Another good one from Bill Maher

Take a look:

It used to be the Big Business Party. That’s a Republican. Then it got taken over by Jesus. And now they just seem like The Angry White People Party.

- Bill Maher

Ain't that the truth!

Once more, I'm indebted to Lisa Casey over at All Hat No Cattle.
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A great one from Bill Maher

Really. It's outstanding!

I want to just take a moment to thank the Teabaggers. Thank you so much for helping us pass health care, for resurrecting the Obama presidency. I know they're saying, 'Why are you thanking me? I was so against it, I marched on Washington with tea bags hanging off my Founding Fathers costume, with a gun on my hip and a picture of Obama dressed as Hitler, screaming about his birth certificate.' And America saw that and said, 'I think I'll go with the calm black man.'

–Bill Maher

(Hat tip to Lisa Casey over at All Hat No Cattle.)
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Staggering ignorance

This video was produced before the Health Care Reform bill was passed:

The ignorance of these tea party protesters simply boggles my mind.

And, you know something? Fox News has a lot to answer for.
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"The callous attitude of the Republicans..."

An erroneous common belief we need to shatter

I refer, of course, to the widespread belief that government is, by definition, incompetent. It drives me nuts; it really does. Even liberals and progressives send out jokes about the "lazy" government worker.

Today over on Common Dreams, I found an article entitled "March Madness: Why Progressives Always Lose" which mentioned three "myths" that routinely do us in. One of those is "the Myth of the Bumbling Bureaucrats" that perpetuates the belief that government can't ever do anything right.

So I decided to do some searching and try to find internet material refuting such a belief. What I found is a site called Government is Good: An Unapologetic Defense of a Vital Institution. Go on over there and look around! There's a whole section on "The War on Government" and a really helpful feature called "A Guide to Rebutting Right-Wing Criticisms of Government".

Now, lest you imagine that there is a lack of balance here, you can also find a substantial piece entitled "What is Really Wrong with Government". Here is a thoughtful excerpt from that section:

Readers of the previous articles on this site might have gotten the impression that I was suggesting that there are no serious problems with American government. But my argument has not been that there is nothing wrong this institution – only that it is not what conservatives say it is. It is simply not the case that government grossly overtaxes us, or that bureaucracies are incredibly wasteful, or that Big Brother is constantly threatening our freedoms. What is wrong is something altogether different – and something more disturbing. The main fault of our government is that it is not as democratic as it should be. We have what some have called a "deficit of democracy."

The problem is that American government is now increasingly responsive to special interests and not the public interest. This is why many people are frustrated and disappointed with our political system. Instead of a democracy where all citizens have an equal say in the governing process, some organizations and individuals have a disproportionate and unfair influence over what the government does. The result is that the power and greed of the few too often win out over the needs of the many.

I would truly like to see a large number of people explore the material on this site and spread the word. If you study it a bit and then find that you are agreeing, then please do what you can.
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UPDATE: I just came across the following video which I truly think belongs with this post;

Suing the teacher

Just a quick post this morning as I'm off in a few minutes to lead a workshop on walking meditation.

If you have a few minutes to spare, please go read "Teacher Sued For Bashing Christianity -- Will Others Be Censored?" and tell me what you think. I read the first few paragraphs carefully and then scanned the rest of it.

He sounds like a wonderful teacher - if a bit reckless at times.
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UPDATE: Here's a quotation I just found that seems appropriate:

We are incredibly heedless in the formation of our beliefs, but find ourselves with an illicit passion for them when anyone proposes to rob us of their companionship. It is obviously not the ideas themselves that are dear to us, but our self-esteem that is threatened.

-- James Harvey

Friday cat blogging!

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

An ad that's gone viral

My friend, Sally, sent me a link to the original ad and then I found this CNN story:

Please, people, wear your seatbelts. This past January I officiated at the funeral of someone who died due to NOT wearing his seatbelt. And I'm sure he thought it wouldn't happen to him.
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Hero nanny

First go read the story entitled "Hero nanny badly burned saving boy: She ran barefoot to the rescue through 400-degree flames".

Did you get to the part where it said she doesn't have health insurance and has no idea how she's going to pay for her treatment - the skin grafts and all the rest of it?

And now, all you conservatives out there. Just try telling me that this woman doesn't have "personal responsibility." Just you try.
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No bumper stickers for me

Some people are simply insane. Take a look:

A Nashville man says he and his 10-year-old daughter were victims of road rage Thursday afternoon, all because of a political bumper sticker on his car.
...
He said Harry Weisiger gave him the bird and rammed into his vehicle, after noticing an Obama-Biden sticker on his car bumper.

You can read more about it right here.

No way would I put a bumper sticker on my car. Not in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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Romney's waterloo

Here's Romney promoting what is essentially Obama's plan. Now, as I've said before, I'm actually against a mandate without a public plan to choose from. (Health insurance companies are fundamentally evil as far as I'm concerned.) There's just a serious irony here in that Obama has managed to get a plan passed that is essentially what this Republican has been for all along and now that it's associated with the Democrats, Romney is pretty much done for:

Now here's what really annoys me: Republicans claim that emergency rooms will treat you for free. They most assuredly do not. If you show up at the emergency room, yes, by law they have to treat you even if you don't have insurance. But they bill you for it. Oh, yes, they do. Sure, many people go bankrupt as a result and so the hospital doesn't get paid in the end. But you still get billed and it gets turned over to collections and your life is made a pure hell until the matter all gets resolved and then if you DO go bankrupt, your credit is ruined.

I just really wish these people would tell the truth.
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Thoughtful analysis of the heath care bill

I listened to this with interest last night. I'd like to know what others think:

I wish this were really the case:

Those Wall Street bonuses

Well, I somehow surfed onto a site today called "The Cynic's Sanctuary" where I found a self-test to determine if, indeed, one qualifies as a cynic. Here's my result: "You have potential. While you're not yet a full-blown cynic, you exhibit promising talents in that direction." Ha!

And now here's a definition from the site's dictionary:

Bonus - A little year-end pocket money that for investment bankers usually equals the lifetime earnings of their favorite high school teacher.

Yeah, that'll make a cynic outa ya!
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Now here's something to ponder about the health care bill:

I just logged on to Democratic Underground and found a post entitled "Yesterday's bill got exactly as many Republican votes as Single Payer would've". There's not much more to the original post but you might be interested in the comments - especially the one by RaleighNCDUer.
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That health insurance reform bill

I wish I could rejoice. I really do. But this bill is seriously flawed.

No one is more in favor of universal health care than I am but this is not universal and it's not really health care. It is a mandate to buy insurance (which may or may not provide decent coverage) from for-profit corporations.

Here's part of a comment I found on Alternet:

Well, folks, this is it. Forcing every citizen to patronize these corporations is fascism – and it is a pernicious precedent nobody seems to have considered long term – like the ”corporations are people too” precedent. Maybe we should pay a monthly tithe to WalMart next.

To make it clear, National Health, single payer and the public option are all pure socialism; I don’t have the slightest problem with that. This plan is fascist. That, I have a problem with.

I have a problem with it too.

Look, if we really had to do this incrementally, what would be wrong with slowly lowering the age of eligibility for Medicare until everybody was covered?
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