. We have a very odd economic philosophy in Washington: It’s called weaponized Keynesianism. It is the view that the government does not create jobs when it funds the building of bridges or important research or retrains workers, but when it builds airplanes that are never going to be used in combat, that is of course economic salvation.

I am glad that Barney Frank stands up on issues like this. It isn't just because he is gay that he is one of my political heros, but it is because he has the courage to stand up on issues that are unfair and unjust.

Join the fight against universal healthcare!

2009-06-24T10:00:00.001-04:00

For all you concerned citizens out there afraid that we might actually have a working healthcare sy- I mean, desperately frightened of this big government-Stalinesque takeover of healthcare by Obama and his socialist minions, HAARM is here to help!

Access their website here and ensure we never get all our citizens quality, affordable healthcare!

Can Democrats win in Georgia

2009-06-24T09:00:00.001-04:00

While I know it is extremely early in the 2010 races, is it possible for democrats to take back the Georgia Mansion. I received this in the mail last night:

Georgia: A New Chance in the Deep South

In the 2008 Georgia Senate race, incumbent Saxby Chambliss was supposed to win in a landslide. Instead, Democrat Jim Martin came within three points of victory, proving that Georgia Democrats are more competitive than they've been in years.

Now, with Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue stepping down, we have a chance to build on that effort and win a major statewide race.

Democrats were being written off in this race just a few weeks ago, but not anymore. New polling data shows the race is now a tossup, and we'll be sure to send you the most up-to-date news and numbers going forward.

I thought it was a bit of a stretch till I looked at the recent polling. It has everyone within the Margin of Error. I think it might be possible, but we must keep turnout in minority communities high. Black turnout dropped in the Senate runoff, but maybe we can do specific voter drives to keep all the turnout high!

Oxendine Ahead for GOP Governor Primary

2009-06-24T08:00:00.001-04:00

Rasmussen writes that Oxendine is ahead in the GOP Primary Race:

John Oxendine, Georgia’s fire and insurance commissioner, holds a commanding lead over all other Republican gubernatorial hopefuls in an early look at next year’s state GOP Primary.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Georgia shows Oxendine with 35% support among those likely to vote in the state’s open Republican Primary. His next closest competitors are Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel with 11% and Congressman Nathan Deal at 10%. But 33% are not sure which candidate they prefer.

I do not know much about him, but I will be watching him in the future. It is hard to imagine that he is worst the Karen Handel from a liberal perspective, though it is Georgia, we are known for our overly conservative candidates.

Your Off-Work Joke of the Day

2009-06-23T17:00:00.000-04:00

Five O'Clock Joke Time!!!

MEDICAL STIMULUS PACKAGE

Apparently the American Medical Association has weighed in on the new economic stimulus package:

The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.

The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.

The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.

Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted.

Pathologists yelled, "Over my dead body!" while the Pediatricians said, 'Oh, Grow up!'

The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it.

Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.

The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic
Surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter."

The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea

The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.

In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the @SSholes in Washington.
-----------------------------------

Needless to say, it is a joke, but everyone, call your representatives and tell them you support a single-payer health plan! We all need healthy insurance and it cannot wait!

On the Other Side of the Pond: Our British Neighbors Refusing Tasers

2009-06-23T16:00:00.000-04:00

UPI reports:

LONDON, June 22 (UPI) -- Several major British police forces say they are refusing the government's calls to extend the use of Taser stun guns to thousands of officers.

The Sussex Police have joined the London Metropolitan Police in refusing to extend the use of Tasers to officers who are not specially trained to wield the weapons, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.

Still undecided on whether to roll out the non-lethal weapons to more officers are the South Yorkshire Police and Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, the newspaper said.

Concerns over providing 10,000 such weapons to 30,000 officers nationwide have reportedly been sparked by video footage from Nottingham, England, that appeared to depict an officer shocking a man at least twice while he was lying on the floor.

While it's obvious from the article that Britain still has cases of police brutality, it's also pretty obvious that when you have police in the capital city refusing to use tasers because they're afraid to hurt the citizenry, that the UK is a much safer place than here. For one, most police officers don't even carry handguns. They don't have to, because guns are much more rare over there than here.

How about that.

Wost Person in the World

2009-06-23T15:00:00.003-04:00

Three different issues that are important.

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

I hope that Cynthia Davis loses in the next election. Olbermann has every right to call her out for that callous statement.

Atlanta "Tea Party" Cancelled Due to Sheer, Hilarious Incompetence

2009-06-23T15:00:00.001-04:00

Photo from the April 15th Atlanta Tea Party. Son seems remarkably unbankrupted.

Peach Pundit writes:

The Atlanta Tea Party was forced to cancel it’s Independence Day celebration in Gwinnett, after losing it’s location due to the objection of Gwinnett Place Mall (a Simon company.) The Tea Party had been scheduled to take place in the parking lot of the old Macy’s building at Gwinnett Place since March.

“It is unfortunate the event had to be canceled,” said Julianne Thompson, event co-organizer. She continued, “The old Macy’s building is on private property, and not owned by Simon Malls, however the mall manager asked the property owner and I to come in the office on Thursday of this week, and told us Simon does not want political events on it’s property. They were also concerned about the fact we were using the term “protest.” Although the event was on private property, the mall was able to assert authority on the matter due to reciprocal property easement agreements.”

Event Co-Chair Debbie Dooley stated, “Our Atlanta Tea Party team tried for the next day and a half to find an alternative location large enough for the event, and with the proper layout for our vendors, children’s activities, and fireworks show, but we could not find anything suitable that would have been available on July 4th.”

So the far-right, "don't take our money!" crowd planned to hold their demonstration on private property without permission and didn't have a back-up plan?

The hilarity of the self-destructing GOP knows no end.

The Health Police!!!!

2009-06-23T14:00:00.000-04:00

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

Given that the overwhelming majority of people in the country think the GOP is dead wrong on healthcare, they might want to think twice before bringing scare tactics to new plateaus of hilarity.

Class Work, Blog Work

2009-06-23T13:00:00.000-04:00

I am currently taking a class on how Multiculturalism affects Politics and Adult Education. I wanted to share this with you:

1. How is multiculturalism related to power and politics?

The lecturette defines multiculturalism as “a set of social or political ideals and policies.” Due to this definition, it has inherent political and power-dynamic connotations. Politics more frequently is about what group controls power in a given society. Often times, a way for a dominate culture to stay in power is through misrepresentation of social groups, continuing stereotypes that are not based in fact, and “shoring up the base” in a way that is frequently xenophobic. Multiculturalism helps to fight this xenophobia.

As the liberal approach suggest, state institutions are often an avenue to get a multicultural education. Since the education system in America is run by the state, often times the way multiculturalism is taught is based on what party or coalition runs the state government. For example, in California and Massachusetts, standard curriculum teaches about LGBT families due to the population of those states having a large amount of LGBT families and being run my more progressive government coalition. In Georgia, LGBT awareness (at least in the experiences I have heard) is not part of the standard curriculum. Our state is run by people who hold a conservative view of multicultural education. They would argue that this topic is better left to the parents or churches to teach their children.

2. What are the kinds of educational and/or social change envisioned by conservative, liberal, and radical views of multicultural education?

Conservative and Liberal viewpoints have many similarities about multicultural education. Both of these assume a “Lockean ideology,” (aka The Protestant Work Ethic) that says people who are equal before the law can work hard and succeed in a capitalist society. To conservatives, the reasons individuals fail are natural differences between individual talent and effort. Conservatives dismiss or curtail the group affiliates of individuals, instead making the individual to main unit of analysis. Conservatives generally believe that the private sector is the best teacher of multiculturalism. For example, churches or social groups are better at education people on multicultural issues than a state-run school.

Liberals also hold a Lockean ideology, but instead acknowledge the past discrimination of groups. They believe it is the duty of the government to correct these past wrongs.

One example of doing this would be affirmative action. In it, the government ensures that minority-status students have access to education and jobs. Theoretically, this would eventually be phased out; as minority groups get access to education and jobs, the system will no longer need affirmative action. However, even with the slight rise of African-Americans and the tremendous rise of women in Higher Education, these two
groups still remain oppressed in our society. What is shows is that access to higher education and jobs may not be the great equalizer it was once believed to be by both conservatives and liberals.

Radicals break with their conservative and liberal counterparts when it comes to Lockean ideology. They also look to group and group relations as the unit of analysis for their studies. Instead, they believe that group behavior can best be understood by societal structures. Most radicals believe that the societal institutions are fundamentally flawed, and that working from within the institutions, as liberals advocate, will never be able to bring about the fundamental change that is required. They advocate for organized collective action to help address the injustices in society experienced by oppressed groups.

Krugman Calls Out Fake "Centrists" But Fails to Follow Through

2009-06-23T12:00:00.002-04:00

Something that's always bugged me in American political discourse is that politicians can get away with calling themselves "centrists" or "moderates" if their point of view is way to the right of the American people. In many ways, the use of those two words are used by public officials who want to distance themselves from popular points of view that they feel need to be marginalized. They'd much rather say they're "centrists" who are going to try to "compromise" with the point of view of the right-wing instead of simply saying they are right wingers or conservatives.

Finally someone in the mainstream press is calling bull on this. Krugman steps up to the plate in yesterday's op-ed:

The real risk is that health care reform will be undermined by “centrist” Democratic senators who either prevent the passage of a bill or insist on watering down key elements of reform. I use scare quotes around “centrist,” by the way, because if the center means the position held by most Americans, the self-proclaimed centrists are in fact way out in right field.

What the balking Democrats seem most determined to do is to kill the public option, either by eliminating it or by carrying out a bait-and-switch, replacing a true public option with something meaningless. For the record, neither regional health cooperatives nor state-level public plans, both of which have been proposed as alternatives, would have the financial stability and bargaining power needed to bring down health care costs.

Whatever may be motivating these Democrats, they don’t seem able to explain their reasons in public.

My one point of disagreement with Krugman here is that he doesn't seem to be willing to explain what's motivating Democrats like Kent Conrad and Ben Nelson. The closest he has to an explanation is this:

Honestly, I don’t know what these Democrats are trying to achieve. Yes, some of the balking senators receive large campaign contributions from the medical-industrial complex — but who in politics doesn’t? If I had to guess, I’d say that what’s really going on is that relatively conservative Democrats still cling to the old dream of becoming kingmakers, of recreating the bipartisan center that used to run America.

Unfortunately, he doesn't quite get it.

But I'm not a Times columnist, I'm a blogger!

So I'm more than willing to demonstrate exactly why these Democrats are so tepid about this.

I think the insurance industry has invested well in Ben Nelson. And Kent Conrad's no slouch, either.

While it's true that the Democratic Party as a whole is reasonably friendly to the health insurance industry -- that's why they virtually kicked single-payer off the table -- Democrats in these states don't have much of an organized citizenry, like labor unions or civic groups, meaning that there is no sort of countervailing lobbying force. That's what Krugman doesn't understand. It's basically the big medical-industrial lobbies facing off with...no one in these states.

What this basically means is that we have Democrats who are essentially acting as kingmakers for the insurance industry. Krugman isn't quick to throw around explanations for why bad policy happens, but this is it in a nutshell.

There are ways to handle this broken and corrupt way to finance campaigns, however, and he'd do best to start writing about them.

Breaking News: Governor Found, Brain Still Missing

2009-06-23T11:00:00.000-04:00

In what has to be the dumbest story I have ever had to report, Governor Sanford of South Carolina has been found:

S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford’s staff said late Monday that the governor is hiking on the Appalachian Trail, ending four days during which staff and state officials said they had not heard from him.

Neither Sanford’s office nor the State Law Enforcement Division, which provides security for governors, had been able to reach Sanford since he left the mansion Thursday in a black Suburban SUV assigned to his security detail, said state Sen. Jake Knotts , R-Lexington, and three others familiar with the situation, but who declined to be identified.

Now, I am all for getting away from everyone and taking a vacation, but you cannot just disappear when you are the governor of the state. You have responsibilities, and if you do want a vacation, you have to let the people around you know so that, God Forbid something happens, someone can step in an execute your duties:

Knotts, a longtime Sanford critic, said he contacted SLED Chief Reggie Lloyd Saturday after he heard reports the governor could not be reached.

“Chief Lloyd confirmed that my information is legitimate,” said Knotts. “He shared my concerns” about succession of power.

“I was recently made aware that Governor Sanford has frequently been eluding SLED agents and disappearing at odd times,” Knotts said.

One American's Experience With Canada's Healthcare

2009-06-23T10:00:00.000-04:00

While I think France or Australia would be a better model for healthcare reform than Canada, I get pretty sick of hearing all the bashing on Canada's system, when it many ways it beats the pants off ours. This American, who spent a lot of time in Canada, agrees:

The scare ads and op-ed pieces featuring Canadians telling us American how terrible their government health-care systems have arrived - predictably.

There's another, factual view - by those of us Americans who've lived in Canada and used their system.

My wife and I did for years, and we've been incensed by the lies we've heard back here in the U.S. about Canada's supposedly broken system.

It's not broken - and what's more, Canadians like and fiercely defend it.

Example: Our son was born at Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital. My wife got excellent care. The total bill for three days in a semi-private room? $21.

I've had a few experiences myself with healthcare in foreign countries, and I've generally found it to be excellent. I remember being in Singapore, and I went to an airport clinic. They gave me a full check-up, two prescriptions, and everything with near-zero wait-time and it cost us like twenty bucks.

While you hear a lot of scare-tactic stories about healthcare everywhere else in the world here in the US, the truth of the matter is that healthcare everywhere else in the industrialized world makes our non-system look pathetic.

Note that I'm not knocking the quality. I think we have very good quality healthcare (as do most rich countries). I just think the difference between us and everyone else is that our insurance cartel makes it so darn expensive, whereas other people don't have to deal with that. No where else is the first thing you have to do when you're sick and going to the hospital is fill out an insurance form.

Bye Bye Benson

2009-06-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

I have many a fond memories of the Benson Building, formerly located on Lumpkin Street. While I hope the Institute for Women's Studies finds a permanent home soon, I believe that many in the institute would be glad to know that the University will be using the space as "green space" for the environment. So, while I am sad to see it go, I am glad they are doing something good with the space instead of sticking another parking deck over it.

We all remember the problems that the building had, including the mice, molds, and other health related issues. The building was not leveled for those reasons, but instead because:

Students and workers at the institute said they feared for their health because of rats and other potential health hazards in the building, donated to UGA in 1978.

UGA officials said the building was safe but no longer worth repairing.

"It had reached the end of its useful life," Satterly said.

I remember the classes I took there challenged the way I viewed life, equality, and fairness. While I did not always agree with some of my feminist counterparts, the dialog that was created helped my grow as a scholar and as a person.

R.I.P. Benson Building

House Dems. Urge Obama to End DADT Firings

2009-06-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

The Boston Globe writes:

WASHINGTON _ In the most vocal plea for the White House to take the lead in allowing gays to serve openly in the military, 76 Democratic lawmakers today urged President Obama to use his executive powers to order a halt to military discharges under the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law and work aggressively with Congress to pass new legislation to overturn what they describe as a discriminatory policy that harms national security.

"We urge you to exercise the maximum discretion legally possible in administering Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell until Congress repeals the law," states the letter, organized by Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Democrat of California [sic]. "To this end, we ask that you direct the Armed Services not to initiate any investigation of service personnel to determine their sexual orientation, and that you instruct them to disregard third party accusations that do not allege violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice."

Given how important it is to our national security to discharge people who are otherwise qualified to be in the military for being gay, I'd say that not only is Obama upholding bigotry until he complies, but he is also upholding a policy that threatens our safety.

Robert Kuttner (Paraphrased): So Who's Got the Guts To Propose the Actual Solution For Universal Healthcare?

2009-06-22T17:00:00.000-04:00

Robert Kuttner sounds off about why a public option in healthcare is really just the first step in a much longer battle:

Also, as my American Prospect colleague Paul Starr warns, a mixed system with a public option effectively invites the most expensive and hard-to-treat people to opt for the public plan, while private insurers will seek to insure the young and the healthy. This is a familiar problem known as adverse selection. The private insurers will then smugly point out that the public plan is less "efficient," when in fact it simply will have a more costly population. The only way to avoid this problem is to have everyone in the same universal plan--what's otherwise known as a single-payer plan.

The public option is a not-very-good second best--because our leading liberal politicians lack the nerve to embrace the one reform that simultaneously solves the problem of cost, quality, and universal inclusion. The policy that dare not speak its name is of course comprehensive national health insurance, or Medicare-for-All. I try to avoid using the term "single payer," because a technical, policy-wonk phrase not understood by most civilians has become insider shorthand for national health insurance. Let's call the thing by its rightful name. Medicare-for-All is something regular people understand.

Unfortunately, the ugly faces of the lobbying operations of the health insurance industry have successfully knocked single payer off the table for now. But they'd better not let down their guard, because all of us advocating what would actually solve this healthcare crisis once and for all will not shut up.*

*Heck, Obama used to be one of us.

McCain gets his Dates Mixed Up... Again

2009-06-22T16:00:00.001-04:00

McCain said the following in an Interview with Sean Hannity about Ronald Reagan:

McCAIN: You and I are both students of history and we’ve seen this movie before. When Ronald Reagan stood up for the workers in Gdansk in Poland, when he stood up for the people of Czechoslovakia, in Prague Spring, and America did. And some good Democrats did, too.

In fact, thanks toThink Progress, you can watch the video here:

The problem is, Prague Spring happened in early 1968. Reagan did not become President until 1981. Reagan was politically active in 1968, he was the governor of California. I still, though, do not believe he had much to do with Prague Spring.

Maybe he is getting his Foreign Relations advice from Sara Palin?

Borrowed from FailBlog

2009-06-22T15:00:00.000-04:00

Yay for clever messaging.

When We Fight We Win: Senator Dodd Now Backs Same-Sex Marriage

2009-06-22T14:25:00.004-04:00

From his website:

My young daughters are growing up in a different reality than I did. Our family knows many same-sex couples – our neighbors in Connecticut, members of my staff, parents of their schoolmates. Some are now married because the Connecticut Supreme Court and our state legislature have made same-sex marriage legal in our state.

But to my daughters, these couples are married simply because they love each other and want to build a life together. That’s what we’ve taught them. The things that make those families different from their own pale in comparison to the commitments that bind those couples together.

And, really, that’s what marriage should be. It’s about rights and responsibilities and, most of all, love.

I believe that, when my daughters grow up, barriers to marriage equality for same-sex couples will seem as archaic, and as unfair, as the laws we once had against inter-racial marriage.

And I want them to know that, even if he was a little late, their dad came down on the right side of history.

I have always been proud of my long record fighting for the civil rights of the LGBT community. I’ve co-sponsored legislation to strengthen hate crime laws and end discrimination in the workplace. I’ve spoken out against “don’t ask, don’t tell” and always supported equal rights for domestic partnerships.

But I am also proud to now count myself among the many elected officials, advocates, and ordinary citizens who support full marriage equality for same-sex couples.

Given that Dodd faces a very uphill re-election battle in 2010, largely because of progressive voters who've grown angry at him, it seems that this move is actually as political as can be. He's likely trying to win back progressives by supporting same-sex marriage.

That's right. In New England, being for same-sex marriage is actually so politically favorable now, you'll switch your position towards it to get re-elected.

If only that place wasn't so cold.

Missouri lawmaker believes Hunger is a "positive motivator"

2009-06-22T14:00:00.000-04:00

This story troubles me, and I am glad that ThinkProgress brought it up. It really shows the state of mind some of our elected politicians are in. While talking about government programs to keep children from starving, Rep. Cythia Davis writes:

Anyone under 18 can be eligible? Can’t they get a job during the summer by the time they are 16? Hunger can be a positive motivator. What is wrong with the idea of getting a job so you can get better meals? Tip: If you work for McDonald’s, they will feed you for free during your break.

There are so many things wrong with this, but I am going to try and tackle them all one by one.

First, McDonald's is not healthy. How do you expect a child to live a healthy life and fully develop physically if they are stuffing down McDonald's?

Second, starving children is not a "positive motivator." Do you think children in Africa are hungry because they are too lazy to work? No, they cannot find jobs, mainly because there aren't any. When then unemployment rate is reaching double digits, do you really believe a 16 year old is going to be able to go out and find a job?

Third, if you have ever sponsored a pork-project, you have no room to talk about government waste. A local blog writes:

Rep. Cythia Davis' latest outrage is Missouri’s Summer Food Service Program, which provides food during the summer for thousands of low-income Missouri children who rely on the school cafeteria for free or reduced-price meals during the regular school year. This week's newsletter from Davis contains a point-by-point response to a press release announcing the program, at the end of which she concludes the program is really "all about increasing government spending, which means an increase in taxes for us to buy more free lunches and breakfasts."

De Facto Leader of the GOP: There Is No Healthcare Crisis!

2009-06-22T13:00:00.000-04:00

Rush Limbaugh has got to be a secret Democratic Party plant with one-liners like these:

"Day to day, there is no health care crisis in this country"

1.5 million families actually have to lose their homes every single year because of medical bills. That averages out to 4,100 families a day who lose their homes because of a medical emergency.

Yeah, no crisis at all.

Why Do Republicans Not Listen to Their Base On Healthcare?

2009-06-22T12:00:00.001-04:00

I've yet to see a single Republican member of Congress back a public option (even getting the Democrats on board is being a pain), yet their base seems to be evenly split on the issue. You'd expect to see a lot of Republican members of Congress behind it if they cared what their base thought.

Who knew so many Republicans were big-government socialists?

George Will Win

2009-06-22T11:00:00.000-04:00

You won't see that headline very often, so appreciate it while it's up there.

Meet and Green with Brandon Shinholser

2009-06-22T10:00:00.003-04:00

Brandon for Athens Independence Day Meet & Greet Fundraiser

Pragmatic Progressive Leadership for Athens

Athens, June 22, 2009: The Brandon for Athens Campaign Committee will host an Independence Day Meet & Greet Fundraiser on July 3, 2009 at Memorial Park Shelter #1 beginning at 6:00 P.M. Everyone is invited to come and learn more about Brandon’s candidacy for Mayor of Athens. Food will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Contributions are greatly appreciated, but not required.

Brandon will be available for questions and conversation throughout the night. Speakers will take the microphone around 7:30 P.M., and Brandon will end the evening with a short speech around 8:00 P.M.

For more information or to RSVP, please visit http://www.brandonforathens.com/.

I can forgive slip ups...

2009-06-22T09:00:00.001-04:00

Here is the list of corrupt politicians who have been involved in some type of sex-related scandals.

I am not picking on republicans, there just seems to be a lot more of them. We should not forget Bill Clinton, for instance, who had his on sex scandals.

Here is my point: Elected Officials are human to and they make mistakes. But take a look at these numbers and tell me that this "national outrage" is not a bit hypocritical.

About 60 percent of men and 40 percent of women will have an affair at some point in some marriage
"Monogamy Myth", Therapist Peggy Vaugn

70 percent of married women and 54 percent of married men did not know of their spouses' extramarital activity.

90 percent of Americans believe adultery is morally wrong.

In other words, stop this fake outrage people. In all honesty, that is what makes the Ensign story even worth watch. I care that he cheated on his wife and such, but that does not affect his ability to do his job. What does bother me was when he said:

I came to that conclusion recently, and frankly it’s because of what he put his whole Cabinet through and what he has put the country through, He has no credibility left.

Slipping up I can forgive, hypocrites have to go!

Help Iranian bloggers through Twitter

2009-06-22T08:47:00.004-04:00

I've been having a difficult time verifying this, but the initial tip comes from a blogger within Iran who says that one way Iranian authorities have been attempting to track down citizens blogging about what is happening in Iran is through people's locations and timestamps. Basically, they are filtering accounts with locations and time zones within Iran to make it easier to track down people who are putting out information.

What you can do is go into your account and change your location to Tehran, or some other Iranian city, and switch your time zone to +3:30GMT. The more people who do this, the more difficult it will be for authorities to track down people within Iran who are risking limb to put out information.

Sounds like a good strategy, to me.

Obama's DOJ Using the Daily Show to Defend Cheney Details?

2009-06-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

Comedian -- or excuse to not have a transparent government?

Abby Smith at Common Dreamsblogs:

In a bizarre argument worthy of – dare we say it? – their GOP predecessors, Obama administration lawyers are arguing against disclosing details of a Dick Cheney FBI interview about the Valerie Plame CIA leak, saying secrecy is needed in such investigations to protect officials from political opposition or late-night ridicule. Nation, can you believe it?

Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Smith: "I don't want a future vice president to say, 'I'm not going to cooperate with you because I don't want to be fodder for 'The Daily Show.'"

Jon Stewart has got to pick this up and use it. You don't get this level of buffoonery often.

Comedy Like Only Colbert Can Do

2009-06-22T04:00:00.000-04:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Exclusive - Eric Schlosser in the Green Room

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Stephen Colbert in Iraq

Hilarious. I like how Grimace is reading Harper's.

Dancing Around the Globe

2009-06-21T14:30:00.001-04:00

Mousavi supporters dance to support their candidate.

One of the Globe's best photo features yet.

Peter Beaumont: Iran's More Complicated Than Good And Evil

2009-06-21T13:00:00.000-04:00

That's the basic message of Peter Beaumont writing in the UK's Observer:

In the case of events in Iran in the last two weeks, the reaction has been drearily familiar. For the dissenting left, confronted by what looks suspiciously like another "colour revolution" - after the "rose revolution" in Georgia and the "orange revolution" in Ukraine, which received support from the pro-democracy groups - the response has been to back the "anti-imperialist" Ahmadinejad, friend of the poor and foe of Zionism, as the likely victor. More victim of an attempted coup than responsible for a coup in office, it is a version of events that, through the necessity of bolstering his case, has tended to airbrush out the more unpalatable features of Ahmadinejad's Iran.

That critique has been more than matched by an equal barrage of opinion, often by those more familiar with Tel Aviv or Tallahassee than Tehran, who have bought wholeheartedly into a "freedom" narrative that seeks to interpret the mass demonstrations of those supporting Mir Hossein Mousavi in an equally simplistic fashion - as representative of the aspirations of all of Iran.

It is a version with its own lacunae. Investing so much in the reformist opposition, and beguiled by a particular version that emanates from north Tehran's unrepresentative suburbs, it fails to acknowledge either the nature of Mousavi's agenda - a self-described "fundamentalist reformist" who is far less radical than they assume - or the reality of the huge support both for Ahmadinejad in his constituency and the Islamic revolution.

I think we should resist the urge to try to make what's happening in Iran right now as our own personal revolution -- you know, sort of imposing our own thoughts and desires onto the demonstrators and the ruling government. What's happening there is a lot more complicated than a struggle between good and evil, democracy and authoritarianism. That's something that'll be very important to remember in the coming weeks if you want to really understand what is, in the end, a very deep-rooted and complicated nation.

What Would Happen Here If We Were Demonstrating Like the Iranians?

2009-06-21T11:00:00.002-04:00

The Seattle Police Department's response to WTO protesters blockading Seattle streets during the 1999 WTO demonstrations.

While I'm against police brutality, crackdowns on media and dissent, and alll sorts of other repression that's taking place in Iran, and the US is obviously a much freer society than Iran, I'd like to try a thought experiment.

What would happen if hundreds of thousands of people decided to occupy the financial and political capitals of the United States -- say, Wall Street, Times Square, and Washington, D.C. -- and then decided not to move?

As someone who's taken part in many demonstrations, I should point out that our permits are usually for a few hours and it costs a lot of money to get them. There is no way we'd be allowed to occupy a major population point for a whole day, let alone weeks.

People who unlawfully gather in this country generally do get arrested, and any level of force -- whether it be tear gas, rubber bullets, water hoses, or tasers -- are used to dispatch of them. If we ever had the level of civil unrest that was happening in Iran here, I'm sure the government would crack down just as hard.

A large part of this has nothing to do with the fact that this is Iran's government, but the fact that it's a government. Governments naturally try to protect themselves from civil disruption, and especially being told what to do via street demonstrations or civil disobedience. Across the world, they react this way. It says something about the nature of even (relatively) democratic governments like ours in relation to civil protest.

Ed Schultz and Bernie Sanders on Conservative Democrats Killing Universal Healthcare

2009-06-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

Notice that Ed Schultz actually says in this clip that it's almost as if Democrats don't want Al Franken seated, because if they had a filibuster-proof Senate, then if we got weak legislation they couldn't blame it on the Republicans. While I don't think that's literally true, I do think their is a strain in the thought of many in the Democratic leadership that all the problems they have can be blamed on the GOP, because anyone with a (D) next to their name must be a great person and can't be criticized.

The fact is, in a Congress this heavily controlled by Democrats, it's industry-friendly Democrats like Evan Bayh and Ben Nelson who are going to be the problem, not powerless Republicans. That's a fact we have to come to terms with if we want the strongest legislation possible to try to create universal healthcare in this country. It's not so much about fighting with the GOP anymore as it is holding Democrats accountable to the people who voted for them.

UP! Review

2009-06-21T09:21:00.003-04:00

I am going to take another chance to talk about the move Up!, which Zaid made a post on yesterday. I saw this movie about a week ago, and it is definitely worth the $8 I had to pay.

This movie, of course, it geared toward children with its animation style, but it deals with many issues that we adults can learn from. It deals with achieving our dreams, dealing with hardship in the family, and bridging the gap between young and old. It was a very, VERY moving movie, and I encourage everyone to see it.

One issue I did want to pull out specifically was development. As young adults, the protagonist buys this house in a nice neighborhood to settle down with his wife. Later, when he is older, we see that he is the only house in the middle of an urban development filled with large buildings and a parking deck. The way he is treated as a senior citizen is disturbing and made me think about how important it is to treat the elderly with respect.

There was also an article written about the bird, Kevin. Many people feel that Kevin, who is a feminine looking bird and is a mother in the movie, is a shout-out to the LGBT community. I must admit I did not see it, but looking back on the movie, I could see how someone might draw this conclusion.

National ReFAIL on Howard Dean and Healthcare

2009-06-20T16:00:00.002-04:00

Howard Dean laughs at the National Review

For some reason I happened to be reading the long-time right wing magazine The National Review's website, and I happened to see this commentary about former Vermont Governor and DNC chief Howard Dean:

Not Surprisingly, Howard Dean Favors Public Health Plan [Sally Pipes]
Former governor of Vermont and chairman of the Democratic party Howard Dean, not surprisingly, endorses President Obama’s desire for a public health-plan option. He has been a supporter of a single-payer health-care system for years, and celebrating the idea as a stepping stone to a fully government-run system.

Dean is also a medical doctor, but his fervid support of a more politicized health-care system puts him in a distinct minority among physicians. The American Medical Association, broadly representative and hardly hard-line, came out decisively against the public option earlier this month.

There is much discussion in the administration and Congress about the public option and what it will mean for the health care of Americans. Everyone agrees that the goal is to achieve affordable, accessible, quality health care for all of us. The question is: How do we achieve the goal?

There are two visions for achieving this goal. One focuses on patient-centered solutions where doctors and patients are put in charge of their health care. The other vision focuses on increasing the role of government in our system. This is the vision of the president and Howard Dean. They want to take over the 53 percent of the system that government does not already control. In other words, they support “Medicare for All.”

To start with, Howard Dean is not a supporter of single-payer healthcare. While he has spoken kindly of single-payer systems in the past, and I wouldn't doubt that he wouldn't mind us having one, he has explicitly said that what he believes in is offering a system like Medicare to everyone, not requiring that everyone be in it and private insurance be kicked out of the picture altogether. That took like ten seconds of fact-checking on Google. Does the National Review Online not know how to use Google?

Secondly, I don't exactly see how a single-payer system or taking part in a public option would not be "patient-centered." Right now doctors and patients have to spend countless hours fighting with private insurers who are doing everything they can to not provide you with the coverage you paid for. We already have one single payer system -- Medicare -- which almost everyone who uses is happy with. It's not a matter of government bureaucrats taking over your healthcare, it's the fact that you'll now have a public plan that's efficient and designed to provide you care -- unlike private insurers which are designed with the perverse incentive to provide as little care as possible.

Lastly, the AMA is hardly "representative" of the opinions of the medical profession. According to peer-reviewed polling done by the Annals of Internal Medicine, 59% of doctors in the country back a single payer system. The AMA is just continuing its long history of opposing any real intrusion on insurance company profits.

The author, Sally Pipes, actually took part in a healthcare debate with Paul Krugman and others last September. Needless to say, her side got crushed.

Obama's Doctor of 22 Years Says He's Wrong On Healthcare

2009-06-20T15:00:00.000-04:00

I've always said, listen to your doctor:

Scheiner, 71, was Obama's doctor from 1987 until he entered the White House; he vouched for the then-candidate's "excellent health" in a letter last year. He's still an enthusiastic Obama supporter, but he worries about whether the health care legislation currently making its way through Congress will actually do any good, particularly for doctors like himself who practice general medicine. "I'm not sure he really understands what we face in primary care," Scheiner says.

Scheiner takes a few other shots too. Looking at Obama's team of health advisors, Scheiner doesn't see anyone who's actually in the trenches. "I have a suspicion they pick people from the top echelon of medicine, people who write about it but haven't been struggling in it," he says.

Scheiner is critical of Obama's pick for Health and Human Services secretary--Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who used to work as the chief lobbyist for her state's trial lawyers association.

"He doesn't see all the pain, it's so tragic out here," he says. "Obama's wonderful, but on this one I'm not sure if he's getting the right input."

What should the president be focused on? Scheiner thinks that a good health reform would be "Medicare for all," a single-payer system where the government would cover everyone and pay for it by cutting out waste in the system. "A neurosurgeon gets paid $20,000 for cutting into the neck of my patient. Have him get paid $1 million a year instead of $2 million or $3 million. He won't starve," Scheiner says.

Scheiner thinks that Obama's "public plan" reform doesn't go far enough. He supports the idea of that option for people who don't like or can't afford their HMO. But he worries that it will be watered down or not happen at all. "It's nonsense that the private insurance companies need to be protected," he says. "Why? Because they've done such a good job?"

Dr. Quentin Young, Obama's longtime confidante and a high official in Physicians for a National Health Program, also backs a single-payer system.

Pixar Rocks

2009-06-20T13:30:00.000-04:00

This Associated Press story is heartwarming:

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Colby Curtin got her final wish.

The 10-year-old girl desperately wanted to see the new Disney-Pixar movie, “Up.” But the cancer-stricken girl was too sick to go to a theater.

Thanks to a family friend who got in touch with the movie studio Pixar, an employee of the Emeryville-based company arrived at Colby’s home with a DVD copy of the movie, The Orange County Register reported Friday. The girl died later that night.

Colby’s mother, Lisa, said she had asked her daughter if she could hang on until the movie arrived.

“I’m ready (to die), but I’m going to wait for the movie,” she said her daughter replied.

“Up” is the animated tale of a grumpy old man who, after his wife’s death, tries to fulfill their joint dream of visiting South America by tying thousands of balloons to his house and floating away.

“When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie,” Colby’s mother told the Register. “I just know that word ’Up’ and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven.”

I'm sure everyone remembers their first time seeing Pixar's Toy Story. I fell in love with their work ever since that film. They put an incredible amount of heart into their movies, elevating them far above the status of popcorn CG flicks. It's stuff like this that affirms for me that Pixar's people really care, and that they do everything they can to not just be a great movie company, but good human beings.

One Priest's Fight to Save the Rainforest

2009-06-20T12:10:00.000-04:00

The Ecologist profiles the efforts of Father Edilberto Sena to save the Brazilian rainforest:

Father Edilberto Sena arrives at Rural Radio station and takes up his position behind the microphone. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his script for today’s show. One question is scribbled on it for the daily debate: ‘Why is this happening?’

Edilberto is a Roman Catholic priest and a follower of liberation theology - meaning not only does he believe in teaching the word of God, but believes that he has an absolute obligation to fight poverty and bring justice to the poor. So he takes up the microphone each week not to recite afternoon prayers to his 200,000 listeners, but to tell the people of Santarem, Northern Brazil, exactly why they are finding it so hard to grow crops and why the rainforest that once surrounded their city resembles a burnt desert.

Edilberto isn’t just referring to climate change. The Amazon rainforest is being torn down by agribusinesses which use the land to farm soya and export to European livestock farmers, feeding the growing demand for cheap meat. For ten years Father Edilberto has stood at the heart of Santarem’s campaign against the world’s leader in this trade, Cargill.

‘In Santarem people started to say, “why is it so much hotter?”. I tell people this is not God’s doing; this is happening because of the destruction of the rainforest.’

In the US, many of us have watched the rise of the religious right with a lot of consternation, and I think a lot of us have come to think that all religious people will have their political roots in right-wing ideology: the sort of fire-and-brimstone condemnation of gays, Muslims, immigrants, and all of the sort of foreign "others."

But we shouldn't forget that there is a brand of progressive Christianity -- the same kind that inspired reformers like Frederick Douglas and Martin Luther King, Jr. -- that is focused more around social justice: healing the sick, providing for the poor, protecting the planet. Liberation theology was born in the latter half of the 20th century and has been an enlightening left wing force in Latin America that has inspired many like Edilberto. It would be good for progressives -- secular and religious alike -- to remember that Christianity and progressive ideas need nought be opposing forces.

If you follow the link to The Ecologist, you'll find plenty of resources to get involved with the struggle to save the rainforest.

The US Military's War Against...Journalists?

2009-06-20T11:20:00.000-04:00

The LA Times has a disturbing story about the US offensive against journalists in Afghanistan:

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan -- Journalist Qais Azimy and a colleague spent three nights as unwelcome guests at Kabul's fortress-like National Directorate of Security headquarters this week before they were released.

Their crime? Committing journalism, apparently.

Or, as Afghan President Hamid Karzai put it, Azimy, a producer for Al Jazeera, was guilty of reporting "a story in favor of terrorism."

What happened to Azimy and another Al Jazeera producer, Hameedullah Shah, happens often to local reporters who offend top Afghan political and security officials.

The National Directorate of Security told local news media that the two journalists were "a threat to the internal security of the country."

On June 11, Al Jazeera's English-language service broadcast Azimy's report on his visit to the Taliban stronghold of Kunduz in eastern Afghanistan. It showed a Taliban commander boasting that he had hundreds of fighters under his command, along with 12 suicide bombers poised to strike. It also quoted a NATO commander in the region.

The bedrock of a free society is a free press. It's completely understandable that the Afghan government and the US military feel that certain stories will harm their efforts. But it's completely inconsistent with our values for us to be arresting people who are filing stories that may lead people to turn against our policies. Additionally, Al Jazeera is one of the finest reporting outfits not only in Central Asia, but the world. Its daring and bold reporting has raised the ire of just about everyone -- the sign of good journalism. If we're really serious about promoting democracy and human rights, we have to start by respecting organizations like Al Jazeera that want to get all sides of every story and let everyone speak who wants to, not by repressing them.

If we want to win more Afghans to our side, we might want to start by listening to them and by changing our policies if they oppose them, not by imprisoning people who file stories that are not 100% positive of our effort. That sort of behavior is more akin to an autocratic state, not a liberal democracy.

Matt Taibbi On Why Sex Scandals Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg

2009-06-20T10:00:00.001-04:00

Rolling Stone contributing editor and Facebook friend of mine Matt Taibbi blogs about the recent Senator Ensign affair and where this sort of behavior comes from:

Senators and congressmen may or may not fool around any more than the rest of the population, but one would expect elected officials to be a lot more careful about cheating on their wives than ordinary people, because the consequences of getting caught are so much more extreme and lasting than they are for other people. An ordinary person may lose his marriage, but a politician loses not only his marriage but his livelihood, particularly if he’s a conservative. So you’d think that sexual infidelity scandals would be relatively rarer, especially for Senators and/or presidential candidates, who face a relatively constant amount of scrutiny. But they’re not all that rare, which tells you that these guys are kind of used to getting away with things they’d prefer to keep secret.

It’s sort of like having a bad drug problem. In the beginning, when you first start down the road to addiction, you wouldn’t think about going to work high, or doing lines in your office bathroom, or texting your dealer from an office Blackberry in the middle of an important meeting. But after you make it through a few conference calls whacked out of your mind you start to feel like you’re never going to get caught, and you start to take liberties… coming in late, leaving early, forgetting to wipe the puke off your mouth after a bathroom break, etc.

It’s the same thing with these guys. After you spend day after day handing millions and millions of dollars over to your campaign contributors, live on CSPAN, robbing the body armor budget for troops in the field to pay for Brown Tree Snake programs or $133,000 streetlights and not ever getting called on it, you must start to get cocky almost against your will. You’re basically walking out of the Capitol building with your suit stuffed with taxpayer cash every single day, right past a small army of reporters, and no one ever says anything, so… why not have sex with an aide on the way home, or better yet, with a stranger in the men’s room of Union Station? That mentality has to figure into all of this somewhere, right?

Taibbi's point really hits the heart of the issue here. Why is it that we can always find outrage for a sex scandal, but these same legislators can cut off poor children from health coverage or vote to drop bombs on innocent people and we can't summon anywhere near the umbrage?

Cheating on your wife is a bad thing to do. I've never cheated, and I don't plan to. But it's really a minor moral failing amongst the sort of things that politicians in Washington have been doing for years. If you've already lost your moral compass on much greater issues, it should be no problem at all to cheat on your wife. That just becomes second nature.

New Rules 6/19

2009-06-20T09:07:00.002-04:00

New rules from liberal comedian Bill Maher. You can catch his show on Friday Night at 10pm on HBO!

Right-Wing Georgia Public Policy Foundation: Public Transit Is A Tool Of Totalitarianism!

2009-06-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

No doubt a GPPF fan.

From our friends at PeachPundit, something included in a GPPF e-mail:

- On the one hand: “Rail travel will encourage economic growth and create new domestic manufacturing jobs, while reducing pressure on our highways and airways. In addition to the economic advantages, trains are energy-efficient, capable of reducing billions of pounds of carbons each year from being released into our atmosphere and reducing our country’s reliance on oil.” – Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo

- One the other hand: “If we really wanted to save energy, we would privatize transit, privatize Amtrak, and sell highways to private entrepreneurs who would have an incentive to reduce the congestion that wastes nearly 3 billion gallons of fuel each year. … But of course, the real goal of the rail people is not to save energy but to reshape American lifestyles. They just can’t stand to see people enjoying the freedom of being able to go where they want, when they want to get there.” – Randal O’Toole

GPPF's use of Cato Institute O'Toole's quotation speaks a lot for the intellectual calibre of the sort of research done at that place. Is it possible for the right to have a facts-based debate about issues rather than chalking everything up to a conspiracy?

I don't support privatizing public transportation because I think it'd be inefficient and expensive, not because I'm in on a plot to deny people freedom. That's ridiculous. It's almost as bad as PeachPundit/Red State's Erick Erickson complaining about how he can't use as much water as he wants in drought conditions.

At the root of it, all of this ideological far-right complaining about government regulations and the public sector really is fundamentally one thing: anti-social. These people are upset that they share the planet with other people and that their selfish interests can't just run wild (which would actually hurt them, too, in the long-run). In most countries, the right at least tries to make some sort of rational, data-based argument for privatization. In America, demonizing the public sector and throwing around meaningless platitudes about how us lefties are just stealing from the 1984 playbook suffices. Sigh.

Excerpts from President Carter's Speech to Gazans

2009-06-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Now, this is a proper speech to the Muslim world:

I first visited Gaza 36 years ago and returned during the 1980s and later for the very successful Palestinian elections. Although under occupation, this community was relatively peaceful and prosperous. Now, the aftermath of bombs, missiles, tanks, bulldozers and the continuing economic siege have brought death, destruction, pain, and suffering to the people here. Tragically, the international community largely ignores the cries for help, while the citizens of Gaza are treated more like animals than human beings.

Last week, a group of Israelis and Americans tried to cross into Gaza through Erez, bringing toys and children’s playground equipment - slides, swings, kites, and magic castles for your children. They were stopped at the gate and prevented from coming. I understand even paper and crayons are treated as ’security hazards’ and not permitted to enter Gaza. I sought an explanation for this policy in Israel, but did not receive a satisfactory answer – because there is none.

I wonder if Foreign Minister Lieberman and Prime Minister Netanyahu are sitting in some Israeli office somewhere, musing, "Yes! We managed to deny them paper and crayons! That'll certainly make them hate us less!"

Georgia Theater on Fire

2009-06-19T17:00:00.005-04:00

If you have pictures of yourself, your friends, or your family at the Georgia Theater, let me know. We are going to work on a tribute post. Send your picture and a short caption about the event. (I.E. "This is me and my mom at the B-52 Concert").

Email them to:

jd2008uga@gmail.com

A sad day for all of Athens. Thank a fire fighter and police officer who did a great job today!

You can read the 11 Alive Report, where I am quoted, here.

This from ABH/Online Athens

Fire heavily damages Georgia Theatre

Fire this morning heavily damaged the historic Georgia Theatre in downtown Athens, shrouding the central business district in smoke and knocking out electric and cell phone service to the area.

Firefighters were called at about 7 a.m. to the theatre, located at the corner of North Lumpkin and West Clayton streets.

Within an hour, the roof on the historic building had partially collapsed.
No one was in the building when the fire broke out, said I.B George, chief of the Athens-Clarke Fire Department.

"It appeared to have started on the second floor and broke through the roof shortly thereafter," George said this morning. "We're in defensive mode now. It's hard to say if they'll be able to rebuild. There is at least going to be extensive damage."

UGA Liberal Fundraising Contest

2009-06-19T16:00:00.000-04:00

Our First Ever UGA Liberal Fundraising Contest

*UPDATE* We have had five donations. We need about 5 more donations!

I have had quite a good time informing, entertaining, and educating you all over the past year. A lot has happened over the last few years, and this little blog that started with 20 readers a day has moved up to having between 300-600 a day.

To celebrate our success, we want to bring you a more interactive, up-to-date and professional blog. But we need your help! We need to raise $150 to redo the blog and to help us continue to bring you the fun, entertaining, and educating experience you have had.

So here is the game. We have two (2) $25 gift cards that we are going to hand out. If you donate $10 to help us redo the blog, we will put your name in the pot for the two gift cards. If you donate $15, we will put your name in the pot twice. If you donate $20, we will put it in three times. Once we have the rasied the money, we will draw the names of our winners!

You can donate and enter the contest by clicking on the donate button below and making your donation:

A Smart Comment On Healthcare

2009-06-19T15:00:00.001-04:00

Over at Ezra Klein's blog, he logs the results of a draft of the Senate Finance Committee's healthcare proposal:

The outline I was given today isn't the Finance Committee's final bill. It's not even necessarily the Chairman's Mark (the bill that will go to the rest of the committee for debate, changes, and modifications). But it's the clearest look at what Finance -- the key committee for health-care reform -- is currently considering.

You could write this story a couple of different ways. The first is to note is the Finance Committee has substantially retreated in the face of the $1.6 trillion price tag the Congressional Budget Office affixed to its original submission. This version of the plan is, comparatively, quite diminished.

The numbers tell the story. In that plan, subsidies reached 400 percent of poverty. In this plan, they've been cut to 300 percent. In that plan, Medicaid eligibility was as high as 150 percent of the poverty line. In this plan, it's 133 percent for pregnant women and children, and 100 percent for childless adults. In that plan, the "gold" coverage was 93 percent of a person's estimated expenses, and "bronze" coverage was 68 percent. In this plan, those numbers are 90 percent and 65 percent, respectively. That means people with a low-cost plan might be covered for only 65 percent of what they're likely to need.

In response, a reader left this comment:

I'm a big supporter of Obama, but he's pissing it away. The key is to trade insurance premiums, copays, deductibles, the 20% insurance doesn't pay, the amount OVER "usual, customary and reasonable" (whatever that is), bankruptcy, and Medicare payroll tax ----> for an income based tax (on Form 1040)plus a small national sales tax. That takes care of revenue. Note that it is not on the backs of business.

Then have a single-payer system. Cut the paperwork, dividends, 1,300 bureaucracies, executive salaries and bonuses, Lear jets, cherry-picking, etc. and cover everyone, from cradle to grave. That solves Medicare/Medicaid. Create a system.

It really isn't so hard.

All these hoops are unnecessary and a waste of time and resources.

Posted by: michael4 | June 18, 2009 8:41 PM | Report abuse

Imagine how much easier health policy would be if we didn't have to worry about AHIP or PhRMA.

Double Standards With Stolen Elections

2009-06-19T13:00:00.001-04:00

Pro-democracy demonstrators in Pakistan, circa 2007.

While I'm happy that a lot of people in America are paying close attention to the student movement in Iran, I'm kind of frazzled by the double standards in play here. A friend and I discussed the fact that pro-democracy movements fighting rigged elections in countries like Pakistan, Mexico, Egypt, and other places are generally dismissed or not even discussed in the US media, while the Iranian demonstrators are being lionized and every little thing they do is being documented (largely rightfully, if I may add).

It seems that if you want to get the US government and media to pay attention to you as a pro-democracy protester, you really have to be facing off with a government that isn't fanatically pro-Washington. That seems to be the key.

ACTION ALERT! Sign the Petition Supporting Obama's Smart Response to the Iranian Election Crisis

2009-06-19T12:37:00.003-04:00

From a Just Foreign Policy e-mail alert:

President Obama has faced pressure from some members of Congress and voices in the media to take sides in the dispute in Iran over the recent Presidential election. Senator John McCain said that "[the President] should speak out that this was a corrupt, flawed sham of an election." Senator Lindsey Graham has been reported as saying that the situation in Iran "clearly deserves a more forceful response" from the President.

However, taking sides in Iran's internal election dispute would be dangerously counterproductive. As President Obama said Tuesday, "... it's not productive, given the history of U.S.-Iranian relations, to be seen as meddling -- the U.S. President meddling in Iranian elections." Moreover, any appearance of meddling in Iran's election dispute could undermine the President's commitment to pursue sustained diplomatic engagement with the government of Iran, which he has pledged to continue regardless of the election result.

Would you tell President Obama that you support his cautious response by signing our petition below?

http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/election

Contrary to the popular argument, it is unlikely that taking the side of the opposition would be helpful to the demonstrators. The Iranian government is already attempting to tie the political unrest in Iran to Western influences. Given our countries' fraught history, taking the side of the opposition would most likely not serve the interests of the Iranian people, but would instead be used by hard-liners in Iran to paint the demonstrators as American proxies.

As Senator Richard Lugar wisely stated Tuesday, "When popular revolutions occur, they come really from the people. They are generated from people power within the country. For us to become heavily involved in the election at this point is to give the clergy an opportunity to have an enemy and to use us, really, to retain their power."

You can encourage President Obama to continue his careful assessment of Iran by following the link below:

http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/election

Thank you for all you do for a just foreign policy,

Megan Iorio
Just Foreign Policy

I've actually been shocked by how well Obama and Clinton have handled the Iranian crisis. They've shown really smart restraint and diplomatic ability. We need to fight back against the right's attacks and support them -- and by extension, the Iranians -- by demanding that the US stay as far away from interfering in the election as possible, so that hard-liners in Iran can't say that the demonstrators are simply US stooges. The more homegrown their movement is, the better.

Is Democracy Off the Table, Too?

2009-06-19T12:27:00.002-04:00

Jim Goodman, an activist and dairy farmer from Wisconsin, is (rightly) puzzled that the most popular option for healthcare reform has been pushed off the table:

The Center for Rural Affairs in Nebraska notes that rural residents are twice as likely to be uninsured as urban Americans while farmers and ranchers are four times as likely to be “underinsured”, covered by insurance with reduced benefits and a high deductibles.

Montana Senator Max Baucus says single payer health care “ is off the table”. Who made him king? What are we, chopped liver, doesn't our opinion count? A January CBS/New York Times poll showed 59% of respondents favored a national health care plan. A February CNN poll showed 72% favored a government controlled plan. Any issue with that much across the board support should be “on the table”.

It seems especially surprising that Baucus, from Montana, a rural state, one that would benefit most from a single payer plan, is opposed to any discussion. However if one looks at campaign contributions from the health insurance industry to Baucus, we see why he supports the status quo.

The insurance companies, in hopes of killing single payer, say they are willing to cover those with “pre-existing conditions” provided "everyone" buys their health insurance. The the insurance companies dream, every American with an insurance policy and private insurers collecting premiums on another 49 million people. Of course they can still deny payment of claims, they're good at that.

Put aside whether you're in the single-payer camp or not as a matter of policy, ask yourself this: why is the most popular option for reform pushed off the table? That doesn't seem to make any sense.

If we had a functioning democratic government what the majority of people in the country want might at least merit some debate, no?

Here They Come: Maine Gay Marriage Foes Will Use Prop. 8 Firm For Battle

2009-06-19T12:00:00.000-04:00

The AP reports:

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Gay marriage opponents in Maine have hired the California public relations firm that led the successful Prop 8 proposal to overturn same-sex marriage.

Schubert Flint Public Affairs will manage the campaign to repeal Maine's gay marriage law, just as it did in California. Organizers of the veto effort are trying to collect the signatures of more than 55,000 registered Maine voters to put the question on the November ballot.

Meanwhile, supporters of Maine's gay marriage law have formed a new political action committee.

Maine Freedom to Marry announced Wednesday it has hired Jesse Connolly. Connolly is taking a leave of absence as the House speaker's chief of staff. Connolly led the successful 2005 campaign to retain the state's gay rights law.

You're about to be tested, Maine. You don't want to join California in being less progressive than Iowa, do you?

How Tough Are Obama's New Financial Regulations Going to Be?

2009-06-19T11:00:00.001-04:00

Joe Nocera, business columnist for The New York Times, argues that they aren't going to be tough enough:

Three quarters of a century ago, President Franklin Roosevelt earned the undying enmity of Wall Street when he used his enormous popularity to push through a series of radical regulatory reforms that completely changed the norms of the financial industry.

Wall Street hated the reforms, of course, but Roosevelt didn’t care. Wall Street and the financial industry had engaged in practices they shouldn’t have, and had helped lead the country into the Great Depression. Those practices had to be stopped. To the president, that’s all that mattered.

On Wednesday, President Obama unveiled what he described as “a sweeping overhaul of the financial regulatory system, a transformation on a scale not seen since the reforms that followed the Great Depression.”

In terms of the sheer number of proposals, outlined in an 88-page document the administration released on Tuesday, that is undoubtedly true. But in terms of the scope and breadth of the Obama plan — and more important, in terms of its overall effect on Wall Street’s modus operandi — it’s not even close to what Roosevelt accomplished during the Great Depression.

Rather, the Obama plan is little more than an attempt to stick some new regulatory fingers into a very leaky financial dam rather than rebuild the dam itself. Without question, the latter would be more difficult, more contentious and probably more expensive. But it would also have more lasting value.

The fulcrum of Nocera's disappointment seems to be that Obama is essentially leaving "too big to fail in place" -- that mechanism that says a financial institution is so important to the global economy that if it ever is too risky and goes under, the government will rush in and save it. Eliminating "too big to fail" would require something like replacing the Glass Steagall firewall, which separated commercial from investment banking. It'd be a gigantic anti-trust effort. So far, Obama's only been talking about this kind of restructuring with the auto industry. He seems to be leaving the banks untouched, which is a bad sign if we don't want to revisit this kind of crisis again in the future.

Of course, Wall Street was quick to condemn any kind of reform whatsoever, even reform that doesn't go nearly far enough.

Bill Maher: A Progressive Critic of Obama That Is Actually Getting Listened To

2009-06-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

Bill Maher appeared on Wolf Blitzer's show a few days ago, and has been all over the television recently due to his recent critical remarks about Obama. Dustin informs me that he actually happened to see him on television 3 times on Monday.

This is pretty odd, because usually the sort of critics you see in the media of the Obama administration are of the far-right variety: you know, people like Rush and Newt calling Obama or his SCOTUS nominee a racist, or various GOP kooks claiming that Obama is out to turn our children into the Hitler Youth or something.

Basically, the media seems to think that the only critical words Obama should face are from the right and far right -- and most of that criticism has devolved into childish nonsense. This is bad for everyone except those voices on the far right who like to hear themselves speak and Obama, who probably enjoys not facing off with intelligent opponents.

Maher notes that we don't see voices like "Dennis Kucinich and Ralph Nader" making their eloquent criticisms of Obama policy, and that they're portrayed as "far left" even though many of their views are completely in line with what most people in this country want. He states that the media in this country really exists on band between "center-right and far-right."

This is going to make a lot of the moshpit conservatives growl, but he's right. We don't have a "liberal media" in this country. Otherwise someone like Ralph Nader would have a TV show where he'd be just as critical of Obama as someone like Newt Gingrich or Eric Cantor. The only difference is, his criticisms would actually make sense. That isn't to say there are not intelligent right wing critics of Obama, because there are, but they certainly aren't the sort of people that dominate the pundit class for their side of the aisle.

The fact is, there's plenty of room to disagree with Obama on both the right and left, and that the left wing critics tend to be a lot more educated than the sort of radio show host far-right blabbering we always get on the airwaves. We aren't having a real debate if we're having Obama propose a policy or nominee and the only criticism we're hearing is that he's a racist out to indoctrinate our children into a Nazi-esque regime. That's not debate, that's stupidity. The media in this country is awfully stupid.

Why is Obama Popular If His Policies Aren't?

2009-06-19T09:00:00.005-04:00

The NYT reports:

A substantial majority of Americans say President Obama has not developed a strategy to deal with the budget deficit, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, which also found that support for his plans to overhaul health care, rescue the auto industry and close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, falls well below his job approval ratings.

A distinct gulf exists between Mr. Obama’s overall standing and how some of his key initiatives are viewed, with fewer than half of Americans saying they approve of how he has handled health care and the effort to save General Motors and Chrysler. A majority of people said his policies have had either no effect yet on improving the economy or had made it worse, underscoring how his political strength still rests on faith in his leadership rather than concrete results

Something that's always bothered me about the American system is that it seems politicians can repeatedly curry favor with the public without actually implementing policies they like. It's incredibly personality-based.

I mean, it's great that we have a President that can form complete sentences again, and who looks cool in sunglasses and apparently has razor sharp reflexes, but it's not really about him as a person. It's about his policies.

While some have pointed out that this particular polling may not be the most accurate representation of public will on Obama's policies, I think the trend still seems to hold over all of recent American history. Politicians who enact policies the public oppose still manage to be popular. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that political discussion in this country has so little do with actual policy -- you know, the sort of "Bush is a guy you'd want to have a beer with" stuff that ignores what the political figure is actually doing for the country.

Bachmann has Lost It

2009-06-19T09:00:00.002-04:00

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

Bachmann is known for her crazy antics. She is now protesting the Census, which has been around forever. So much for upholding the Constitution.

The Yes Men Fix the World trailer

2009-06-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

The new film from the progressive pranksters the Yes Men premiered recently at Sundance to rave reviews. Having been a fan of their past efforts, I'm pretty excited about this one.

Watch out... There is a NEW Sheriff in Town

2009-06-18T17:00:00.002-04:00

SESSIONS: Well it was disapproved by your predecessor, Judge Mukasey, and Mr. Hayden, the CIA, um, DIA [sic] director. They didn’t approve of that at all. … You were willing to release matters that the DNI and the Attorney General believe were damaging to our national security.

HOLDER: Well, one attorney general thought that. I am the Attorney General of the United States, and it is this attorney general’s view that the release of that information was appropriate, as well as the president of the United States. I respect their opinion, but I had to make the decision, holding the office that I now hold.

Republicans seem to forget that they lost this past election, but I am glad that someone is there to remind them that we won and are running things now.

Isakson on HealthCare

2009-06-18T16:30:00.001-04:00

Saw this over at ThinkProgress. Wanted to share it because Isakson is up for reelection in Georgia soon!

ISAKSON: Having private competition, facilities like Emory that are private, public like Grady competing with one another is a good system. What we have got to guard against is becoming a single-payer government system. You take competition out of health care and you’ll have less quality and a higher cost.

Indeed, President Obama outlined Monday that he too opposes single-payer and would prefer a system where “the private insurance companies have to compete with a public option” because “it will keep them honest and it will keep — help keep their prices down.” Is Isakson prepared to vote for Obama’s health care plan?

To be honest, I think he is just vying for reelection. He is afraid of how close the election was with Chambliss and Martin. Who can blame him though, Georgia is as blue now as it has ever been in recent history!

Time to Rag on PETA

2009-06-18T16:00:00.002-04:00

Now, I am against beating cats and dogs as much as the next guy. I support the right to hunt, fish, etc. But I think this time, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has went a little overboard.

Reacting to this video, PETA would like Obama to quit swatting flies:

Norfolk-based group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants the flyswatter in chief to try taking a more humane attitude the next time he's bedeviled by a fly in the White House.

PETA is sending President Barack Obama a Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher, a device that allows users to trap a house fly and then release it outside.

"We support compassion even for the most curious, smallest and least sympathetic animals," PETA spokesman Bruce Friedrich said Wednesday. "We believe that people, where they can be compassionate, should be, for all animals."

I had a college teacher who got mad at me for stepping on cockroaches too.

I am all for Obama getting criticized from the left, but this is a bit too much, even for me.

Which Obama is Right for You?

2009-06-18T15:30:00.003-04:00

http://www.markfiore.com/political/obama-vs-obama

I found this funny flash video on the following website. I thought it was very funny and wanted to share it with you all!

Lunch with Glenn

2009-06-18T15:00:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, Phillip and I had the pleasure of sitting down with Glenn Stegall. Stegall is going to be running for Mayor of Athens against Nancy Denson, Charlie Maddox, and Brandon Shinholser. While we are not going to endorse anyone at the point, I liked Glenn's ideas and his drive.

Glenn talked a lot about his own past. How he had grown up, seen role models, and that gave him motivation to try hard and to get an education. As such, he talked about ways to give children realistic role models and keep them in school. I was very pleased to hear this, because education is one of the issues that is near and dear to my heart.

Glenn also gave some ideas on how he wants to fix the economy and deal with poverty. Increasing education rates is a large part of this, but also he wants to attract new businesses to Athens-Clarke. I agree that we need to attract more businesses. Creating and retaining positive education rates will help with this.

-------------------
Every time I meet a candidate, I am going to point out a good point and a bad point. First the Good.

Good - Glenn I agree with you on most of your social issues as you presented them yesterday. I think you have a good head on your shoulders, a great plan, and the background to be able to make an effective argument.

Bad - You (and Brandon) are going to have to fight to repeal the "student" image. You guys are young, innovative, and have great ideas on how to push the county forward, but they will never get out as long as you are viewed as "the young kids that need to get off my lawn." Go out, get overly involved in the community, and immerse yourself in Athens culture!

PBS Will End New Religious Programming

2009-06-18T14:30:00.003-04:00

Won't be getting a PBS show any time soon.

WaPo reports:

The Public Broadcasting Service agreed yesterday to ban its member stations from airing new religious TV programs, but permitted the handful of stations that already carry "sectarian" shows to continue doing so.

The vote by PBS's board was a compromise from a proposed ban on all religious programming. Such a ban would have forced a few stations around the country to give up their PBS affiliation if they continued to broadcast local church services and religious lectures.

Until now, PBS stations have been required to present programming that is noncommercial, nonpartisan and nonsectarian. But the definition of "nonsectarian" programming was always loosely interpreted, and the rule had never been strictly enforced. PBS began reviewing the definition and application of those rules last year in light of the transition to digital TV and with many stations streaming programs over their Web sites. The definition doesn't cover journalistic programs about religion or discussion programs that don't favor a particular religious point of view.

I think this is a good, fair move. Banning all programming that's religious would've been unfair to the people who've already developed relationships with PBS. This way, we can set a precedent for the future instead that publicly funded programming won't be sectarian.

Paralyzed Boy Forgives Shooter

2009-06-18T14:00:00.001-04:00

A very touching story:

(06-16) 19:44 PDT OAKLAND -- The 12-year-old boy paralyzed by a robber's stray bullet as he was taking a piano lesson in Oakland last year had a message for the gunman Tuesday:

"I forgive you."

Christopher Rodriguez delivered his words after rolling in his wheelchair to the front of the Oakland courtroom where Jared Adams, 26, had just been sentenced to 70 years to life in prison. Then he shook the convicted man's hand.

"I don't know where that came from," Christopher's mother, Jennifer Rodriguez, said later. "We didn't talk about it or plan it. It came from within himself."

I only hope that scientific research can give a boy with that big a heart the chance to walk again one day in the future.

The NRCC's Brilliant Tactics of Running After People Yelling

2009-06-18T13:30:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure who comes off looking worse in this video, Congressman John Barrow (D-ReallytooconservativetobeaDemocrat), or the National Republican Congressional Committee, which, as the official representatives of the minority party, should have an easier time asking an opposition member of Congress a question than having to hire someone to chase after them on the street.

Rethink Afghanistan: Trailer for Part 4 (Civilian Casualties)

2009-06-18T13:00:00.001-04:00

If you're at all open-minded about our open-ended commitment to the Afghanistan occupation, I suggest watching Robert Greenwald's film series. It asks a lot of tough questions about the American mission there, and forces us to rethink exactly what our tactics and goals should be.

Handel's Lying Rhetoric On Voter Fraud in Action

2009-06-18T12:30:00.001-04:00

More than willing to lie and stir up bigotry to win.

So, the other day I decided to vote in the Kennesaw City Council elections.

Unfortunately, it turned out that while I have a Kennesaw address, I'm not actually districted to vote for Kennesaw's council elections -- which will make a very odd conversation if I ever have to explain why I was on Kennesaw City's Youth Council, an actual government position that I reported to under the Kennesaw City Council.

Anyway, an elderly, white woman after voting went over to a seated poll worker (also an elderly person, which seems to be the only kind of poll worker in Cobb County) and asked him, "Did you see anyone vote twice?"

He looked up at her, confused. "You voted twice?"

She looked down at him, "No, I mean did you see anyone vote twice? I heard there were lots of people who voted twice in the Presidential election."

"No, I don't think so." replied the man.

"I guess that doesn't ever happen around here," the woman went on. "It would never happen around here."

"No, it wouldn't," the man concluded.

The underlying premise of the conversation that I feel the woman was getting at was that President Obama won the election because a ton of people decided to vote twice. And those people of course weren't from mostly-white Kennesaw. That would never happen "around here."

The implication is the same canard that Handel and other GOP politicians who don't give a damn about the truth keep foisting on their base -- the Democrats are breaking electoral rules to have their (minority and "illegal immigrant") base vote in ways and in a number of times they're not allowed to.

Of course, there's no actual evidence behind any of this. But that's not the point. The point is to mobilize a base of ignorant voters behind lies that tell them that these racial minority and foreign others are taking over their country. It doesn't matter whether it's true or not. It's just bigotry, and that's a strategy that's worked for them since Nixon's southern strategy.

The worst part is, the Republican Party has been involved for years in election fraud efforts to suppress the voting rights of registered, legal voters -- and none of that is getting nearly as much play in the press as their nonsense conspiracy theories about undocumented immigrants voting or minorities voting multiple times to elect Obama.

Former NSC Officials Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett: Ahmadinejad won. Get over it.

2009-06-18T12:00:00.002-04:00

I respect both Flynt and and Hillary Leverett -- two former National Security Council policy experts -- greatly, especially for their efforts to stop Bush-Cheney from attacking Iran, so I am taking a good, hard look at this op-ed they wrote:

With regard to electoral irregularities, the specific criticisms made by Mousavi — such as running out of ballot paper in some precincts and not keeping polls open long enough (even though polls stayed open for at least three hours after the announced closing time) — could not, in themselves, have tipped the outcome so clearly in Ahmadinejad’s favor.

Moreover, these irregularities do not, in themselves, amount to electoral fraud even by American legal standards. And, compared with the U.S. presidential election in Florida in 2000, the flaws in Iran’s electoral process seem less significant.

In the wake of Friday’s election, some “Iran experts” — perhaps feeling burned by their misreading of contemporary political dynamics in the Islamic Republic — argue that we are witnessing a “conservative coup d’état,” aimed at a complete takeover of the Iranian state.

But one could more plausibly suggest that if a “coup” is being attempted, it has been mounted by the losers in Friday’s election. It was Mousavi, after all, who declared victory on Friday even before Iran’s polls closed. And three days before the election, Mousavi supporter Rafsanjani published a letter criticizing the leader’s failure to rein in Ahmadinejad’s resort to “such ugly and sin-infected phenomena as insults, lies and false allegations.” Many Iranians took this letter as an indication that the Mousavi camp was concerned their candidate had fallen behind in the campaign’s closing days.

I have said before and I'll say it again that it's much too premature for us to say the election was basically a fraud without clear evidence being presented. There is one thing that would put an end to all this: a clear and accountable recount and inquiry. It may be what is needed if Iran is to stay together through all this.

DASCHLEFAIL on Healthcare

2009-06-18T11:00:00.001-04:00

USA Today reports:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trying to prevent a repeat of the 1990s standoff over health care, four former Senate leaders are preparing a plan that combines ideas from both political parties to guarantee coverage for all.

Democrats Tom Daschle and George Mitchell are set to join Republicans Bob Dole and Howard Baker on Wednesday to release a $1.2 trillion proposal that would be fully paid for with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases.

....

Perhaps the most controversial part calls for taxing health insurance benefits worth more than the value of the coverage that members of Congress get.

Republicans have supported such an approach, arguing it would encourage people to switch to less expensive insurance plans, and that might cut overall costs in the long run. But unions, a major Democratic constituency, are adamantly opposed.

On another hot issue, the proposal would leave it up to the states to create publicly sponsored insurance plans that would compete with private insurers.

The four former leaders acknowledged they don't have to answer to voters or worry about interest groups any longer. But they said health care is too important an issue to get dragged down again by partisan political warfare.

First of all, what is Obama's Israel-Palestine envoy George Mitchell doing in that group? Shouldn't he be off making peace in the Middle East or something?

Second of all, Tom Daschle? This guy was almost our Secretary of Health and Human Services? Here he is pushing a plan that taxes health benefits (an idea firmly rejected by the public back when McCain was touting it) and axing the idea of a national healthcare plan that's publicly run. They aren't worried about interest groups any longer?

That's nonsense, they're doing the work of the big insurers here. Daschle's been paid very well by the healthcare industry, as WaPo reports:

The release of the financial statement [Daschle] submitted to the Office of Government Ethics [] details for the first time exactly how, without becoming a registered lobbyist, he made millions of dollars giving public speeches and private counsel to insurers, hospitals, realtors, farmers, energy firms and telecommunications companies with complex regulatory and legislative interests in Washington.
Daschle's expertise and insights, gleaned over 26 years in Congress, earned him more than $5 million over the past two years, including $220,000 from the health-care industry, and perks such as a chauffeured Cadillac, according to the documents.

Ugh. We have a gigantic leadership deficit when it comes to the healthcare debate.

This is what would happen if we brought more people from The Nation on TV

2009-06-18T10:00:00.001-04:00

It's curious to me that we see so much of Newt and Rush on television and yet we don't really get much from eloquent progressives. It's not hard to see why. Leadership of both parties doesn't want to have to deal with clever critics of their policies.

Q&A on Obama's Same-Sex Rights

2009-06-18T09:30:00.000-04:00

I have gotten a few questions today regarding what the Obama move today means. I am going to answer a few of them quickly before I head off to be.

1. What happened?

Today, Obama signed a "presidential memorandum." It gives SOME benefits, such as sick leave, to Same-Sex domestic partnership benefits.

2. Is this a law?

Sorta. It is actually the lowest level of law. It is a presidential memorandum. Memorandums are tricky. They are less than executive orders and will expire when the president leaves. Think of it as your boss giving you an extra ten minutes for your lunch break. It is not official, and it is not policy, but effectively it gives you some rights. Executive orders are more official, which would be like office policy and would last until another president came in and actively changed it.

3. Do we have Health Care Benefits?

NO! This does not extend health care, pension, or social security benefits to federal employees. This would require a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act.

4. What does this mean for State Employees?

Nothing, If you work for UGA, you have no more rights tomorrow than you did today. This only effects FEDERAL employees.

5. Should I accept this as good?

Well, the community is a bit split on this, and I would love to get the reader's opinions before I share my own. Some believe that it is a good gesture. Other believe it is too little, too late.

6. What is next? Where do we go from here, etc?

The next step is to pass the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act. From Wikipedia:

The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act or the DPBO Act(S.2521, HR 4838) is a piece of United States legislation that would allow LGBT federal employees to give their unrecognized same-sex spouses and partners health insurance, life insurance, government pensions, and other employment related benefits and obligations that married heterosexual federal employees enjoy by being married and heterosexual. The Senate bill was introduced in December 2008 by Senator Joe Lieberman. The act was reintroduced in the 111th Congress. The measure is sponsored by Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) & Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) in the House and by Sens. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) & Susan Collins (R-ME). Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) was quoted in May 2009 in an interview with the Washington Blade indicating that he believes supporters of the act "have a shot" at passing the bill.

Call your Senators and Representatives and tell them to support the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act.

Yes, Extremist Rhetoric Does Lead to Extremist Violence

2009-06-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

A debate that has hit the airwaves recently in the wake of all the extremist violence has centered around a key question: does extremist dialogue and rhetoric lead to violence?

Sally Kohn at the Huffington Post argues that the answer is yes:

Arizona police allege Shawna Forde was the ringleader. Shawna Forde was the Executive Director of Minuteman American Defense (M.A.D.) and a spokesperson for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), often touted as a "mainstream" voice opposing immigration. But if Forde was indeed involved, the bloody acts in Arivaca reveal the true hatred and contempt behind anti-immigrant organizations in our country. Many well-meaning, average Americans who have understandable concerns about our economy and how they're going to support their families have been convinced that anti-immigrant organizations are on their side and feel their pain. But the reality is, organizations like the Minutemen and FAIR are only co-opting our economic insecurity (an insecurity that's actually shared by immigrants and citizens alike) to mask their real agenda, motivated purely by hatred for those who are different.

It was the same thing in Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler started by talking about how Jews were threatening the German economy and should all be expelled from the country. And then he killed six million.

Are we really so naïve as a nation to think that the anti-immigrant fervor, from Lou Dobbs to the Minutemen, is anything about our economy or our well-being or our way of life? After all, our nation was built by immigrants, our strongest economic times in recent years have been driven by high rates of immigration and even now, our economy actively lures low-wage worker from across the border to get back on firm footing. Do we really think we'd be reacting as negatively if the immigrants coming here had light skin and spoke French?

While drawing the analogy to Hitler might be taking it too far, I have to say that it's pretty logical to me that a culture that uses such harsh rhetoric towards certain groups -- immigrants, Jews, abortion doctors -- would help create the kind of fear, hatred, and paranoia that would lead individuals to commit violence against these same groups.

I doubt that the killers in any of these cases just one day all of a sudden decided that undocumented immigrants were all drug-dealers who were out to ruin their country, or that abortion doctors like Tiller were mass murderers who had to be stopped by any means necessary. These beliefs came from somewhere -- they came from the kind of despicable rhetoric you hear from the Limbaughs, Boortzes, O'Reillys, and others who are playing dumb when they very well know that they demonize certain out groups every single day, and that a lot low-information citizens will take this rhetoric and use it to justify murder.

Sean Connery IS Ayatollah Khomeini!

2009-06-18T08:30:00.000-04:00

I'm sure Sean's just biding his time and waiting for his moment to strike and renew Iranian democracy.

More Endorsements for Poythress

2009-06-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

Got this in an Email from the Poythress Campaign:

MORE ENDORSEMENTS FROM RURAL GA: SHERIFF PEACOCK, COMMISSIONERS SMITH AND HUBBARD, MAYOR GREENE, COUNCILMEMBERS CULLARS AND MAHONEY, AND ATTORNEYS BOOKER AND WOODS MILLER

I am pleased to announce eight more endorsements from dedicated leaders from three different districts of Georgia. Our travels across the state have brought us face-to-face with public servants who share my vision for a more prosperous Georgia. Earning the support of these community leaders shows the growing strength of our campaign in rural Georgia.

My new friends in Georgia’s Washington have been very welcoming to me. As with many smaller communities across the state, these local leaders are feeling neglected by the current administration and are seeking a candidate with the proven ability to put plans into action. City of Washington council members Maceo Mahoney and Nathaniel Cullars, Sr. know the daily struggles of local governments to balance their budgets, provide needed services and keep taxes low.

Councilman Cullars is a two-term city council member and is widely respected among his constituents for standing up for the little guy. Never afraid of a good ol’ fashioned political fight, Councilman Cullars is in my corner because he believes that I am “the right man for Georgia right now.”

Councilman Mahoney is also a two-term city council member and serves as assistant director of the Georgia Municipal Black Caucus. He believes that I “can give us the fresh, new leadership that Georgia deserves.” And council members Cullars and Mahoney are confident that I understand the positive role that cities play in economic development.

Ms. M.V. Booker, prominent attorney and community activist, has generously agreed to serve as my campaign chair for Washington-Wilkes. Ms. Booker is concerned about education and the survival of small town Georgia. I have earned her support because she sees that I have “the experience and concern for the citizens that is needed in Georgia, especially after the neglect and lack of leadership of the current administration.”

Likewise I am delighted to have attorney Stephanie Woods Miller, managing partner of Taylor Miller, LLC, leading my team in middle Georgia. Ms. Woods Miller is dedicated to rebuilding and reinvigorating the Democratic Party, and she sees me as the strongest candidate in the field. She will use her experience as a field organizer for the Democratic Party of Georgia and her network of other Obama delegates to 2008 Democratic National Convention, NAACP members and young professionals to execute a successful outreach plan.

Don Peacock, two-term sheriff of Upson County, also shares my dedication to the public good. We have known each other for a long time, and all Georgians appreciate his 34-year career as a Georgia State Trooper and his service as an Air National Guardsman. Sheriff Peacock is looking for a Governor who will support our law enforcement leaders, and he is certain that my collaborative style of leadership is just what Georgia needs.

Johnny C. Smith is a former Barrow County commissioner and superintendant of public works for the city of Gainesville. He retired from the U.S. Army after 23 years of service and now sits on the Barrow County Personnel Review Board. Commissioner Smith wants ordinary Georgians to “have a seat at the table,” and he believes that I am the leader who will make sure the voices of his neighbors will be heard.

Elbert County Commissioner John B. Hubbard has also worn many hats in his career. He served as assistant police chief, assistant city manager and city marshal of Elberton. Commissioner Hubbard knows all the details of local government and is a leader in regional economic development. He likes my common sense approach which brings stakeholders together to take thoughtful actions to create solutions to our pressing problems.

Blue Ridge Mayor Robert E. Greene is a U.S. Navy veteran and has served as mayor for 27 years. “I trust him and believe he has the best welfare of the state in his heart and is working for that as his goal.” Rural Georgia is often overlooked by some candidates but not by me. As you can see, my outreach is producing great results!

PATRIOTISM SOARS ON FLAG DAY

It was an honor to be invited to deliver the keynote address to the 2009 Flag Day Celebration, hosted by the Elks Lodge in Griffin. There was a great turnout of patriotic Americans, and I always enjoy watching the local Boy Scout troop learn the details of formal ceremonies. Special thanks to Wayne Johnson for the invitation to speak to these community leaders who work all year long to support our veterans and encourage young people to excel.

In Griffin and at our campaign headquarters Open House event, I shared some history of our national anthem and all of the verses. Take a moment to admire the power of the last verse of “The Star Spangled Banner.”

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov'd home and war's desolation,
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n-rescued land
Praise the pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto, "In God is our Trust."
And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Elizabeth, our campaign staff and I love welcoming visitors for our periodic Open House events. This Sunday’s event brought friends from as far away as Thomasville and Summerville.

VETERANS IN SERVICE TO OTHERS

Elizabeth and I enjoyed a visit at this year’s State Convention of the Department of Georgia Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) in Macon. It’s always a delight to see my VFW friends of long standing such as Adjutant/Quartermaster Albert R. Spears, Commander H. Dwayne Epps, Judge Advocate Pledge M. Cannon and Surgeon Ed Irby. They were kind enough to let me address the convention about our continuing need to stand up for our fellow veterans. Our dear friends Earl Parris and Bobby Boss made sure that my campaign materials reached the hands of every interested member. Commanders Arnold Parsons, Kevin Singleton and Sonny Bailey extended invitations for us to visit their posts.

VISITING THE GORGEOUS GOLDEN ISLES
TO VISIT GUARD FAMILY AND NEW FRIENDS

The highlight of the week was spending nearly two days on Jekyll Island with our Guard family during the State Conference of both the National Guard Association and the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of Georgia. I can’t tell you how much we enjoyed visiting with our friends and former colleagues. Once again I must thank Tanya Brinkley for her promotion of Patriots of Poythress; everywhere you looked you saw my face on one of those buttons.

We took advantage of our trip to the conference to reach out to voters in Glynn County. Jim and Nance Melcher made everyone feel at home in their charming restaurant, Jim’s Corner Café in downtown Brunswick. It was terrific to see Democratic Party leaders who continue to be enthusiastic about turning Georgia “blue” next year. I must thank Vincent Joubert, Jr.-Davis for inviting local Democrats to come meet Elizabeth and me.

Former Senator Ed Boshears, Dr. Joe Iannicelli, David Egan and Zaidee Carruth were kind enough to invite their friends to join them in supporting our campaign. The folks in the packed room were shocked to hear of the GOP secession chatter and pleased that I was taking them to task. They were also pleased that I am the only Democratic candidate for Governor who has been bold enough to criticize the sweetheart land deal that the Governor and his friends have given their close political supporters.

John Ensign's Valiant Support for Marriage

2009-06-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

From July 13th, 2004:

Washington, D.C. – Senator John Ensign took to the floor of the United States Senate today to defend the sanctity of marriage and urge passage of the Federal Marriage Amendment Act.

“Marriage recognizes the ideal of a father and mother living together to raise their children,” Ensign said. “Marriage is the cornerstone on which our society was founded. For those who say that the Constitution is so sacred that we cannot or should not adopt the Federal Marriage Amendment, I would simply point out that marriage, and the sanctity of that institution, predates the American Constitution and the founding of our nation. Marriage, as a social institution, predates every other institution on which ordered society in America has relied.”

For those not in the know, the Senator just resigned his leadership post due to an affair. I bet marriage feels so sanctified.

Why We Have to Push Obama on Gay Rights

2009-06-17T19:18:00.004-04:00

So here's the basic story where Obama is on gay rights:

1) He opposes same-sex marriage. That's something most in the gay rights movement have mostly decided to deal with.

2) He has promised to end Don't Ask Don't Tell, which bars gay men and women from serving in the military.

But here's the thing -- he could easily end Don't Ask Don't Tell any day with the swipe of a pen with an executive order. And most people in the country want him to do it. Yet he hasn't done it and hasn't even announced when he plans to do it.

The longer the Democrats drag their feet on this one, the more gay people who are crucial to our national security will get kicked out of the military.

So to get this straight, Obama could score a huge victory for gay rights and do more to promote our national security with a simple executive order -- and most people in the country want him to -- and he won't do it?

Why does a single day go by without Obama doing this? It boggles the mind.

But we live in a democratic country. We have rights and privileges that allow us to petition and protest our government to force it to bring its behavior into line with the public will.

Recently President Obama signed an order that extended benefits to same-sex partners serving in the foreign service. Many people applauded this move as simply compassion on his part. But the story was actually a lot deeper than that.

See, a number of big gay donors started a boycott of the Democratic National Committee following Obama's use of the DOJ to defend Don't Ask Don't Tell.

While Obama still hasn't moved on DADT, he did move on this issue of extending benefits -- and he did it to try to appease the gay rights movement exactly because it threatened to withhold funding from his political party.

This shows we have power. This shows that when we fight, we can win.

We need to keep this up. I know I will.

I'll do it for the same reason that I work for a universal healthcare system -- hopefully single payer -- and the same reason I want a just middle eastern policy and more labor rights and a more environmental regulation: because I'm my brother's keeper. And a lot of my brothers (and sisters) are gay, and they don't deserve to be jettisoned from military service because of something completely unrelated to their service.

Every day that goes by that President Obama chooses to continue this bigoted, unpopular, and irrational policy is another day that Obama too deserves to be viewed as bigoted, unpopular, and irrational. If he doesn't like that, he could always write the executive order and finally end this policy.

A Hands-On Report From Iran

2009-06-17T18:00:00.000-04:00

Juan Cole -- one of the more enlightened American observers of the Middle East -- has a blog post up of a dispatch he received from an academic who is his friend in Iran:

Today, under slate skies and despite official warnings that the permit to march had been denied, against rumors that orders had been given to shoot to kill, they came. They came by the tens if not hundreds of thousands, marching east to west along the many kilometers of Enqelab Street to Azadi, or Freedom Square. "It would be dishonorable, na mardi, to not go," a young couple explained. "We have to go." Another man asks who is going, what is going on? He is told that the "Mousavi-chiha" are marching starting at 4. He laughs, "Mousavi-chiha nadarim, hame ye Iran hastand!" We don't have Mousavi supporters, it's now all of Iran...

That they came to Azadi, a place where thirty years ago the Revolution pivoted towards victory was fitting, for as much as the election campaign had been about who best represented the revolutionary values of Iran, Islam, and the late Imam, the push and pull of the past few days between opposition and Ahmadinejad forces has been a struggle to lay claim to authenticity. Authenticity that lies in the imagined and lived past, places, and practices of the Islamic Republic. It is as if whomever can get to the important places and rituals first and stay there, hang onto them, will win. So at night, beginning at 9 pm, we hear shouts of "Allah Akbar!" from the rooftops, just like in the fall and winter of 1978-1979. We have marches to sacred spots like Azadi and appeals by all sides to the memory of Khomeini...

The fact that the spirit of 1979 is being recalled is in itself very important. '79 is the most revered event in all of recent Iranian history; it's considered similar to our American Revolution, in that Iranians see it as the year they overthrew the power of foreign countries over their country.

I also like the fact that they're not making this about Mousavi, but more about renewing the spirit of independence and freedom in their country. Mousavi has a very ugly history and is, in my opinion, a much worse thug than anyone currently in Iran's executive.

Georgia Supreme Court Ruling

2009-06-17T17:00:00.000-04:00

The Georgia Supreme Court made a gay-friendly ruling yesterday. I was surprised, but they ruled that Gay people are not automatically bad influences on children:

In 2007, Eric and Sandy Ehlers Mongerson divorced, and a Georgia trial judge awarded custody of their four children to Sandy and visitation rights to Eric. Inexplicably, the judge also held that Eric was “prohibited from exposing the children to his homosexual partners and friends.” Yesterday, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously threw out the trial judge’s ban:

There is no evidence in the record before us that any member of the excluded community has engaged in inappropriate conduct in the presence of the children or that the children would be adversely affected by exposure to any member of that community. The prohibition against contact with any gay or lesbian person acquainted with Husband assumes, without evidentiary support, that the children will suffer harm from any such contact. Such an arbitrary classification based on sexual orientation flies in the face of our public policy that encourages divorced parents to participate in the raising of their children…and constitutes an abuse of discretion.

Georgia law permits a family court judge to prohibit a non-custodial parent from exposing their child to an individual who could have an “adverse effect on the best interests of the children,” but only if there is actual evidence suggesting such an adverse effect. Yesterday’s decision reaffirms the simple truth that there is no evidence that children are harmed in any way whatsoever by interacting with gay men and lesbians.

I am very happy with this UNANIMOUS ruling. I think it shows that maybe their is a bit of change happening in the South.

Obama Went Over CIA Director Panetta's Head to Protect Bush

2009-06-17T16:00:00.000-04:00

Obama-as-punk

Scott Horton reports:

The Daily Beast's Scott Horton gets the inside scoop from Jane Mayer on CIA chief Leon Panetta—and how he advocated for a truth commission on torture but was rebuffed by Obama, who saw it as a potentially dangerous political distraction.
On Monday, The New Yorker hits newsstands featuring “The Secret History,” an article by Jane Mayer that takes a close look at the CIA under its new director, former congressman and White House chief of staff Leon Panetta.

Following up on the pioneering work in her prize-winning book The Dark Side, Mayer examines the legacy of the Bush years—torture practices and a series of secret detention facilities around the world. Over the objections of senior players in the agency, President Obama shut them down, but the Obama White House and Director Panetta continue a struggle on two fronts. On one hand, they face relentless attacks from former Vice President Dick Cheney, who says America’s security was compromised by the decision. On the other hand, they struggle to keep the door to the CIA’s vault of Bush-era secrets firmly shut—avoiding demands for disclosure of documents and records, calls for an independent investigation, and even the suggestion that a criminal investigation is called for.

If I ever had a chance to meet President Obama, I imagine the conversation would go something like this:

Zaid: 'Sup Obama

Obama: Suuuuup? How's it hangin'?

Z: It's cool. You?

O: This place is TIGHT. They got this chef, he makes whatever I want. And this White House got LCD TV's everywhere and I got like NBA HD, and I called up Jamal, and Jamal was all like "Who this?" and I was all like "IT THE PRESIDENT SUCKAAAA!!!"

Z: That's nice, but I wanted to ask you something.

O: Whut?

Z: Why you a punk?

O: What you mean I a punk?

Z: I mean, you're covering Bush and Cheney's butt on any sort of torture investigation. Why? That stuff is whack.

O: Um, well, don't tell anyone, this but...

Z: Yes?

O: I'm an (expletive) pussy, that's why.

Z: Oh.

O: I'm scared of actually having to do stuff that takes an iota of political courage or arouses any sort of real opposition from entrenched interests, even though I act like I do that stuff all the time by pontificating in my Harvard-tuned speeches.

Z: Well, I sort of figured that was what was happening, but I never expected you to actually say it.

O: Yeah, well a guy gotta be honest every now and then. Hey?

Z: Yeah?

O: Sasha and Malia got this thing called the Wii, and it's frickin' sweet. I got me some NBA games, and I think Michelle bought Mario Kart the other day. Whaddya say we grab some orange soda and go play it up in the Lincoln Bedroom? They got this sweet HDTV up in there and...

Z: (eyeroll and exit)

--

Yeah, I'm not sure why my Obama was basically a guy in his early 30's who was obsessed with sports and video games, but it gets the point across.

LOLWUT CNBC Compares Iranian Repression to Employee Free Choice Act

2009-06-17T15:00:00.000-04:00

He needs to bring him back for another whipping.

The SEIU responds:

CNBC isn’t exactly a shining example of responsible journalism. The financial news network has been ridiculed for enabling the financial crisis with flawed reporting and fawning coverage of failed CEOs.

Well, CNBC is at it again. CNBC’s Jim Cramer and Erin Burnett made a ridiculous, irresponsible statement: they compared the aftermath of Iran’s recent election to what would happen under the Employee Free Choice Act.

This is the height of irresponsible journalism. Jim Cramer and Erin Burnett need to hear from you now about their reckless reporting.

Use this action page to contact CNBC

The AMA Does Not Represent the Views of Most Doctors

2009-06-17T14:00:00.000-04:00

The American Medical Association (AMA) has been in the news recently due to their opposition to a public health option and Obama's attempt to court them.

I think something to keep in mind here is that the organization has a history of right wing advocacy.

Amy Goodman points this out:

Throughout its history, the AMA has opposed most efforts at healthcare reform, including leading the charge in the mid-’60s against the creation of Medicare.

...

This isn’t new. The AMA has opposed most healthcare reform. I mean, they were the key fighters against Frances Perkins under FDR. She was the Secretary of Labor. She could not overcome their resistance to national health plan back during the New Deal.

And Dr. Quentin Young, a former Obama confidante who is very upset at him for backing away from single payer healthcare, notes:

And it’s worth noting that AMA membership has dropped from some 90 percent of doctors when I started out a half-century ago, and now about a third of America’s doctors do belong.

So essentially, we have an organization with dwindling membership amongst actual medical professionals, which has a history of fighting every sort of reform effort for seventy years, coming out against a public option. Why exactly is that news?

And lest we forget, most doctors actually support a single-payer plan, which means a public plan would cover everyone, a position to the left of that the Congressional leadership and Obama support.

It'd be wonderful if the "liberal" mainstream media would point these things out, and not leave them for you to listen to on Amy Goodman's radio show or read on the blogosphere. That's probably asking too much.

Why A "Public Option" Ultimately Isn't Good Enough On Healthcare

2009-06-17T13:00:00.000-04:00

For those who think that a "public option" is a total victory on healthcare, the testimony of one expert to the Congressional Progressive Caucus:

The difference between these choices could not be more stark: single-payer has at its core the elimination of U.S.-style private insurance, using huge administrative savings and inherent cost control mechanisms to provide comprehensive, sustainable universal coverage.

The “public option” preserves all of the systemic defects inherent in reliance on a patchwork of private insurance companies to finance health care, a system which has been a miserable failure both in providing health coverage and controlling costs.

Elimination of U.S.-style private insurance has been a prerequisite to the achievement of universal health care in every other industrialized country in the world. In contrast, public program expansions coupled with mandates have failed everywhere they’ve been tried, both domestically and internationally.

While I can accept that a strong public option -- which hopefully would just be offering Medicare to all those who want it -- is a step in the right direction, I still feel strongly that we won't achieve the sort of efficiency or cost control that we need until we get to single payer. And everyone serious in Washington -- from Obama down -- knows that fact, but is unable to really seriously challenge the insurance industry.

House approves war and IMF funding 226-202

2009-06-17T12:00:00.000-04:00

Ah, well. I guess we needed that money to continue to fry people in the Middle East and bail out European banks. Roll call is here.

Senator In Charge of Healthcare Bill Receives Most Money From Industry

2009-06-17T11:00:00.001-04:00

Unsurprisingly, the Montana Standard reports:

Now, a new article in the Montana Standard finds Senator Baucus has received more campaign money from health and insurance industry interests than any other member of Congress. The article says, "In the past six years, nearly one-fourth of every dime raised by Baucus and his political-action committee has come from groups and individuals associated with drug companies, insurers, hospitals, medical-supply firms, health-service companies and other health professionals.”

I love privately funded elections, don't you? Although there are alternatives.

Carter in Gaza

2009-06-17T10:00:00.000-04:00

From CNN:

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday on a visit to Gaza that he had to "hold back tears" when he saw the destruction caused by the deadly campaign Israel waged against Gaza militants in January.

Carter was wrapping up a visit to the region during which he met representatives of all sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Among the sites he visited was the American school that was destroyed by the bombings Israel initiated in response to rocket attacks launched from Gaza into southern Israel.

"It is very distressing to me. I have to hold back tears when I see the deliberate destruction that has been raked against your people.

"I come to the American school which was educating your children, supported by my own country. I see it's been deliberately destroyed by bombs from F16s made in my country and delivered to the Israelis. I feel partially responsible for this -- as must all Americans and all Israelis," Carter said at a news conference.

CNN fails at reporting this. The Israeli offensive last winter was due to the rocket attacks? Correct me if I'm wrong, but these rocket attacks, which cause almost no damage, have been going on for years and years, and the most recent ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was broken by the IDF, not Hamas. Their assault was more about electoral posturing than anything else.

You always see this narrative in US media about all Israeli violence being defensive and all Palestinian violence being for the hell of it. It's pretty dehumanizing when you get down to the root of it.

Obama to give Same-Sex Couples Benefits

2009-06-17T09:00:00.003-04:00

YAY!!! This goes to show that if you protest, complain, and withhold campaign dollars, you will get somewhere! There is still a lot of room for improvement, but as I called for this morning (last night when I wrote the post), this is not a symbolic gesture. This will affect the lives of Americans. Thank you, President Obama, for Heeding our call.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama will sign a memorandum Wednesday granting health care and other benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees, two senior administration officials said.

The signing will take place in the Oval Office and follows sharp criticism of the president over a Justice Department motion filed last week in support of the Defense of Marriage Act -- which opposes same-sex marriage -- that used the government's interest in opposing incestuous marriages to support its position against same-sex marriage.

Gay and lesbian advocates have also faulted the Obama administration for not moving to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bars officials from asking about a service member's sexual orientation but also bars the service member from revealing it.

Tell Obama LGBT's want Action, not a Symbolic Token

2009-06-17T08:00:00.002-04:00

*****Since I wrote this, Obama has given Federal Same-Sex couples Federal benefits. I will write more about this, but it goes to show that when people complain, others listen.******

I just got this in an Email from CREDO Action

They compared same-sex marriage to a marriage between an uncle and a niece. Or between two children.

Sign the petition — and watch Rachel Maddow weigh in.

Tell President Obama and Attorney General Holder to withdraw the DOJ's brief supporting DOMA and apologize for its contents — and watch Rachel Maddow and Howard Dean have an intelligent conversation about the importance of this issue.

No, we're not talking about Rick Santorum. We're talking about the Obama administration's Justice Department. The brief the DOJ presented defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in federal court was not just wrong. It was offensive. The New York Times called it "disturbing" in its lead editorial.

Back in the days of the 2008 campaign, Senator Obama promised he would work to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. But now that a gay couple in California is challenging DOMA in federal court, President Obama has chosen to take action to defend a law that prevents legally married same-sex couples from receiving any federal benefits, or from having their marriages recognized in other states.

Howard Dean went on The Rachel Maddow Show and said, "This is a huge mistake. You cannot talk about gay Americans the way gay Americans were talked about in this brief."

Americans voted for President Obama in part because of his promise to fight for equality for all Americans. This brief is offensive and demeaning. Something must be done about it.

Click here to tell President Obama and Attorney General Holder to withdraw the DOJ's brief supporting DOMA and apologize for its contents.

Thank you for working to build a more equal world.

Kate Stayman-London, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

P.S. On the petition page, you can also watch the video of Rachel Maddow and Howard Dean discussing the importance of this issue. Click here to watch now.