Pass This around

Thought the special on PBS about healthcare was great.

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/health-care-reform/index.html

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A question that we need to ask

The discovery of the body of Bill Sparkman is most disturbing. The details of the case are still forthcoming, but what has been reported – that he was found hanging from a tree, naked, bound with duct tape and “Fed” written on his chest – makes me think of lynching. It turns my stomach.

The question that must be asked is how culpable are those spewing hatred of the government and fear of the census?

The hyperbolic ravings of the likes of Michelle Bachman are laughable. That doesn’t mean that they cannot also be dangerous. The freedom of speech does not mean that one is not also accountable for what they say.

A Beautiful Mind on Healthcare

My frustration with the healthcare issue continues. No one is going to get what they want, not completely. But, we could actually get something good. Except, it seems we are doing our damndest to ruin that, too. We get a very middle of the road bill the encompasses ideas from the both the right and the left. Instead using it as a starting point, it gets trashed by from all sides. A public plan will not pass, so it wasn’t in there. Sure, that disappoints me, but it is not worth giving up on the entire bill. Come back to the at a later date, maybe. At least let’s get something going.

The problem is everyone wants to win and no one seems to be thinking about actually accomplishing something.

Now, I realize that healthcare is the blonde at the bar and unless the brunettes get some action no one is going to get lucky.

a morality thing

 So, I got an email passed along to me.  The person that sent it knew it would probably get me riled.  Yes and No.  The shock value of such things has worn off.  Still, it just seems to point up why it is so damn hard to get anything done.

It is not about love of your fellow man.  It’s not about fiscal responsibility.  It’s not about God or religion.  Not really.  It is about winning.  It is about power.

The email was from the Chairman of something called the Liberty Council.  I looked it up on Wiki – “Liberty Counsel is a non-profit public interest law firm and ministry that provides free legal assistance in defense of “Christian religious liberty, the sanctity of human life, and the traditional family.”^[1] Liberty Counsel is headed by attorney Mathew D. Staver, who founded the legal ministry with his wife, Anita, in 1989 and currently serves as its Chairman.”

Read that as they don’t want healthcare for millions of people who go without because they are concerned about Roe V. Wade.

Here are some excerpts and my responses, my responses being in blue:

Last night, President Obama used the high drama and spectacle of a nationally televised joint session of Congress to do exactly what we expected… He scolded dissenters for “bickering” and “playing games’ and demanded that his government-run healthcare plan be passed immediately.  He demonized those who honestly oppose his plan, saying they are using “scare tactics” and even threatened to “call out” anyone who dared to “misrepresent” what is in his plan. He did not demonize those who oppose his plan; he asked them to participate.  He did call out those who have been playing games and using scare tactics – as he should have.  You simply can’t have a serious debate if the other side is not seriously participating.

And he once again claimed the moral high ground, emotionally invoking the words of the late Ted Kennedy in saying this is  a “moral issue” involving nothing less than “social justice.”  But everything the President did and said last night was really about one thing — using the “bully pulpit” of the presidency to ram ObamaCare down the throats of the American people. As someone who wishes Obama could/would ram through healthcare reform, if anything, I was disappointed in him being so open to compromise on things I feel are crucial.  So, ‘ramming it down anyone’s throat’ seems a stretch.  As far as it being a moral issue, I don’t understand where an organization that labels itself “Christian” can make an argument.  It is a moral issue.  Doesn’t the Bible tell us that we are our brother’s keeper? 

Today, I am in Washington, D.C., to stand in opposition to what the administration is doing.  I will be meeting with many other Christian and pro-family leaders who are drawing a line in the sand and saying, “NO!” to ObamaCare.  + + Next 24 hours crucial Great.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion and free speech.

 The President’s goal is to move public opinion and convince members of Congress that there is public support for his government-run plan.  In fact, there is no such support. Even the president is entitled to that free speech and his opinion. 

According to a just-released Associated Press poll, 52% of American adults disapprove – and 43% strongly disapprove – of the President’s handling of healthcare. Only 42% of Americans now approve, and those numbers are falling. We will have to wait and see won’t we.

Within minutes of the speech’s conclusion, Obama’s team had emailed millions of supporters asking them to pressure Congress as never before. We must respond… now! See previous comments on free speech.  Both sides are entitled to try to garner support for their position.  That’s what it is about, no?

That’s why I’m asking you to take a stand with me right now, even if you’ve already done so in recent days and weeks, in two important ways… First, I urge you to join me in sending a continual message to D.C. leaders by scheduling faxes to Congress, even if  you’ve done so before.  Please go here: … I have an issue here.  Everyone can speak freely.  But from what I am assuming they wish to accomplish with the “continual message” is to keep others from being able to get their voice heard.  Jamming fax or phone lines is not really free speech – it is anti-free speech.  It is also undemocratic, trying to “run up” the score by repeated calling is like stuffing a ballot box.  It also seems that they might realize that they don’t truly “have the votes” when they are using such tactics.

We simply must counter President Obama and his socialist allies in their efforts to cloak the attempted government takeover of healthcare in a patriotic (and even religious!) mandate. Wait.  They cloak themselves in religion and argue that not everyone should have healthcare…  I didn’t get anything in the President’s speech about religion unless they are referring to it being a moral issue.  Morality is not religion.  In this case, it even seems those that claim religion are against what is moral.  Confusing!

Secondly…

Please call your two Senators and your Representative today and tell them you OPPOSE the government-run plan. Tell them to abandon the 1,000-plus page monstrosity of a bill and start over with a free market approach that respects the unborn and preserves our liberties! So, again, this is about abortion.  The question is, whose liberties?  Women’s?  In reality, whose liberties would a “free market” approach respect?  Profit’s?

Again, the next few hours are absolutely crucial. What the President is attempting is a last-ditch effort to move public opinion… or at least to convince legislators that there is public support for his plan. Not a last-ditch.  We’re not event to half-time on this thing.

This is high-stakes politics, and the President is using the rhetoric of a religious mandate to push his socialistic agenda through. If there was ever a time to make your voice heard, this is it! Can anyone tell me where he is getting that religious mandate thing?

Thank you for joining me in taking a resolute stand, and may God bless you and yours in this pivotal hour.

Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman  

Conspiratorial Giggle

Just passed one of my coworkers in the hall. We usually speak in hushed tones about politics as our leanings tend to be out of sync with others in our building. He had a great comment that summed up the healthcare debate. “It’s the chess team versus professional wrestling.”

Great. Let’s do it.

I’ve watched President Obama’s speech a couple of times now. Once on CSPAN and once on CNN. This is what I have been waiting on. It was a great speech. Not even talking about the actual content, the presentation was important. Obama speaks to Congress and public like we are all adults – even though we often don’t act like it. Contrast that with the heckling and the hand lettered sign saying “What bill?” Really, who do you want in charge of your country?

 

The content was there, too. It is the same things he has been saying all along if people would just pay attention. Coverage for all. Regulations on health insurers. Some sort of public alternative. Willing to listen to all legitimate ideas. Yes, even tort reform.

 

By the way, I was trying to watch the speech from different sources to see how they shot it. CSPAN showed Vickie Kennedy trying to hold it together when Obama spoke of Ted. CNN stayed with the President, showing both Pelosi and Biden trying to hold it together. CSPAN is where I saw the sign. I decided to see how the other side might have viewed it. I went to the Fox News site. I didn’t see a place to watch the speech. They had text of the rebuttal in the headlines, but not the text of the speech. Go figure.

Red Handed Hypocrisy

 

Below is a little news piece from the NBC station in the Dallas area. All the talk about not interrupting the school day or bringing politics to school children must have been subterfuge. It appears it is ok for a political figure or two to give a speech to school children. It is ok for them to take up most of the school day to travel to see the speech. It’s just not ok for the current president to speak to children, you know that guy. Wink, wink.

Kids Didn’t Hear Obama, But Will be Bussed for Bush

Church questions district’s “duplicity” on president talks

By STACY MORROW

Updated 8:20 AM CDT, Wed, Sep 9, 2009

Independent School District, which passed on airing President Barack Obama‘s live classroom address, has announced that some students will be bussed off campus to hear a message from former President George W. Bush on Sept. 21.

District officials said it’s part of a Cowboys Stadium field trip that the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee invited 28 fifth-grade classes to attend several months ago.

In addition to hearing from Bush and former first lady Laura Bush, the students will hear from legendary Dallas Cowboys players and North Texas business and community leaders. The event launches the Super Bowl committee’s largest-ever youth education program.

Students must have their parents’ permission to attend, school officials said.

Dwight McKissic Sr., the senior pastor of Arlington‘s Cornerstone Baptist Church, said he’s concerned about the district’s decision to not broadcast Obama’s message while transporting students to hear a message from Bush.

“I do not understand the duplicity in this situation,” McKissic said in a news release from the church. “I believe the students and the public deserve and need to have these differences explained.”

Obama told students to stay in school, work hard and set goals in an 18-minute speech delivered Tuesday morning from Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va.

The Arlington school district, like many in North Texas, decided not to broadcast the president’s speech live after some parents expressed concern about its content.

The district said the recorded speech would be made available through its Web site.

The school district allowed students with permission slips from parents an excused absence to watch Obama’s speech at an off-site location.

Cornerstone Baptist Church was among the facilities that broadcast the Obama’s address for students and parents who wanted to watch the speech live.

 

Throw some sharp elbows already

I wanted to share the Bill Moyers essay at the end of his latest show.  I love it.  It encompasses some of my frustration with the healthcare debate.  To use a basketball analogy, I’ve been waiting for Obama to throw some sharp elbows as he drives this issue down the court.  He  hasn’t.  He’s been standing at the top of the key, passing the ball around and around while the shot clock dwindled down.  Bill Moyers knows about sharp elbows – or arm twisting – as he started out in the LBJ White House.  I hope O. is listening.

What town halls should be like

Just was watching this clip of a “town hall” about healthcare. People were passionate, but polite. They listened and responded calmly. The Senator took their questions and answered them. The Senator made a good case. He explained that both sides realize something has to be done. He explained his position and acknowledge those in the audience that did not agree with him. It is a very good break down of the debate in a 10 minute clip.
What is ironic to me is how so many of the town hall meetings have become jokes and the one guy in the Senate who can really joke is the guy that was so forthright – Al Franken.

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Crazy Mad

I was off work today so, when my boy got home from school, I was there to greet him.  He gave me a couple of letters from the school.  The first was the standard letter regarding attendance.  The second one made me so angry that I couldn’t even think straight.  My husband came home and my anger was still so high that when I tried to explain it to him I sounded like a cartoon character – spewing profanity, stutter over words and incomplete sentences.

When did a pep talk to kids about trying their best in school become a partisan issue?

I had heard on the radio that another suburb near me was not going to air the speech.  It pissed me off, but I also took the view that the area in question was a bunch of hillbillies.  My area, which actually voted for President Obama by a rather large margin considering our red state is trying to take the middle way.  They will put the speech up on the website for parents to review.  Parents will then need to inform the teacher if their child can see the speech.  Then they will show the speech on the 10^th.

All that trouble to have a Colombia/Harvard educated guy tell kids that school is important?

Would we be going through all this nonsense if the guy was a C student from Yale?  Oh, yeah, that was the guy that told a graduating class that even a C student could be president.  Way to tell them to strive!

It is simply insane.  Why are we letting the radicals get this much air play?  This all started with the talk radio guys stoke the flames.  It gets media coverage and grows into something it is not.  Same thing with the yelling mobs at the town halls and the tea baggers.  It is an absolutely ridiculous story, so it gets coverage.

I swear the whole country has gone mad.  I feel we are throwing away so many opportunities to actually get things accomplished.  Instead we argue over if a simple rah-rah speech about school is political.