Congressmen Cowering and Withering at “Wild” Town Hall Meetings

This was supposed to be the ideal job: Congressman. It comes with a six-figure salary; probably closer to seven figures when you add in all the perks and benefits. And you get to spend most of your time bending over for getting wined and dined by your biggest corporate donors at yacht clubs and exotic resorts. And don’t forget all those important fact-finding trips to Monte Carlo, Paris, Rome…

And it’s all FREE. You get to scream and rant all you want about “balancing the budget,” “socialism!” and “welfare,” while your own million dollar lifestyle is financed by taxpayers.

But sometimes, when you poke your head out of your limousine or your gated community, you get confronted by those lowly rubes who are paying your salary. Hey, this wasn’t part of the deal! Help! Security!!

I don’t have to listen to these peons. Write me a seven-figure check for my re-election campaign or shut the fuck up!

When Congressmen are visiting their home districts and going to town hall-style meetings, they’re more and more likely to be greeted by protesters and screaming constituents. At several town hall meetings, police were called to restore order. And at least one representative is going to discontinue these meetings because of all the chaos.

Either man up and face the music, or get the fuck out of there and go look for a real job. “Job skills? Uh, I can bend over real good when my customer tells me to.”

I thought I’d read somewhere long ago that democracy was supposed to be messy, disorderly, chaotic, unpredictable. Did these assholes think they could spend their whole lives sheltered away in plush meeting rooms and country clubs and never hear any negative feedback from the masses?

Most of the incidents in this article are Democratic Congressmen being confronted by teabaggers and other rightwing Astroturf puppets. Be that as it may, liberals are just as free to demonstrate and confront, assuming Republican politicians are having these town hall meetings too.

Either take the heat or get the fuck out of the kitchen.

cross-posted at Bring It On!

The Chicken Hawks of the Health Care Debate

Now that Iraqmire has been out of the headlines, nobody talks about Chicken Hawks any more (aka Armchair Warriors, Keyboard Warriors, the Chairborne Division, and some other less printable names). You remember the type: always bellowing that “We” should invade this country; “We” need to send more troops into that country.

And of course “We” always means Somebody Else, since these Chicken Hawks never set foot on a military base and wouldn’t know a uniform if it bit ‘em on the ass.

And now the health care debate has put the spotlight on a new breed of Chicken Hawk. This subspecies (the operative word here is “sub”) receives a huge salary and a shitload of perks — all courtesy of YOUR tax dollars. These perks include free medical care for themselves and their families. Again, that medical care is being paid for by YOU.

But, when members of this subspecies are asked about providing similar health coverage for other American citizens, they start screaming about “Welfare!” and “Socialized Medicine!” Quick — what’s wrong with this picture?

Every legislator who rants and fumes about “Socialized Medicine!” — while simultaneously receiving socialized medicine for his/her own family — is a Chicken Hawk; plus a few other names that wouldn’t be suitable for a family blog.

Aren’t these Chicken Hawks worried about rationed health care? What if they don’t even get to choose their own doctors?

I think President Obama should do a big favor for these Chicken Hawks. They won’t appreciate it now but someday they’ll thank him. These Chicken Hawks need a big strong dose of Toughlove. They’ll grouse a little at first, but later they’ll be bursting with pride, knowing that they’ve pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and they’re now productive members of society.

There’s no getting around it: on some level, these Chicken Hawks are looking in the mirror and seeing a two-faced little shitstain staring back at them. Being the recipients of taxpayer-financed health care while simultaneously shrieking “Socialized Medicine!” — they can’t possibly live with themselves.

Obama needs to take away the socialized medical benefits that these Chicken Hawks are receiving. They need to be forced to practice what they preach; to walk the walk. They’ll be much better off in the long run. Just think, there won’t be any more bumbling government bureaucrats standing between themselves and their doctors.

cross-posted at Bring It On!

A “Compromise” on Health Care

Here’s that brand new shiny Ferrari I promised you. Actually, we compromised a little. The car doesn’t have an engine, and the body is shaped more like a Nash Rambler.

The Senate has offered a “bipartisan” “compromise” — a new reform bill that has everything Obama asked for. Oh, except that the new bill doesn’t require large employers to provide health coverage for their workers, and there’s no provision for a government-paid insurance option.

But hey, other than that — it’s got everything. Is this progress or what?

Max Baucus said: "We're going to get agreement here. The group of six really wants to get to 'yes.’”

“Yes” on WHAT??? If any insurance company refuses to pay for medical treatment or raises the premiums, a committee might look into it. And if an HMO is found to be repeatedly canceling coverage and/or jacking the premiums sky high, they might get a letter of reprimand. OOOHHH!!!

It sure is a good thing there’s a Democrat in the White House and a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress. What would we do without them?

If this lame-ass toothless “reform” bill is what we get, millions of Democratic voters will “compromise” on the next election day by staying home.

cross-posted at Bring It On!

Police Union Demands Apology

Here’s an interesting headline on Yahoo! News: “Massachusetts Police Union Demands an Apology.” I haven’t clicked on the article yet, but I know exactly what they’re talking about.

The vast vast majority of police officers are honest, hardworking and courageous. And their courage and professionalism are INSULTED every time a corrupt trigger-happy cop breaks the law and abuses his authority. I’m glad the Police Union is addressing this issue. They don’t deserve to be degraded and insulted by the few bad apples in their profession.

Here’s a recap of just a few of the crooked retarded goons who have smeared and insulted the reputation of law enforcement officers everywhere:

Rodney King, four KGB thugs LAPD officers, 56 times in 81 seconds, you know the drill.

In 1997, a Haitian immigrant was arrested by Brooklyn gang members cops, taken to the police station and had a broken plunger rammed up his ass repeatedly. After that, the cops found out they had arrested the wrong person — mistaken identity. OOPS, our bad.

In 1999, four North Korean Secret Police New York City Police officers shot and killed Amadou Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea. The four officers, all in street clothes, opened fire and shot Diallo 41 times. They claimed they thought he had a gun.

Last summer, a SWAT team, looking for marijuana, raided the wrong house and shot the owner’s Labrador Retriever, pointblank.

A few months ago, a Dallas police officer stopped a motorist — for rolling through a red light — who was driving his wife to the hospital to visit her dying mother. Even after the man and his wife explained their situation and begged him to let them continue on to the hospital, the officer pulled his gun on them and slo-o-o-o-o-oly wrote out their traffic ticket. The woman’s mother died before they could get in to visit her, thanks to Officer Friendly.

And just last month, an Oklahoma Highway Patrolman stopped an ambulance — that word again is AMBULANCE — for failure to yield right of way. He pulled him over and spent twenty minutes hollering at the driver and the paramedic, while a terrified patient was lying inside the ambulance.

The above-mentioned shitwipes have certainly tarnished the reputations of millions of honest law enforcement officers. And the Police Union is to be commended for finally recognizing this fact and for demanding an apology from the aforementioned douchebags.

cross-posted at Bring It On!

Second Thoughts on Health Care Reform

I don’t change my mind very often, but I’ve suddenly realized — Socialized Medicine is not the answer. Do you want a politician standing between YOU and Your Doctor??? A government takeover of our medical system is Wrong for America!

Please watch the following 4-minute video. You’ll find it just as riveting — and frightening! — as I did. After you’ve been properly horrified by this nightmare scenario, surf around the other menus of this group’s website.

This organization is Let Freedom Ring. It's made up of decent Real Americans who want to restore America's moral fiber and bring Freedom back to this great nation.

Enjoy the video.

Health Care Reform Might Endanger Fetuses. Oh Well, Forget It Then

Yes, it’s too bad that tens of thousands of people die every year because they can’t afford medical care. But those people have already been born. No biggie.

And now we realize that providing government-paid health insurance might endanger God’s most sacred creation: FETUSES. Just think, some pregnant slut might use YOUR tax dollars to murder her unborn child. Oh no you don’t.

‘Tis far better for 99,000 already-borns (they’re probably all Democrats anyway) to die from an untreated illness than for one fetus to be torn screaming from the womb.

And this issue has given new life to an American icon we all thought had died or fallen off the edge of the Earth, or something. Randall Terry is B-A-A-A-CK. The used car salesman cum Fetus Worshipper said:

“If Congress votes to fund the murder of babies by abortion in any ‘health care’ bill — either explicitly or implicitly — there could be horrific consequences. Pelosi and Co. cannot expect millions of Americans to betray God, and to pay for the murder of their neighbor without something snapping. They must not delude themselves: Congress runs the real risk of national convulsions that have not been seen since the 60s, or perhaps since the civil war if they try to compel Americans to pay for the murder of the innocent. If they attempt to fund abortion, it is tantamount to the government putting a gun to taxpayers' heads to pay for the brutal murder of an innocent child. There are many of us who will not comply.”

Fuck off and die Asshole.

Lewis Black on Republican “Socialized Medicine!” Hysteria

Sometimes you just get too tired and burned out from lashing out at the bloodthirsty health insurance warlords. Here is just one example, one of millions, of their mercenary practices. (H/T to Bee for providing the link.)

Sometimes all you can do is laugh at the sick absurdity of it all. Come on, take a short break with Lewis Black.

cross-posted at Bring It On!

Health Insurance CEOs — America’s Most Dangerous Killers

According to these two articles (here and here), Americans aren’t sufficiently fired up over health insurance reform because there’s no villain. The public won’t be galvanized until there’s someone to crystallize all of this fury and frustration. We need an Osama bin Laden; a Communist infiltrator; a drug pusher selling heroin to YOUR fourth grade child.

OK then — imagine a 9/11-type terrorist attack occurring in America six times a year, every year. THAT’S how many Americans die every year because they don’t have health insurance. Even knowing that number — 18,000 deaths each year — the public isn’t mobilized because their fear and anger aren’t channeled and directed. These emotions just flare up and then diffuse into the ozone.

And that’s probably because of the bland neutral sterile presentation of these stories. “The patient didn’t have insurance.” “Coverage was denied because of a pre-existing condition.” “The insurance policy didn’t cover the required procedure.” WHOA!!! Doesn’t that just send your blood pressure skyrocketing? Careful, your hands are shaking.

Let’s call it what it is: Murder! This isn’t something that just “happened” because of some faceless anonymous insurance company. These murders were the result of somebody’s conscious decision. An actual flesh-and-blood person was calculating how much more money he/she could make by killing X number of sick people.

Instead of “after further study, the HMO concluded that the policy…” — how about “this motherfuckin’ shitbag killed hundreds of sick people so he could afford another yacht!” And now it’s time to put names and faces to these murdering douchebags.

H/T to DailyKos for the following names:

Ronald Williams, CEO of Aetna.

H. Edward Hanway — CIGNA.

Angela Braly — WellPoint.

Dale Wolf — Coventry Health Care.

Michael Neidorff — Centene.

James Carlson — AMERIGROUP.

Michael McAllister — Humana.

Jay Gellert — Health Net.

Richard Barasch — Universal American.

Stephen Hensley — UnitedHealth Group.

Anyway, you get the idea. You’ve had a glimpse at America’s Most Wanted.

American Conservative Union — The World’s Most Expensive Hooker

No more calls, we have a winner. The American Conservative Union wanted $3 million for its, uh, “services” to FedEx.

FedEx and UPS were in a legislative dispute, and the American Conservative Union offered to support FedEx for a nominal fee of $3 million. This support would include articles and editorials written by ACU Chairman David Keene, who writes a weekly column.

FedEx refused the offer, so the prostitute threw the john out of her room the ACU retaliated by supporting UPS instead.

The dispute between UPS and FedEx is over a labor bill working its way through Congress. Right now, there are certain union protections that apply to UPS but not to FedEx. This bill would apply the same union protections to FedEx as well. FedEx, needless to say, is against the bill.

And the American Conservative Union promised, for this special one-time offer of only $3.4 million — Call Today! — to run “an aggressive grass-roots campaign to stop the legislation in the Senate.”

“Grass-roots?????” ROTFLMAO! Calling all rightwing millionaires — there’ll be a spontaneous hootin’ and hollerin’ rally at the yacht club.

Dennis Whitfield, the ACU's executive vice president, was a deputy secretary of labor in Ronald Reagan’s administration. You can imagine the empathy this wingtard must have had for those lowly peons who work for a living. Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse.

Other winners on the ACU board include Grover Norquist. Birds of a feather…

cross-posted at Bring It On!

Get Sick, Have Health Insurance, Go Bankrupt

In 2007, 62% of all personal bankruptcies were the result of an illness. And 78% of those people already had health insurance when they first became ill. Most of these ill and bankrupt people had been covered by a private insurance carrier, not Medicare or Medicaid.

Compare these figures to 1981, when only 8% of personal bankruptcies were caused by illness.

If you’ve seen Sicko, you’ll remember that all of the victims from that movie had health insurance as well. It’s one thing to dismiss Sicko as just the ramblings of a flagburning socialist. But it’ll be harder for the knuckledragging community to dismiss this article, unless Business Week is just another communist front group.

According to this article, most of the people who filed for bankruptcy were middle class; two thirds of them owned their homes. One of the authors of this study, Dr. David Himmelstein, said:

"For middle-class Americans, health insurance offers little protection. Most of us have policies with so many loopholes, co-payments and deductibles that illness can put you in the poorhouse. Unless you're Warren Buffett, your family is just one serious illness away from bankruptcy.”

Dr. Himmelstein has also described health insurance as “an umbrella that melts in the rain.”

So — how can we pass health insurance reform over the objections of the multi-billion dollar health insurance industry and their harem of prostitutes (formerly known as “Congress”)?

Obama needs a villain, according to this article by Josh Skolnick. He says:

“Obama needs more than deadlines, his charm, and Rahm Emmanuel’s legendary arm-twisting abilities to get this kind of mammoth legislation passed. He needs a villain…He needs to out the nefarious characters blocking change — to put a face to the opposition.”

Republicans have known this for decades. For that matter, it’s ALL they’ve ever known. Get the public riled up, terrified, boiling with fury, and then create a villain. Presto!

How many laws have Republicans ever passed without conjuring up images of “Terrorists,” “Communism,” “parasites on welfare,” “bumbling faceless bureaucrats meddling in our Free Enterprise system,” etc. Zero. Nada. Zip point shit.

The article continues with: “So far Obama has only shown us the victims of the system. The enemies are insurance companies—but can you name a single insurance company executive?”

Time to start naming names. Let the Swiftboating begin. Vilify!

And how do we pay for health insurance reform? There’s a bill in the House that would raise taxes on the wealthiest 1.2% of the population. Republicans are hysterical about this. As they point out, successful Americans haven’t paid such outrageous taxes since 1986, when this rabble-rousing commie was in charge.

cross-posted at Bring It On!

The Shanking of Antonin Scalia; The Drowning of Levi Johnston…

Who needs Fear Factor or the Jerry Springer Show? If you get off on lowest-common-denominator entertainment (and the operative word is LOW), nothing beats the daily unraveling of the Republican Party.

Today’s antics include:

Jason Mattera, a spokesman for Young America’s Foundation, said that if Sonia Sotomayor is confirmed, she might shank Justice Antonin Scalia. After all, she’s one of them hot-tempered Puerto Ricans and she comes from a bad neighborhood. That’s the way those people settle things back in the barrio.

And the continuing saga of the Clampett Palin family just gets wackier all the time. After Levi Johnston told the media that Sarah Palin cut and run so she could make more money, the Joads Palins went wild. And just today, Pat Buchanan had a suggestion for the First Dude — or whatever his title is now that his wife’s a Quitter.

His advice: Todd Palin should drown Levi Johnston. In Pat Buchanan’s own words: “Well, first, with regard to Levi, I think First Dude up there in Alaska, Todd Palin, ought to take Levi down to the creek and hold his head underwater until the thrashing stops.“

And speaking of “putting lipstick on a pig” — Ralph Reed, one of the most notorious of the Biblehumpers from the 1990s, is BAAACK. But don’t worry, he’s changed. He’s all wrapped up in a brand new package.

That stodgy old hate-spewing Christian Coalition has now morphed into the hip new Faith and Freedom Coalition. Think of it as Christian Coalition 2.0.

The Grand Inquisitor Himself says: “This is not going to be your daddy’s Christian Coalition. It has to be younger, hipper, less strident, more inclusive and it has to harness the 21st century that will enable us to win in the future.”

And then he said — be sure you’re sitting down for this — “Even though I’ve been doing other things, this is kind of like Steve Jobs returning to Apple.”

All righty then…

cross-posted at Bring It On!

Learn Other Languages, Prevent Alzheimer’s; and Other News…

A new study is speculating that linguistic skills can help prevent dementia. That sounds like some sort of comminist un-American gimmick to destroy the moril fabrik of our great nation.

(PSSSST — If you can find the spelling error in each of those pictures, you musta been dabblin’ in one of them furrin languages.)

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: OK, the issue has been settled. We’ve been warned in no uncertain terms — if gays are allowed to serve openly in America’s armed forces, our once-great military will degenerate into a bunch of Nancy Boys, just like those sissy armies of Israel and Australia. Case closed. Back to the closet.

And then the Obama Administration said to the mortgage industry: Fox, please guard this henhouse. I trust you completely.

China’s Achilles Heel

Not that China is in danger or anything, but the ethnic riots in Urumqi might be a lot more serious than last year’s Tibetan uprising. The Uighurs don’t seem to have that same look-inward, turn-the-other-cheek mindset that Tibetans are famous for.

These ethnic tensions have been building for a long time. Night Train to Turkistan (1986) was a first-hand account of four Americans who traveled all over western China. They had fascinating adventures, but there were long-simmering ethnic feuds even then. I think the book mentioned the Uighurs in particular (I read it a long time ago). In any case, everywhere these travelers went, there was resentment against the Chinese. Millions of Chinese citizens have moved (or more likely, they got “moved” by the government) into these remote western regions, causing the indigenous tribes to become minorities on their own turf.

Same with Tibet — in Lhasa, Chinese citizens outnumber Tibetans.

Mongolia offers more perspectives on China — past and present. The two countries had centuries of warfare, and Inner Mongolia is now a Chinese province. Everything is relative, and Mongolians think of Russia as the lesser of two evils.

Somehow, it’s hard to picture these Urumqi riots as something that will flare up and then die down and everyone will live happily ever after.

This isn’t wishful thinking or anything. After all, China is our landlord. And if you’re a renter and your landlord is in trouble, YOU might not have a place to live.

So let’s hope China can find a workable solution.

cross-posted at Bring It On!

“I’m Sarah Palin and I’m Here to Help You”

“Hi! I quit my job so I’d have more time to help you with your campaigning. Isn’t that great? Well?? Hello??? Anybody out there? Is this thing on?”

Sarah Palin has offered to help campaign for Republican gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia. So far the response has been, well, not quite the roaring enthusiasm she was hoping for.

Bob McDonnell, Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, said his staff had spoken with Sarah Palin’s staff. He called her “a good spokesman” but didn’t mention anything about wanting any help from her.

In New Jersey, Republican candidate Chris Christie is more popular right now than the current Democratic governor. Asked about Sarah Palin’s “help,” the state GOP chairman said:

“No!! She’ll fuck everything up! Keep her the hell away from here We don't have any plans on having her in. We're busy working to get Chris Christie elected and telling people about the failed record of Gov. Corzine.”

Upon news that The Quitter might campaign for Republican candidates — this was the Democrats’ response.

cross-posted at Bring It On!

When Rep. Peter King Died, Millions Mourned

Oh wait,I was thinking of somebody else.

Let’s see, Peter King, who’s he again? Oh, right, he’s that pathetic dipshit that has nothing better to do than kick Michael Jackson after he’s already dead.

I would’ve thought a member of Congress would have had more important things to do than make nasty comments about one of the greatest pop performers of the last few decades. Since his bloated salary comes out of taxpayers’ money, you’d think his constituents in New York State would want their tax dollars put to better use.

Peter King has his First Amendment right to call Michael Jackson a “pervert” and a “lowlife” if he wants to. He’s perfectly free to announce to the world that he’s a clueless asshole with too much time on his hands.

When Peter King dies, there’ll only be two pallbearers at his funeral. Why only two, you ask? Because a garbage can only has two handles.

cross-posted at Bring It On!

Credit Card Companies Trying to Squeeze Blood Out of a Turnip

Those poor banks. Thanks to the federal legislation they purchased several years ago, they’re now able to squeeze and gouge and draw and quarter their prisoners customers like never before.

But now they’ve made a horrifying discovery: After too much bloodletting, their victims might declare bankruptcy. And then they can’t be gouged any more. Damn! These credit card CEOs are in the same position as a torturer when the victim dies too soon, before the torturer had a chance to get his rocks off.

In states that allow debt collectors to garnish their creditors’ wages, the bankruptcy rates are much higher than in neighboring states that don’t allow this practice. In the most striking example, Georgia — where wages can be garnished by creditors — has four times the bankruptcy rate as South Carolina, where the practice is prohibited.

It already seemed like a pretty obvious cause and effect connection, but now it’s been clearly spelled out in a study of millions of bankruptcy records from 2006 to the present. This study has produced an Economic Stress Map — a geographic, chronological and visual display of economic misery based on the unemployment rate, foreclosures and bankruptcies.

It was the bankruptcy “reform” legislation of 2005 that gave credit card debt the same legal priority as child support payments and back taxes owed to the IRS.

When credit card debt and child support payments were put on an equal footing, there’s probably no way to calculate how much child support money went uncollected. In any case, the irony was lost on millions of “Family Values” “For The Children” drones.

And speaking of our burgeoning Beacon of Freedom south of the border: The United States has been training Honduran soldiers for decades now. But how well did we train them? In the event that Honduras was taken over by some rabble-rousing Communist who tried to redistribute some of the Oligarchs’ hard-earned wealth to the riffraff — would our American-trained Honduran soldiers know how to handle this emergency?

Ah, that’s our boys!

Prove Your Patriotism — Go To a Tea Party

Fireworks, barbecues, family gatherings — that’s all well and good. But Real Americans will show their True Grit by attending a Tea Party on July Fourth. They were such a smashing success last April — boy, did we show that commie in the White House a thing or three — let’s do it again.

As you probably know, the “Tea” in Tea Party stands for Taxed Enough Already. If you’re sick and tired of Big Government and Class Warfare, you WILL get out there on July Fourth and do some teabagging.

Government bureaucrats standing between you and your doctor, successful Americans paying higher taxes than the riffraff — Enough!

These tax-and-spend Democrats are ruining this great nation. If you’re longing for the huge budget surpluses we had during George W. Bush’s presidency, let everybody know. Ask yourself: what have you done for Big Business lately?

Find a tea party near you.

cross-posted at Bring It On!