I'm foregoing "this day in history" today (except to give one of my OLDER sisters a birthday shout - out!) because most of the items were pretty depressing, and I began today like this!
Keep reading to see why! ;D
I finished Renegade on Saturday night; it is a MUST - READ for anyone interested in behind - the - scenes activities in campaigning for POTUS. And, no, I'm not just saying that because of the dreamy esteem in which I hold the author. ;D You also get some background information on why Richard Wolffe himself was uniquely qualified to report about Barack Obama & the challenges he faced and continues to face. So, I emailed him to let him know how much I enjoyed the book, his segments on Countdown, etc. And, no, I didn't gush too much; I do have my pride!
I checked my email first thing this morning like I normally do, and guess who I got an email from??????!!!!!!
I was plotzing all over my house! I'm not going to report EVERYTHING he said, but he is extremely kind & gracious & happy to be back on Countdown. What we do here each night is appreciated, and I will continue to do so with bells on!
Let's Countdown!
Don't forget to support the National Association of Free Clinicsany way you can.
Thanks awfully very much to Lawrence O’Donnell for DHing for Keith tonight; Keith, we hope you’re back soonest & that everything’s going OK for you and your family!
#5 "Premium Crackers" AKA "Reform Without Reform" - Health insurance premiums will continue to go up regardless of health care reform legislation?! Well, hells bells...what’s all the sparkin’ fuss been about? A health insurance industry lobby (immediately suspect right there!) commissioned a study that says so. Golly, I guess I have something in common with the health insurance industry lobbyists; I’m not crazy at all about Senator Health Insurance Industry itch Baucus’ bill either. The AARP says the study’s "...not worth the paper it’s printed on." Well, of course the health insurance industry is going to sound all the scary alarms & such. Why do you think they strategically placed their own employees at town hall meetings this summer? The largest nurses’ association in the country ain’t crazy about what AHIP had to say, either. As a matter of fact, a whole lot of people seem to be responding to this study with a resounding "Bull$hit!" Health insurance lobbyists think the solution is to force even more people to buy their craptacular product. Uh...thanks but no thanks. Who would’ve thunk the health insurance industry would be in the "cover everyone" corner?! ;D Using this craptacular study to boost support for the public option would be lovely, but I don’t think it’ll happen. So, the health insurance industry might throw even more money into trying to delay or permanently destroy health care reform? How many millions have they spent already trying to do so? I’d wager a lot, if memory serves. Big pharm could be the next industry to throw a hissy fit. There’s Wendell Potter – YIPPEE! Yea, Mr. O’Donnell’s correct; the health insurance industry helped write the damn stinky turd (or turdy stink) sandwich, and now they’re itching about it?! The health insurance industry may be to the point where they want to kill any bill; huh, they’re like the GOP, which shouldn’t be a surprise because a lot of them bought & paid for the GOP (and some Dems, too, of course!). 5625 people have donated to help free clinics, and $450,000 has been raised. YAHOO! Way to go, y’all!!
#4 "Prize and Prejudice" AKA "The Nobel Savage" AKA "Pax Obama" - Can someone somewhere throw a poo pie at DICK’s spawn, please?! Good grief... Both DICK’s spawn & Hilary Clinton said President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for changing America’s relationship with the world. Cowboy diplomacy is a no – no. Liz Cheney doesn’t think we should be so nice or DIPLOMATIC with the rest of the world. She wants a dead soldier’s mother to accept the award. That coming from the daughter of the "man" responsible for so many dead soldiers is rich! Wow, who would’ve thunk we’d hear the name Jesse Helms today? Man, if there is a hell, he should be there! Steve Clemons is just on a roll tonight; he got Jesse Helms & the Borg in the same segment! He’s good! ;D There is a bit of twisted irony that during the Cold War our nation put forth a lot of effort to do good positive things to make ourselves look better in comparison to the Soviets (who really weren’t that much of a threat to begin with), and after we "won" the Cold War, we began slowly but surely acting like those nasty Soviets with the awful culmination of GWB & DICK.
#3 "DADT" AKA "Do Tell" - I loved Mr. O’Donnell’s intro to this segment. President Obama spoke to the largest organization fighting for the rights & benefits of the last group of Americans who are STILL legally treated as second class citizens. Lordy, ain’t THAT the truth. President Obama once again Saturday night repeated his vow to repeal DADT but offered no specific time of when it might be done. I wonder if a part of him is waiting for potential progress in Rep. Patrick Murphy’s legislation to repeal it? The Human Rights Campaign welcomed President Obama’s speech. The National Equality March drew tens of thousands of people to Washington, DC on Sunday. Cleve Jones, the co – chairman of the National Equality March, cut his teeth politically with...guess who? Harvey Milk. AND, thanks to the Governator’s penmanship over the weekend, May 22 in California will officially be Harvey Milk Day!! ‘Bout damn time! Now, let’s REALLY honor Harvey Milk by scrapping DADT & DOMA, dammit! Scrapping these shameful policies ain’t rocket science, people! I wonder if Dan Savage will make the splash tonight that he did the last time he was on the show? ;D President Obama has the authority to issue an executive order stopping the implementation of DADT, and quite a number of Congress critters have told him to do so! Did you all see footage of Dan Choi at the march on Sunday? I’ll have to dig that up. Here it is; this is a must hear!
#2 "Boss Limbaugh" AKA "Rush ‘N’ Attack" - Ugh...what I won’t do for this diary; I’m gonna stick it out through this segment. ;D HA! I like Lawrence O’Donnell’s viewer discretion advised! Too...funny... He insists he’s not the leader of the Republican Party. President Obama’s skin color doesn’t matter to Boss Limbaugh?! REALLY?! Huh...he hasn’t been listening to his own show lately. His critics are "impotent" & "powerless." Well, he’s the one packing Viagra, so I guess he’d know impotence! He’s a rude little S.O.B., ain’t he?! If I would’ve been that interviewer, I would’ve walked out on him.
#1 "FAUX News" AKA "Fairly Unbalanced" - The Obama Administration has FINALLY caught up with Daily Kos & more "normal thinking" people in recognizing FAUX News as the research & propaganda wing of the GOP. Here’s what Roger Ailes had to say about FAUX’s coverage of the Obama administration:
I see this as the Alamo. If I just had somebody who was willing to sit on the other side of the camera until the last shot is fired, we’d be fine.
And, if you read Renegade, you get more lovely details about the "relationship" between FAUX News & the Obama peeps. President Obama will go on FAUX but supposedly knows what he’s getting in to now.