The August recess by Congress will make or break the healthcare insurance reform plans as advocates on all sides will make their pitch to the people. The battles will be fought primarily in town hall meetings and media commercials. I forecast a major glitch in this scenario. Opponents will stack the town hall meetings and those who should listen most likely will be on … [Read more...] about U.S. Health Reform Seen By A Canadian Medic
Kansas Prisons Are Too Insecure for Gitmo Detainees
Sam Brownback doesn't trust that Leavenworth is up to the task of keeping Kansans safe from former Gitmo detainees suspected of being terrorists but never charged or tried as such. They might escape. They might get out of their cells and hurt the prison guards or the other inmates. It's just too risky to keep suspected terrorists in there with rapists, murderers, and serial … [Read more...] about Kansas Prisons Are Too Insecure for Gitmo Detainees
Living Life The Wall Street Way
Wall Street has changed the way I view the world. And I must admit, for the better. Things that used to bother me or make me sad now make me happy. My previous problem was in not seeing the bright side of almost anything. Take the weather where I live. It has been hot. Really hot. Today it reached 105. But since the three weather forecasters on local TV stations were … [Read more...] about Living Life The Wall Street Way
GOP Shoots For its Own Foot on CARS
Lesson number 213 on how to remain in the minority for a long time no matter how badly the Democrats drive the nation's economy toward the event horizon of a fiscal black hole. Oppose one of the few popular things that Congress has managed to do with your tax dollars. If the Senate doesn't agree to cough up another 2 billion dollars for the Cash for Clunkers program to match … [Read more...] about GOP Shoots For its Own Foot on CARS
Keep It in the Closet
During the election last year, we were reminded again and again that Barack Obama was in the vanguard on gay rights, while John McCain was incredibly anti-gay. Nevermind that both candidates had basically the same position on gay marriage: they were against it. When Obama became President, many liberals and not quite a few Republicans believed that he would advance the … [Read more...] about Keep It in the Closet
Look Who’s Talking Now
An Israeli MK is giving a speech today where he will talk about the discrimination and racism faced by Israeli Arab citizens, forthrightly declare that they are integral and indispensable parts of Israeli society, and recognize the real and true trauma faced by Palestinians coinciding with the creation of Israel. On its own, this isn't all that noteworthy -- Israel has a … [Read more...] about Look Who’s Talking Now
Health “insurance” is not health “care”
Orrin Hatch may not be loving the Democrats' health care reform plans. Of course, for a moment there, I thought he might be, since he referred to it as being "out of this world." Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who has a long history of teaming up with Democrats on healthcare legislation, says Democratic healthcare reform plans now under consideration are “out of this world.” … [Read more...] about Health “insurance” is not health “care”
THIS JUST IN! Obama’s Kenyan Birth Certificate (OOPS! Wait a minute …)
THIS JUST IN!!! Obama's real Kenyan birth certificate has been discovered! OOPS...Wait a minute...Or has it? The birthers, a growing movement of GOPers who are trying like crazy to find something -- anything -- to delegitimize Barack Obama's election and presidency while being fanned on by increasingly paranoid talk show hosts such as Glenn Beck and some Republican … [Read more...] about THIS JUST IN! Obama’s Kenyan Birth Certificate (OOPS! Wait a minute …)
Embrace (and Thank) the Blue Dogs
Writing for The Daily Beast, John Avlon argues that the Blue Dogs and their counterparts in the Senate are "Obama's best friends." Attacked as villains by liberals and accused of slowing down the legislation’s passage, they are the unsung heroes of health-care reform. They are not trying to kill Obama’s initiative; they are trying to save it. H/t The Hill's Blog … [Read more...] about Embrace (and Thank) the Blue Dogs
Like America, China, Too, Must Confront Racism and Prejudice: The China Daily, China
Is the deadly rioting in China's western-most provinces driving a public relations policy change in Beijing? According to this article from the state-run China Daily, just as in America, Chinese society is due for an open discussion on prejudice. Using the recent American controversy between Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and a White police officer as a jumping off … [Read more...] about Like America, China, Too, Must Confront Racism and Prejudice: The China Daily, China
Can Republicans Escape Their Extremists?
WASHINGTON -- Things are looking up for the Republicans, relatively speaking. President Obama's poll numbers have dipped, GOP recruitment for the 2010 elections is going better than expected, and the heath care battle has been rough on the Democrats. On top of that, the surveys show Republicans now leading in this year's two major governor's races, in Virginia and New … [Read more...] about Can Republicans Escape Their Extremists?
Iran Top Reformists To Be Put On Trial As Ahmadinejad Prepares Inauguration
Get ready for Iran to be in pitchforked into the headlines this week as the regime there prepares to get -- and to receive -- a double whammy. And there could be a triple whammy, too. First whammy: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be inaugurated as President, even though the legitimacy of his vote is now seen in almost the same light as the rigged elections that kept Iraq's Sadaam … [Read more...] about Iran Top Reformists To Be Put On Trial As Ahmadinejad Prepares Inauguration
Obama, Burma and Indonesia
Via the always thoughtful Dan Twining:Last Friday, Indonesia's electoral commission certified the winner of the country's recent presidential election, a free and fair contest that demonstrated the strength of democratic norms in a country ruled for decades by strongmen supported by Washington. Meanwhile, next door in Burma, a political show trial is preparing to convict that … [Read more...] about Obama, Burma and Indonesia
What Obama secretly believes
James Kirchick has a very interesting article in the Sunday Post. Since declaring himself as a candidate for President, Barack Obama has consistently stated that he opposes gay marriage. Yet it is practically an article of faith among liberals that Obama secretly supports gay marriage, but says the opposite for political reasons. James writes,I've lost track of the number of … [Read more...] about What Obama secretly believes
No Such Thing as Bad Publicity?
Wow. Sarah Palin and her attorney seem determined to keep this story alive. … [Read more...] about No Such Thing as Bad Publicity?
Consensus, Not Oversight
Earlier this week, CIA director Leon Panetta advised us that we all need to stop worrying about war crimes of the past (our past), put CIA black sites and " 'enhanced' interrogation techniques" behind us, and move on. (After all, the CIA was just following orders only "implements presidential decisions"; it "does not make them.") … [Read more...] about Consensus, Not Oversight
Dem Spenders
Gary McCoy, Cagle Cartoons This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Dem Spenders
The Medal of Honor: A Medal Too Far?
Almost five years into the Afghanistan war and three years into the Iraq war, something started to nag at me, something just didn’t seem right. In spite of the high number of casualties (killed in action and seriously maimed and wounded); in spite of the heroic deeds we knew our brave troops were accomplishing; and in spite of the importance of those wars to the security of … [Read more...] about The Medal of Honor: A Medal Too Far?
How It Goes Down
Anyone with an active interest in economics, or with the kind of bank account and job that causes them to read the Wall Street Journal should by now have a very good sense of what is coming down the pipe in the USA. Most of the rest of the world – especially the Chinese – seem to have a very good sense of it. While it is true that the USA is full of ingenious and … [Read more...] about How It Goes Down
Fixing Health Care in a Week
Yesterday, I wrote about the hypocrisy of Republicans and conservative Democrats who have been telling us that it's "too expensive" to extend to all Americans the generous single-payer health insurance coverage that they and their families, as federal employees, enjoy at Americans' expense. Today, Los Angeles Times reporters Mark Z. Barabak and Faye Fiore have a lengthy, … [Read more...] about Fixing Health Care in a Week