ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE HEALTHCARE DEBATE

Why do Republican Women LIE So Much?

Maybe it’s the Palin tour that’s tipping the scales –- the documented, fact-checked lies in her book and her whining rebuttals mount by the day -– but even so, the scope and nature of female Republican lies is so much more outrageous than that of their male Republican counterparts. It’s not only about Palin’s lying. It’s Liz Cheney, Michelle Bachmann, and the latest outrageous liar, Virginia Foxx:



Nothing gets my blood boiling faster than a lie about settled history (and this woman was an educator!). For the record, the Senate vote for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was 73-27, with 46 Democrats and 27 Republicans voting AYE. At the time of passage, President Lyndon Johnson said prophetically, “there goes the South.”

He was right. Nixon’s “Southern Strategy” was born, the racist Dixiecrats in the Democratic Party moved to the Republican Party, and what has become the modern realignment of the parties took root. As for those moderate Northern Republicans who voted with the Democrats: They were purged by the Republican Party’s lurch to the right, driven out by Southerners and evangelicals, culminating in Ronald Reagan’s election.

One interesting sidebar: Yesterday, Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the only Northern Democrat to vote against the Civil Rights Act, made history as the U.S. capitol’s longest-serving lawmaker. Senator Byrd, who will turn 92 on Friday, regrets that vote and has since renounced his segregationist past.

And Virginia, about Jesse Helms … At the time of passage of the Civil Rights Act, Helms was broadcasting racist rants from the local TV station, somewhat like a small-time Glenn Beck. Once elected senator in 1972 until his retirement, Helms never renounced his racist views even after many of his Southern colleagues had softened theirs.

These Republican women –- Foxx, Palin, Cheney, Bachmann -- are pathological liars. They can’t tell the difference between fact or fiction, and they don’t care. What makes them lie with such … brazenness?

Surfing the net, I landed (where else?) on Oprah.com for an answer. Susan Shapiro Barash says in her book Little White Lies, Deep Dark Secrets that “women lie not only more cleverly [than men do] but more often because in our society women are held to such a standard, and a lot of times, they have something to cover up. My theory is they use it as a survival technique and do it because they have been very good at doing it for so long.”

I’ll say, and it’s not only metaphoric. When she belongs to a conservative-to-wingnut white male-centric culture/party that so casually and frequently, and in so many ways, tells her to “stay in [her] place,” the Republican woman’s need to lie as survival mechanism must kick into high gear so early in her repressed childhood that at some point she just loses her grasp on reality and what is and is not, true.

Barash concludes: “I just note the way that women live their lives in this country and what they need to do to feel they aren't disempowered.”

Well, Republican women certainly. The one thing feminism has given Democratic women is, precisely, a sense of empowerment. Offhand, I can’t think of any Democratic women who flaunt their sexuality (nothing wrong with that, mind you) as much as Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann. Umm … but it's a certain kind of sexuality: I can imagine Palin and Bachmann pole-dancing, but not much else.

Here's what I mean:

Too stupid to breathe

From Salon: "Fully 26 percent of respondents said they believe ACORN stole the election for Obama, compared to 62 percent who said they think he won it fair and square. 12 percent weren't sure.

The numbers were even more revealing when broken down along partisan lines. A majority of Republicans -- 52 percent -- think ACORN stole the presidency, while just 27 percent said they believe Obama's office is legitimately his."

Really, I want to know. How do their brains function well enough to send signals to their hearts and lungs?

Using CNN's data, Obama got 254 EV's from states he won by 10% or more of the vote, and another 16 from states he won by 9%, which would get him to 270. Really? ACORN stole more than 10% of the votes in one of those 22 states, most of which are hard-core blue?

I want to add a question to their poll - does it hurt being that stupid?

Joe, I mean Andy, McCarthy speaks..

Andrew McCarthy (NOT the bad actor, just an all-around bad guy), the former assistant U.S. attorney and current NRO mouthpiece who mishandled and nearly blew the blind sheik prosecution has been very noisy in a CYA fashion about prosecuting KSM.

Right, we should listen to you, Andy, the genius who bemoaned how ungrateful the Iraqis have been to us. Yup, we killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people, crippled the economy, made thousands of people homeless, subsidized ethnic cleansing, destabilized the region, empowered their arch-enemy, etc. etc. etc., and they are not the least bit appreciative The nerve of them. Just see if we go invading them again, harumph!

New York City to GOP Nervous Nellies: DROP DEAD!

Barring that, Reps. Gohmert, Shadegg, Bachmann, hick wingnut scumbags all, GO FUCK YOURSELVES.

Same goes for all other wingnuts out there who would presume (???) to speak for New Yorkers.

How Dare You! All of you sorry GOP excuses for cowering, subhuman jellyfish, most of whom never set foot in the metropolis you view as Sodom and Gomorrah, FUCK OFF.

Listen up assholes, including the FOX News and hate radio Beck/Limbaugh scum the city must tolerate because that’s where they happen to make their millions off the brain-dead hordes in flyover territory: Forget Paris, London, Rio, LA, Hong Kong, Chicago, SF. Fugheadboutit …

New York City is IT.

New York City is the world’s GREATEST CITY. Period.

NEW YORK CITY IS THE CAPITAL OF THE UNIVERSE.

Pathetic wingnuts -- you really think the City can’t handle Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the human waste that planned the Twin Tower attacks?!?

Take it from New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg:

“It is fitting that 9/11 suspects face justice near the World Trade Center site where so many New Yorkers were murdered.”

And United States Attorney General Eric Holder:

“I’M NOT SCARED OF KSM, AND NO ONE ELSE NEEDS TO BE AFRAID EITHER.”

It is FITTING indeed that New York City, the city that is constantly reinventing itself and being reborn, should emerge from the pit of 9/11, brush itself off, and stand tall, greater than ever to show the world that IT and the United States of America are unbowed and undefeated.

Leave it to New Yorkers.


[Note: apologies for the expletives, not generally my style, but sometimes like Doc, I just need to vent.]

STUPAK AMENDMENT WILL ELIMINATE ABORTION COVERAGE FOR ALL WOMEN

PRO-CHOICE WOMEN, TAKE NOTE: Particularly young women, who do not remember a time when abortion was illegal in this country, and cannot conceive of it ever being unavailable through their private health insurance plans, think again. A new study by the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services has concluded that the effect of the Stupak anti-abortion poison pill amendment is to eliminate abortion coverage “over time for all women.”

If the extent of your involvement in politics was to vote for President Obama, here's some free advice: You know that little device that you keep glued to your ear, prattling on while stuck in traffic? Think about using it for something beyond chatting, texting, and downloading midlessly stupid apps. Find out who your congresspersons and senators are, and call them, expressing your opposition to the Stupak amendment. Do not take your freedoms and rights for granted or you will lose them.

Bart Stupak, who has been preening on the talk show circuit about his new found notoriety, continues his Family-inspired campaign to deceive the American people. This religious extremist is no more a moderate Democrat than President Obama is a Kenyan. His co-sponsor, Republican Congressman Joseph Pitts, has already said he will vote NO for any healthcare bill even if it contains their amendment intact. This is the company that anti-abortion Christian crusader Bart Stupak keeps. 'Nuff said, for now.

This one's for Peter

For Jimbow below

Never hesitate to disagree with me!

I've actually been kicking the hate crime aspect around a bit. If we strip away the "Republicans don't like blacks and gays" aspect of their opposition to hate crimes, there is a reasonable legal point there. The argument is that extant law is sufficient because we criminalize the INTENT TO COMMIT THE ACT (i.e., punch someone in the face or blow up a building) rather than the MOTIVE. A motive may have evidentiary weight but it is not an element of the offense.

But then those same people wail and moan about trying "terrorists" as criminals. The INTENT is the same as your garden variety criminal, as is the conduct. What differs is the MOTIVE, and folks, you can't have it both ways.

"Terrorists" are CRIMINALS

and should be treated as such.

There is no factual or legal distinction that can be cogently drawn between KSM and Tim McVeigh. Both engaged in criminal plotting and actions to destroy a building/buildings and kill people. I have heard it suggested that somehow 9/11 is beyond the reach or scope of ordinary criminal prosecutions.

Hogwash. This is a garden variety crime, a crime that differs from a street shooting only in the number of victims, not in intent or conduct.

I have heard it suggested that this is an "act of war." Double hogwash. Under no recognized construct of international law is this an act of war. The concept of "war" has a definition by consensus. Not every element of the paradigm need be present, as wars can involve asymmetrical conflicts and sub-state units. However, every element of the paradigm CANNOT BE ABSENT as it is in this instance.

We know why they don't want a public trial. First of all, Republicans thrive on fear. If they can't frighten, they can't win. The loathsome John Yoo, who should be in prison, and the cretinous Andrew McCarthy (who wrote that the Iraqis were not sufficiently "grateful" argued that a trial would afford the "terrorists" a treasure trove of intelligence.

First of all, a competent prosecutor and a capable federal judge under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure can adequately limit discovery (note to Mr. McCarthy, I said "competent.") And of course, the important question isn't what the government knows that it will tell. It is what the defendant knows and will tell that the bleating sheep don't want to see the light of day.

Once again, Doc...

(and a tip o'the cap to Jonathan Swift)

We can solve two problems at once---

USE THE STUPID FOR FUEL!!!

I'm coming very close

Between Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, Rush, Cheney's progeny, Michelle Bachmann, Bart Stupak (I know he's a Democrat, technically), Bow-gate, and all the rest of the stupidity out there, I'm thinking of punching everyone I know in the face, just in case they're thinking of acting like a Republican.

Christian Crusader Bart Stupak, DINO par Excellence, Hall of Shame Inductee No. 2

In its heyday the Christian Coalition, vanguard of the Religious Right, took control of the Republican Party, brick-by-brick, running self-described “stealth” candidates in local races that eventually set the stage for the election of national candidates. They pushed an extremist religious agenda, unknown to voters, to impose through government action a fundamentalist Christian doctrine on all aspects of civil society.

The Religious Right’s agenda blurs the lines between church and state on issues as seemingly benign as prayer in schools, includes Biblical Creationist mythology in our science textbooks, censors school board curricula, and rolls back decades of hard-fought civil rights for gays and women. It has spearheaded well-funded drives against gay marriage, and now a poison pill amendment to the House healthcare bill, introduced by little-known Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak, threatens to severely restrict a woman’s legal right to an abortion, and tear down any hope for meaningful healthcare reform.


Explaining why the Christian Coalition backed “stealth candidates” who would downplay their affiliations to get elected, former Coalition director and GOP strategist Ralph Reed wrote: “It's like guerrilla warfare. If you reveal your location, all it does is allow your opponent to improve his artillery bearings. It's better to move quietly, with stealth, under cover of night.”

The Religious Right’s power and influence hasn’t receded with the demise of such high-profile organizations as the Moral Majority, as some have been lulled into thinking. If anything, it has metastasized, gone underground, and grown stronger. The Religious Right has moved beyond the GOP to infiltrate not only the Democratic Party but government at all levels.

Until the titillating sexual scandals involving powerful Republican politicians Mark Sanford, governor of South Carolina, and Senator John Ensign of Nevada, both touted as GOP presidential prospects, not many people had even heard of the “Family.” Located smack in the heart of our nation’s capital, the Family is a shadowy and -- depending on one’s point of view -- sinister religious “Fellowship” catering to some of the most powerful and connected politicians in town and beyond.

When the sexual scandals broke, Bart Stupak denied any knowledge of the place, saying “I only live there.” Anyone who believes that will no doubt buy the fiction that the Family is simply a Christian frat house for politicians to commune with Jesus and share prayer breakfasts about being good Christian citizens.

Like a good “brother” with the white starched shirt, Bart Stupak kept his powder dry. Unlike his GOP brethren, Stupak was most adept at the stealth game. He was after all a Democrat, if only in name. Secrecy and a low profile were Family members’ guiding principles, which is why the sexual peccadilloes of the “brothers” threatened their mission, and Stupak was quick to distance himself.

The Democratic Party includes in its platform a strong statement preserving a woman’s legal, constitutional right to an abortion. Pro-choice Democrats are a solid majority in the party. Even so-called pro-life Democrats were comfortable with existing law -- the Hyde Amendment -- that forbids the use of any federal dollars to fund abortions.

The Stupak amendment changes all that. It goes far beyond the language of the Hyde Amendment to deny women the right to an abortion even with their own private funds. Most insulting of all, Stupak included a rider which would permit women to purchase “separate” abortion coverage in their choice of healthcare insurance. As if in this most traumatic event in a woman’s life she would have planned ahead of time to have an abortion. This is the modern equivalent of a Scarlet Letter. If ever there was any doubt as to what an arrogant, patronizing weasel Bart Stupak is, this should settle it.

The carefully crafted compromise language to retain the Hyde Amendment in the House bill was rejected as an “accounting gimmick” by Stupak and his allies, the Conference of Catholic Bishops. Incredibly, the CCB were given a seat at the table in the halls of Congress by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In the minds of most pro-choice Catholics, the Catholic Church is hardly in a position to preach public and private morality to women about sexuality and abortion, in light of the scandal that rocked the Church involving its decades-long, systemic sexual abuse of children.

But this hasn’t stopped them from lobbying Congress and getting into the weeds of actually crafting anti-abortion legislative language. This gross violation of the spirit of separation of church and state, if not the letter of the law, should alarm every American, especially Catholics. How ironic that in Italy, whose government-run universal healthcare system is ranked first by the World Health Organization, abortion has been legal since 1978. There is little the Vatican can do about it. Just recently, Italian health authorities approved use of the abortion pill over the strenuous objections of the Catholic Church, which threatened to excommunicate anyone that uses it. Now there’s a 16th century response to a 21st century issue.

And yet in America, the only advanced nation not to provide universal healthcare for its citizens, we are fighting battles with the Catholic Church for the right of 44,000 people not to die every year for lack of healthcare. Where is the Catholic Church’s concern for them? Where is their concern for the once innocent living children, recipients of hush money, that they damaged for life?

In the wee hours of a Saturday morning the House Rules Committee voted to allow the Stupak amendment an up-or-down vote on the House floor. Pro-choice Democrats were stunned. After roundly defeating the Stupak amendment in Committee in favor of the compromise language, they felt the issue had been settled. Their hastily organized opposition was no match for Stupak, all of the Republicans, and the 40 pro-life Democrats who were Stupak’s ace in the hole.

Stupak’s legislative guerilla tactic, executed in the dead of night, should have come as no surprise. It was pure Ralph Reed. Stupak telegraphed his intentions all along, even boasting of his ability to mobilize his bloc of 40 Democratic votes: “Now, I have not threatened that every time that we went to Rules Committee and we didn’t always get our pro-life amendments, I did not try to take down any rules. You have to pick your fights at the right time. You can’t be crying wolf all the time because you lose your wolfishness. You lose your credibility. So I’m not going to lose my credibility. So you use it at certain times when it’s appropriate.”

Pure, cynical power politics, perfectly executed with stealth, subterfuge, secrecy, and hypocrisy. Pure Family.

The Family’s cult of secrecy and distortion of Christianity, sees it as a doctrine in which the elites or anointed ones, “the new chosen” carry out their mission for Christ by any means necessary, which includes the flouting of laws that apply only to lesser citizens, undermining governments, parties, and presidents, and the application of ruthless power to the greater glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Family is not the benign religious group dedicated to lawful good works within civil society that it seeks to project. Rather, it is a theocracy-in-waiting of Christian crusaders, arrogant in the righteousness of their mission in Christ.

Bart Stupak and “the brothers” live in “Ivanwald,” a sleeper cell of warriors for Christ in the heart of our nation’s capital, hosting lawmakers from both political parties who patiently bide their time before striking. The guerilla spirit evoked by Ralph Reed, the admiration for Mao, Hitler, and Stalin is very much a part of their twisted “theology.” All of these men changed the world through the power of a covenant, they say, but the Family has the covenant of a “total Jesus” of a brotherhood in Christ: “Jesus plus nothing.”

Members include Republican senators Jim DeMint, who vowed to make the defeat of healthcare reform President Obama’s “Waterloo;” Chuck Grassley, the health insurance industry shill who openly perpetuated the lie about “death panels” while pretending to collaborate with Democrats; John Ensign, whose anti-healthcare rants, filibusters and frivolous amendments obstructed and delayed the Finance Committee’s work on its bill; James Inhofe, a fierce global warming denier, opponent of cap-and-trade energy legislation, and contemptuous of environmentalists and President Obama.

Surprise, surprise, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has had since 1993 a personal relationship with the Family’s leader, Doug Coe. Considering her meteoric political rise from New York senator to just a step away from the Democratic presidential nomination, it wouldn’t surprise that her association with the Family factored in her being dropped as a vice presidential prospect and hastened her flight to Foggy Bottom. Keep your adversaries close: despite assertions to the contrary, the President is no dupe.

If there is a pattern to this tale of stealth power politics, it is that the Family is actively engaged in undermining the presidency of Barack Obama. Target One: the President’s major domestic initiative, healthcare reform.

While they might not be monolithic, Family members of both parties work strategically to achieve at least six of one, half-a-dozen of another. And so, if there is to be a healthcare bill, the Family will work across party lines to water it down, to serve the corporate health insurance interests and the Catholic Church. How will Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, a Family member, vote on the Stupak poison pill amendment? We shall see.

The Religious Right’s threat to the body politic is bigger than anyone could have imagined. Were it not for the sex scandals of religious bigots who believe they live by one set of rules and everyone else by another, and for Bart Stupak’s frontal assault on a woman’s right to choose a legal medical procedure, we might never have known.

Knowledge is power. It’s time to push back, and push back hard against the religious bigotry and arrogance of these Christian mullahs and crusaders who would take us back to the days of back-alley abortions and of intolerance against gays, and who seek to turn our democracy into the Kingdom of Christ on Earth, as they see it.

BOW-WOW ... WOW!

What's all this foaming buzz in wingnut freeperville about the President's bowing to the Japanese Emperor? Did he show too much respect? Project U.S. submissiveness? Or was it just plain courtesy to a kindly little monarch, and ... umm, protocol?

OK, wingnuts, let's take a stroll down GOP presidential history memory lane ...

NIXON: "YOUR MAJESTY, ABOUT PEARL HARBOR, WE HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO NUKE YOU FELLAS."

HIROHITO: "AH, SO ..."

EISENHOWER: "CHARLES, MONSIEUR L'ETAT, I BOW BEFORE YOU WITH HAT IN HAND."

DE GAULLE: "AH, MON GENERAL, L'ETAT C'EST MOI INDEED. FRANCE WELCOMES YOU."

How the GOP looks at the world