Monday, August 31, 2009

Growing-Up In The Shadow of The Spires

by Dick Mac

I grew-up on McGreevey Way in the Mission Hill Housing Projects. Both of my parents were born in Mission Hill: my mom grew-up on Hillside Street, my dad on Kempton Street (the projects had not been built when they were born in the 1930s).

The projects are at the northeastern base of Mission Hill near the fens of the Muddy River, and McGreevey Way is basically the second street on the Hill as you head up Huntington Avenue (Route 9), which forms the western border of the Hill. The eastern base of the Hill, which is now Columbus Avenue, is also the Stony Brook, now an aqueduct running underground. The southern base of the Hill is Heath Street, dividing Roxbury's Mission Hill from Jamaica Plain.

The neighborhood is the home of a Roman basilica named for Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It is informally called the Mission Church. The basilica is a remarkable building, and it is the Church where my parents were baptized, my siblings and I were baptized, where we received our First Holy Communions, where my brothers were married, and my parents' and grandparents' funerals were held. When you add all of my friends' and relatives' similar events held at the basilica, you understand that this church has been a big part of my life, and that I have attended scores of life-altering events there.

The basilica formed and informed my ideas of church and churches. I learned about apses and alters and steeples and colonnades and sanctuaries and chapels, the conopaeum and the tintinnabulum (basically an umbrella and a bell!). I heard that the Pope only says Mass in a basilica, or outdoors, and that our basilica was known around the world for miracles that are alleged to have taken place after petitions to Our Lady. An altar includes a rack of canes, crutches and braces that were no longer needed by the lame who had been cured by miraculous intervention in the basilica. Believe what you will.

It is an imposing building, with twin spires rising high into the air, and visible from far distances. I saw those spires and the massive church every day of my childhood, and I always remember them fondly. The basilica is up the Hill from the Projects, looking over the working-poor tenants of the Projects. The placement above the projects makes it an even more formidable neighbor that it might have been to those who lived "above" it, further up the Hill.

Upon entering, even the most confident person feels diminutive. The vaulted ceilings and magnificent columns dwarf everyone. The splendor of the main altar glows at the other end of the long aisle. If I remember correctly, my brothers' weddings required a white runner that was well over 100 feet long, and it took the ushers a noticeable effort to roll it the length of the church.

Everything about the church is amazing. Everyone I know has been impressed by it upon their first visit.

My last visit to the church was a sad one, for my mother's funeral.

It was a wet day in March, 2001. I had flown to Boston a few days earlier from my home in London, leaving Mrs. Mac there, to visit my mother in the hospital. It was not supposed to be her last stay in the hospital (is it ever?) and the next day it was obvious that I wouldn't be returning to London anytime soon. Mrs. Mac got a flight to Boston and upon her arrival, after we were all gathered in the hospital room, we ordered food to be delivered (Chinese?), commandeered some extra chairs from around the ICU, and started playing Whist. Mrs. Mac and my sister painted my mother's nails and it was a joyous time. The whole family was together and we were doing what Irish families in our neighborhood always did, we were doing the things my mother loved to do: we ate, drank, and played cards, we laughed and told stories, like the Irish do. We invited the nurses and other families to join us. We were having a good time. Seemingly within minutes of us all being in a groove, my mother passed away the way she wanted: Quietly. Dignified. Surrounded by family.

Through the chaotic haze that makes-up my memory of the funeral, I remember sitting in the back of a limousine approching the Hill from the east and riding up Tremont Street. As the car approached the top of a rise, bagpipes in front of the church sounded the strains Amazing Grace.

This past Saturday, Senator Ted Kennedy's funeral was held at the same basilica.

I watched on television as some of the most famous and powerful members of the United States government gathered in the pews and aisles that are so familiar to me. I watched presidents stand in front of the confessionals where I have talked about my deepest fears and scariest secrets. I watched Barrack Obama deliver a eulogy in the same pulpit from which my brother eulogized my mother, and from which I read bible verses in celebration of my other brother’s marriage. I watched the entire Kennedy clan and their closest friends walk across the same modest brick plaza that I crossed so many times, whether to celebrate a simple communion or an elaborate ritual.

In Brooklyn, NY, I could feel the drizzle and the familiar breeze and I remembered the smell of the church, I could smell the burning wax and the incense. I could hear the familiar organ and I remembered my sister singing Amazing Grace as my mother's casket made its way into the church.

I remembered my thoughts while walking that long aisle and I wondered how different my thoughts were, or your thoughts were, from the Kennedy clans' thoughts while walking alone in a crowd during the funeral of a loved one.

I wonder.




Friday, August 28, 2009

Waterloo Sunset

by Dick Mac

On my 45th Birthday, I attended the Tibet House benefit at Carnegie Hall. One of the highlights of the evening was Ray Davies and David Bowie singing "Waterloo Sunset." Here is a bootleg video of the event:



I think there was a pretty cool party in Herald Square that week, too!

Were you at either event?





Thursday, August 27, 2009

Ted Kennedy, 1932 - 2009

by Dick Mac

I grew-up in Boston. Right in the city, next to downtown. I could walk to Fenway Park and Symphony Hall. The Museum of Fine Arts and Harvard Medical School were our neighbors.

We sometimes walked all the way to Coolidge Corner, and a short distance further was the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, the assassinated President. Every Catholic boy in Boston knew where to find that house - it was like Mecca. It's a modest house, really. It doesn't look like the house you would imagine those kids were born in.

The Kennedys were (are?) larger than life in Boston. Almost every adult man I knew had met Jack and Bobby, or had at least shaken their hands. Ted wasn't as famous and people didn't talk much about him.

Until 1969, when everybody was talking about him, and Mary Jo Kopechne, and Teddy's drinking, and the old plane crash story, and the tragedies of that family, and the notion that Kennedys could get away with murder, and they've done so much for the country and the world, and that poor mother and all she's been through, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

That hot Summer day, I was selling newspapers in front of St. Catherine's Church in Charlestown. I knew nothing about Charlestown, but Mr. Keith would pick us up in his van and we'd sell the Sunday paper in front of churches and subway stops. I would usually be busy first thing in the morning and I would only see the headlines. While everyone was in Mass, I would read the paper. And the news was there: Ted Kennedy Drove His Car Off The Tallahachee Bridge. Well, that's how I thought of it because I couldn't pronounce Chappaquiddick yet.

This incident moved Ted Kennedy out of the pantheon of Kennedy gods, prevented him from becoming an icon like his brothers, and likely is the sole reason he was unable to become President.

He had already completed one term as Senator from Massachusetts, and had cut his teeth as a formidable politician by helping to guide LBJ's Medicare/Medicaid programs into law.

Johnson, who had been his brother's vice-president and one of the Senate's all-time best deal-makers, was instrumental in Kennedy's early development as a senator. Ted became one of the Senate's best deal-makers and negotiators. He always commanded respect from both sides of the aisle (which is shown today by the outpouring of accolades for his accomplishments from politicians of every stripe).

Through the 1970s, Kennedy firmly stood his ground as a champion of the underdog. A Roman Catholic who defended the rights of women to make every decision about reproduction, Kennedy withstood the wrath of bishops and cardinals who wanted to count him as one of their own. He never wavered. Not for a second. He never equivocated on abortion rights, not once, not one iota (unlike some so-called liberals of today who like to tip-toe around the issue).

Kennedy spoke out for the rights of women, people of color, homosexuals, the handicapped, immigrants, and all Americans whose voice is not as loud as the billionaires controlling the government and media. And he never wavered, he never gave in.

Kennedy did actively campaign for deregulation of the airline industry, which has proven (like all deregulation) to be a failure. Truth is, like his brothers before him, he was a pro-business liberal. He had no desire to prevent big business from flourishing, and had no intention of allowing the millionaires like himself off the hook by eliminating taxes. He believed that the rich should pay their fair share, which amount is more than the poor should pay, and he was happy to help them make more money, as long as they paid their fair share.

The 1980 presidential election was a low-point in Kennedy's career. I never understood why he made that move, and it proved to be an utter failure. There was a Democrat in the White House, and his entry into the race undermined the already weakened Jimmy Carter. Ten years after Chappaquiddick, Kennedy threw his hat in the ring and seemed well-prepared to answer questions about that crime. Unfortunately, he did not seem ready to answer many other questions and he appeared unprepared to lead the nation out of its crippling recession. Carter won renomination easily, and limped to a dreadful loss to Ronald Reagan.

Kennedy returned to the Senate and back to work helping to steer our government to be a good government. He passed a lot of good legislation during these dreadfully wrong-wing times. He worked with all the Presidents, and all the Congresses, helping to pass and defeat legislation as he saw fit. He was a single voice of good sense during the destruction of America by Reaganomics.

He knew that a pie cut in two does not include three pieces, that you can't give half to the rich as tax cuts, then half to the military for 'defense,' then half to the government budget. Kennedy, unlike Reagan and the leaders that came after him, knew that there were only two halves and he fought to spend those two halves in ways that would strengthen our nation. Sadly, he fought during a time when Americans decided that giving all the money to the rich was more important than spending money to continue building the greatest civilization that had ever existed.

In the early-1990s, I remarked to a friend that Kennedy had become an elder statesman, without anyone really noticing. In 2008, when Hillary Clinton (perhaps the antithesis of Ted Kennedy) was about to put a good whooping on Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic nomination, a physically challenged Kennedy appeared with other Kennedys and endorsed Obama for President.

I believe this is why Obama is President today. Kennedy had become not only an elder statesman, but a king-maker, too.

A friend's cousin was one of Kennedy's aides de camp, and she shared today that Kennedy made 400 phone calls a day. That's more than thirty phone calls an hour in a 12-hour day! Impressive, indeed.

I don't need to give you links to find the articles, editorials, and op-eds about Ted Kennedy. They are everywhere.

Losing him during this current health care debate is disastrous. Stupid wrong-wingers, tricked into fighting against their own best interest (as if Reagan himself was dictating), have dominated the dialog, and Obama doesn't have an ally in the Senate who can make things happen. LBJ had Ted Kennedy when he needed to change the way medicine was paid for in America; but, Obama does not have him for this fight. This is a very big deal. Without Kennedy, I do not believe a health care package worth voting for will ever be developed. There just isn't anyone in the Senate that can make it happen.

The loss of Ted Kennedy is a huge loss.

May God look down on us and be kind, and may God look upon Ted Kennedy's legacy and be pleased.



Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Powerball Winner

by Dick Mac

Some guys have all the luck. This guy says that winning a cash prize of $88,000,000 won't change him, and I admire that. I am unable to talk about what I will do with the eighty-eight million, because my state doesn't sell Powerball tickets, so I was unable to claim this jackpot.

Would this much money change you?

What is the first thing you would do?

SC retiree: $260M Powerball prize won't change me



Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Sweet Heart

by Dick Mac

My Internet home page is my.yahoo.com, and some news stories, sports scores, and a link to my email are in the forefront. This morning I clicked on a news story about American sugar consumption and the danger of excessive sugar consumption. The article discusses new information released by the American Heart Association.

Americans consume more sugar than ever, and suffer from obesity at a greater rate than others on the planet.

It's an important discussion that really can't take place in the national media, because the sugar sellers sponsor so many of the media, and media do not want to offend their sponsors.

A serious dialog about sugar in its many forms just can't take place.

What happened this morning did not shock me, but I sighed.



I clicked on a link to read an article about the dangers of sugar consumption, and the sponsor of the article was "Snickers." Now, I love Snickers bars and eat too many of them (12 or more a year), but am I the only one who sees the absurdity of Snickers sponsoring an article about sugar consumption?

Heart group: Cut back — way back — on extra sugar

Carbohydrates and Sugars, at the American Heart Association site





Monday, August 24, 2009

Jean Shepherd - Hearing Voices

by Dick Mac

Last Sunday morning and yesterday, my local NPR station, WNYC's broadcast of Hearing Voices, played a two-part tribute to Jean Shepherd. "Shep" was a regular commentator on New York's WOR radio from 1956 to 1977.

I am not a native New Yorker. I moved here spiritually in the mid-1970s, but I did not move here physically until the late-1990s. I never knew about Jean Shepherd.

Harry Shearer hosts a two-part two-hour tribute to Shep, that includes re-broadcasts of shows he recorded about his time in the military and his experience at the 1963 March on Washington, among other topics.

I don't know if Shep was the creator of this sort of radio narration, but he did it remarkably well; better than anyone else I've ever heard. He talks deliberately and engagingly about food, buses, management, radio, law, lawlessness, sense (common and otherwise), and any other topic you can imagine.

Jean Shepherd 1: A Voice in the Night [Audio available.]

Jean Shepherd 2 [Audio to be posted on August 26, 2990].

Hearing Voices



Friday, August 21, 2009

Boycott Whole Foods


by Dick Mac

I have called on people to boycott Whole Food in the past. Not because the food is over-priced and management are elitist snobs, but because they are union-busters who treat their employees poorly. See, Whole Foods Supermarket - by Dick Mac [December 2005]

More recently, John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods, explained that single-payer health care is bad because "in Socialism, eventually you run out of other peoples' money." [See link below.] I learned that this is not an original quote, he is quoting Dame Margaret Thatcher, one of the 20th Century's most destructive world leaders.

Either Mr. Mackey is stupid or evil.

Single-payer health care has nothing to do with socialism. If Mr. Mackey believes this, he is stupid. If he is just throwing-around the word "socialism" because he knows it scares stupid people, then he is evil. I vote the latter.

Mr. Mackey is in a position to spread his lies about health care, America, and socialism, because you keep buying food at his store.

Stop it! Mackey doesn't care about America, he cares about himself and hanging-on to as much money as he can. He certainly doesn't care about you!

The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare - by John Mackey



Thursday, August 20, 2009

Losing Afghanistan

by Al Falafel



General Stanley McChrystal, the recently appointed commander
of the US army in Afghanistan, has given an extraordinary
interview to the Wall Street Journal, in which he says America
is losing the war and the military has one year to get
results before public support evaporates.

Read the interview here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124986154654218153.html

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Let's Stop Reforming Health Care


by Dick Mac

I was raised in poverty. Standard post-War American poverty. Not abject poverty like the majority of the world's citizens, but plain old, single-mom, welfare, surplus-food poverty in the housing projects.

The housing projects I grew-up in were a stone's throw (literally) from Harvard Medical School, and a short walk to its teaching hospitals, including Boston Children's Hospital.

We had Medicaid. It covered our health care.

When we had a medical problem we would go to the hospital and we would be treated. It seemed to work.

Medicaid worked. People got sick, they got treated. People got hit by cars or shot by cops, they got treated. People needed inoculations or antibiotics and they got them. It worked. Somehow, America didn't collapse into socialistic Communism, and the economy continued to expand

We have eliminated that program, of course, because our tax dollars have to be funnelled-up to the rich, so they can distribute them downwards via the open market. And now we are fighting over America's medical system.

A medical system that is ranked with technological power-houses like Costa Rica and Slovenia. [See, The World Health Organization's ranking
of the world's health systems
.] Yup, the supply-siders tell us that we have the best health care in the world, and we are ranked number thirty-seven.

We do live in a nation, after all, where a sporting event titled the world series is open to only one organization not operated within the United States, so it makes sense that these same people would consider 37 to be the best.

We need to scrap the entire dialog about health care, spend the next few months fixing our tax code and regulatory agencies so the rich are fairly taxed and fairly regulated. Then, around Christmas time, we can talk about health care again.

And let's talk about restoring the post-War Medicaid system that worked perfectly, and provide it to every American who wants it. Most Americans have decent access to health care, and Medicaid will be the safety net that makes a nation civilized.



Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Tea Baggers Have a Point

by Al Falafel



If we allow the government take over the Health Care System in this country where will that lead?

Next they'll want to control the Military - Our National Security System!

Then they'll want to meddle in the Courts and claim ownership of our whole Legal System!

Local Police and Fire departments will become tools of the government!

Prisons will be run by bureaucrats in Warshington DC!

The Postal Service too!

Look out! Even the Education of our Children will become a state run enterprise!

Oh my God! Think if the government got control of ANY of those things we would be well on our way to being a Godless SOCIALIST country!

It's a slippery slope, people! And it's creeping up on us. Mark my words.

The day will come when the government steps in and takes over control of the ELECTIONS in this democracy!

Thank the Glorious Gods of Capitalism that their true representatives on Earth, our Benevolent Corporate Overlords will NEVER let that happen!

Never!

Greed is Good! Health Care? WHO Cares?

The Gods must be appeased!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Grazing In The Grass - Friends of Distinction

by Dick Mac

The harmonies and dancing alone make this television performance better than most videos released since the advent of music television.

Nobody is touching their genitals, no women are grunting, no men are threatening to kill anyone; and yet, it is entertaining! Imagine!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Is Drunk Driving A Felony?

by Dick Mac

Either drunk-driving is a felony or it isn't.

I am of the opinion that driving while drunk, which jeopardizes the lives of any person who might encounter the drunk-driver, is felonious behavior.

In New York, it is a misdemeanor. A crime that more often than not results in a slap on the wrist.

You can be imprisoned for a misdemeanor conviction, but you are less likely to be imprisoned for a misdemeanor than a felony.

New York Governor Paterson, let's call him Governor Stoopit in honor of the remarkable work he has done since being appointed governor, believes that drunk-driving in only felonious behavior if there is a child present in the vehicle the drunk is driving.

I am a fan of drinking. I think drinking is great fun. Booze and I have had some great times together, and I believe people should be free to consume as much alcohol as they want.

I am a fan of driving. My family will tell you that I can drive for hours on end.

I do not drink and drive. Ever. It is stupid to drink and drive. It is dangerous. Too dangerous.

I support changes to the law that make it a felony to drive drunk. I do not support changes to the law that make it a felony to drive drunk ONLY if children are in the car. This is nonsense. A drunk-driver can kill just as many children if they are in the other car, as if they are in her own car!

Governor Stoopit doesn't know how to govern, he only knows how to react to events around him. He has no vision or ideas for a better New York.

A mother killed herself, her daughter, and three nieces while trashed out of her mind. She also killed three adult men in another car. So, Governor Stoopit wants to change the laws.

If the four girls had not been in this drunk's car and she killed only herself and the three adult men, would Governor Stoopit be calling for changes to the drunk-driving laws? No. He is using the same political currency that neo-cons and reaganites have been using for three decades: children. He is using the deaths of four little girls to further his own career. He is like a Republican. He is despicable.

Let's make drunk-driving a felony, but not only if there are children in the car, let's just make it a felony.

Paterson Wants Tougher Penalties, at WNYC

Thursday, August 13, 2009

I Survived A Japanese Game Show, Season 2

by Dick Mac

One of the guilty pleasures in our household this Summer was "I Survived A Japanese Game Show."

I love game shows that remind me of childhood favorites. In this case, I am reminded of Beat The Clock and Shenanigans. I actually had board games of both of these shows, and although Shenanigans did not require the physical feats of Beat The Clock or I Survived A Japanese Game Show, my memory makes the connection.

"I Survived . . . " takes place in Tokyo on the set of Japanese game show "Majide." Majide is not a real game show in Japan, but is designed to simulate a Japanese game show. It succeeds.

Contestants dress in funny costumes and perform ridiculous feats ranging from eating raw squid to dressing mannequins while spinning in circles. There is a lot of slap-stickery and it is all very amusing.

The "America" angle (the part of the production that makes the show distinctly not Japanese) is the contestants shown backstage expressing their feelings and sharing their opinions. If the absurdity of the games themselves weren't low-brow enough, the phony emotionalism and boring self-promotion bring the show lower than you could imagine. Fortunately, DVR allows me to fast-forward through the backstage drama, cat fights, gossip, and sophomoric romance.

The sophisticated angle of the show takes place after each team challenge. The winning team is treated to a day of Japanese culture: Samurai school to learn how to handle a sword, sumo wrestling to watch the workouts and actually participate in a match, a sake distillery to taste different kinds of sake and enjoy a nice meal, a baseball game to throw out the first pitch, etc. The losing team generally visits a similar venue and performs tasks like cleaning bathrooms, providing massages, making or delivering food, etc. The producers succeed at showing us glimpses of some distinctly Japanese cultural institutions.

I like the show, and appreciate the ability to FF through the Big Brother-ish behind-the-scenes vignettes.

Here is the final competition between Linda and Kathy, to determine which American would win $250,000!



I look forward to next Summer's season!

Hai majide! (Yes, seriously!)

I Survived A Japanese Game Show - Official Site

I Survived a Japanese Game Show, from Wikipedia

Hai Majide Facebook page

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Fox News Boycott Successes - A Little Bit At A Time

by Dick Mac

On Tuesday, GEICO pulled its advertising dollars from the Glen Beck show on the Fox News Channel. GEICO follows Proctor & Gamble, lawyers.com, Progressive Insurance, and SC Johnson, who also pulled their ad dollars from the show.

This sounds like progress, but more work is needed. These advertisers need to be encouraged to pull all ad revenue from the entire Fox News network, perhaps the entire Fox array of broadcast outlets, and ideally from all News Corporation outlets.

I know that liberals will tell you that boycotts never work, but they do. Corporations listen to consumers who send letters and express their opinions. They are listening, so you should tell them what you think! Ignore liberal nay-sayers who whine about boycotts never working and take action yourself!

Visit the colorofchange website to learn more about their work against Beck; and visit foxnewsboycott.com to find out which companies advertise on Fox News, and what you can do.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, 88


by Dick Mac

Born Eunice Mary Kennedy, in Brookline, Massachusetts, on July 10, 1921, Eunice Shriver lived a life of community service and activism that few Americans, rich or poor, young or old, would ever consider.

The consummate middle-child, Shriver was the fifth of nine children and over-achieved at every opportunity.

She founded the Special Olympics in 1968, after years of hosting a summer camp for mentally retarded children and adults at her home in Maryland. Forty years later, the Special Olympics continues to provide advocacy, education, training, and activities for the mentally retarded.

She was active in the political campaigns of all her brothers, including the successful 1960 campaign of her older brother, John, for the Presidency.

Shriver was a founder of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in 1962.

Her husband, Sargent Shriver, was a member of JFK's administration, including a stint as Ambassador to France, and is credited with formation of the Peace Corps, and was a vice-presidential candidate on the 1972 ticket.

Although a long-time opponent of abortion, Eunice Shriver maintained her connection to the Democratic Party, continued to endorse candidates who did not share her position on the issue, and was present when her brother, Ted Kennedy, endorsed Barack Obama prior to his successful run for the Presidency.

Her legacy of activism and involvement continues with her children:

Bobby, co-founder of DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa), Product (RED), and the ONE Campaign.

Maria, the current First Lady of California, is a former broadcast journalist and television personality.

Timothy, a Connecticut school teacher, and advocate for the mentally retarded.

Mark, a two-term member of the Maryland House of Delegates, and vice-president of Save The Children.

Anthony, a founder of the Best Buddies program.

As a member of one of America's most active, public, tragic, and wealthiest families, Eunice Shriver maintained a dignity and purpose that serves as an example for all of us.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

eunicekennedyshriver.org

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Center for Community of Caring

Monday, August 10, 2009

Average Americans?

by Al Falafel

By tradition, the Congressional Summer Recess, now under way, is a key time when our representatives in Washington have to go home and spend time in States and districts. They often use these breaks in their normal schedules to check in with their constituencies - We the People - providing opportunities to be seen by the average Americans who elected them, and to let us hear from their own mouths what they're up to as our representatives.

This gives us, the people, a rare chance to engage them personally the same way that well-paid professional lobbyists do routinely while they are at work in DC.

One of the most pressing issues that will be on the table when our legislators reconvene is the pending Health Care Reform bill, which you no doubt know already -- unless you've been living under a rock. Democrats in Congress have shown willingness to enact the most radical reform yet in our health care system, though their version is still far from a universal system, otherwise known as "Socialized Medicine" that we really need and deserve. The best idea they have been pressured into including is to provide a "public option." This would presumably allow all Americans the choice of signing on to an employer-provided insurance plan, another group plan with private insurance or to use a health insurance plan paid for out of public funds - a tax supported insurance plan.

The Repugnicans, on the other hand, have reacted to the very idea that our health care system may need fixing with predictable over-the top fake outrage and hyperbole -- but no alternative other than to sustain the untenable and expensive status quo. Obviously, their only concern is to protect the ridiculously high profits that insurance companies reap under the status quo -- those same companies that own what has become the increasingly bizarre Repugnican franchise, lock stock and barrel.

For this summer's recess, in the year that health care reform has a chance of actually passing, the Repubnican syndicate is taking its noisy empty-headed freak show on the road, exploiting cadres of excitable racists, homophobes, religious fanatics and other deviants and malcontents who are fed up with having to endure life with a queer-loving, satan-worshipping, secret muslim/commie, half breed nigger getting so much air time up there on their TV sets. The job these simple minds are given is simply to attract attention by being their rude true selves which is guaranteed to land some of their own pasty white faces and red necks on TV to lend some balance to the dark sinister face of that Obama character who wasn't even born in this country as far as they know. Health care? Who cares? There could be any issue on the table and they'll be there if they might get on TV. Heck, you don't even have to pay a lot of them!

The Repugnicans learned how exploitable these volunteer hotheads can be to their Stop Obama/Fail America campaign during the 2008 presidential campaign when their hot but stupid VP pick, Ellie Mae Clampett, played better with the ignorant hillbilly gang than Gomer Pyle did as the top of their ticket. Not enough to win, thank god, but enough to stop any kind of progress by pissing us all off so much we have no rational choice but to block them out. So all these rude and hateful meat puppets have to do to shut down any discussion about important things is to rudely, loudly disrupt the exchange, no matter what the topic may be.

I am getting so sick and tired of these ugly hateful mobs that I just end up feeling dirty and, moreover, inadequate to the task of thinking up enough invectives with which to denounce them. There is just no way I can think of to talk about them with any kind of respect that humans deserve. All I can think to do is turn to a professional who is skilled in talking about such things with appropriate restraint. Who would that be, you ask?


Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News,



If these are "Average Americans" all I can say is how sad it is that the bar has been set so low. And whatever happened to the good old American idea of bettering yourself through competition to become above average?

Now the goddamn idiots at Faux News and that lying sack of excrement, Rush Limbaugh, have the nerve to try and portray supporters of Health Care Reform as the ones who are stirring up trouble! Those Repugnican mouthpieces are decrying the Service Employees International Union as violent thugs after an SEIU member was violently teabagged at a Town Hall meeting yesterday (Aug 6)! See for yourself and then sign the SEIU petition at their website.





If you want to know what truth there is behind the charges those nutbags are spouting against the Health Care Reform bill, check out the point-by-point debunking featuree at Salon.com

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/08/06/healthcare/print.html