What I Did This Summer

Or, my lame explanation for no posts in so long…

So, for the few who care and bothered to ask (and, yes, I am touched that you’ve bothered to write/ask why I’ve stopped posting for so long), I really don’t have any interesting reason for why I stopped blogging.  No “I’ve been sailing around the world” or “I was in the jungles of Lower Malaria rendering aid” type stories.  Nothing that will make you say, ” I can see why he’s not been posting – but, wow, I really think he’s all that and a bag of chips right now.”  Nope, nothing anywhere near as glorious a reason…

Rather, I’ve just been dealing with a lot of what I can only call “crap.”  We had a child in the hospital with a serious surgery (went great and all seems to have gone well – but was really a scare), we continue to deal with some serious aging issues with my parents (the cocktail of Alzheimers and cancer is a really nasty concoction), I have a firm struggling to make it in a completely shitty economy and I’m just jumping from one problem to the next.

Whack A Molemore flash games..

Really, my life just seems to be a really annoying game of “whack a mole” right now, as it seems just as I solve or deal with one problem or crisis, another crisis pops up its annoying little head and needs to be dealt with.  In the end, I’m too tired at the end of the day to be “clever” – or as clever as I allow myself to think I’m being in order to allow my inner thoughts to be published on this blog.

Add to the life issues, I’ve just generally got “burned out” on politics, which seems to be the one thing that draws me to the keyboard regularly. It seems that, no matter what I and many others post, the Tea Baggers and their captive Republican Party continue their decline into the netherworld of crazy and Obama and the Dems really aren’t doing anything worthwhile (seriously?  The View?) to call them on it.  Just a bunch of mudslinging going on and no traction gained by either side.  So part of me, probably directly connected to the exhaustion following from all the “life issues” above, just figures “why bother?”

So, what does this mean for the future?  I really don’t know.  Will I continue to blog?  Maybe, perhaps from time to time I’ll see something great or ridiculous that calls for my comment.  In the coming weeks I’m heading out on my annual motorcycle ride and then we have the kids’ camp in Wisconsin – barring more life issues popping up and demanding mole wacking –  so time will be tough to carve out.  We’ll see.

Anyway, for those that asked, that’s what I got.  Nothing really interesting, just life and the withering energy level of a tired guy trying to keep family, work and life together.  That said, I appreciate the inquiries.  Glad to know there’s people out there following this little portal into me.

Republican Abstience (means others should not have sex)

Seriously, come on you guys!

Here I’m trying to avoid blogging about Right wing hypocrisy, and you throw this nugget of deliciousness out there!  A Repub Congress critter resigns due to a sex scandal with his married aide, then it turns out they did a video discussing said Congress critter’s advocacy of abstinence teaching in schools?

Come on… You’re baiting me, right?

More Right Wingnuttery…

So, what is a good indicator that an idea is insane?  How about when an idea circles around and threatens to bite the proponents of an idea and their supporters right on the keister?

So here’s the set up.  John McCain (R – Aryanzona) and Joe Lieberman (R/D – Insurance Industry) are all up in arms about the failed Times Square bombing attempt this past week.

Ignoring that the prior administration successfully prosecuted over 800 defendants of terrorism related charges via the criminal justice system and that the military tribunal route has proven a colossal failure, they now are advocating that the Obama administration’s Justice Department  should be criticized for Mirandizing the failed bomber/idiot – even though he’s an American citizen.

Forgetting for the moment that that is an immediate way for said failed bomber/idiot to beat the rap and be put back on the streets the moment any judge gets a hold on the case, Lieberman has even gone so far as to proclaim that we should be yanking the citizenship of people implicated in terrorist plots or acts – before there’s even a court finding of guilt!

But here’s where it gets real good.  So, under McCain/Lieberman’s plan (just think, if it were not for the GOP jamming half-term Governor Sassy Moosemeat on McCain as a running mate, this could be our current President and VP) it would be the Department of State that would be vested with the power to unilaterally yank the citizenship of someone deemed unamerican or a threat to our fragile democracy.

Here’s where I have to stifle the guffaws…

The Department of State is currently headed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Yes, Hillary – there’s a vast right-wing conspiracy – Clinton.

OK, McCain and Lieberman.  I’m on board with your ideas. Let’s do this!

Let’s give the Secretary of State the power to declare people unamerican and yank their citizenship, without even a Miranda warning.  Great idea!

I can see it now, Hillary Clinton vested with the power to decide which American citizens deserve to remain citizens, without even having to go through the crazy thing we call the judicial system and ignoring the crazy idea of presuming people are innocent and all of that crazy liberal civil rights stuff.

Let’s see how that works for you and the lunatic-fringe right-wing Tea Party base you’re pandering to.  This would be great!

I’m nearly speechless…

Posted without comment…  OK, one comment: The Stupid, it burns….

The Family Values Party? LOL!

Leave it to the Chicago Republican Party to shake me out of my blogging absence!

“Could you take the porn off your website? I thought this was the party of family values,” reads a message one reader posted after the story.

The site, ChicagoGOP.com, is owned by Tom Swiss, an elected Republican committeeman and the political director for the Chicago Republican Party. The party is led by Eloise Gerson, an elected Republican committeewoman. The site used to be their official website but last year they started a new one that would be less controversial, Swiss said.

Oh you naughty Repuglicans (misspelling intentional)!

Waterloo for Who? A Survey of Responses to Health Care Reform

David Frum (former Bush speechwriter): On the other hand, conservative writer David Frum contended that last night was the GOP’s “most crushing legislative defeat since the 1960s.” His reason: “At the beginning of this process we made a strategic decision: unlike, say, Democrats in 2001 when President Bush proposed his first tax cut, we would make no deal with the administration. No negotiations, no compromise, nothing. We were going for all the marbles. This would be Obama’s Waterloo — just as healthcare was Clinton’s in 1994… This time, when we went for all the marbles, we ended with none.”

Matthew Yglesias: “Now that it’s done, Barack Obama will go down in history as one of America’s finest presidents. It’s always possible of course that, like LBJ, he’ll get involved in some unrelated fiasco that mars his reputation. But fundamentally, he’s reshaped the policy landscape in a way that no progressive politician has done in decades.”

Marc Ambinder: “Republicans had bet that throwing everything into killing the bill would result in the bill’s defeat. The entire strategy was predicated on killing the bill. Now that the bill has passed, it means that the health care system has been fundamentally changed, and there’s no way — and there will not be the votes — to repeal it. No one will tell seniors that the donut hole will be opened up, or people promised new insurance that they’ll have to look elsewhere, or that rescission will once again be legal. Democrats will work for to force Republicans to talk about repeal as often as possible.”

Matthew Continetti: “Do not believe anyone who tells you they understand the path American politics will take after this vote. It is truly unique.”

Jonathan Chait: “Let me offer a ludicrously premature opinion: Barack Obama has sealed his reputation as a president of great historical import. We don’t know what will follow in his presidency, and it’s quite possible that some future event–a war, a scandal–will define his presidency. But we do know that he has put his imprint on the structure of American government in a way that no Democratic president since Lyndon Johnson has.”

David Frum: “No illusions please: This bill will not be repealed. Even if Republicans scored a 1994 style landslide in November, how many votes could we muster to re-open the ‘doughnut hole’ and charge seniors more for prescription drugs? How many votes to re-allow insurers to rescind policies when they discover a pre-existing condition? How many votes to banish 25 year olds from their parents’ insurance coverage? And even if the votes were there – would President Obama sign such a repeal?”

Josh Marshall: “Again, I don’t want to paint any rosy pictures. And, as I said, I don’t want to hazard any predictions. But I think this conventional wisdom is quite mistaken. Hard fought victories don’t deplete political capital; they build it. And political wins themselves often have a catalyzing effect that shapes political opinion far more than we realize.”

New York Times: “House Democrats approved a far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s health system on Sunday, voting over unanimous Republican opposition to provide medical coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans after an epic political battle that could define the differences between the parties for years.”

Washington Post: “House Democrats scored a historic victory in the century-long battle to reform the nation’s health-care system late Sunday night, winning final approval of legislation that expands coverage to 32 million people and attempts to contain spiraling costs.”

Wall Street Journal: “The biggest transformation of the U.S. health system in decades won approval on Capitol Hill late Sunday, the culmination of efforts by generations of Democrats to achieve near-universal health coverage.”

USA Today: “Congress completed action Sunday night on the major portion of President Obama’s top priority, a historic restructuring of the nation’s health care system that has eluded his predecessors for more than a century.”

Los Angeles Times: “Ending the Democrats’ decades-long quest to create a healthcare safety net to match Social Security, the House of Representatives on Sunday night approved sweeping legislation to guarantee Americans access to medical care for the first time, delivering President Obama the biggest victory of his young presidency.”

And finally, I bring you the Teabaggers:

Tea party demonstrators outside the U.S. Capitol screamed “nigger” at U.S. Rep. John Lewis and other black members of Congress on Saturday. Lawmakers said Lewis and several other members were confronted as they were walking to the Capitol to vote. Protesters also hurled insults at U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, who is openly gay. One person was reportedly arrested. » read more

My take, the Republicans and their failure to act like adults and reject the crazy fear-mongering actions of its Teabagging arm have damaged the Republican brand in the long run.  Conversely, Obama scored a major victory that makes him the most successful first-year President in modern, if not all, United States history.

$118 Billion Reasons to Pass Health Care Reform

… or so says the Congressional Budget Office.

CBO and JCT now estimate that, on balance, the direct (mandatory) spending and revenue effects of enacting H.R. 3590 as passed by the Senate would yield a net reduction in federal deficits of $118 billion over the 2010–2019 period. (Direct spending—as distinguished from discretionary spending—is spending that stems from legislation other than appropriation acts.)  In our earlier estimate, the budgetary impact was a net reduction in deficits of $132 billion.

Still, getting Rush Limbaugh out of America is what sells me (see most recent post).

OK, if you’re on the fence on healthcare reform, this should do it…

… seriously, I’m all onboard  now!

Rush will leave America if Healthcare reform passes!

But, seriously… My condolences to Costa Rica!

Democratic Hijinks and Reconciliation

How dare the Democrats even discuss reconciliation!  Despite that it reflects the will of the majority, it’s a traditional move of the Republicans!

Rocket launch blows away the sky | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine

Posted just because it’s really cool!

Rocket launch blows away the sky | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine.