A little Saturday Sarah

Watch the video here. Sixty-one seconds of inspiring patriotism. A bewildered nation is overwhelmed with gratitude --- although it's possible Sarah paid for this one herself.

Damned if we do...

Based on this report, it looks like the country's facing the perfect dilemma. Budget deficits larger than expected, recession deeper than we thought, and the really good part: If we don't do something, it will cause a calamity -- but if we do something, it will cause a calamity. Fortunately, we have Mitch McConnell, the chinless wonder, weighing in to clarify that we're facing a calamity. I think bears have the right idea. When winter comes, they roll over and hibernate.

Added 9:18 am: This should strengthen the economy. Kay Bay has released her tax returns, which show that she and Mr. Kay Bay paid out about 102,000 bucks to their hired help last year. KB should use this in a campaign ad about creating employment opportunities. It must be nice to be rich, not that I'll ever know the feeling.

Unhealthy for us

My bro in Houston says in an e-mail that he's afraid Obama is a political lightweight who's wasting time trying to get along with Republicans, and that we're eventually going to wind up with a watered-down health care reform bill that won't contain costs or expand insurance coverage. I agree with the part about the health care bill -- my biggest concern is always that Congress will pass a bad law which is worse than no law. I'm not quite ready to give Obama a grade yet, since he's only seven months into his first year. But at least one liberal columnist is thinking along the same lines we are.

Added 11:31 am, Sunday: Charlie Cook on the 2010 elections. Says Dems lose House seats but maybe hold the majority ? Would it matter if they did ? And this blog points out something else that may be a factor -- just because people think Democrats suck doesn't mean they're getting all gooey for Republicans. Maybe most people are like me and hate 'em both.

More certitude

More things about which I'm certain:


Anyone wanting to add words to his vocabulary should take up crossword puzzles as a hobby.

When conservatives claim they're enslaved by the government, it's proof they haven't got a single fucking clue what that word means. Maybe they should consider crossword puzzles.

At some point, there needs to be a limit to what Republicans are willing to privatize.

Certitude

There are things about which I'm certain:

• When losing weight, it's much easier to go from 260 pounds to 190 than it is to go from 175 pounds to 165.

• Quentin Tarantino will never make a movie better than Pulp Fiction.

• Of all the Republicans on earth, Rush Limbaugh most deserves to be designated a Waste of Oxygen. Tom DeLay is a lock for second place. Karl Rove is in a tie with numerous others for third.

• The people in charge of football at TAMU damaged the program beyond repair when they wasted Reggie McNeal's talent at quarterback.

• The days of TAMU beating Texas in football six consecutive seasons are over and done with.

• If Rick Perry ends up being the longest-serving governor in the recorded history of Texas, it will be an everlasting blemish on the state and a monument to voter stupidity.

• I could probably get all the TV watching I need if Turner Classic Movies was the only channel I received.

• The people who are most obsessed with firearm ownership are the last people who need to be carrying loaded guns around.

• If everyone who bragged about their dedication to Christian values actually lived their lives as Jesus taught, there would be no Republican Party as it exists today.

• The worst thing John McCain ever did was select Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008. There is no possible atonement for this misjudgment.

• Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, and Billy Wilder are three directors who made a lot of movies worth seeing over and over again.

• I have yet to find a contemporary actor who personifies cool the way Steve McQueen and Paul Newman could on their worst days.

• I really wish Kurt Vonnegut Jr. could've written more books. Even his lesser works are better than a lot of stuff I've read.

The Nazis are coming, the Nazis are coming

There are still a few conservatives saying and writing things that make sense, and David Frum appears to be one of them. His topic here is the, pardon the expression, liberal misapplication of the terms "Nazi" and "fascist" when hardcore right-wingers are whining about the Obama administration. I used to make the same kind of comparisons when Bush/Cheney/Rove were in charge, but I think I had the stronger case.

Added 4:40 pm, same day: Maybe one of the best articles on this subject I've read yet. From Mike Lupica.

Conservatives have their say: Prevention vs Cure

Charles Krauthammer (top mugshot) is like George Will, a doctrinaire conservative whose columns are generally predictable and so full of right-wing pontification as to be unreadable. I'm including the link to this one only because I have a strong bias based on personal experience. In 2004, I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic, and my HMO doctor laid out some options for me that included changes in my dietary and exercise habits and losing weight. He also ordered consultations with specialists in nutrition and diabetes management, who got me started on the right track.

I consider the medical assistance I received to be preventive since it was intended to prevent the much more serious consequences of diabetes that were almost certain to follow if I maintained the status quo -- and would've been much more expensive to treat. The bottom line is that I'm an advocate for preventive medicine.

Krauthammer, a man with obvious medical problems of his own, doesn't come right out and denounce the concept of preventive medicine, but wastes valuable editorial page space making a case for its lack of cost-effectiveness. One thing I've noticed about conservatives is that in their minds, there's no such thing as a war that's too expensive and no social program that's cheap enough to suit them.

Added 3:58 pm, same day: And while we're on the subject, let's add this, from Rep. Pete Sessions. Pete (bottom mugshot) looks and talks like a poster boy for the dangers of inbreeding, but I read the op-ed he "wrote" for the Dallas Morning News to get a handle on exactly which health care reforms a hardcore North Texas conservative would support. In fact, I read his damned horseshit twice to make sure I got his point. I wasn't surprised to learn the health care system Pete can really support is the one that looks almost exactly like what most of his constituents already have. There is that little kernel in there about using "pre-tax" dollars to buy private insurance, meaning tax cut, meaning same remedy conservatives always come up with as the solution to every fucking problem. Otherwise, his plan is mostly platitudes and generalization. Pete and Charlie had a chance to sway me with their cogency, and both blew it.

Like Reagan ?

Obamarama from the conservative viewpoint in a column worth reading. Notable because it doesn't contain the usual foaming-at-the-mouth craziness that I've learned to expect, and has some reasonable criticism that the president should seriously consider.

Fringe elements

William Kostric has gotten a little attention on the internet, and I even watched some of the Chris Matthews interview with him. I don't want to slide into drama queen mode here, but this guy came across like Travis Bickle, the character Robert De Niro played in Taxi Driver. The words that keep going through my mind as I try to keep up with stuff that's happening are -- it's just a matter of time.

Then there's stuff like this. I knew things would get insane if Obama was elected, but so far it's been worse than I expected.

Health wars

This article from the Houston Chronicle lays out the facts and myths in the current health care reform wars as well as anything I've seen on the subject so far.

The reason liberals usually lose public policy battles is that they have no propaganda machinery that comes close to the apparatus developed by conservatives since 1980 -- the days of liberal media bias are now in the distant past if they ever really existed at all. Conservatives have the motive, the means, and the opportunity to dominate the discussion of any controversial issue, and they're better at orchestrating organized campaigns using print and electronic media than liberals can ever hope to be.

For every liberal periodical ( e.g., The New Republic, The American Prospect, The Nation ), there's a conservative counterpart (The American Spectator, The Weekly Standard, National Review). Opinion pages in every major newspaper or weekly newsmagazine have at least as many conservative columnists as liberal ones. On the other hand, liberals have no tools remotely comparable to AM talk radio and Fox News Channel. Conservative commentary on talk shows is reported in the print media as legitimate news, and there are vast audiences who seem to have nothing better to do than listen to AM radio or watch cable television. If Democrats think they can compete with that, they're crazy.

Added 5:56 pm, same day: The Gallup poll results are in and it shouldn't be too surprising that many old people (the over-60s) want to slow things down and focus health care reform on cutting costs rather than expanding coverage to more people. Most old people probably have private insurance or government insurance (or both) and can afford to say, "I got mine... go fuck yourself."

Added 10:42, Wednesday 12 August: More commentary on old people from the editorial page. Sometimes I behave like a typical American geezer myself; other times, my fellow seniors just embarrass the hell outta me. Is that what they mean by dichotomy ?

If Barack was like Sarah...

"Hey, America.... yeah, you in the coveralls, I'm talkin' to you. I've had it up to here with your lame bullshit, man. So just pretend like you never heard of me 'cause I'm GONE !"