Don't Dis the Dead

Remember that sad, sad time when Ronald Reagan passed away? I do. I also remember members of the ultra-left bashing the deceased President as others were mourning. It was a heartless, disrespectful, arrogant showing of political bullshit (pardon the French).

Today marked the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA). Some absolutely loved his views; others shuddered in disgust at them. Nevertheless, he was the epitome of a public servant, working across the isle, treating his fellow legislators with common courtesy and decency, regardless of party.

But there are those who consider themselves "conservatives" who decided that the death of a 47-year U.S. Senator was an appropriate time to bash his policies. I even read passages on Facebook predicting his presence in Hell.

This message is directed at the aforementioned individuals...

STOP.
NOW.
YOUR ACTIONS ARE DISRESPECTFUL, DISGUSTING, ARROGANT, AND BLATANTLY UN-AMERICAN.
YOU ARE MAKING ALL REPUBLICANS LOOK BAD.

Today is a day for mourning, not for politicking.

Admit It - You're Wrong

The latest numbers submitted by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) indicate some depressing news:
1) We're not out of the recession,
2) The spending spree of the last 7 months is going to double the national debt, and
3) Expect unemployment to hit 10% by the end of the year.

This would be a good time for President Obama to call another press conference and admit he was wrong.

He won't, but it would be a good move on his part to cut his losses now and move to a more conservative fiscal strategy.

At this point, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is issuing statements about the President's fiscal policy. And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is warning of record-breaking hyperinflation, the likes of which haven't been seen since Carter's policies took effect.

Obama, Pelosi, and Reid might be claiming their policies are an attempt to "clean up the mess" from the Bush Administration, but at this point they've only added more dirt to the pile--a lot more dirt.

Giuliani & the Thompson Playbook

Is Rudy Giuliani running for Governor of New York? Is Rudy Giuliani not running for Governor of New York? That is the question.

Close friends of the former New York City Mayor are indicating that he is leaning towards a 2010 run, saying things like "it's 'better than 50-50'".

If Giuliani does decide to run, he'll most likely make his announcement somewhere between 30, 60...or 150 days from now.

All this sounds a lot like good ol' Fred Thompson's non-campaign campaign for President in 2007/8. We know where that got him.

Nevertheless, I hope Rudy runs. The sooner the better. He did a great job fixing New York City, and times like these call for similar leadership in the Governor's seat.

The Shoe is on the Other Foot

The First Family is on vacation right now in Martha's Vineyard, and the message they have for the press is to leave their daughters alone.

I agree.

The press should leave the children of politicians alone. The stalking and Paparazzi-esque gossip reporting doesn't serve to enlighten the population, nor does it provide any useful information whatsoever. After all, Sasha and Malia had very little choice in becoming the First Daughters.

I'd be interested to see if the press respects the Obamas' wishes. If they don't, it wouldn't be a surprise. After all, the press has a nasty reputation when dealing with public officials' children, Bristol Palin and the Bush daughters being just the tip of the ice berg.

If they do, though, I'd like to hear reporters' justifications for exempting the children of Barack and Michelle Obama from public scrutiny, similar to how reporters handled Chelsea Clinton.

Jews Killing Nazis

I went to see Quentin Tarantino's new movie, Ingourious Basterds, last night. I had heard mixed reactions, but half expected that with a Terantino film.

This movie is by far more graphic than anything the director of Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, and Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 has ever created. Nevertheless, I loved it!

The premise behind the movie hooked me immediately, and justified every blood-spewing scene: Jews killing Nazis.

If you can hold your lunch, don't get traumatized easily, and hate Nazis you are sure to enjoy Inglourious Basterds.

This poster best exemplifies the movie.

Scots Release a Murderer

Remember when you were a kid and the schoolyard bully just wouldn't stop bugging you?
(If you were the schoolyard bully, remember when you were a kid and just wouldn't stop bugging those smaller than you?)
You'd get that one moment of victory when a teacher would catch the bully in the act and pull him aside, giving him a stern "talking to". The bully's head hung in shame, the teacher then says, "Are you going to do this again?"
The bully replies, "No, ma'am."
So the teacher concludes, "Okay, buddy. Go sit for time out for the rest of recess. But if I catch you bullying people again we're going to have big problems."

How often did that strategy work? Remember all those reformed bullies who change their ways after getting a word lashing from Ms. What's-her-face? I don't.

But Scotland took a page out of the lazy teachers' handbook when they decided to release Lockerbie Bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, on grounds of "compassion". The mass-murdering terrorist was diagnosed with prostate cancer, so the Scottish government took the soft-handed route and him go to die in his home country, Libya. After serving only eight years of a minimum 27-year sentence, al-Megrahi spent only around 11 days in jail for each of the 270 people he slaughtered.

My complements go to President Obama et. al. for issuing a decisive, strong response.

Another "Vast Right Wing Conpiracy" Accusation

As if President Obama's handling of the healthcare debate couldn't be any more careless, he adds insult to injury. Revamping the "vast right wing conspiracy" claims that propelled Hillary Clinton's image straight to the Presidency getting the veritable door-prize of Secretary of State, President Obama is really socking it to the Republicans making an ass of himself.

After all, there's absolutely no way the American people could be against healthcare reform the way the President Reps. Dingell, Rangel, Waxman, Miller, Stark, Pallone, and Andrews envision it.

Oy.

Afghanistan's Founding Fathers

Today, the citizens of Afghanistan went to the polls and experienced a relatively new sensation of voting for who they wanted representing them as President.
A couple centuries ago, Americans had the same experience. And, strangely, the four candidates running for President of Afghanistan in 2009 share some striking parallels to our own Founding Fathers.

• Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai served in the fledgling Karzai Administration, shortly after new government took charge, as Finance Minister, similar to Alexander Hamilton, who served under George Washington as Treasury Secretary. Ghani also shared the traits of being headstrong and stubborn with Hamilton, who strained relationships with colleagues John Adams and Aaron Burr. Currently, Ghani is poised to take a distant third, or even fourth, in the election, making the chances he'll actually be President similar to his political doppleganger.
  
• Abdullah Abdullah--yes, that's his name--has an eerily similar resume to Founding Father Thomas Jefferson. Beginning his career on the diplomatic front, Abdullah served in the Karzai Administration as the first Foreign Minister. Thomas Jefferson, being the great spokesman and diplomat the he was, served as the first Secretary of State under the Washington Administration. He, also like Jefferson, advocates a more federalist-style government, promising to change the government of Afganistan into a parliamentary system, rather than a tri-cameral one.
• Ramazan Bashardost was a little more difficult to parallel, but sure enough I found someone. Bashardost, the little known but well respected outsider advocating human rights, shares some striking similarities with Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was the Founding Fathers' closest thing to a human rights activist, dedicating a significant portion of his money to philanthropic causes. Additionally, until now, Bashardost, like Franklin, worked behind the scenes to fight corruption and help build a fledgling country.
• And last, but not least, we have Hamid Karzai. As nice as it would be if he was, Karzai is no George Washington. Instead, his demeanor and action more closely resemble John Adams. Make no mistake, Adams played an integral part in the formation of the United States. But while Washington was in the field commanding the troops, Adams was behind a desk doing the brain work. Similarly, Karzai spent the 1980's and 1990's fighting Soviets and the Taliban behind a desk in Peshawar, Pakistan. Both Karzai and Adams are smart people, and both had the pleasure of serving as Chief Executive of a start-up country.

Which now leaves the United States. During the American Revolution, the colonists received integral help from another country--the French. So, basically, George Bush could be likened to Louis XVI, and Gen. Tommy Franks (leader of the coalition troops) is most similar to French Gen. Lafayette.
And with that analysis, I surrender.

New President, Same Practices

Take yourself back to a time when companies like Enron and Halliburton were circulating the news wires. Accusations of corruption and collusion abounded; some of them might have been true.

But in 2007 a new face emerged--a face of "hope", "change", and an honest, transparent government. This new face became President of the United States on January 20, 2009. He assumed office with a Congress full of like-minded people ready to follow him to the ends of the Earth. Every door was wide open.

But yesterday this story came out from the Associated Press. Some very interesting information is coming to light about a newly proposed healthcare overhaul from an administration that said, "We will not take a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs."

The AP story is titled "Firms with Obama ties profit from health push", and includes some interesting facts.

Coalitions of interest groups running at least $24 million in pro-overhaul ads hired GMMB, which worked for Obama's 2008 campaign and whose partners include a top Obama campaign strategist. They also hired AKPD Message and Media, which was founded by David Axelrod, a top adviser to Obama's campaign and now to the White House. AKPD did work for Obama's campaign, and Axelrod's son Michael and Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe work there.

it continues...

A larger issue is a network of relationships and overlapping interests that resembles some seen in past administrations and could prove a problem as Obama tries to win the public over on health care and fulfill his promise to change the way Washington works, said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a government watchdog group.

"Even if these are obvious bedfellows and kind of standard PR maneuvers, it still stands to undercut Obama's credibility," Krumholz said. "The potential takeaway from the public is 'friends in cahoots to engineer a grass roots result.'"

So the Democrats went after Bush for his colluding with firms like Enron and Halliburton a few years ago. As a result, the Republicans lost the House and Senate in 2006, and the White House in 2008. Now, only a few years later, parallelable political dealings from the Obama White House are surfacing. What does this say about 2010?

US Socialized Programs Near Bankruptcy -- Obama/Pelosi/Reid Solution: Spend More Money!

Imagine you're eight years old. You're playing a game of tag with your friends in a vacant lot. Unfortunately, the ground is very gravely, and the loose rocks make for a slippery surface. You get a little too enthralled with the game, stop concentrating on balance, lose your footing, and fall, skidding on the gravel.
Your elbows and knees are cut up. The dirt and rocks sticking to the open wounds make make your arms and legs pulse with stinging pain. Thankfully, nothing is broken. But when you stand up, you reevaluate whether such a slippery, gravely surface is the best surface on which to run around.
Ultimately, even though you would have loved to keep running around care free with your buddies, you make the smart decision, cut your losses, and leave the gravel lot to clean up your new scratches and cuts.


U.S. Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) on Tuesday remarked that Social Security will run out of money within two years.

This would have been a good opportunity for proponents of government-run welfare programs to take a step back and reevaluate how much sense similar programs make. After all, Medicare and Medicaid will be following suit with projected deficits soon, and the post office is a consistent losing venture. On the other hand, privately owned healthcare providers turn profits and create jobs every year, and FedEx and UPS are rapidly growing, multi-billion dollar companies.

But did the Obama/Pelosi/Reid team stop to consider whether these programs--as well as proposed new ones--are as prone to failure as an eight year old is to falling while playing tag?
Nope.
They not only disregarded the ominous numbers public programs project, they decided to push healthcare alone, irrespective of Republicans' and private citizens' objections!

There's no doubt that changes need to be made to the healthcare system. But given the track record of bureaucratized programs it makes a lot more sense to ditch the "public option", and figure out a sustainable system that won't bankrupt the country.

They Say It's a Myth

Members of the Congressional "Progressive Caucus", pro-government-run healthcare non-profits, and news reporters from many of the country's biggest agencies are force-feeding the notion that, when it comes to HR 3200, some of the concerns raised by anti-government-run healthcare activists, concerned citizens, and lawmakers are "myths".
They go on national television or radio programs and shout to the heavens that there is absolutely no truth to much of what these rabble rousers are saying. However, they never bring up the language of the bill. They never go to a contested page of the bill and explain to the public what it actually means.
Fortunately, I've seen the publicly available HR 3200. And it's pretty important that every concerned person reads--at the very least--some of the more volatile language. So here is a piece of text from the "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009":

Section 1233, Subsection 5:
(A) For purposes of this section, the term 'order regarding life sustaining treatment' means, with respect to an individual, an actionable medical order relating to the treatment of that individual that--
(i) is singed and dated by a physician (as defined in subsection (r)(1)) or another health care professional (as specified by the Secretary and who is acting within the scop of the professional's authority under State law in signing such an order, including a nurse practitioner or physician assistant) and is in a form that permits it to stay with the individual and be followed by health care professional and providers across the contiuum of care;
(ii) effectively communicates the individual's preferences regarding life sustaining treatment including an indication of the treatment and care desired by the individual;
(iii) is uniquely identifiable and standardized within a given locality, region, or State (as identified by the Secretary); and
(iv) may incorporate any advance directive (as defined in section 1866(f)(3)) if execurted by the individual.
(B) The level of treatment indicated under subparagraph (A)(ii) may range from an indication for full treatment to an indication to limit some or all or specified interventions. Such indicated levels of treatment may include indications respecting, among other items--
(i) the insensity of medial intervention if the patient is pulse less, apneic, or has serious cardiac or pulmonary problems;
(ii) the individual's desire regarding transfer to a hospital or remaining at the current care setting;
(iii) the use of antibiotics; and
(iv) the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration.

So, essentially, the public option that is supposed to save everyone and provide better health insurance than any private company has sold previously has embedded in it a clause that gives both doctors and the government carte blanche to deny a patient medical care because he or she is "too sick".

This isn't "Change", nor does this fix the healthcare industry. This is just one more health insurance company, except this one is run by the government and subsidized by taxpayers.

Save the 1st Amendment!

Here's a project for those with too much time on their hands...

SUPPLIES:
1 Roll of Duct Tape (preferably the super adhesive kind--none of that cheap stuff)
1 Staple Gun
1 Box of Staples for Staple Gun
20' Chain Link Fence
4 Metal poles
1 Taser

INSTRUCTIONS:
- Take the roll of duct tape and tape over your mouth. Keep taping around your head, making multiple loops so that mouth is covered by more than one layer of duct tape.
- Take staple gun and load in staples. Staple lips together. This might hurt.
- Drive the 4 metal poles into the ground in a square, each pole approx. 5 feet away from each other.
- Wrap chain link fence around the metal poles. Make sure you are inside the square. You want to be caged inside.
- Last, taser yourself multiple times for being stupid enough to follow these instructions.


Folks, allowing members of Congress to pass the 'Fairness Doctrine' reaches the same level of ignorance as the instructions above. It's a clear violation of the 1st Amendment of the Constitution.

Free speech isn't designed to protect the things with which we agree, it protects those with which we don't. So long as it doesn't insight violence, Americans have the right to say what they want, be critical of who they want, and inspire others to believe the same. It's the reason why Rush Limbaugh can say he wants Obama to fail, even though it's crass; it's the reason why Janeane Garofalo can spout word vomit about Republicans' limbic brains being genetically programed to be racist, even though it's ignorant, arrogant, and insulting; and it's the reason why bloggers can get on their computers and rant about the things they believe are wrong in this world.

So join Save the First Amendment, and make sure your voice will always be heard and protected!

WOOF! WOOF! Republicans want to kill the President! WOOF! WOOF!

Howard Dean made a comment on a liberal am talk radio show that was a bit disturbing. First, he insinuated that Republicans are against the healthcare bill solely to defeat Barack Obama. Then, after correcting a slip-up that Republicans want to "...kill the President", he seemingly retracted, alluding that those "angry" Republicans might actually inflict violence on our Commander in Chief.



I think people are starting to see Howard Dean as they see a large barking dog behind a tall fence.
At first, the bark startles you. When you look over and see a gigantic, wolfish animal staring at you, its teeth glaring, your fight-or-flight reflex starts to kick in. But then you realize that there's an eight foot fence keeping it a safe distance from you.

In the end, it's nothing more than a loud, annoying nuisance.

Continuing with Dr. Rep & Dr. Dem

All this talking about Dr. Rep and Dr. Dem got me thinking about how it could apply to healthcare. And since healthcare is a hot-button issue right now, it wouldn't hurt to touch on it a bit.

Recapping, our little, accident-prone friend, Economy, slipped, fell and "crashed her stock market" (broke her ribs) while at the park. Her parents, who invested time and money to her well-being, rush her to the hospital...

Dr. Rep, Post Surgery on Economy
Dr. Rep has just completed the surgery, and Economy is on her way to a quick recovery. He approaches Economy's parents with the bill. It's quite hefty. Economy's parents aren't starving, but they're not exactly the wealthiest people on the block, and even with the insurance they have there's a HUGE deductible.

To put it bluntly, it sucks.

Economy's parents noticed about a month earlier that there is an insurance provider in a neighboring state that offers better care with a lower deductible for less money. But because of government regulations, they can't buy coverage across state lines. Had they been allowed, the burden Economy's parents had to bear wouldn't have been nearly as great. And with some regulations to prevent insurance companies from suddenly dropping coverage or short-changing clients, the system would've run much smoother too.


Dr. Dem, Post Surgery on Economy
Dr. Dem, in the midst of having Bureaucratina put more tubes and artificial chemicals into Economy, presents the parents with two options. They can (1) pay the medical bill with their own insurance and suffer the huge deductible, or (2) they can follow a special plan Dr. Dem claims will cost them far less.

In this plan, a significant portion of the bill will be footed by the hospital (Strangely enough, the hospital insisted on being called the government). (Behind the scenes, though, the "government" was footing the bill by taking money from people affiliated with the hospital, against their will.) Because the "government" was paying such a large part of the bill, it's going to cost Economy's parents a lot less. What a relief, right?

Wrong.

Unfortunately, Economy's parents didn't read the small print in the plan they signed with the hospital. I can't blame them, though--the contract was 1,018 pages long! In the agreement, though, the "government" gained control over which treatments they deemed appropriate for little Economy. And since the "government" is made up of a bunch of money-grubbing, back-door deal-making, irresponsible, corrupt misers they soon decided that Economy was simply too sick to justify any more medical treatment. Therefore, they decided to stop paying for her medical care (see pg. 430).

Economy's parents looked for someone to turn to that could fix this problem. Unfortunately, since they dropped their previous coverage, no insurance company would agree to cover them. In fact, most of the insurance companies were going out of business, having lost clients to the "government" option. And, when they tried looking for another hospital to which they could transfer little Economy, they found all of the other "governments" functioned the same way.

My Introduction to You

Hello, blogosphere!
Welcome to Metaphorical Politics, the blog that takes politics of the day and adds a twist of abstract, comical, sometimes cynical metaphorical comparison.

Let me begin with my comparison of the Republican and Democrat Parties (this will definitely give you can idea of my bias)...
Let's imagine that the American economy is a little girl--a very accident-prone little girl. As a matter of fact, let's give this little, accident-prone girl a name-- How about Economy?
Now imagine that the Republicans and the Democrats are pediatric emergency room surgeons (I know, I know, this is going to take a lot of effort).

Economy is playing in the park one day, and while waiting for her turn to go down the slide, she slips, falls and cracks a rib (Ouch!). For the sake of metaphor, let's call Economy's ribs the "stock market".

So, basically, you could say Economy slipped up, fell, and her stock market crashed. (See where I'm going with this?)

Economy's parents, having invested vast amounts of time and money to her growth and well-being, rush her to the hospital, where she is greeted by the two doctors, Dr. Dem and Dr. Rep.

This is where the story separates into two very distinct scenarios...

Scenario 1: Dr. Rep gets the case...
Dr. Rep takes Economy into the operating room (strangely named the Halls of Congress) and examines her cracked "stock market". It's pretty severe, and it looks like surgery is necessary. He opens her up, removes all the broken tissue, and replaces it with a material that helps speed up bone growth. Then, he stitches her back up and wraps her in a brace, to be removed once her ribs heal on their own, so she can run and play again without dealing with more doctors.
And they lived happily ever after...

Scenario 2: Dr. Dem gets the case...
Dr. Dem sees Economy in pain, but he already has a full plate of other patients he has to see. So he has Economy take a number and wait in the lobby until its her turn. Four hours later he calls her back to the examination room. First, he has a nurse (let's call her "Bureaucratina") examine the broken, accident-prone little girl. Bureaucratina somehow misses her cracked "stock market" and focuses on the bump she got on her head (let's call her head "real estate", and the bump a "foreclosure"). So the nurse gives Economy some anti-inflammatory medication to make the real estate foreclosure not look at bad as it really is, puts a band-aid over the wound to cover it up, sends her home, and completely dismisses the little girl's complaints about her chest as "growing pains".

Two weeks later, Economy's "stock market" is still cracked, but this time it's infected, and the infection is spreading to the rest of her body. Her parents, noticing that their pride--their joy--their investment--is steadily declining, take Economy back to Dr. Dem, this time going straight to his office. Dr. Dem can clearly see how damaged Economy is, and is afraid that his handing off of the problem to the grossly unqualified Bureaucratina might have exacerbated things.

(Btw, Dr. Dem refuses to fire Bureaucratina for her incompetence. As a matter of fact, he gives her tenure.)

Dr. Dem rushes Economy into the operating room and opens her up, exposing the festering "stock market". Dr. Dem remembers that the Swedes and Canadians had done a similar surgery on their little Economies a few years prior, and fixed her by screwing in a bunch of titanium rods, and pumping their patients with steroids (we'll call these steroids "stimulus packages"). So, Dr. Dem does the same. Unfortunately, Dr. Dem didn't read the follow up report, stating that in both cases, the steroids caused long term damage to the little Economies, and the titanium rods came unscrewed because of how they were hastily inserted.

The same thing happens to our little American Economy, and she develops sepsis (a severe infection, for those who don't know medical jargon). Economy slips into a coma, and Dr. Dem is forced to put her on life support. Bureaucratina is assigned to watch over her daily progress. Needless to say, Bureaucratina makes a lot of mistakes with her health care, and Economy worsens.

In the end, Economy spends the rest of her life hooked up to tubes, constantly being surveyed by Dr. Dem and Bureaucratina. Every few years her prognosis gets worse, and Dr. Dem is forced to open Economy up again and perform emergency surgery, replacing her natural bone and tissue with more and more artificial, manufactured, temporary supports.

Tomorrow, I'll bring up how Dr. Rep and Dr. Dem each handle health insurance...



***This is a very depressing first post. I promise future posts will both be lighter, both in the evoked emotions as well as in brevity.