As a nation and as a society in general, how is it that we can continue to be so wrong about so many things? Examples, you ask? Well, I barely know where to start. How about this: For the last 7 years we've had, as our "leader," a man who had absolutely no business being in office and who, for that entire time, has done absolutely nothing to benefit the lives of everyday Americans. The first time he was appointed (no, not elected) was a ridiculous fraud (read about it here), as was the time that he was re-elected (if you haven't read this, you should). However, outside of that, were the candidates he was running against worth anything in their own right? Al Gore was a somewhat weak candidate who could not fully capitalize on his President's perceived achievements over the previous 8 years to keep his party in power and though he lost under a cloud of controversy, there's no evidence that points to him being a great candidate in his own right. Plus, his running-mate was Joe "Neo-Crat" Lieberman and that can only be viewed as a bad thing. In 2004 John Kerry was the "lesser of two evils" candidate, but in hindsight, would he have been any better? Had he won in '04, would we be in a different position 4 years later? Unlikely, in my opinion. So, not only were we wrong in our Presidential selection over the last 8 years (though who knows what would have happened had the votes truly been counted), we were also likely wrong about the alternatives.
Well, at least after the tainted results of the two elections the American people stood up and railed for changes in the electoral system, and got those changes through sheer power of will. Wait, we didn't do that, you say? In fact, we didn't even really make a stir about it save for a protest here and there directly after the elections? Well that certainly can't be right! We must have done something. Hmmmm, now that I look back on it, I guess we didn't. Was that the right thing to do? Of course not. But surely over the last 8 years we've stood up to this oppressive regime and fought tooth-and-nail for our civil, political and privacy rights, yes? Oh, you say we didn't. Well, that certainly can't be right either, can it?
Hey, at least now the Democrats have worked out their issues and decided to stand together behind a strong candidate so "we" can take the power back in 2009, right? Hmmmm, you say we haven't even done that, and that what we do have is a petty battle between two more John Kerry's who don't have anything but re-hashed ideas from 20 years ago wrapped in discount paper that was bought at Wal-Mart? At least one of them got a discount on that paper though, right, since she worked on the Wal-Mart board for something like 6 years? And hey, at least the other candidate isn't another pro-Israel tool who disguises old ideas in sheep's clothing and gets by mainly on his charisma and charm rather than the merit of his policies, right? Hmmmm, I guess I'm wrong again, eh. Well, at least the republican candidate is a stand up guy who has bucked the recent neo-conservative trends in his party and who actually values traditional republican ideas and stances, right? Oh...I guess not.
So, where do we find ourselves nearly 8 years after Bush was elected? Inconceivably, we are in an even worse position than we were when the news broke that the Supreme Court had handed him the presidency. We are here in a wasteland, looking at three pools of tainted water and trying to decide which one won't kill us...Which one will sustain us, help us stumble on to the next polluted oasis and allow us to make yet another odious choice, with each one in succession bringing us closer and closer to death. Unfortunately there is no reservoir, no wonderful well dug in to a water table that can actually help us start to recover from our dehydrated, delirious state. Yet we are America, the world's lone Superpower, and we must stumble on. We have no other choice.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Bear Stearns, Bailouts and Bullshit
First Citigroup, now Bear Stearns, who's next? This is a major crisis and we have not seen the last of it. In fact, perhaps this is barely the beginning. These stop-gap decisions by the Federal Reserve to prop up banks that are "too big to fail" seem merely to be prolonging the inevitable. Here's an interesting video on the subject (about 10min but definitely worth watching):
Bear Stearns Stock:
January '07: $171.52 (peak)
March 13th '08: $60 and falling
March 14th '08: $36 and falling
Post-Buyout: $2 (valley)
Ouch.
Bear Stearns Stock:
January '07: $171.52 (peak)
March 13th '08: $60 and falling
March 14th '08: $36 and falling
Post-Buyout: $2 (valley)
Ouch.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Obama is a Muslim Who Won't Pledge Allegiance to the US Flag!
...And he wants to be sworn in on the Koran if he does become President. Ok, of course that's not true, but did you know that people are spreading such information, and that ignorant people who won't look in to it for themselves actually believe it?!?! I mean, I am not a huge fan of Obama but that is because of his foreign policy and his willingness to invade Pakistan and Iran, as well as the fact that he's yet another very pro-Israel/AIPAC politician, not because some moron at my church has been spreading lies about him. This is the reason that we have had 8 years of George Bush (well, this and a corrupt election system), and there are a lot of people in this country who think the same way as those interviewed in the video. Until that changes or more smart people vote (but let's fact it, the idiots far outnumber the smart people), we are not going to make the progress our country needs to make and we will continue digging this hole for ourselves, which only seems to be getting deeper all the time. Vote smart, people!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
87 Year Old New Hampshire State Rep on Hunger Strike for Impeachment
87 year old Betty Hall, a 14 term New Hampshire State Rep has refused to eat again until John Conyers begins impeachment proceedings. Read the story here.
It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out. She seems set in her decision and it is one that will hopefully help force Conyers' hand. I mean, these guys are guilty of War Crimes, and I see no reason why Bush or any of the rest of his cohorts should be allowed to sit out their vile reign in office without paying a price for their despicable acts. Go Betty!
It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out. She seems set in her decision and it is one that will hopefully help force Conyers' hand. I mean, these guys are guilty of War Crimes, and I see no reason why Bush or any of the rest of his cohorts should be allowed to sit out their vile reign in office without paying a price for their despicable acts. Go Betty!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
McCain "Stumped" On Whether Condoms Help Prevent Spread of HIV
No, seriously. What a tool! And this guy is actually the front runner for the Republican nomination! Well done, sir.
Read the full article here.
Q: “What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush’s policy, which is just abstinence?”
Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “Ahhh. I think I support the president’s policy.”
Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”
Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.”
Read the full article here.
Q: “What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush’s policy, which is just abstinence?”
Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “Ahhh. I think I support the president’s policy.”
Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”
Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.”
Democrats Give Up Effort to End Iraq War
What a shocking surprise! Who could have seen this coming? I grow more and more disillusioned with the "Anti-War" party every day, if that is even possible.
Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have been terrible for the Democrats, and both should be punished for their lies. I'm just not sure how, yet. And finally, do we really have to turn to Rolling Stone for an article like this? I guess so. What a time to be alive...
Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have been terrible for the Democrats, and both should be punished for their lies. I'm just not sure how, yet. And finally, do we really have to turn to Rolling Stone for an article like this? I guess so. What a time to be alive...
Saturday, February 9, 2008
LET IT DIE
With the race for presidential nominations in full swing, I've been thinking a lot about health care lately. Everybody's got their plan and claims that they can help fix the system, but I wonder if that is true. I watched a show on CNN tonight, "Broken Government: Healthcare - Critical Condition," and I left it thinking about a few different things, but the main one was: let it die.
The show started with a sob story (sorry, but that's what it was) about well-off couple from the mid-west (I think) who had a baby with a rare disease which I cannot recall but which had a very low recovery rate. After the child was born they used their insurance to fly her across the country for 9 difficult operations over less than a year, from wherever they lived to Indiana, then from Indiana to California and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. Over less than a year they broke their limit of what the insurance company would pay for care (over $2,000,000) so they continued to pay for it themselves. A few months later their child died, but by that point they were already $700,000 in debt to their surgeons/doctors/hospitals. Now, they are complaining that if they had "better health care," their daughter would have survived. I want to preface this by saying that I am a very caring person and I hate to hear stories about those who die before their time, whether it be babies, soldiers, puppies, or what have you, but that is just ridiculous. To say that you are owed (by your insurance company or the government) over $2,700,000 to try and push recovery from a disease that has such a low chance of survival is insanity.
Having grown up in this welfare state perhaps many of us do not understand that concept. Perhaps the technological and medical advances that we have made over the last 50 years make people thing that no matter what the disease, it can and should be cured. I don't believe that this is the case. It does seem that we have made discoveries that miraculously cure people from incurable diseases, but nothing works 100% of the time, and there are plenty of medical problems that have an extremely low chance of recovery, even with treatment. Like I said before, I am a very compassionate and caring person, but I'm just trying to be level-headed here. And before you jump all over me, this is coming from someone who's mother had cancer, was treated and came through. I thought for a while that she was going to die, and we were just damn lucky that she worked at a hospital and had great insurance, or perhaps she would not have made it. If we had done what I am advocating now she probably would have died, and considering my current position on the subject I really don't know how to feel about that. I'm just glad she's alive, and that this all happened well before I was forming my own independent political and social views.
However, there is another angle to consider here. What I am speaking to is only our currently insurance/health-care system. There are other, better, systems that I would advocate for us and that could potentially solve problems like those described above. And no, the answer is not the comically awful plan offered by many politicians of "Universal Health Care" under which every citizen who is not homeless, a child or below the poverty line is forced (they call it "mandated") to buy health care in what will end up being as big a farce as Social Security once enough money is in the fund that the government can borrow some to further the war effort. No, the answer is a reduction in the size and scope of our ridiculously over-funded military. As I have mentioned before, we are spending more on "Defense" than the next 25 countries COMBINED spend. And we wonder why French health care is rated the best in the world! Hmmmm, perhaps they are not maintaining over 820 military installations throughout the rest of the world? Perhaps they don't have troops in 39 other countries who are all paid for by their countries' tax dollars? Perhaps they are not spending well over 500 BILLION dollars per year on "Defense," which does not even include the BILLIONS of dollars that are being spent on a fruitless war in the Middle East?
We, as a country, have to choose what we want. What we've chosen, and what we've allowed to be pushed on us, is a system in which instead of ensuring that every one of our citizens is safe, healthy and has a solid shot at a good job, we ensure that the military-industrial complex is fully stoked at every moment and that we have a military presence throughout every hemisphere and at every rounded corner of the globe. No matter what and how strong the influence, this is a choice that we have made as a country, which is why you can find people who have no insurance and three sick children who still think we should bomb Iran. We can choose the health of our citizens over the perceived dominance of our Empire, but we have decided that we won't. Until people wake up and realize that they are sacrificing the quality of just about every social program ever conceived for the scope of our Empire, we will continue to do so. And that is a damned shame.
The show started with a sob story (sorry, but that's what it was) about well-off couple from the mid-west (I think) who had a baby with a rare disease which I cannot recall but which had a very low recovery rate. After the child was born they used their insurance to fly her across the country for 9 difficult operations over less than a year, from wherever they lived to Indiana, then from Indiana to California and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. Over less than a year they broke their limit of what the insurance company would pay for care (over $2,000,000) so they continued to pay for it themselves. A few months later their child died, but by that point they were already $700,000 in debt to their surgeons/doctors/hospitals. Now, they are complaining that if they had "better health care," their daughter would have survived. I want to preface this by saying that I am a very caring person and I hate to hear stories about those who die before their time, whether it be babies, soldiers, puppies, or what have you, but that is just ridiculous. To say that you are owed (by your insurance company or the government) over $2,700,000 to try and push recovery from a disease that has such a low chance of survival is insanity.
Having grown up in this welfare state perhaps many of us do not understand that concept. Perhaps the technological and medical advances that we have made over the last 50 years make people thing that no matter what the disease, it can and should be cured. I don't believe that this is the case. It does seem that we have made discoveries that miraculously cure people from incurable diseases, but nothing works 100% of the time, and there are plenty of medical problems that have an extremely low chance of recovery, even with treatment. Like I said before, I am a very compassionate and caring person, but I'm just trying to be level-headed here. And before you jump all over me, this is coming from someone who's mother had cancer, was treated and came through. I thought for a while that she was going to die, and we were just damn lucky that she worked at a hospital and had great insurance, or perhaps she would not have made it. If we had done what I am advocating now she probably would have died, and considering my current position on the subject I really don't know how to feel about that. I'm just glad she's alive, and that this all happened well before I was forming my own independent political and social views.
However, there is another angle to consider here. What I am speaking to is only our currently insurance/health-care system. There are other, better, systems that I would advocate for us and that could potentially solve problems like those described above. And no, the answer is not the comically awful plan offered by many politicians of "Universal Health Care" under which every citizen who is not homeless, a child or below the poverty line is forced (they call it "mandated") to buy health care in what will end up being as big a farce as Social Security once enough money is in the fund that the government can borrow some to further the war effort. No, the answer is a reduction in the size and scope of our ridiculously over-funded military. As I have mentioned before, we are spending more on "Defense" than the next 25 countries COMBINED spend. And we wonder why French health care is rated the best in the world! Hmmmm, perhaps they are not maintaining over 820 military installations throughout the rest of the world? Perhaps they don't have troops in 39 other countries who are all paid for by their countries' tax dollars? Perhaps they are not spending well over 500 BILLION dollars per year on "Defense," which does not even include the BILLIONS of dollars that are being spent on a fruitless war in the Middle East?
We, as a country, have to choose what we want. What we've chosen, and what we've allowed to be pushed on us, is a system in which instead of ensuring that every one of our citizens is safe, healthy and has a solid shot at a good job, we ensure that the military-industrial complex is fully stoked at every moment and that we have a military presence throughout every hemisphere and at every rounded corner of the globe. No matter what and how strong the influence, this is a choice that we have made as a country, which is why you can find people who have no insurance and three sick children who still think we should bomb Iran. We can choose the health of our citizens over the perceived dominance of our Empire, but we have decided that we won't. Until people wake up and realize that they are sacrificing the quality of just about every social program ever conceived for the scope of our Empire, we will continue to do so. And that is a damned shame.
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