...to gay slurs by Tea Party protesters on Capitol Hill today.
BOOM! goes the dynamite!“If this was a movement that I was part of, I’d be doing more than I think the Republicans are, to differentiate myself,” Frank said in an interview with The Hill that afternoon.“...Any movement in which the intellectual leader is Michele Bachmann is obviously going to be problematic.”
How many people of ethnicity do you see in this photo?"This afternoon, [Congressman Emanuel Cleaver] was walking into the Capitol to vote, when one protester spat on him....This is not the first time the Congressman has been called the "n" word and certainly not the worst assault he has endured in his years fighting for equal rights for all Americans. That being said, he is disappointed that in the 21st century our national discourse has devolved to the point of name calling and spitting. He looks forward to taking a historic vote on health care reform legislation tomorrow, for the residents of the Fifth District of Missouri and for all Americans. He believes deeply that tomorrow's vote is, in fact, a vote for equality and to secure health care as a right for all. Our nation has a history of struggling each time we expand rights. Today's protests are no different, but the Congressman believes this is worth fighting for."
Rev. Adam Carl: The Perfect Enemy
Dennis Kucinich: Why I'm Voting 'Yes'
Michael Moore: My Congressman, Bart Stupak, Has Neither a Uterus Nor a Brain
Christopher Brauchli: Reading and Writing and 'Rithmetic
"My personal position: I don't get to have a position -- I don't have a uterus. If a Senate that was 90% female told me I couldn't have a vasectomy or made it a crime to leave the toilet seat up, I guess I might object."
~ Michael Moore's position on abortion
I wish the President had been more vocal earlier on. Perhaps we'd be looking at a vote for a stronger bill. But this first step is an important one, and while I'm not completely happy with the bill, millions will be helped. How can anyone be against that, despite t being a boondoggle for insurance companies? Millions will be helped, despite the lack of a public option (which isn't dead yet). Millions will be helped. And I have to trust that fixes to the bill/law will be adopted over time, just like Medicare was, just like Social Security was.
This is a good first step.
More like this, please.
Time for Action on Financial Reform for the Economy
...Wow. This is the part where the GOP calls the CBO a bunch of partisan hacks... that is until they get a set of numbers from the same nonpartisan group more in line with what they think the numbers should show, namely blow the deficit out of the water to the point that we'll be living in grass huts within five years. (AAARRGH! FEAR! RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!) But that's never going to happen. Republican "fiscal conservative" heads explode in 5... 4... 3...From The Hill: The comprehensive health reform legislation will cost $940 billion over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Thursday.The nonpartisan budget office told lawmakers that the health bill set for a vote this weekend would cut the deficit by $130 billion over the next decade, and $1.2 trillion in the second decade of the plan's implementation.
Thank you, Dennis.
Now if only more progressives could see the forest for the trees instead of working with teabaggers in trying to kill the bill."This is a defining moment for whether or not we'll have any opportunity to move off square one on the issue of health care. And so even though I don't like the bill, I've made a decision to support it in the hopes that we can move towards a more comprehensive approach once this legislation is done," [Kucinich] said.
During the presidential campaign, I donated $50 to Dennis Kucinich when he ran with an idea that he could finance his entire campaign with $50 million. He was looking for $50 from one million donors. He didn't get anywhere close. Are you telling me there aren't a million progressives willing to give $50? Or two million to give $25?Jane Hamsher: Dennis Kucinich has called a press conference for tomorrow. Howard Fineman is reporting that Kucinich will vote “yes” on health care...If... he settles for some worthless reassurances that “Obama will work toward it in the future” (which nobody but Lynn Woolsey is dumb enough to actually believe), or a meaningless symbolic vote that achieves little more than 15 minutes of futile grandstanding, good luck to him. A thousand people have donated over $16,000 to Dennis since yesterday to thank him for standing up for what he believes in. We’ll be asking him to return it.
Sorry for the light blogging these last few days. I'm in the middle of house hunting and all my energies are scattered to the four winds to the point that I can't formulate a thought. I'd jotted down some notes on the subway regarding the "deem and pass" rigamarole when I first heard of it, but as I was doing some research to make sure I wasn't an idiot, I found out I was. So no post. At least not in its current form. I'll try again later, but no promises.
In the meantime, let's dance!
Telephone - Pomplamoose Music
posted by Armadillo Joe
Hey, Blog-O-Maniacs, been gone a while. Been busy, but the sched is easing up so I hope to resume posting here with some greater frequency. In the meantime, I've been exercising my re-awakening debate skills on some folks on a friend's page at Facebook.
I enjoy reading all the lefty blogs, but rather than join the "fuck, yeah!" tone of most comments sections I'm more and more drawn to engaging on Facebook because I have come to believe that, apart from our calls-to-arms phoning of Congress at key points, we aren't doing much to actually change minds out there. By focusing on each other, we're ignoring the millions who never meet a liberal in their daily lives, and only hear a steady stream of FOX and Limbaugh and Hannity. They never ever have their assumptions challenged. I increasingly think Facebook might be the only place to really do that, since most of us want to keep the family peace and don't engage when cranky Uncle Ray starts talkin' about the uppity niggers and them wimmin-folk having abortions for fun and sport.
But, on Facebook, we have a real audience and not just the person we're locking horns with, but all your common friends and family and all their friends and family. For many of the silent lurking readers, it might be the first time a lib-ruhl wasn't a burned-out 1960's era relic (a Grateful Dead-ender, if you will) or Alan Colmes. Smart, strong and engaged liberals who don't back down are a rarity throughout most of the country and our recent political history is a testament to the extent we've disengaged our fellow Americans, allowing FOX to fill the void. I urge you, all of you, to go out and give them an example and win their respect or, failing that, their silence.
As a re-introductory post, I thought I'd cross-post and get your reactions, to gauge how I did.
This is long, but worth it, I think.
Click on portrait for a complete list of President Obama's Executive Orders, Presidential Memoranda and Proclamations
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