It's Obama's War Now

On March 20, 2003, the United States invaded Iraq. I was part of a panel that night on a local cable TV station, where we were talking about the imminent war, and talking about peace. As soon as we were off the air, someone came in to tell us that President Bush had just announced the invasion. Irony stuck her head in the oven that night.

I feel much the same way tonight. President Obama is going to announce an escalation of the war in Afghanistan. This comes as no surprise to anyone who actually listened to him during the campaign. He said he intended to do this. Obama is a canvas that a lot of people painted pretty progressive hopes upon. Listening to him, and looking at his voting record showed he was no progressive - just another triangulating Clintonesque centrist. I'm not disappointed - I had very low expectations of him.

I had hoped that given the incredibly high numbers of people unemployed in this country, that he might think twice about spending trillions more of our tax dollars on war, while the social safety nets in this country continue to break. The official numbers are 10% unemployed, but I believe it's more like 20%. No one counts the people that have been out of work so long they can't collect unemployment benefits, or the folks who weren't eligible for them to begin with. I guess that's the new jobs plan: join the military, so we can continue to fight endless undeclared wars.

That is the future, unless we take radical action. Endless undeclared wars, that make big money for defense and weapons contractors. The corporate military industrial complex is running our country, make no mistake. We have over 1000 military bases around the world - not including the secret ones where we take people to torture them. We spend at least 54% of the discretionary budget (plus all of the special war funding bills) on defense. We spend more than every other nation on the world combined, on defense, and we can't win these wars? We aren't supposed to. If we weren't always at war, we might start thinking about spending that money on something else. We might start thinking about making the Pentagon pass an audit, and account for the nearly $3 trillion that it cannot account for.

One solution, of course, is to reinstitute the draft. If more families were involved, involuntarily, and on the receiving end of the "collateral damage", there would be loud, focused, antiwar protesting. If the sons of the GOP Congresscritters (notorious chickenhawks) were in line to get their asses shot off, we'd see some changes made.

It's disheartening to see so many people who were against the war when it belonged to Bush suddenly embrace it because they like the salesman. This will haunt them in 2010 and 2012. The GOP will rightly claim hypocrisy. This action seals Obama's fate as a one termer - and may well be the undoing of the Democratic Party.

The US needs to rethink foreign policy. We cannot support this kind of unnecessary military spending. We're borrowing the money to fight these wars, a legacy that our grandchildren will bear. We hear all manner of whimpering and accusation about the deficit - yet not a one of the big outspoken deficit hawks opposes military spending. Our very own Senator Judd Gregg is supporting this escalation - Judd Gregg who failed to be concerned about the deficit when he voted for every military spending bill that Bush suggested.

According to what I heard on NHPR yesterday, Senator Jeanne Shaheen is also supporting Obama's war. I'm sorry, Senator - I won't be voting for you next time. I won't vote for any incumbent or candidate who supports this war - or any other. I'm all finished supporting folks just because they have a D next to their name. I'm not going to waste another minute of my time on a candidate (on any level) who is not a progressive. No more centrists. No more NH tax pledge supporters. No more holding my nose and voting for the lesser of two evils. Doing that is what keeps the cycle going. As long as we support any old Democrat, no matter how right leaning, we'll continue to be told by the party that that's what we must do, that only centrist/right candidates can win in NH.

It's time for a third party. Obama is a huge disappointment to progressives. The Democratic majority we've all been waiting for can't even pass a useful health care plan - the best they can come up with is a valentine for insurance and drug companies. Now more than ever we need bold, creative leadership - and all we've got is a guy who is too afraid of upsetting the GOP and his bipartisan legacy to actually do anything.

It's time. I'm leaving the Democratic Party. It's time for a whole new direction.


War Resisters Pie Chart and budget info for 2009

© 2009 sbruce

Medicare Part D Open Enrollment Period

The annual enrollment and re-enrollment period for Medicare Part D drug insurance opened on November 15, and will remain open until December 31. Medicare Part D is not part of Medicare (despite the misleading name). It is a private drug insurance program that Medicare recipients must participate in (unless they have a comparable employer benefit), or pay a penalty that will remain in place for the duration of the recipient's time on Medicare, and may even escalate in cost.

This period gives new Medicare recipients a chance to sign up for a Part D plan, and gives those already enrolled a chance to change plans. The enrollee pays monthly premium paid for this insurance. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation:
The average monthly PDP premium in 2010 (weighted by 2009 enrollment, assuming beneficiaries remain in their current plan) will be $38.94. This is an 11 percent increase from the weighted
average monthly premium of $35.09 in 2009, and a 50 percent increase from $25.93 in 2006, the first year of the Medicare Part D drug benefit.

The cost of Part D plans vary across the country. The drugs covered by plans also vary considerably, and the plan can change the drugs they cover at any point in the year. The enrollee can only opt out during the open enrollment period at the end of the year. Each state offers over 40 different plans.

There is a significant coverage gap built into the plan, known as the "donut hole." On average, in addition to the monthly premium, there is a $310 deductible. After that, the plan pays for 75% of the drug costs, and the enrollee pays the other 25%.
When the enrollee reaches $3,610 in costs, they hit the donut hole, and must pay 100% of the cost of their prescriptions until they reach $6,440 in total drug costs. After that threshold is crossed, the enrollee pays 5% of their prescription drug costs, the plan pays for 15%, and Medicare pays the remaining 80%. This is known as Catastrophic Coverage. The Health Insurance Reform bill being discussed in Congress contains provisions for closing the coverage gap by 2019.

Since the plan began in 2006, the cost of the plans have steadily increased, as have the deductibles, as well as the size of the donut hole. Medicare Part D was a controversial piece of legislation, because it strictly forbids Medicare from negotiating prices with drug companies. A study done by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that seniors find the plans confusing, feel too many are offered, and on average, did not choose the lowest cost options for themselves. Insurance companies exert a lot of pressure on seniors to choose "brand name" plans.

To see how it works, I went to the medicare.gov site, to shop for a plan in my area. I found my state, and even my county. There were 43 plans for me to choose from in Carroll County, NH. We have a population of 47,408. That does seem excessive.

Themedicare.gov site is very helpful, and will give you a breakdown by state and county of what plans are available, and how those plans have been rated by past enrollees. Most senior centers have folks on hand to help folks who aren't computer savvy negotiate through this overly complicated process.

cross posted at workingamerica.blog

The Randian Story of Thanksgiving

The REAL Story of Thanksgiving

Did you know that the first [Plymouth Colony Pilgrim's] Thanksgiving was a celebration of the triumph of private property and individual initiative?

oh, really? Tell that to the Indians who bailed out these nitwits.

Uninsured Patients Twice as Likely to Die in the ER

We're often told by those who oppose health insurance reform that "everyone has access to health care." By this, they mean that everyone must be treated in the emergency room. Of course, by the time someone goes to the ER, it's an EMERGENCY, and often one that might have been prevented with routine care. It's also going to be an enormous bill for treatment.

As for the outcome, a new study shows that uninsured patients in the ER are twice as likely to die:

Uninsured patients with traumatic injuries, such as car crashes, falls and gunshot wounds, were almost twice as likely to die in the hospital as similarly injured patients with health insurance, according to a troubling new study.

The findings by Harvard University researchers surprised doctors and health experts who have believed emergency room care was equitable.

That this study shocked doctors and researchers should tell us something. People who don't have insurance do not get quality health care, even in the event of an emergency:

"I'm really surprised," said Dr. Eric Lavonas of the American College of Emergency Physicians and a doctor at Denver Health Medical Center. "It's well known that people without health insurance don't get the same quality of health care in this country, but I would have thought that this group of patients would be the least vulnerable."

The study was unable to pinpoint why the uninsured are twice as likely to die in the ER, just that this frightening discrepancy exists.

In the study, the overall death rate was 4.7 percent, so most emergency room patients survived their injuries. The commercially insured patients had a death rate of 3.3 percent. The uninsured patients' death rate was 5.7 percent.

cross posted at workingamericablog

Judd Gregg tries/fails

Judd Gregg press release

in part:

"Senator Gregg stated, “As we near the celebration of the Pilgrims who crossed the Atlantic for a new life in the Americas, tonight, the Senate Democrats have ironically put our country on a backward course towards a European-style, government-run health care system. Regardless of opinion polls, the will of their constituents, or just plain common sense, my Democratic colleagues are fully committed to the government controlling your health care and charging your children and your grandchildren trillions for it. This is not the reform Americans want, and it puts our country’s future prosperity on a leaky ship back to Europe."

As an analogy, this fails - mostly because Europeans are healthier than we are! We're the ones in the leaky boat. We're #37!




I must say though, it is interesting to see Judd Gregg defend a boat full of illegal immigrants.

Grok Fail

Since the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the voices of intolerance and bigotry have gotten increasingly louder. The Fox News sanctioned/organized Tea Party movement always seems to have a contingent carrying racist signs. There was the California mayor who sent out an email with a picture of the White House lawn covered with watermelons. In April, after the special election that turned former Congressman Jeb Bradley into a state senator, NH GOP Chairman John Sununu told the Union Leader that Bradley could be counted on to sustain a veto by the Governor of the marriage equality and transgender protection bills, “if he finds the strength to veto that garbage.” Today’s GOP seems to be pandering to the lowest common denominator within the party: the far racist and bigoted right.

The results of that were audible this past Saturday, on the “Meet the Press” radio show, which is broadcast from WEMJ in Gilford, and streamed live on the internet. Host Doug Lambert looked right into the webcam at the end of the show, and began a diatribe about NHDP Chair Raymond Buckley. He said (in part): “Yeah you Faggot. That's right I said it and I meant it. You are reprobate. How the people, the Democrats, I think of some of the gray haired ladies and older people from the old party would stand behind you is beyond me. You are a disgrace to yourself to humanity to mankind and to your party.” Meanwhile, host Skip Murphy sat beside him and giggled.

Republicans in NH don’t understand that the media has changed. Most of the traditional media in our state is still dominated by the traditional Republican mindset, but the new media, the online media is not. Bloggers are becoming increasingly powerful. Doug and Skip should have been more aware of that – their blog, granitegrok, was the leading conservative blog in the state. Doug had a column at the Laconia Daily Sun for years. They parlayed their success into the radio show – on the day of this particular show State Senator Jeb Bradley and US Senate candidate Ovide Lamontagne were guests. The tradmed in NH generally gives Republicans a pass (save for Ray Burton), and as a result they seem to think they’re invincible.

Doug and Skip certainly thought so. They’ve been getting away with all kinds of bigotry on their blog for years. After Wanda Sykes appeared at the last White House correspondent’s dinner, Doug expressed his hope that Ms. Sykes would choke on a chicken bone or a watermelon rind. Ms. Sykes is African American.

Doug and Skip learned quickly that they aren’t bulletproof. James Pindell posted about the rant on his blog, NH Political Report, and from there it spread like wildfire. Suddenly NH Republicans couldn’t put enough distance between themselves and their former pals at granitegrok. Ovide Lamontagne and Jeb Bradley were amongst the first to make statements condemning the language Lambert used. Congressional candidate Frank Guinta issued a statement as well, informing us that Lambert had resigned as a county co-captain of his campaign. Skip Murphy gets to stay on. Apparently giggling and enabling isn’t the same thing as actually verbalizing. Lambert himself issued an apology of sorts, albeit one that was rather self-serving. He wrote (in part) “To be blunt, what I said is something that never should have been said in any kind of a public setting, or, quite frankly, in a private one either. Being human, and an honest person that is used to freely speaking my mind, my passion got the best of me.”

Skip Murphy’s blog commentary also fell neatly into the self-serving-sorry we got caught –zone, “Doug is a passionate guy and sometimes often pushes the envelope - mostly on strictly political grounds. He skates to the edge - this time, he went over that edge.” Murphy then went on to blame liberals for creating an overtly politically correct society, and further to blame Democrats for not accepting Lambert’s half -hearted apology. One might wonder about all this passion, and conclude that perhaps passion doesn’t mean what they think it means. It looks like plain old bigotry to me.

The Laconia Sun announced that Lambert’s column was no longer welcome in the paper. WEMJ cancelled their radio show. On Monday, Lambert announced that he would be leaving the blog as well. He issued a second apology that ended, “Let this be a lesson to those who harbor such hatred as I have demonstrated—think about it. We must love EVERYBODY as we do ourselves. And all the world is a camera. There is no hiding anymore. I engaged in a WHOLE lot of free speech around here. With that, comes responsibility. Use it wisely.” The second apology seemed to actually be one. As regular readers are aware, I frequently lament the fact that the GOP calls itself the “party of personal responsibility” while never actually taking any. Here we see Doug Lambert taking responsibility.

On Wednesday, after the “Where’s Sununu” stories were appearing all over the blogosphere, the NH GOP Chair finally weighed in on this episode. “Mr. Lambert’s comments were disgusting, inappropriate, and offensive. That is why I, as Chairman, asked for an immediate condemnation from our State Party - and that was done. I am encouraged that so many Granite Staters of all political persuasions denounced this vicious personal attack. We are all in agreement that what Mr. Lambert said is completely reprehensible and doesn’t belong in our public dialogue.” This is the same man who called the marriage equality bill “garbage.” My, what an interesting fence these folks are straddling.

Many of the people who issued horrified statements are the same people who are already working to repeal NH’s marriage equality law. They’re the same folks who can’t wait to get their hands on all that out of state hate money. Skip Murphy was not censured for being a giggling accomplice. Their readers are giving them high fives. Mostly, they’re all just sorry that Lambert got caught, and that NH bloggers turned this into a big story.

“It always seemed to me a bit pointless to disapprove of homosexuality. It's like disapproving of rain.” Francis Maude


© sbruce 2009 This was published as an editorial in the Conway Daily Sun on November 20, 2009

Drug Prices on the Rise

Earlier in the year, as part of the health insurance reform bill, the White House agreed to a deal with the pharmaceutical companies. According to a NY Times story in August:

Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion.

Big Pharma agreed to go along with President Obama’s health insurance reform bill, in exchange for this deal.
As it turns out, the drug companies are going to
be just fine.

In the last year, the industry has raised the wholesale prices of brand-name prescription drugs by about 9 percent, according to industry analysts. That will add more than $10 billion to the nation’s drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year. By at least one analysis, it is the highest annual rate of inflation for drug prices since 1992.

So much for $80 billion in savings.

A Harvard health economist, Joseph P. Newhouse, said he found a similar pattern of unusual price increases after Congress added drug benefits to Medicare a few years ago, giving tens of millions of older Americans federally subsidized drug insurance. Just as the program was taking effect in 2006, the drug industry raised prices by the widest margin in a half-dozen years.

“They try to maximize their profits,” Mr. Newhouse said.

But drug companies say they are having to raise prices to maintain the profits necessary to invest in research and development of new drugs as the patents on many of their most popular drugs are set to expire over the next few years.

Given that research and development is heavily subsidized already by US taxpayers, it’s hard to feel sorry for Big Pharma. They’d have a lot more cash available for R&D if they stopped bombarding us with ads for Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra every ten minutes.



© sbruce 2009 cross posted at Main Street/Working America blog

NH GOP - a constant source of pride

I'm not going to link to their site, but Skip and Doug at GraniteGrok do a live radio show, where today they had special birthday wishes for NHDP Chair Ray Buckley.

NH Political Report has the story:

After his radio show "Meet the New Press" ended today, GraniteGrok.com co-founder Doug Lambert looked into a live web-streaming camera, mockingly wished state Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley a Happy Birthday and then called Buckley a "faggot" before basically wishing him dead.
Buckley is the only openly gay chair of a state party in the country. He is also the first openly gay male vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Read the whole story.

I wish I thought that some of their fans would criticize them for this - but after a few visits to their site, it's apparent that it's not a place for thinking Republicans - it's a place for knee jerk reactionaries, who spout the party line as regurgitated to them by Rush Limbaugh. If I liked them at all, I'd be embarrassed for them. They look a little too old for this kind of frat boy hijinks. Adult men who are confident in their sexuality are not threatened by homosexuality.

Yet another look at today's GOP - spewing hatred for anyone not a white heterosexual (at least in public) male.

Moving Closer to Theocracy

The peculiar and secretive religious cult known as "The Family" has a number of members who are Congressmen living in a house on C Street in Washington, DC. Both Stupak and Pitts of the woman hating Stupak/Pitts amendment to the House health insurance reform bill live at this residence.

The Stupak/Pitts amendment seeks to rob women of insurance plans that cover abortion. No word on when insurance will be asked to stop covering penis pumps, penis implants, and penis pills. Of course, a silly girlie like me ought to understand that God loves penises, but wimmin are expendable.

Get out your copy of "The Handmaid's Tale. We may be living there before long.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Swine on Wall St.

The virus known as H1N1 (or swine flu) has been found in nearly every country now. President Obama declared it a national emergency on October 23. This declaration allows HHS Secretary Sebelius to waive certain requirements under Medicare and Medicaid, privacy rules and other regulations.

"The H1N1 is moving rapidly, as expected," White House spokesman Reid Cherlin said Saturday. "By the time regions or health-care systems recognize they are becoming overburdened, they need to implement disaster plans quickly."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday that the flu was spreading widely in at least 46 states and had already caused the hospitalization of at least 20,000 Americans. More than 1,000 deaths have been attributed to the virus and more than 2,400 additional deaths were probably associated with it, officials said.

According to the CDC website
These groups should receive H1N1 virus first:
These target groups include pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, healthcare and emergency medical services personnel, persons between the ages of 6 months and 24 years old, and people ages of 25 through 64 years of age who are at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.

With those guidelines in mind, the fact that Wall St. firms (the same ones bailed out by US taxpayers, the same ones who gave themselves huge bonuses as they were failing) have been given H1N1 vaccine is creating some outrage.

"Frankly, it is astonishing that in the face of widespread shortages, the CDC has seen fit to approve distribution of the H1N1 vaccine to Wall Street firms not known to be populated by those in the highest risk categories," CREW Director Melanie Sloan wrote to Sebelius on Nov. 5.

And

"Although CREW has been unable to uncover the demographic makeup of Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase, surely it is safe to assume the vast majority of their employees are not pregnant women, infants and children, young adults up to 24 years old, and healthcare workers," Sloan added.

The most ethical company in the bunch appears to be:

Morgan Stanley -- which also has returned the $10 billion it got from the bailout -- received 1,000 doses of the vaccine for its New York and suburban offices, but turned over its entire supply to local hospitals when it learned it received shipments before some area hospitals, spokeswoman Jeanmarie McFadden said.

These companies already have huge PR problems, and this is certainly not going to help. You know you’re in trouble when SNL gives you the treatment:



cross posted at workingamerica.org/blog

teh stoopid - it bernz

This picture was taken at Michelle Bachman's (Congresswoman from Minnesota, with what could at best be described as a tenuous grip on reality) tea party rally in DC yesterday.

Yep, they're comparing health insurance reform to Dachau. Lots of people died at Dachau. People die every day in this country because they can't afford health care. Are these people so DIM that they can't make that connection?

Fox News: making people stupider, and angrier, every day.

The Sanctity of Marriage is Saved!

In May 2009, the Maine legislature passed a marriage equality bill. Governor Baldacci signed the bill - ensuring that Maine gays would have the same rights as Maine heterosexuals into law. Sadly for everyone, Maine has a process known as “the People’s Veto” which means that any Maine voter may propose a veto referendum to be placed on a statewide ballot, in order to reject a law recently passed by the Maine state legislature. The “People’s Veto” may have once seemed like a swell idea in a democracy, a way to give folks at the grassroots level a voice. In terms of social issues, a referendum question on a ballot means that tons of special interest money will pour in from out of state, to influence, and (in Maine’s case) determine the outcome.

This week, Maine voters vetoed the marriage equality law. Was it because Mainers feel differently from the very people they elect to represent them? I don’t think so. For months, Maine has been subjected to ominous TV and radio ads, telling them that if they didn’t vote yes, “Homosexual marriage would be taught in the schools.” This was a message that scared people, especially in the rural (more traditional) areas of the state. Thanks to No Child Left Behind, we all have a lot of concerns about what is and isn’t being taught in schools. These ads were a constant drone in the background of the lives of folks who ordinarily might have been inclined to live and let live. Maine school curricula were not suddenly going to feature classes in “Homosexual Indoctrination 101” – but the dishonest ads certainly gave that impression.

Where did the money come from for all this advertising? The group known as Stand for Maine Marriage raised approx. half a million dollars. Over 87% of that came from religious groups, and 72% of that was from out of state religious groups. The bulk of the money funneled to Stand for Maine Marriage came from four sources: The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the Knights of Columbus, Focus on the Family, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland. Or, to put it more succinctly: Catholics, Evangelicals, and Mormons.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland had special second collections in September, to raise money to fight marriage equality. Those collections raised $86,000. At a time when Maine has an 8.5% unemployment rate, where homelessness is on the rise, and soup kitchens and food pantries are serving record numbers of people – the Roman Catholic Diocese chose to dun their parishioners (with a second collection!) for funds to fight gay people getting married.

No one has ever been able to explain how it is that gay folks getting married will affect heterosexual marriages. If gay people can get married, will straight guys (who may have occasionally looked dreamily at pictures of gay men) suddenly abandon their wives, and run out to buy leather chaps to wear in Gay Pride parades? That seems unlikely, though there are those closet leatherboys who may long to. The reality is that nothing will change, other than more folks will be getting married. It won’t mean diddly to your heterosexual marriage. Losing jobs and homes are a lot more likely to have an impact on Maine families.

Churches all over the state had “Vote Yes” signs on their lawns – in flagrant violation of their tax-exempt status. If the Roman Catholic Diocese wants to play politics (and it seems they do), they should start paying taxes, and that goes for the evangelicals and the Mormons, too. NOM is believed to be a front for the LDS. They’re very careful to keep their donors a secret, so that no one will know where their money comes from. Maine election laws stipulate that groups raising over $5.000 have to file forms and disclose their donors. NOM is suing the state of Maine because they claim this is a violation of free speech, and all that paperwork is just too onerous. The marriage equality groups didn’t seem to have any trouble meeting the requirements. Of course, they didn’t have anything to hide.

It was an odd election. Maine voters voted down TABOR, again. The so-called taxpayer bill of rights keeps cropping up in referendum states, no matter how many times the voters kill it. TABOR has been a huge failure in Colorado, and Maine voters are wise to keep cutting that particular hydra off at the knees.

Even more interesting was the vote on medical marijuana. Less than a week after the NH legislature failed to override Governor Lynch’s veto of a medical marijuana bill that passed the House and Senate earlier in the year. Maine passed a medical marijuana bill in 1999. The sky didn’t fall, and the chronically and terminally ill were not selling pot at schoolyards. A decade later, Maine voters voted in favor of expanding their medical marijuana statute to include more heath conditions, and to set up distribution centers for medical marijuana patients. Mainers very clearly have compassion for the chronically and terminally ill people in their state, and a live and let live philosophy about the whole thing.

That kind of live and let live philosophy is part of Maine tradition, which makes the veto of the marriage equality so strange. It seems likely that once this all settles down, and the good people of our neighboring state realize how religious groups from out of state manipulated them, they will be ready. Marriage equality will be passed by the legislature again, and it will be challenged again, but next time, Maine voters will know better.

“They are preserving the sanctity of marriage so that two gay men who’ve been together for 25 years can’t get married, but a guy can still get drunk in Vegas and marry a hooker at the Elvis chapel! The sanctity of marriage is saved!" Lea DeLaria


© sbruce 2009 This appeared as an op-ed in the November 6, 2009 Conway Daily Sun

h/t to Feministing for the picture

Jon Stewart on marriage equality in Maine

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Can't Get Queer From Here
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Yep

subtle, they ain't

Viagra celebrates a birthday! Viagra is, of course, covered by most health insurance plans, even though some of those same plans do not cover birth control pills.

Mainers: Vote NO on 1

Tell your Maine friends and family to vote for love and families, and against hate and bigotry.

Poland Spring flyers contain wrong polling hours | SeacoastOnline.com

Poland Spring flyers contain wrong polling hours | SeacoastOnline.com

WELLS — The town scrambled Oct. 27 to inform residents of the correct polling hours for the Nov. 3 vote, after two Poland Spring mailers gave the wrong time.

Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Wells High School, according to town officials.

Poland Spring/NESTLE are advocating that the town pass and ordinance that would enact regulations on large scale water withdrawal.

The Poland Spring mailer advocated that residents pass an ordinance that would enact regulations on large-scale water extraction operations.

It stated the polls opened earlier and closed earlier than the correct time frame.

Opponents of the ordinance claim, if enacted, the change would open the town to large-scale water withdrawal operations like that of Poland Spring.

Poland Spring/NESTLE is, of course, saying it was an honest mistake.

Medical Marijuana Bill Veto Override Fails in NH Senate

UnionLeader.com - Medical marijuana veto override fails in Senate - Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009

Posted using ShareThis

"The Legislature failed today to override Gov. John Lynch’s veto of a bill that would have allowed seriously and terminally ill patients legal access to marijuana. It takes a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate to override a veto."

During the legislative session, Governor Lynch refused to meet with chronically and terminally ill patients who were lobbying on behalf of this bill. Yep - he refused to meet with these constituents. He fobbed them off on some "advisors." I know - I was there. My husband (who died in August) had multiple myeloma. I was the public face of David's support for the medical marijuana bill, since he couldn't travel. I'm certain Lynch would have given an insurance company lobbyist a private audience, but he refused these people.

These are not people who are going to sell drugs to schoolchildren. These are people who use marijuana to relieve pain, anxiety, and for appetite stimulation.

I won't be supporting or voting for Lynch again. This is not the only reason why, but call it the twig (seed, bud, bong) that broke this camel's back.

My state Senator, John Gallus, whom I seldom agree with, was a co-sponsor of the medical marijuana bill. Thank you Senator Gallus.

Senator Betsi DeVries was the only Democrat who voted against the bill initially, and then the sole Dem to vote against the override. I sure hope she never has to watch someone she loves die of a long, lingering, painful, and debilitating disease. The kind where you would do anything, anything to stop them from suffering. It will be a terrible way for her to learn compassion.

AHIP Pollster Interrupted By Singing Troupe Of Protesters

AHIP Pollster Interrupted By Singing Troupe Of Protesters

Posted using ShareThis

From Sam Stein at Huffington Post:

Republican pollster Bill McInturff was the keynote speaker on the final day of the America's Health Insurance Plans's state issues conference on Friday morning.
But his speech on how the health care reform debate was playing among the public was interrupted before it even began. A group of protesters began aggressively cheering McInturff for the work he has done for AHIP (he's a hired pollster for the private insurance lobby and, most infamously, was the force behind the 'Harry and Louise' ads in 1994)

Then they start to sing. This is brilliant! This is just the kind of clever protesting we need to be doing:

Pants on Fire

Ah, New Hampshire. This year we had a long, cold, wet spring; a cold, wet summer, and a glorious fall with spectacular foliage. It was a rancorous year in the NH legislature, with the budget being a particular thorny issue. Mel Thomson and William Loeb still dictate our tax policy from the grave, and Judd Gregg voted in favor of rape. It was a year blissfully free of electoral politics for most of us, but the end of the year is drawing near. Next year we’ll be voting for 2 Congresscritters, one US Senator, the entire NH legislature, the Executive Council, and the Governor.

The NH GOP is unhappy about losing their divine right to run our state. Despite steady losses in the last 4 years, they have not been able to come up with a new message. They’re still saying “no taxes and cut spending.” It was a great message in 1910. In 2010 the reality is somewhat different. Things cost more, an elementary concept that the NH GOP is unable to embrace. Sure, there are ways to spend less money. At a time when many states are eliminating the costly death penalty as a way to save millions, NH is the only state looking to begin executions. The budget for lead paint testing has been cut recently, but we’ll be building a death row and an execution chamber.

Meanwhile, the NH GOP is trying out some new messaging, akin to throwing stuff at a wall to see what sticks. In September, former NH GOP Chairman Wayne Semprini wrote a letter to the Portsmouth Herald, accusing Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter of being a hypocrite for criticizing disruptors at town hall meetings. Semprini claimed that in 2005, at a Bradley town hall meeting he moderated, that Shea-Porter and her supporters wore waffle hats and continually disrupted the meeting.

The GOP lost both Congressional seats in 2006, but they took the loss of the CD 1 seat much harder. They’ve never gotten over losing that seat (which had been comfortably occupied by multimillionaire do-nothing Jeb Bradley) to an upstart, grassroots candidates. That the upstart is a woman is the angry frosting on their cake of rage.

Semprini tried. He thought he’d get the party faithful all wound up, and soon the villagers would be out with pitchforks and torches, yelling “kill the witch.” Poor Semprini, it didn’t work out the way he’d planned. The trouble with telling lies in the Internet era is that anyone can look up stuff in newspaper archives. A story about that particular town hall meeting, published by the Portsmouth Herald in 2005 was quickly unearthed. There was even a picture – a picture that showed a hatless Shea-Porter. The newspaper told a different story of the events than the one Semprini was attempting to tell.

That’s another problem with lying in the digital age. News travels fast, and immediately the recollections of folks who were at that town hall meeting began to contradict Semprini. I was one of the contradictors. In 2005, I was working for a non-profit that was fighting Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security. Former Congressman Jeb Bradley had run for office saying he was against privatization, but after BushCo began twisting his arm, his once strong stand was turning to Jell-O. I was there with a group of folks who were pressuring Bradley to stop waffling – hence the hats. I made those hats. Our theme was “Leggo my Social Security.”

Carol Shea-Porter was not part of my group. I met her for the first time a few weeks later. She was not there with a group of supporters – she didn’t decide to run for office for another 8 months. She was present, as a citizen, asking questions, as she did a number of times. I was at the same meetings. Carol was always friendly and polite to the Congressman, even as she asked hard questions and wouldn’t let him off the hook for the answers. My waffle crew was not disruptive. We did not want rudeness to be the story – we wanted Bradley’s waffling on Social Security to be the story. We were not at all like the tea party disruptors at town hall meetings in 2009. Wayne Semprini has never apologized to Congresswoman Shea-Porter for his accusations, which tells me that this wasn’t a memory lapse. Maybe he’s still putting the fire in his pants out.

That try at a GOP message got thrown out, contradicted quickly, and didn’t stick. This week, a story at Politico.com suggests that Shea-Porter has “gone native,” and become a “Washington insider.” Nashua Telegraph reporter Kevin Landrigan was quoted as writing, “The irony is, of course, that Shea-Porter used to be a ‘tea-bagger’ on the left.” The real irony is that Kevin Landrigan used to be a decent reporter. Now he’s just another right wing mouthpiece, spouting this silly, debunked meme. The Politico story tries to muster up all kinds of outrage about a grassroots activist turned insider. Jeb Bradley is quoted as saying, “I think she’s gone to Washington and forgotten that she’s New Hampshire’s representative in Washington.” This comes from a guy who was fired by the voters from his job as Congressman, failed to get re-elected, and was reduced to the NH State Senate, where he earns $100 a year. He would do ANYTHING to get back inside Washington. The real prize goes to GOP stenographer Jennifer Donahue, of the NH Institute for Politics, who said: “She’s not really viewed by most people as an activist or an outsider. “She’s part of the establishment, and I think she faces more scrutiny than before.” Carol Shea-Porter got elected and went to Washington to do her job – oh, the horror!

The desperation of the NH GOP is palpable. One would think that in the face of the changes in the political climate in our state, and the failure of their party in the last 2 election cycles, that they might do some navel gazing. One would be wrong. The strategy seems to be to continue to keep selling the same, failed message they’ve used for the past 100 years – and to keep telling lies, hoping something will stick.

“One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat only has nine lives.” Mark Twain

This was published as an op-ed in the Conway Daily Sun on October 23, 2009

© sbruce 2009

This sums it up

cause and effect - a lesson never learned by the GOP

Local GOP county committee member Maynard Thomson has been writing letters to the editor for years, and has finally been rewarded with columnist status. As a result, he gets to bore us all at even greater length.

This week, Mr. Thomson chose to entertain us with a piece on political discord, and just how sad it is that we all can't get along. I trust the irony of the writer's political affiliation won't escape you. Instead of reflecting honestly on the racism and bigotry inherent in today's GOP, Thomson chose to present himself as a world weary, superior individual, who is above all of this silliness.
In fact, he went as far as to say this:

"Meantime, I’ve written two local critics, suggesting our insult swaps needn’t preclude friendly relations. Regrettably, both responded churlishly. This bespeaks a lack of confidence, or a destructive conflating of personal and political."

I confess. I'm one of those churls. Mr. Thomson did send a missive to me in the spring. This was my reply:

May 29, 2009

Dear Maynard Thomson,

Thank you so much for your very entertaining letter. I can’t think when I last received a missive that insulted my intelligence, threatened me with a lawsuit, and then invited me out for coffee with an offer of friendship. I don’t believe I’ve had anything comparable since my last stalker, and that was over a decade ago. Your comedic timing (intentional or otherwise) is amazing.

Over the years you’ve called me stupid, accused me of lying, and in once memorable instance, berated me for not having traveled sufficiently. In fact, your constant droning responses to my columns over the year have shown that you possess a lack of basic reading comprehension skills, snobbery, elitism, and an overweening ego.

I urge you, Maynard, to make good on your rather thinly veiled threat of a lawsuit. Please – sue me for defamation in my May 8 column. You could give me no greater gift than to make your claims public. You would be revealed as the thin-skinned buffoon that you are, attempting to threaten me into silence, on a bogus claim. I would enjoy every minute of this action, so please, I implore you - go forth and sue.

I’m not apologizing for anything, Maynard. You might go back and reread my May 8 column. I’d be interested to hear where it was I mentioned your views on abortion or marriage equality, seeing as how I didn’t. I referenced the views of your political party, and if you weren’t such a reactionary dolt, looking to take offense at the flimsiest pretext, you might have figured that out. Years of your letters to the editor, however, have shown your utter inability to comprehend what you read.

Sadly, I am certain you’ll be surprised that I have no interest in meeting you. I don’t willingly meet up with those suffering from narcissistic personality disorder – there are too many chances to meet them randomly.

With the utmost sincerity,

Susan Bruce

Lack of confidence? Destructive conflating of the personal and political?
Nah. I just don't voluntarily associate with assholes.

Military Rape Awareness Week Starts At Times Square Recruiting Station; Recruiters Shut Out Retired Officer | AfterDowningStreet.org

Military Rape Awareness Week Starts At Times Square Recruiting Station; Recruiters Shut Out Retired Officer | AfterDowningStreet.org

One in three women in the military in Iraq is raped. We need to say this over and over and over again until it sinks in. Over half of the federal discretionary budget goes to defense. Our tax dollars are paying for rape and the covering up of the crime. None of our elected officials are strong enough to stand up against this, and force the military to change. It's up to us.

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Judd Gregg's Family Values

Jamie Leigh Jones went to Iraq in 2005, to work for Halliburton’s then subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown, and Root. When she signed the contract, she was shown pictures of a small trailer where she would live with other women. The reality was quite different. She found herself assigned to a huge barracks full of men. She complained to the company. Nothing happened. Four days after her arrival, she was socializing with some coworkers. One of the male firefighters handed her a drink, while making a comment about “roofies.” Ms. Jones was 21, and believed that she was working with people who were all on the same side. She thought he was joking. She remembers taking a few sips. After that, she has no memory.

Ms. Jones woke up naked and in pain. She’d been gang raped and sodomized. One of the men was still there, passed out. He wasn’t worried about the repercussions, you see. The men had learned that there would be no repercussions. She reported the attack to the company. A doctor examined her, and a rape kit was done. It was turned over to KBR officials, and has never been seen since. Jamie Leigh Jones was locked in a shipping container with no food or water. She was told that she needed to “get over it.” She eventually convinced one of the guards to allow her to use his cell phone. She called her father, who called their Congressman, and she was rescued, and brought back to the US. She had to have reconstructive surgery on her breasts.
Halliburton/KBR took no action against her attackers. The military, and the US Dept. of Justice did not prosecute. The contract she’d signed forced her into mandatory, binding, arbitration with the company. Halliburton would hire the arbitrator, the proceeds would be secret, and Jamie Leigh Jones would have no right to appeal if she lost. Halliburton had only lost 3 arbitration cases.

Ms. Jones realized, 5 months into the arbitration process that she wasn’t going to get anywhere. She went to court to fight the arbitration agreement, saying that the gang rape was not related to her employment, and should not be covered by the agreement. Two years later, the US 5th Circuit of appeals ruled in her favor.

There have been 38 similar claims made by women who were employed by Halliburton/KBR. Sexual assaults, rape, discrimination and groping were all charges made – and ignored by the company. If women complained, they were fired.

These contracting companies, hired by the DoD to work in Iraq and Afghanistan are not bound by military law. They are not subject to the laws of the countries they are working in, and they don’t seem to be subject to US law, either. Instead, these contractors live in some kind of a lawless empire, where women have no legal rights, and the men are free to rape and assault them without fear of prosecution or any repercussions.

These contracting companies are paid by US taxpayer dollars. Next time you’re watching Glenn Beck or Lou Dobbs work himself into a lather about ACORN, think about what else your taxpayer dollars are subsidizing. Next time you listen to some GOP Congresscritter get wound up about the way women are treated by the Taliban – remember, your tax dollars are subsidizing rapists and criminals.

Halliburton and KBR have been unrepentantly bilking the US taxpayers for years now. Halliburton overcharged the Pentagon for fuel delivery. In 2004, the GAO estimated that over $1 billion US taxpayer dollars had been wasted on overcharging by contractors. Nothing happened. KBR’s shoddy construction caused soldiers to be electrocuted in the showers. KBR served contaminated water to troops, and made them sick. Nothing happened. Both Halliburton and KBR are still working for the Pentagon. These contractors make ACORN look like boy scouts – but oddly, they’ve never been on the receiving end of the same operatic media scrutiny that ACORN gets.

Three years after being drugged, gang-raped, mutilated, and locked in a storage container, Jamie Leigh King has finally reached the place where she’ll be able to sue the company that protected the men who assaulted her. It will be years before she ever gets any kind of justice, but finally, she is on her way.

This week, the US Senate is working on the 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill. Senator Al Franken of Minnesota introduced an amendment that would withhold defense contracts from companies “if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery, and discrimination cases to court.” It’s unfortunate that this is even an issue, but surely, we the people don’t want our country to be represented around the world by rapists and criminals.

Apparently, this is not so. Senator Franken’s amendment passed, 68-30. There are thirty members of the US Senate who are just fine with rape. In fact, Senator Jeff Sessions spoke against the bill, calling it a “political attack directed at Halliburton.” All 30 Senators who voted against the amendment are Republicans, all who run on the issue of “family values.” David “likes to be spanked by hookers while wearing a diaper” Vitter voted against the amendment. So did Mitch McConnell, John Kyl, John Cornyn – from the state of Texas, where Jamie Leigh Jones is from – Jim DeMint, and of course our very own NH Senator, Judd Gregg. These men all decided that lawless military contractors are no big deal. The gang rape and mutilation that Jamie Leigh Jones experienced was not even worthy of consideration to them. Think about that, the next time you hear one of them nattering on about family values. What they really mean is that if it affects their family it’s an issue. If your daughter is raped, well, too bad. War profiteering is more important.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen voted in favor of the Franken amendment. Only Judd Gregg voted in favor of protecting these contractors. If it were up to Senator Gregg, the contractors hired by the Pentagon, and paid for by you and me, would be allowed to conceal their crimes, rape women with impunity, and continue to overcharge us. I have never been more ashamed.


h/t to LA Progressive for the "Dollar Soldier"

© sbruce 209 Published as an op-ed in the Conway Daily Sun on October 9, 2009

Happy Birth Day Lucy!

"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind."
Kurt Vonnegut

Lucy finally arrived tonight - nearly 2 weeks late. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 3 oz. and is 21" long, and reportedly has big feet and a lot of hair. Lucy already has a chocolate birthday cake. I'll begin her political indoctrination on Thursday.

I can't wait to meet my first and only grandchild! This is an unexpected joy in a long, dark year.

use 'em and screw 'em - it's the Murriken way

WellPoint Cuts Workers' Health Insurance Benefits

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Jon Stewart on the Democratic Super Majority

Democratic Super Majority

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

National Coffee Day

National Coffee Day

I'm celebrating as I type!

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Jim Hightower | HEALTH CARE TIDBITS

Jim Hightower | HEALTH CARE TIDBITS

"For example, insurance corporations are infamous for denying coverage to anyone with a pre-existing condition – things like cancer, or that ingrown toenail you had 20 years ago. The National Women's Law Center, however, recently revealed another "condition" that can preclude coverage: domestic violence. Yes, eight states allow insurance giants to categorize "getting beat up by your spouse" as a pre-existing condition!"


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Leading Dem Plans To Blow Up Deal With Big Pharma

Leading Dem Plans To Blow Up Deal With Big Pharma

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We're Number 37

On September 12, thousands of angry white folks marched on Washington. This was billed as part of Glenn Beck’s 9/12 “Movement” but in light of the fibbing that went on about the number of people present, I prefer to call it the Million Moron March. Many of the nowhere-near-a-million are angry about the possibility of health insurance reform. The idea of everyone having access to health care sends these folks into a tizzy. They’re all wound up about the deficit, and spending. It sure is great to see folks getting concerned about US spending – but you have to wonder where they’ve been for most of the last decade.

The US spends approximately $12 billion each month to occupy the country of Iraq. We have about 100 military bases there – down from the 300 we had at the height of the war. . The hope is to whittle that number down to 6 huge bases, as we “withdraw” from Iraq. There are over 1.5 million pieces of equipment that must be removed, when we “withdraw.” It is estimated that the cost of the debacle in Iraq is going to be about $3 trillion when all is said and done. This war costs each US family about $100 a month. I wouldn’t attempt to speak for all of you – but I’d rather have health care, myself.

The US built the largest, most expensive, and easily the ugliest embassy in world history in Iraq. It is 10 times larger than the UN complex in Manhattan. The embassy complex has 20 buildings. It’s bigger than the Vatican. Why? No one has bothered to explain to we the people why such a thing is necessary. We’re also funding a $17 million troop barracks in Afghanistan. I’m sure that’s very comforting news to all of us who are unemployed or underemployed. Yep, we don’t have jobs, we’ve lost our health care – BUT – we’re continuing on with the “war on terror.” What that really means is that we’ve chosen to sacrifice the well being of our country and our citizens in exchange for being in a permanent, undeclared state of war.

The US may rank 37th in the world for health care, but we are number one in weapons manufacturing and sales. Isn’t it great to know that we still manufacture something in the US? Apparently the three jobs of the future in the US are going to be making weapons, being military cannon fodder, or working for private companies like Halliburton and KBR. We aren’t too selective about who we sell weapons to, so as a special added bonus those folks will undoubtedly use the weapons we sold them against us at some point, thus perpetuating the endless war.

So far, we’ve killed over 100,000 Iraqi civilians. The costs of the permanent war are staggering – the dead, the injured, (physically and/or mentally) and the money wasted – but not a peep out of the angry white folks about any of that. What gets them moving is the idea that their neighbors might be able to have affordable health insurance.

One of the groups present at the Million Moron March was the American Life League, billed as the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life education organization. If you were thinking, “surely a pro-life group would be in favor of affordable health insurance,” you’d be wrong. They had a big sign reading, “Bury Obamacare with Ted Kennedy.” Not exactly a Christian message, is it? It’s also curious, given this statement from the Resolution on Health Care Reform, from the US Catholic Bishops in 1993:
“Every person has the right to adequate health care. This right flows from the sanctity of human life and the dignity that belongs to all persons, who are made in the image of God... Our call for health care reform is rooted in the biblical call to heal the sick and to serve 'the least of these,' the priorities of justice and the principle of the common good. The existing patterns of health care in the United Sates do no meet the minimal standard of social justice and the common good.”

Operation Rescue is against health insurance reform. These people also claim to be good Christians, and pro-life – but they don’t want women and potential fetuses to have affordable health care. It sure seems mighty contradictory, doesn’t it? Instead, they’re bellowing that the health care bill (which doesn’t exist yet) will use taxpayer funds for abortions. From what I’ve read, this isn’t true – but truth isn’t of any importance at all in the “debate” about reform. In the media only one side is being represented; the side the Republicans, Teabaggers, and Evangelical Christians are on.

The group Focus on the Family is against insurance reform. Apparently good, focused families don’t get sick. Gary Bauer of the group, “American Values” is opposed to health insurance reform. It seems that affordable health insurance is not an American value. Gary was, however, a big supporter of George Bush and the war in Iraq – and bent over backwards to justify torture. Torture, it seems, is an American Value.

These are people who claim to believe that every person is made in God’s image, which would seem to indicate that they would deny God affordable health insurance. Matthew 22:36-40 quotes Jesus (in part,) “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Who would Jesus refuse to heal?

The endless war and killing isn’t even being discussed. The possibility of reforming health insurance is cause for angry displays at the grassroots level and the shocking rudeness we saw aimed at the President, on the floor of the People’s House. Our national priorities are a mess, and we are fast turning into a country impossible to recognize, much less be proud of.


"Of all forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."
--- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.



If you look at the bottom right hand corner of the Bury Obamacare sign, it says ALL, which stands for American Life League, with a little fetus attached to it.


© sbruce 2009 Published as an op-ed in the Conway Daily Sun on Sept. 26, 2009

Mending Broken Hearts at Sacramento's New Tent Village - Christina Davidson

Mending Broken Hearts at Sacramento's New Tent Village - Christina Davidson

The story of a former US soldier and his wife, newly homeless because of medical problems. This is the kind of story that is NOT being told by the mainstream right-wing, corporate media. Is this really the way we want people in our country to live? How is it that we can spend TRILLIONS on the war/occupation of Iraq, but we can't take care of our own? What has happened to our country?


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Arrrr, me hearties

Socialist Handwashing

This week, kids all over NH and the rest of the country were back in school, where I would have presumed we all want them to study, get good grades, and behave in a mannerly fashion. Fortunately, the right wing mainstream media showed me the error of my ways.

It all started with President Obama making a televised address to our nation’s school children. I learned from Glenn Beck that this was “unprecedented” in our history. In fact, Beck advised parents to keep their children home from school that day. This unprecedented speech was deemed so subversive, that children should not even be allowed to hear it. Meredith Jessup of Townhall.com called it “a massive abuse of government power.” Laura Ingraham of Fox News said that Obama’s intent to speak to children, “smacks of an underhanded attempt to influence these young people.” Monica Crowley of Fox said, “It’s something Chairman Mao would do!”

The superintendent of schools in SAU 56 in Strafford County chose to ban the speech from schools in that district. Some schools in Manchester chose not to broadcast the speech. Parents were hysterically calling school superintendents across the state, paralyzed with fear that their children might be exposed to this frightening speech – and the even more frightening suggested follow up activity. Not only did Obama (who we know isn’t really the president because he was actually born in Kenya) want to give a speech, he wanted to encourage the kids to write themselves letters with ideas about how they could help him. He wanted them to…think. What could be more frightening?

It’s a good thing I paid attention to the mainstream right wing media. Otherwise, I might have found President Obama’s speech to be rather typical of what anyone might say to kids at the beginning of the year. I wouldn’t have known that telling kids to study, get good grades, and use good manners was actually deeply subversive. I would not have known that suggesting kids wash their hands a lot and stay home if they’re sick during flu season was actually a secret code leading to socialist indoctrination. Luckily, Michelle Malkin, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck, and everyone at Fox News showed me the truth and the light.

Okay – time to crawl out of the sar-chasm. Glenn Beck is a lying sack of dirt. A cursory Google search would have revealed that a televised presidential address to schoolchildren is hardly “unprecedented.” I’m betting that when St. Ronnie Reagan and George H.W. Bush did it, no one was comparing them to Chairman Mao, or accusing them of attempting to indoctrinate our children. I’m betting that no one in the media suggested to parents that they should keep their kids home from school that day rather than listen to the president. It was heartening to read that most parents in our area did not succumb to the kind of hysteria generated by the media.

It was disheartening, however, that not a single one of our NH Republicans spoke out against this fear mongering. Where was Judd Gregg? Where were our local Republican Party leaders? They all told us it was our duty to respect the last president, yet they are strangely silent when it comes to this one. Not a one of them has spoken up to say that those who believe Obama is not a US citizen are crazy people. Not a one of them has spoken out against the constant, idiotic labeling of Obama as a “socialist.” Not a one of them has spoken out against the disrupting of town hall meetings, the lack of civility, or the outright racism inherent in all of this. Let’s not bury our heads in the sand, people. The constant drone about Obama’s otherness has everything to do with his race. No one would have accused Clinton of “socialist indoctrination.” For all of his faults, Clinton at least had the right skin tone for the US presidency.

We all like to decry the political divide that has been carefully fed and nurtured in this country – yet here we have parents who are teaching their children that only white Republican presidents should be respected. They are teaching divisiveness, fear, and prejudice to their kids, who will grow up and pass that kind of anger and bigotry to the next generation.
Why was the right so fearful of Obama’s speech to kids? One can only conclude that encouraging kids to study, get good grades, and have good manners might cut down on the number of future registered Republicans.

*****
The 12th annual Climb Against Cancer will be taking place on September 19th, at Cranmore Mountain. This is the yearly fundraiser for the local group known as Jen’s Friends, a group that helps valley residents as they battle cancer. There is still time to register as a hiker, be a sponsor, or donate money to the group – all of which can be done at www.jensfriends.org . I hope you never find yourself opening an envelope with a gift card for gas in it, and find yourself sobbing in relief, knowing you’ll be able to afford to drive to Maine for radiation treatments. In fact, I hope you never have to learn firsthand what a great organization this is.
Sign up. Raise some money, go for a hike – and know that this will help folks in our community who are fighting for their lives.


The reprehensible, racist picture of President Obama is being given space to counter all those who will attempt to tell me that all this has nothing to do with racism. Horse hockey. It's ALL about racism.

© s bruce 2009

This was published in the Conway Daily Sun on Sept. 11, 2009, as an op-ed.

We're Number 37

goodbye my love

For David:


i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

e.e. cummings

Equality Maine - new TV ad

Equality Maine

Please donate time and/or money if you can - let's help our neighbors in Maine keep marriage equality.

From Birther to Deather

h/t to Tim C. for the picture taken at the Obama health care town hall meeting in Portsmouth, NH - see more: Blue Hampshire



Who doesn’t love a good conspiracy theory? US history is full of them. I was brought up with one of the most enduring of all. I was in second grade when JFK was assassinated. Was it the mafia, Fidel, the CIA, the KGB, J. Edgar Hoover or the Federal Reserve who ordered the hit? There are also those who believe the moon landing was faked, as was the holocaust, that there are extraterrestrials on an Air Force base in Nevada, that the Clintons had a hit list and murdered numerous people, and that the US government committed the terrorist acts against itself on 9/11. That’s just a sampling – there are so many more.

Apparently there can never be too many conspiracy theories. We now have the birthers – those who believe that Barack Obama was born in Kenya or is an Indonesian citizen, and his Hawaiian birth certificate is a fake. This theory has grown and flourished since the campaign. Some of the crazier members of the GOP in Congress have advanced this nuttiness – and of course it’s being spread by the lunatics of right wing talk radio and hate TV. CNN has seen ratings plummet because Lou Dobbs has been advancing this theory – and that tells us all we really need to know about where this all came from.

It’s all about skin pigmentation, baby. Barack Hussein Obama is different, he is other, he’s a Muslim, he’s a terrorist, he is not like us! Meaning, of course that he’s not Caucasian, and he has a funny name. White people (normal people) do not have funny names. Just ask any guy named Bubba.

The far right is veering off even further into the craze-o-sphere with this stuff. The opposition to Sonia Sotomayor was based on 3 things. She was nominated by a Democrat, she is a Latina, and she is a woman. All the other stuff was just filler to distract from those 3 things. The GOP is becoming the party of resentful white folks – and their water carriers in the media are only too happy to advance any crazypants theory that comes along.

The latest wearers of the crazypants are the deathers. Those are the folks telling you that Obama wants to kill Grandma. Sarah Palin telling you that a “death panel” would have voted to kill baby Trig. This is all related to the hysteria around the public option in Obama’s health insurance reform bill. The right is bleating about how this is all a plot to create gummint controlled health care.

Yessiree Bubba, the gummint would be making your medical decisions for you, according to the deathers. They are wonderfully silent on the current reality – which is that health insurance companies make medical decisions all the time. They tell you what doctors you can see, how long your treatment will last, how long you can stay in the hospital – and above all, whether or not the care you need will be covered by the insurance you’ve been paying ever increasing premiums for. A closer look at health care town hall meeting disruptors and protestors will show that the protestors are white, well-to-do, and many are Medicare age. Most of them don’t seem to grasp the fact that Medicare is a gummint run health care program.

The deathers bleat about how Obama wants not only to pay for abortions, but wants everyone to have one. This, of course, is not true – but since when is fact important? It’s estimated that upwards of 20,000 people die every year because they didn’t have health insurance. No concern for them. Only a lot of phony concern for the not even conceived yet.

The truth is that a public option would allow people choice in insurance. A public option would compete against the insurance companies. Free marketers claim that they want choice and competition – but really, they don’t. According to a report by Health Care for America Now (using data from the American Medical Association), there have been over 400 health insurance company mergers in the last 13 years. Less than a dozen companies now dominate the health insurance market. This is one reason premiums have increased as much as 300 percent in the last decade.

The national discourse on health insurance reform is dominated by the conspiracy theorists. The current system benefits the insurance companies, drug companies, and the politicians who take campaign donations from both of those entities. There is no responsible coverage of the health insurance industry. There is little coverage of the uninsured – or how their numbers are increasing, with unemployment on the rise. There is no responsible coverage of the deather movement. The death panels are a lie. No one is going to pull the plug on grandma. There is a provision that would pay for folks on Medicare to meet with counselors to help them with end of life decisions, like living wills. This is not mandatory. It is an option. It is a chance for people to make their own end of life decisions – because if they do not, someone else will do it for them.

The current discourse also benefits the corporate owned media, who suffer from the same monopoly problem as the health insurance industry. Instead of debunking lies, the mainstream media has devoted most of their time to covering the disruptors and protestors at health care town hall meetings. This is, by the way, the goal of the far right – to grab the media attention, continue to feed the resentment of angry white folks, and perpetuate lies – thereby maintaining the status quo.

Signs seen outside President Obama’s health care town hall in Portsmouth:

“ Hey America you want change? Hitler did to.”
“ B.H. Obama go home to Kenya.”
“Stop the Trojan Horse of Islam”
“Commies Love Obaba socialism ask Putin”


printed as an op-ed in the Conway Daily Sun on August 14, 2009
© s bruce 2009

Morans

These are the mensa members fighting against health care choices - and bellowing lies. This is what the GOP is evolving into.

Teabaggers Against Free Speech

It seems the angry white men have a plan to disrupt town hall meetings on health care. Naturally these bozos are some of the people who would benefit from a public option, but they are so thoroughly brainwashed by their masters (Weepy Glen, Falafel Bill, Belligerent Sean, and Oxycontin Rush) that reality can't penetrate.

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The Leaked Memo

It's funny how these guys love to dress up in patriotic costumes and bleat about how they love the Constitution - except for that pesky First Amendment.

Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven

The radical anti-choice movement didn’t take a moment to rest on their laurels after engineering the murder of Dr. George Tiller. For a moment, it looked as if they intended to go after Dr. LeRoy Carhart with the same zeal, but these groups have found a new target – health care reform.

One would think that anti-choice groups would be in favor of a plan that would improve the health of women and children – which would (logically) lead to fewer abortions. One would be wrong.

It’s all about the fetus for these fetishists. They don’t even care if it’s healthy, just as long as there is a fetus. Once it hits the chute, any concern ends. These folks do not lobby against poverty or homelessness. The 1.5 million children who are currently homeless are not a concern for the radical anti-choice groups. All they want is a fetus and an incubator. Health, poverty, housing, education – none of these things matter. There is little concern for the future of mother or baby.

Operation Rescue is trying hard to gin up their membership to oppose Obama’s health care reform plan. They claim it’s a “radical abortion plan.” Despite their efforts, the membership isn’t buying. According to an online poll at their website, around 90% of those responding support the plan, whether or not it includes funding for abortion.

All Operation Rescue offers women contemplating abortion is some sappy religious verbiage, a link to finding a pregnancy “help” center, a link to a maternity home in California, and a link to “answers for your pregnancy related questions.” To their credit, “His Nesting Place,” the maternity home does actually help women and children long term, just as long as they don’t mind a heaping helping of evangelical Christianity. The helpful answer link focuses on “how can I avoid getting pregnant” and “how do I tell my parents.” Nothing about “how will an unwanted teen pregnancy affect my future.”

It is also worth pointing out that Operation Rescue’s non-profit status was revoked by the IRS in 2006, due to illegal political activities by a charity. This means we don’t know how much money they pay their staffers, but comparable charitable groups pay in the $100,000 plus range. They accuse doctors of “making money off abortion” when they certainly benefit quite nicely from it themselves – with the added benefit of not having to pay for security guards and bullet proof vests, because no one is trying to kill them. Despite their lack of tax exempt status, the Operation Rescue website does provide a phone number for folks to call if they really do need a tax exemption for their donation.

The group known as National Right to Life also opposes Obama’s health care reform plan. They are opposed to any single payer plan as well. In fact, one graph on their site suggests that if we spend less money on food and clothing (especially shoes) we could all afford health insurance. They’re breathing new life into the term “barefoot and pregnant.”

The United States ranks 37th in the world for infant mortality. The US, spends more on health care than any other country (over 15% of our GDP) and has 6.37 deaths from ever 1,000 births. We are behind Cuba, Taiwan, and South Korea. The evil, socialist, health care Commie states like Canada, France, and the UK) have lower infant mortality rates. In 1960 the US was the twelfth lowest nation in infant mortality. Clearly we’re doing something wrong – and just as clearly, the groups who claim to value “life” actually have very little concern for it. More than 9 million children have no health care coverage, and double that number will have gaps in coverage at some point in the year.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation released a report this week that shows NH ranks 17th in the nation for infant mortality. NH has 6.1 deaths out of every 1000 births. Our evil socialist neighbors to the south have a 4.8 infant mortality rate, which is second only to Washington state. Apparently providing social and health supports for pregnant women actually lead to better outcomes? Who knew?

Instead of working for better outcomes, the radical anti-choice groups just scream about abortion and religion. The Bible actually says nothing about abortion. That’s right. Nothing. In fact, Old Testament God wasn’t at all shy about killing infants and children. He sent bears to kill 42 children who made fun of a bald guy. He killed all the firstborn sons in Egypt. In Leviticus, Old Testament God threatened to release wild animals that would kill infants and cattle, if the people refused to obey. Old Testament God was pretty harsh in his treatment of women, children, and critters. Plenty of murder, rape, and pillage – a fact our loudest religious factions fail to mention.

It’s a simple concept, really. If women’s lives are better, and they have health and social supports, there will be fewer abortions. That also means there will be fewer paydays for groups like Operation Rescue and National Right to Life. This is why they don’t care what happens to the born.

As for those who claim that their religious freedom is being oppressed if they are not allowed to oppress women – perhaps they should take Matthew 19:12 to heart: For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

I encourage the men who are so opposed to a woman’s right to choose to set a good, Christian example by making themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven.


This was published as an op-ed in the Conway Daily Sun on July 31, 2009
© s bruce 2009