From the Old World: Concerns

From 1918 until 1933 Germany had a democratic constitution. It had very high standards when it came to personal liberties and free speech, even if the words were wielded to harm and ultimately destroy the first functioning Republic in Germany.

Enemies of any democratic order started to throw doubts on the legitimacy of the Government right at the beginning. Eschewing policy discussions, they used taunts, false allegations and ridicule to demean the Republic’s representatives, institutions and symbols, thus shattering the already weak support for the Republic. Add to that the economic woes of the 1930′s and you see the foundation for the dictatorship that followed and the loss of any civil liberties Germans has had before.

What I have seen in your blogs and newspapers lately leaves me concerned for the prospects of the Obama Presidency. It is not mainly the ever loonier ravings of the clueless. There are absolutely inane and insane claims out there, from the birth certificate to the death panels to the indoctrination of your children. Some of the screaming mob of the right are hardly eloquent enough to order a one course meal in one sentence. Some are more than a few cards shy of a full deck, like Glenn Beck or Ann Coulter. Their pathetic appearances tend to make us cringe or laugh or both. However, we should never underestimate the power of their vile propaganda. Grain by grain the very fabric of your President’s standing will erode. All criticism from the right aims at discrediting the person and not his policies, thereby destroying the trust in  the office of President.

What concerns me most is the institutionalized disrespect for your President. The heckling during President Obama’s speech is only one indication for that. Officials from Congressmen to school district supervisors are working hard to show that they neither respect Barack Obama as a President nor respect him as a man. They pick up the blathering of the crazies and disguise it in a more acceptable language to be made more palatable for the middle classes.

Let us not, due to intellectual disdain for the clearly anti-intellectual, underestimate the danger they pose. Many German intellectuals did it during the Weimar Republic and paid a very high price for it.

Just sayin’.

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Rachel Maddow: GOP Sleaze

This is simply amazing.. Rep. David Vitter is such a low-down-dirty-dog, total lying sack of shit. No class (or ethics) whatsoever. This isn’t about a difference of opinion or political perspective, these are out and out lies, intending to scare the shit out of his constituents (and get their money)..

Rachel interviews Chris Hayes of The Nation.

Here’s an interesting idea.. How’s about you name the top ten liars/distorters in Congress over the last six months.. I realize it’s a tough call to hone it down to just ten, the worst offenders, but try.

The TOP TEN, sort of like the Letterman list.. You can include examples if you like.

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Granny…

All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle Editorial Cartoonist and Animation Artist.
For Nick’s animations, visit Nick Anderson: Animation Archives.
For Nick’s cartoons, visit Nick Anderson.

Say Argh..

All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Matt Davies, NY Journal News

Balms away!

From Mark Fiore!

Click on graphic to view at source..

To Secede or Not to Secede…

Many are calling for secession. Many others are saying, “let them.”

But I want to pose this thought:

Imagine a country populated and run by neo-conservative evangelical christians, hell-bent on a crusade to rid the world of everyone who does not “believe.”

Now, imagine that country with a nuclear arsenal.

Enough said.

Was Joe Wilson Right?

By that I mean, was Rep. Wilson correct when he called President Obama a liar?

Wilson’s disrespectful outburst came in reaction to President Obama’s declaration that his healthcare proposal won’t cover illegal immigrants.

Herein lies the rub: under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, all persons are guaranteed equal protection under the laws. That includes persons present in this country illegally.

Currently, illegal immigrants can, and do, receive healthcare courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer. I seriously doubt any healthcare reform can change that fact, short of amending the United States Constitution to repeal the 14th Amendment.

However, it is possible to prevent illegal immigrants from buying into a single-payer system, in the same manner it is possible to prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining a job in the United States. Does that mean some illegal immigrants will find away around that obsticle? Undoubtedly.

But was President Obama lying? No.

HEALTHCARE REFORM (The Word Game)

If you get a little tired of arguing over healthcare reform, why not take a little break and see how many 5-letter words you can make out of the phrase HEALTHCARE REFORM? (So far I’ve compiled a list of 63 five-letter words. I’ll post my list tonight.)

Enjoy! (If this is the sort of thing that you actually enjoy.)

The Watering Hole: September 10 – The Day Before

This date in 2001 is the eve one of those tragic events in US history.  Some of the first hints of what was about to happen arose on this very day 8 years ago:

In the Pink Pony strip club in Daytona Beach, Florida the night before the 9/11 attacks, three men make anti-American sentiments and talk of impending bloodshed. One says, “Wait ‘til tomorrow. America is going to see bloodshed.” These are not any of the hijackers, since they had all left Florida by this time, but it is suspected these men knew the hijackers. Mohamed Atta is said to have regularly frequented the same bar along with some of his pals while learning to fly, but not how to take off or land airplanes. According to locals in the area, that is a fact.

Meanwhile on the same day:

SC Rep. Joe Wilson calls Obama a Liar

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)

During tonight’s speech to the joint assembly of Congress, Joe Wilson, the Republican representative from South Carolina, decided that he was attending a WWE wrestling event instead of a session of the US Congress addressed by the President of the United States of America. Of course, it is Rep. Wilson who is the liar.

Feel free to contact Rep. Wilson, should you so choose.

Address in DC:
The Honorable Joe Wilson
United States House of Representatives
212 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4002

DC Phone: 202-225-2452
DC Fax: 202-225-2455

Email Address: http://www.house.gov/formwilson/IMA/issue.htm

WWW Homepage: http://www.joewilson.house.gov/

District Offices:
903 Port Republic Street
Beaufort, SC 29902
Voice: 843-521-2530
FAX: 843-521-2535

1700 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 1
West Columbia, SC 29169
Voice: 803-939-0041
FAX: 803-939-0078

UPDATE:

Did you see Pelosi’s face?  This idiot’s head will be ringing when she gets done with him.

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President Obama’s speech re health care reform — open thread

Will the President come through for the American people, with the change we need?

Please feel free to post your thoughts or predictions on the matter, and/or post your comments while the speech is going on.

See the text of the speech here.

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Robert Reich explains the “Public Option”

Robert Reich speaks directly on what the ‘public option’ is and why it is so important to health care reform. I would go further. It’s essential.

Reich’s explanation is short, simple, makes sense, and compelling.

Call or write President Obama, your Senators, and your Representatives.

Do something. Before it’s too late.

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If we tortured Cheney, would he shut up?

All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Paul Jamiol, Jamiol’s World

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Redstate Update – The last line of defense between your children and the President

Enjoy:

The Watering Hole: September 9 – Japan Bombs US Mainland

On this day in 1942, a Japanese floatplane dropped incendiary bombs on an Oregon state forest-the first and only air attack on the U.S. mainland in the war. Up until 9/11, this was the only successful air strike on the US mainland.

America was safe from another attack for 59 years.

This is the open thread. Please feel free to comment on any subject.

The Watering Hole: Sepember 8 – Scotch Transparent Tape

On this date in 1930, Scotch Transparent Tape entered the world scene.

This was the beginning of an era where corporations like 3M, Xerox and Kimberly-Clark have fought valiantly in a quixotic effort to defend their registered trade names from the lexicon.

This is an open thread, but please keep things decent.

I’m worried my hateful indoctrination won’t hold…

Created for TheZoo by Paul Jamiol
All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Paul Jamiol, Jamiol’s World

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Rahm needs to spend more time with his family

All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Paul Jamiol, Jamiol’s World

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The Watering Hole: September 7 – Odd Science & Kids

Our grandaughter was visiting us about 2 years back and she saw this clip:

In the interest of seeing how this worked, she leaned on us to try to duplicate the effect with this result (We were on a limited budget.):

It Worked!

She had dropped 5 Methos wafers into a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke and high-tailed it from the immediate area, pivoting when we told her to. That piqued her interest in chemistry.  She was six at the time. It is never too early to tempt a child with the awe of science. The next step is the journey into the scientific method, and the why.

A maiden Aunt enticed an entire generation of nieces and nephews into careers in science, enginering and medicine. There was one lawyer, but three baccalaureates in social issues, three advanced degrees in science or engineering, one PhD and two MDs is not too bad from a crop of 12.

The issue today is not home schooling, but instead, whole  family support. Public schooling provides social interactions that have no other source. Without it prejudice will never cease to exist.

Please note that this is an open thread and we welcome any comment not bordering on the obscene.

Bloody hard work..

“First, do no good.”

All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
John Cole, Scranton, PA Times-Tribune

The doctor conducts a “death panel”

Guest Blogger, Mike Grady MD, returns with his insight into the so-called “death panel.”  See Dr Grady’s previous post here.

I recently conducted one of Sarah Palin’s “ death panels” and thought I would let you know how it went. The expression of course comes from Palin’s absurd

delusion that a proposed provision of the President’s health plan would have the government making decisions to deny health care to elderly and disabled citizens. The actual language would have Medicare pay physicians to have voluntary end-of-life discussions with patients at critical junctures in their lives. Nothing more; nothing less.

My conference was a typical one. An elderly patient is admitted to a nursing facility after an extensive hospitalization with uncertainty about his prognosis and whether he will ever be able to return home. The patient, whose capacity to make decisions is limited, and family members are present. There were no government bureaucrats in the room or mandatory discussion guidelines. There was instead a good discussion of diagnoses and the clinical uncertainties involved. Decisions were made and some deferred about resuscitation, re-hospitalization, tube feedings, aggressive vs. palliative care and hospice. All of this was explored in view of the patient’s values, preferences and priorities.

These kinds of conversations are necessary because of the way we die. We do not get old and die; we get old and sick and die, with an average of 5-10 years of disability before our deaths. Advancements in medicine have both prolonged our lives and, in some cases, prolonged our dying. This places us in a position of being able to make choices about how we die. We can make decisions for ourselves and our loved ones that may make the difference between whether that last touch is from a spouse or the hand of someone doing chest compressions; whether the last sound we hear is a whispered good bye or the swoosh of a ventilator; whether the last nutrition we receive is a lovingly offered spoonful or a concoction delivered by a surgically implanted tube in our abdomen.

We are fortunate in Oregon to live in a state that has pioneered end of life care. The Physician Order for Life Sustaining Treatment ( POLST ) form, in particular, developed at OHSU, has served as a useful instrument in focusing the discussions and clarifying the decisions at the end of life.

Palin’s paranoia and its apparent success bode poorly for the important resource allocation decisions we need to make as a society. We cannot afford all beneficial health care. Ideally, we will make these determinations by combining the best medical information with community values in a process that is transparent and protected from the demagoguery that Palin and her ilk currently use to disrupt and poison our national dialogue.

So there you have it, death panels in action. Be afraid, Sarah Palin. We are out there. There are thousands of us. We are physicians, nurses, chaplains and others who believe that patients in hospitals, nursing homes, palliative care and hospice deserve these difficult, time consuming discussions when life is ending or on the horizon.

Michael Grady, M.D.

Dr. Grady is a family physician in Silverton. He can be reached at:  gradymd@wavecable.com.

Posted in full on TheZoo with the expressed permission of the author, Michael Grady.

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Cash for Karzai!

Another great animated cartoon by Mark Fiore!

Click on graphic to view at source.

Secessionists v. the Military Commissions Act of 2006

Under Bush’s Military Commissions Act of 2006, anyone determined to be an “unlawful alien enemy combatant” may be picked up and held without charges until the end of the “war on terror” i.e. for the rest of their life., without getting a phone call, without access to an attorney, or outside contact of any kind.

Under the Military Commissions Act, a person who has supported hostilities against the United States is an enemy combatant. The terms are broad enough to encompass people who speak at secession rallies.

They become an “unlawful enemy combatant” if they don’t wear a recognizable insignia identifying them as belonging to an army or militia. i.e. if they are not wearing a uniform, like those photographed carrying pistols and assault rifles to Obama’s meetings this past August.

The only step left, to become an “unlawful alien enemy combatant” is to declare secession. Once that is done, U.S. citizenship is renounced.

IN SUMMARY: the minute Secessionists declare independence from the United States, they become “unlawful alien enemy combatants” and may be captured, detained indefinitely, and questioned, possibly with the “legal” techniques they support as being highly effective in rooting out valuable intelligence information leading to the arrest of their co-conspirators.

Rumor has it Bush built detention centers across the country designed to hold thousands of such folks.

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Sunday Roast: The Supersizers Go Edwardian

This week, Giles and Sue go back to the era of King Edward VII.  A time of gargantuan twelve course meals, bored women, gluttony, and the arrival of the “restaurant.”  Enjoy!

Part 1 of 6 (each about 10 minutes long)

Part 2

Teachable moment..

All cartoons are posted with the artists’ express permission to TPZoo.
Matt Davies, NY Journal News