Warren Beatty Knocks Out Schwarzendufus
Warren Beatty's speech to the graduating class of UC Berkeley calls bullshit on Schwarzenegger's phony centrist Republicanism. Read the speech here, from TomPaine. Does it get on anyone else's nerves when a clown like Schwarzie dismisses comments from Beatty, an actor for 40 years and a political activist for nearly the same span, a personal friend of Jack Kennedy, with a supposedly "funny" quip like: "if he doesn't give me advice on politics I won't give him advice on acting." Well, Arnie, you are not qualified to give him advice on either. Arnie needs to go.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Iraq: More Dead
Put down your Bud Lights and Big Macs, turn off American Idol, stop waxing your SUV, and stop using Jesus as divisive tool for a few moments, and be reminded that many are still dying in Iraq. The latest, from AP: a car bomb outside a restaurant killed 7, wounded 82, a top security official was assassinated, 5 US soldiers were killed by an IED, 10 people killed and 30 wounded outside a Mosque in an explosion, in
"...part of an ongoing terror campaign that has killed more than 550 people in less than a month.
Since April 27, insurgents have targeted government and military officials in a campaign of assassinations and kidnappings. There have been at least 28 such incidents, including 18 assassinations, six attempted assassinations, three kidnappings and assassinations, and one kidnapping, according to an Associated Press count."
Put down your Bud Lights and Big Macs, turn off American Idol, stop waxing your SUV, and stop using Jesus as divisive tool for a few moments, and be reminded that many are still dying in Iraq. The latest, from AP: a car bomb outside a restaurant killed 7, wounded 82, a top security official was assassinated, 5 US soldiers were killed by an IED, 10 people killed and 30 wounded outside a Mosque in an explosion, in
"...part of an ongoing terror campaign that has killed more than 550 people in less than a month.
Since April 27, insurgents have targeted government and military officials in a campaign of assassinations and kidnappings. There have been at least 28 such incidents, including 18 assassinations, six attempted assassinations, three kidnappings and assassinations, and one kidnapping, according to an Associated Press count."
The Senate & The "Nuclear Option"
Today the Senate will embark on a marathon discussion of the practices surrounding confirmation of judicial nominees. Read about it here, from the Associated Press via MyWay News. As you have heard, the Republicans in the Senate are trying to change the rules so that a filibuster can not be used to block nominees from being voted on. The Senate, known as "the cooling saucer" where bipartisanship and comity across the aisles has long been the practice, has quickly become as rancorous and disputational as the House, now that over 50 former House members are in the Senate, bringing their brand of politics with them. The rights of the minority party are protected through the option of filibuster, whereby a vote is stalled until the issue or person is withdrawn. This served the Republicans well when they were the minority. Now that they are in the majority they claim to want "straight up or down votes," meaning, if the nominee gets to the Senate floor a strictly party-line vote will confirm these judges. Bill Frist, among others, has charged the Democrats of impeding the will of the people, although more judges have been confirmed under Bush so far than during Clinton's entire 8 years. Also, there has been a higher percentage of nominees confirmed than under Clinton. So when you hear a Republican foaming at the mouth over how "unfair" it all is, ask them if they would consider it a fair bargain if Democrats agreed to confirm as many as the Republicans did under Clinton. If they answer "yes," you can respond that to make things equal about 70 judges will have to be removed from their posts, to reduce the number and make it equal to the rough treatment Clinton's choices were given.
The really scary part of this is that the Republicans are changing the rules forever, as if they will never again find themselves in the minority. It gives credence to the observation that Republicans are no longer interested in hammering out agreements but rather are intent on crushing opposition. The flow of history is clearly against the Republicans and conservatism. The flow is the empowerment of minorities, equal rights applied across the entire spectrum, and the free exchange of ideas and beliefs. This is anathema to conservatives. In time, gay rights will be folded into the concept of human rights, women's rights will also be championed and seen as obvious as "giving" women the right to vote in 1920, drug laws will be rewritten, racism will decline, and the environment will no longer be seen as something to fear, rape, and exploit as it done now through Bush's Orwellian programs of "Healthy Forests" and "Clear Skies." History will bury them, and as is said in every revenge movie, payback is a bitch.
Today the Senate will embark on a marathon discussion of the practices surrounding confirmation of judicial nominees. Read about it here, from the Associated Press via MyWay News. As you have heard, the Republicans in the Senate are trying to change the rules so that a filibuster can not be used to block nominees from being voted on. The Senate, known as "the cooling saucer" where bipartisanship and comity across the aisles has long been the practice, has quickly become as rancorous and disputational as the House, now that over 50 former House members are in the Senate, bringing their brand of politics with them. The rights of the minority party are protected through the option of filibuster, whereby a vote is stalled until the issue or person is withdrawn. This served the Republicans well when they were the minority. Now that they are in the majority they claim to want "straight up or down votes," meaning, if the nominee gets to the Senate floor a strictly party-line vote will confirm these judges. Bill Frist, among others, has charged the Democrats of impeding the will of the people, although more judges have been confirmed under Bush so far than during Clinton's entire 8 years. Also, there has been a higher percentage of nominees confirmed than under Clinton. So when you hear a Republican foaming at the mouth over how "unfair" it all is, ask them if they would consider it a fair bargain if Democrats agreed to confirm as many as the Republicans did under Clinton. If they answer "yes," you can respond that to make things equal about 70 judges will have to be removed from their posts, to reduce the number and make it equal to the rough treatment Clinton's choices were given.
The really scary part of this is that the Republicans are changing the rules forever, as if they will never again find themselves in the minority. It gives credence to the observation that Republicans are no longer interested in hammering out agreements but rather are intent on crushing opposition. The flow of history is clearly against the Republicans and conservatism. The flow is the empowerment of minorities, equal rights applied across the entire spectrum, and the free exchange of ideas and beliefs. This is anathema to conservatives. In time, gay rights will be folded into the concept of human rights, women's rights will also be championed and seen as obvious as "giving" women the right to vote in 1920, drug laws will be rewritten, racism will decline, and the environment will no longer be seen as something to fear, rape, and exploit as it done now through Bush's Orwellian programs of "Healthy Forests" and "Clear Skies." History will bury them, and as is said in every revenge movie, payback is a bitch.
Genomics & Universal Health Coverage
Celebrated author of medically-themed novels, Robin Cook, writes a provocative opinion in the New York Times about the inevitability of universal health care. With the human genome being mapped in 1999, the miracle cures and treatments are in the offing. Because a person's gene markers can easily be decoded through a microarray, everyone will now have what was known as "a pre-existing condition." This negates the actuarial practice of managing risks in various population pools: we will all be risks. Therefore, only a government run, not for profit, universal health system is the solution, as concluded by Mr Cook. The interesting thing is that Cook himself says as a doctor, he has always been against health coverage except in cases of indigence or emergency care. He now has changed his mind. It is possible, friends, to convert stalwarts of the "America is business" mentality.
Celebrated author of medically-themed novels, Robin Cook, writes a provocative opinion in the New York Times about the inevitability of universal health care. With the human genome being mapped in 1999, the miracle cures and treatments are in the offing. Because a person's gene markers can easily be decoded through a microarray, everyone will now have what was known as "a pre-existing condition." This negates the actuarial practice of managing risks in various population pools: we will all be risks. Therefore, only a government run, not for profit, universal health system is the solution, as concluded by Mr Cook. The interesting thing is that Cook himself says as a doctor, he has always been against health coverage except in cases of indigence or emergency care. He now has changed his mind. It is possible, friends, to convert stalwarts of the "America is business" mentality.