From What I'm Told, God Forgives... Why Not You?

How long does one have to move beyond an incident before forgiveness is granted? Obviously the circumstances surrounding the rest of your existence will at least in part answer that. But assuming one lives decently and doesn’t do further harm when do you pass that threshold of forgiveness? How do those of you who hold a grudge reconcile holding that grudge for the rest of your life? Doesn’t that consume energy that might be better spent elsewhere?

When Ted Kennedy passed away this week, I posted on my Facebook page that I was mourning the loss of the last great Kennedy. I received a response that I had to be kidding. He should have been sharing a cell with OJ. OK, let’s think about this. When Teddy was a young man, he screwed up royally. He drove his car into a pond and someone wound up dead. A tragedy by any standard. He should have been held accountable. But there was money and political power behind him and he wound up with a slap on the wrist. That was 40 years ago. What has he done since? He dedicated his life to serving his country. He spoke out for the little guy. He was well respected on the Senate floor. I think he did his penance. How can you compare him to OJ? OJ murdered someone (OK, wink-wink…. allegedly….). What has OJ done since his wife and her companion were cut to pieces … wink-wink…. by some as yet undetermined scum sucking shit hole dweller? Why, he’s wound up committing another (oops… his first?) felony. How can you in any way compare him to Ted Kennedy?

Jane Fonda fucked up in her youth. She was against the Viet Nam war. She went to North Vietnam and palled around with the soldiers that were killing our young men. Wasn’t too bright a thing to do. But the Viet Nam war was even less popular than Iraq. There were protests (HUGE protests) occurring regularly all over the country. I’m guessing Jane was a probably looking for a little publicity. Well, she got it. She was, and remains, an activist. Sometimes activists get a little extreme. But it’s activists who helped get us out of Viet Nam, and pushed forward the civil rights movement, and campaigned for women’s rights, and made it hard to ignore countless other inequities in our system of governance and societal structure. And she has since apologized for what she did. And that too was 40 years ago. The woman is in her 70’s for crying out loud. When do we forgive her?

I think as individuals we need to look at some of our collective conscience and ask ourselves, as a nation, what the fuck are we thinking? You take a guy like Charles Manson. Now there’s a guy we don’t want to forgive. He’s as nuts today as he was when arrested. But Jane Fonda? Ted Kennedy? I ask you, if you were 20 something years old and screwed up like Teddy did, and your daddy had the money and the connections to keep you out of jail, what would you do? You bet your ass. You’d do anything it took to stay the hell out of jail. Was what he did right? Of course not. I would think a mistake of that magnitude would haunt you until the day you died (which is punishment in and of its self). Did he make up for it by putting in 40 some odd years of public service? At the very least, it’s a pretty damn good start.

So, I reiterate. I am mourning the loss of the last great Kennedy. I for one will miss, not only him, but what he represented to many of us. He was a man of great wealth who could have pretty much done whatever the hell he wanted, but chose to devote his life to public service. I salute you Teddy. And I forgive you.

Peace,
Common Sense

I'm Still Waiting

Since my last blog, I have discussed this health care issue at length face to face, via email, and on a forum I participate in (via email). Up to this point, I have had ONE specific response from a righty that may or may not be valid. He raised two points. One was regarding the tax that would be imposed on those that did NOT get health care. I read the section of the bill. He might be right. But someone pointed out in that forum that the tax would only apply to those making over 350 grand a year. And it would be 2.5% OR the averaged cost of a health care policy. If you are making 350 grand a year I think you can afford that. The jury is still out. The other issue regarded specific government involvement in allowing readmission into hospitals. Again, he may have a point. But frankly, the section of the bill that covers this is so heavily laden with legalese that I couldn’t decipher what the fuck it was talking about (And I will say I take issue with that. If you want the support of America on a bill, you need to write it using language the average American can understand). If we are talking about readmission because your cancer came back, that’s not a good thing. If we are talking readmission because you’re a hypochondriac with a headache and loose bowels, well stay home and take some aspirin and a tablespoon of Kaopectate. So, for the most part, my request for specifics is either ignored, brushed off, or blatantly defied as meaningless.

Here is my next question. How can you be so vehemently opposed to something that you have not taken the time to investigate? How can you speak out so strongly against something, and not have a single specific issue that you can identify as bad. How can you use words like socialism, entitlement, illegal aliens, lack of choice, when you haven’t taken the time to see if these things are really true? I guess you are either desperate to discredit the left, too lazy to do the work, or you are…. That’s right… a moron.

Speaking of morons, how about that Sarah “Failin” (my new nick-name for her… do you like it?). Here we have a woman who claims the health bill has provisions for “death panels”. When confronted, she stands by her claim. Of course, Failin is in a special class all by herself. She obviously believes the vast majority of Republicans are morons or she wouldn’t say some of the things she does. But she must be a moron too, or she wouldn’t say the rest of the things she does. So how do you combat that? If you come out and call her a moron, after she does something moronic, the other morons in the party will castigate you for calling her a moron.

Barney Frank is my new hero. You probably heard about his handling of a right wing-nut at a recent town hall meeting. She was playing the Hitler/Nazi card, likening the health care bill to something “Adolf the Nut Job German” would have implemented. He responded by telling her “When you ask me that question, I’m going to revert to my ethnic heritage and ask you a question: On what planet do you spend most of your time?” He went on to say “Trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it.” Is that awesome or what? Maybe we should get him and Sarah Failin in a room together for a chit-chat. I have twenty bucks that says he could reduce her to tears in a matter of minutes.

And then we have “Betsy Wetsy” Mcaughey (pronounced McCoy) who is insistent that there will be, well, she doesn’t call them death panels, but she insists people will be counseled on how to end their lives. I talked about her in a previous post when she made her outrageous claims on Fred “I want to be President, no I don’t, yes I do, no I don’t, yes I do, oh, nobody will vote for me so I guess I don’t” Thompson’s radio show. Back then I said the provision she was addressing said that every 5 years the elderly and infirm would be entitled to counseling on end of life decisions. Like those who can afford it are now. I went through all this when my mother passed away. So “Betsy Wetsy” goes on the Daily Show and Jon Stewart tells her exactly what I said. This nut job is still out there trying to convince us that this new bill will encourage euthanasia. And people believe her. I mean they must right? Or the Republican Party would tell her to shut the fuck up!

So, the challenge is still out there. If you oppose this bill, tell us why. Cite a specific passage of the bill and explain how it will turn us into godless, communist, swine. Kudo’s to the one guy who did. He may be the last reasonable Republican out there. At least he looked! But in over 1000 pages he only found two things that may or may not be issues. Be specific. I’m listening. I promised to list them in a future post and I will. But I haven’t gotten anything definitive yet. I will say if the concerns raised by the one guy are valid, I do have a problem with them. But I don’t think they are. Why? Because they are not in the spirit of the bill.

Peace,
Common Sense

Show Me

Man oh man is this health care debate getting on my nerves! All I hear from the right is how unbelieveably horrible it would become if the bill were to pass. Now, I've started to read the thing and here is my challenge to you.

Show me a section of the bill that is flat out bad. Reference it specifically. I want to read it and digest it. Maybe you will turn me. I have thrown this challenge out to my conservative friends and so far have not had ONE SINGLE SPECIFIC RESPONSE. I've heard things like "it will eliminate our right to CHOOSE healthcare". Well show me where it says that. I've heard "it will provide benefits to illegal aliens and we will have to pay for that". Show me where it says that. I've heard "we are becoming a socialist state". That isn't an answer to the question. It's a separate topic which I would be happy to debate, but in the meantime, show me something bad in this bill! Will somebody on the right PLEASE grant me this one request? Show me something bad!

I'll tell you what I am beginning to think. I'm beginning to think there may not be anything bad in this bill. I'm beginning to think that the right just can't stand the fact that a young, bright, African American might be on to something here. I'm beginning to think that if Obama made a proposal that would definitively bring peace to the Middle East, eliminate world hunger, and make everyone in America rich beyond their wildest dreams that the right would do everything in their power (which we already know includes lying, preying on the fears of the masses, and deceiving the less brilliant among us) to discredit the idea. Why? Because THEY DIDN'T THINK OF IT. Rush "I'm a Fat Bastard" Limbaugh already said it! He hopes Obama fails because if he doesn't, it will give credibility to the ideals of the left. The more the left succeeds, the less credibility the right has. If the right wants to regain a position of power, they have NO ALTERNATIVE but to do everything they can to insure the failure of the left. Because let's face it people, after the disaster known as the Bush Administration, any success enjoyed by the left could keep the right surpressed for years and years to come.

So show me something. I want to see a specific reference to a section of the bill that will prove to be disastrous (as the right would have you believe). Show me one. Just one. I will list them in a future post.

Somebody Stop Me

I'm on a roll....
But I can't help it! Every time I turn around the right is furnishing me with more fodder. One last thing and then I promise to move on (maybe....)

So yesterday I get an email. It's titled "Here it is: EVERYTHING that is in HR3200, referenced by page". Well, first of all, it isn't everything. But it does list 53 seperate "explanations" of these absolutely horrific ramifications that will jump out and ruin our American way of life should this dastardly plan be passed. But here's the kicker. Along with these "explanations" are the actual page numbers that they can be found on! Wow! Bonus!

So, of course I started to take a look. I must confess, I'm only up to the 18th point. I will categorize my findings in 3 ways. Items that were explained accurately and fairly. Items that were explained sort of accurately but were portrayed as definitively negative when in fact, they might not be bad things at all. And finally, explanations that were TOTAL BULL SHIT!

I'll start with the easy one. Items that were explained accurately and fairly. Grand total.... ZERO. That's right, ZERO. Not one. Nada. ZERO. Of course this begs the question should I even bother with the remaining 35?

There were three items that were sort of accurate but portrayed in a negative way. For example, a business that offers its own benefit package will be forced to open their books to the federal government. Well, what I read is that the federal government will be allowed to review the books of said business to insure their part of the tab is being paid and will continue to be paid. What it will hope to avoid is you going to the doctor, running up a couple of thousand in medical bills, and finding out those benifits you thought you had were gone because your employer is going tits up and couldn't cover their portion of the insurance tab. Yeah I know. Not a bad thing at all is it.

Which of course leaves us with a whopping 15 items that were TOTAL BULL SHIT! That's 83.33 percent that's a total fabrication and 100% that is totally worthless if you want to make your own evaluation of whether the bill is sound or not.

A couple of quick examples (and the bill is readily available online so you can check these out for yourself). The email says that pursuant to page 58 the government will have direct real time access to your personal finances. Well, what page 58 really says is that the government will be able to make a real time determination of your financial responsibility. This happens now people... every time you apply for a loan!

Another example... on page 50 section section 152 it states that health care will be provided to all non US citizens, illegal or otherwise. Well, page 50 says NOTHING like this at all. I mean come on. NOTHING.

So it appears the right has struck again. They throw things around meant to scare the masses like ACORN, and UNIONS, and ILLEGAL ALIENS, and you will have NO CHOICE, and PRIVACY VIOLATIONS. As far as I can tell, none of this is at all true.

Are you as sick of this crap as I am? Well, when you receive these things, look into them. What I do is hit reply all and debunk them right on the spot. You know, I always ask for a response from the sender and I never get one. Either they are too embarassed that they didn't check for themselves, or they are a bigger part of the problem and they know damn right well they are passing bogus information.

On a seperate note, check the link to the right. It concerns a lefty moron (yes, they do exist... just not in abundance)who has filed a lawsuit to tear down a memorial in the Senoran Desert. I signed the petition. I won't go into detail but guys like this should be slapped silly....


Peace,

Common Sense

The Right Is More Wrong Than I Thought

I assume you are sitting down. If you have a seat belt handy, buckle it. I recently received a forward of one of those factual fabrication emails from the right that I've discussed in a previous post. This one is a monster. It includes two links. The first to a taped interview from Fred Thompson's radio show. You all remember Fred. He recently ran for President. I'm not sure where his head was during the process though. Was he so arrogant that he felt his tenure on "Law and Order" would make him the second coming of Ronald Reagan? Or was he clueless? Anyway, his campaign proved to be quite ineffectual and he was out of the race pretty quickly.

You can check out the taping here http://fredthompsonshow.com/premiumstream?dispid=320&headerDest=L3BnL2pzcC9tZWRpYS9mbGFzaHdlbGNvbWUuanNwP3BpZD03MzUxJnBsYXlsaXN0PXRydWUmY2hhcnR0eXBlPWNoYXJ0JmNoYXJ0SUQ9MzIwJnBsYXlsaXN0U2l6ZT01 (wow, that's a long link!) It's with a woman named Betsy McCaughey who is the head of some committee and a self proclaimed "patient advocate". She discusses the new health bill. What she says, among other things, is that what will happen if the bill passes is that the elderly and infirm will be REQUIRED to participate in counseling session EVERY FIVE YEARS in which the government will encourage them to .... END THEIR LIFE!!! I'm not making this up. Listen for yourself. She claims they will be encouraged to CUT BACK ON NUTRITION. I'm seriously not making this up. She claims that this is how we will save money. If we KILL OURSELVES we won't be a burden on health care. She even quotes the pages where you can find this dastardly left wing plot to exterminate our elderly. She then openly discusses with a gleefull Fred Thompson how callous this is of the left, to sneak in provisions that will kill off our parents and grandparents to save money.

Also included in the email is a link to the bill (see, the right is pandering to a segment of our society that they assume to be so ignorant that they either won't check or can't read). I of course am not ignorant and can read so I checked it out. You can too... it's here... http://defendyourhealthcare.us/images/BILLS-111hr3200IH.pdf She says it's on page 425 but it actually starts on 424. You tell me. What does it say?

My mother passed away a few years ago due to pancreatic cancer. My mother-in-law passed recently from lung cancer. I have been down this road before. There are a myriad of services available to you for counseling on what your options are. Treatment, hospice care, medications, ensuring comfort, etc. You read the bill. Seems to me what it says is that this "counseling" will be available, just like it is now to people who have insurance, if you have NOT had the counseling within the last 5 years. In other words, only one to a customer within a 5 year period. I see nothing that requires it. I see nothing that encourages you end your life. I see nothing that tells you to cut back on nutriants and hydration. NONE of that. Yet here is this right wing-nut telling us on the radio that if this health bill passes, we will in effect be murdering our patriarchs and matriarchs.

As time goes by, I find myself hating the right more and more. It's stuff like this that sickens me. Why isn't there an email out there that says FAILING to pass this health care bill will result in a widespread resurgance of the black plague and the release of all criminally insane serial killers and rapists currently in custody? Because the left is not composed of ignoramuses that would believe that crap. Apparently the right is. Now that's not to say these people are inherently bad. What's bad is that the right preys on their ignorance and fear in an attempt to win public sentiment and elections.

Another topic which I might cover down the road is the dumbing down of America. Think about it. How big a moron do you need to be to believe that the government is going to encourage your granny to kill herself. Can these people even tie their shoes? Now again, the people aren't bad. But using them as tools is bad. And allowing our educational system to deteriorate to the point that they exist is bad. And having parents that don't care that their children are being raised to be vulnerable to this shit is bad. And the right is bad.

Mr. Gates Goes To Cambridge

The furor over Obama's statement that the Cambridge police acted "stupidly" is kind of absurd don't you think? How can you classify it any other way? A guy gets arrested for breaking into his own home? Would it have been too much trouble to let him maybe show them the picture of himself on the mantle? Or produce a drivers license and then show them his electric bill? Maybe ring a neighbors doorbell and ask "does this guy live next door"? I mean come on. We all have a right to be a bit upset at this and the arresting office did in fact act stupidly.

Now listen, I have nothing but respect for the men and women who put themselves in harms way in an attempt to keep us all safe and secure. And I certainly don't want them cutting corners or falling for a line of bull shit if they catch someone breaking into my house. But pulling someone from their own home when it would be easy to confirm he does in fact live there? Something was stupid!

Was it racial profiling? Maybe. Let's face it. We have come a long way in the race department but to those who say we have arrived at equality for minorities I say wake up from your dream and look around. One only needs to ask if we would need "hate laws" if discrimination did not exist. Biggotry is quite alive and well in this country. Biggots have just become more careful not to display their ignorance in the wrong places.

In my house, we have kind of an unwritten rule that name calling is not allowed. When my son was around 3 years old, he spent some time with my mother who was visiting from New York. She stayed at a hotel when she visited, both because we really don't have a guest room and because it was better for everyone if some space was afforded between her and myself and my wife. Anyway, my son came home and asked his mother if there was something wrong with him. Why? Because his grandmother had said "what's wrong with you?" in response to something he did. I had to have a little "chat" with her for that one. We are careful in my house to address the activity and not the person. This is exactly what Obama did. He did not say the officer was stupid. He did not say the Cambridge police department was stupid. He said the activity was stupid. It was. He's right. Let's move on.

Peace

Common Sense

The Right Is Wrong

OK, so maybe they aren't wrong about everything. There CAN be too much government in our lives. But they are wrong about a lot. Especially the way they run their party. Frankly I think the Republican Party as we know it is dead meat. Here's why...

They take no accountability for their actions. They were the party in charge when our economy collapsed. Has anybody heard a "mia culpa"? (Did I spell that right?) Instead, all we hear about is how Obama is going to bankrupt us. They blamed Bill Clinton for 9/11 even though he had been out of office for 9 months. But they were all over Obama WEEKS after he took office. I would like to hear some high ranking Republican go public with a "Hey America (sheepish grin) we fucked up!"

They say the dumbest things. Rush Limbaugh, Anne Coulter, even Michael Steele, who we are supposed to take seriously, blurt out these moronic opinions and observations. Limbaugh hoping Obama will fail. Coulter with her ignorant racist rants (she wants Jews to be perfected... and this is an educated woman). Michael Steele proclaiming that the defeat of health care reform will be Obama's "Waterloo". What's scarier is they have an audience. But it's dwindling.

Their radicals are way different than the left's. Lefties march for and demand things like equal rights for gays and lesbians, women, and minorities, termination of unnecessary warfare, health care for everyone, better programs for the poor and down trodden. Righties scream about prayer in schools, evolution vs. creationism, suppressing homosexuality. Is it just me or do they seem to have a rather narrow, discriminatory view of things?

They are hypocrites. After GW the MORON spent money like he printed it himself they are going to chastise the Obama adminstration because they think it's overspending? Really? They condemn homosexuality while members of their own party are being caught "with their pants down" (pun intended) in men's restrooms, sending sexually charged emails to underage aids, and being caught in both homo and heterosexual affairs. They campaign for "christian" ethics and values while conducting themselves as though the poor don't even exist (not to mention the sex stuff above).

They are infantile. I don't know about you but I often immediately think of elementary school when I listen to these guys debate an issue, criticize the left, or verbally try to support a position. They sound like a bunch of whining, angry, ungrateful kids! You want to just walk up and slap the living shit out of them. They also use these absurd points to try to discredit any argument from the left. I was engaged in debate about health care with one of these guys (other topics too but health care was predominant) and he came back wanting to know if drug addicts and alcoholics should be entitled to free drugs and alcohol. Huh? No, just health care.

They seem to think everyone is out to rip them off. Lefties see an obligation to care for the less fortunate. Righties protest "entitlements". Every public service they protest is an "entitlement". But you never hear them referring to police protection as an entitlement. You never hear them referring to road maintenance as an entitlement. You never hear them referring to publicly funded transportation as an entitlement. But feeding the poor? Oh, well THAT'S an entitlement.

This last presidential election was historic for more reasons than the election of our first African American as President. It was historic in that the masses rose up and yelled that they had had enough. If the Republican party wants a future they need to conduct themselves as adults and distance themselves from the radical right. I don't think America is going to put up with that bullshit anymore. Especially now that we, as a nation, see what's possible if we ALL get out and vote. Who on the right has it figured out? Colin Powell that's who. He's come out and stated they need to move more to the center to survive and he got blasted for it by members of his own party. Well, they better stop blasting and start listening. I suspect the left will be calling the shots for a long long time if they don't.