Unemployement benefits and the big “FU!”
Like many Americans, I have been watching the Senate wrangle with the issue of unemployment benefits, and the detestable act that Kentucky Senator Bunning has committed in denying benefits be continued. Then I watched as Senator John Kyl of Arizona, the number two Republican in the Senate, call people that got unemployment benefits “lazy”. This was pretty much a horrible situation for the American people.
But the big “FU” was not just Bunning flipping the bird to the American public. It came in the form of an accusation from CNN reporter Christine Roman this morning. Did you see it? Roman, in explaining that the benefits finally passed last night, said, “Why did Democrats let this go for so long?” Yes, she blamed DEMOCRATS for the fiasco. I’m sorry, but when did Senator Bunning cross the aisle and become a Democrat? Which top Democratic Party Official in the Senate asked Senator Bunning to object to the unanimous consent on the continuation of unemployment benefits? NONE! What CNN’s Roman did was subtle, but nonetheless, a jab at Democrats instead of the real culprit, Senator Bunning and his supporters. I’ll post the transcript when it comes out.
CNN, you not only got it wrong this morning, you got it FOX NEWS wrong!
UPDATED: TRANSCRIPT FROM CNN:
ROBERTS: You got a Numeral for us this morning, a Romans Numeral?
ROMANS: I do, and this has do to with broken government, everybody — a 11.5 million people. Eleven and a half million people who for five days have been watching as the Democrats let the situation marinade and as Jim Bunning continued to talk about how we have to talk about — 11.5 million people are the number of people who get unemployment checks.
Many of the (ph) people couldn’t feed their families without them and I just think that — and what I’ve been getting — the feedback that I’ve been getting from our viewers and the like and on Facebook and on Twitter is that a lot of people have been watching this, quote- unquote, “Bunning bashing” but have been saying, wait a minute, why did the Democrats let this go on so long?
Couldn’t they have fixed this last Friday? Did they — is this — is this also political maneuvering on both sides? And 11.5 –
CHETRY: And the answer is yes.
Homophobia seems to be making a comeback (image technically NSFW)
It seems that there is more and more homophobia, calls for violence, and all-out crappy treatment of the LGBT community that either being reported, or just becoming more fashionable to do. I’m not sure which one if is, but it’s disturbing, especially given that hate crimes against the LGBT community seem to be going up.
So the first big one was the Notre Dame cartoon. Second was John Mayer’s comments. Now, it’s another gay-bashing T-Shirt making the rounds.
Perusing through Facebook, I found an update from T-Shirt Hell. Normally their stuff is edgy but fun. Then I saw they were promoting this shirt to bring back (the top image):
Go check it out for yourself. Yeah, the “Holy Fucking Shit” is gross, but hell, to each his own. But “Nothing runs like a queere”, with a person being chased by people with baseball bats? That’s crossing the line. If you want to see for yourself, sign into Facebook and check T-Shirt Hell’s page at: http://www.facebook.com/tshirthell. They think it’s so funny, that’s their company’s avatar.
Another difference between Democrats and Republicans
There has been a great “compare and contrast Democrats and Republicans” list out there for quite a while, and trust me it is great. But recently, something struck me as the biggest difference of them all. Let me tell you about it. And yes, it may sound hokey, but there is definitely a lesson to be learned here.
I worked in an office that was 90% Republican, 10% Democrat. We had a little kitchen that wasn’t very well kept up, but we managed. Towards the end of my assignment in that office, there was behavior that just struck me as odd. Here’s what it boiled down to: When a Republican was in the kitchen and in need of a paper towel to clean things up, they walked about 10 feet away to the bathroom, got a few paper towels, and cleaned up their mess. Once clean, they went about their day. When a Democrat was in the kitchen and in need of a paper towel to clean things up, again they walked to the bathroom. However, every single time, the Democrat brought back enough paper towels for multiple jobs, not just for what they needed to clean up. Republicans and Democrats would both use these reserve paper towels to clean up the mess, until such time as they were gone. Then the whole cycle would start over again.
So what does a lesson in paper towel usage between Democrats and Republicans teach us? That Republicans do what they need to for the short term, whereas Democrats do the same job, but at the same time, plan for the future.
So there may be a good “compare and contrast democrats and republicans” list out there already. But all you really need to know comes from a little office kitchen, and how Republicans don’t plan for the future, while their Democratic brethren most certainly do.
No footnotes, no asterisks
You know, when you read the Declaration of Independence put forth by the Founding Fathers, you have to notice one fact. There are no footnotes or asterisks that direct the reader to some subsection saying that “well, we didn’t mean it applies to this group or that”. The most famous line is, of course, this:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Yes boys and girls, that is exactly how it’s written. It’s not:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal (see note 1), that they are endowed by their Creator (see note 2) with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Note 1: This may not apply to those Catholics; we just don’t get their religion. Oh, and not the homos. No offense, but ewww… And not those Italians that come over here. You know, looking all swarthy and all. And don’t get us started on those crazy Indians! We’ve got some smallpox blankets to take care of them!
Note 2: When we say “Creator”, we mean the good, PROTESTANT God. We don’t mean a Catholic God, or some heathen race God like Ganesha or Mohammed or Zeus or Odin. Nope, the only Creator we mean is our good, Protestant God.
So what does this mean? It means that A) we are ALL meant to be able to pursue Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness and B) every person has the right to their own beliefs about their Creator. It means that black people have the right to marry white people. It means that people should be allowed to be hermits in a cave, or be the life of a party in downtown Manhattan. It means that people are allowed to pursue Mormonism. It means that people are allowed to howl at the moon, if that is their want for worship. And it means that men should have the right to marry other men, and women should have the right to marry other women. You see, it all comes down to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. I have been with my partner for over seventeen years. But someone took away our rights of the pursuit of Happiness in a popularity contest back in 2004.
We should be granting rights, not taking them away. Because honestly, no one person is better than another. No one person’s rights should be granted when another person’s rights are taken away. We are all equal. We should all BE equal. That is the way that our Founding Fathers wanted.
Straight boys looking at naked ladies makes them GAY?!?!?!
Okay, who came up with this? Oh yeah, some yabbo – Senator Tom Coburn’s Chief of Staff at the Value Voters summit – declared that. Okay, who believes these wackos?
But just in case, maybe I should send Hugh Jackman a case of Playboy magazines….and my address. 
Things I’ve heard on the passing of Senator Kennedy
You want to see the real difference between a Democrat and a Republican? I know this comes from my observations, but having watched the same thing on right-wing television this morning, I know others have experienced it.
Democrats, upon hearing Senator Kennedy has died: He was the lion of the Senate. He was the reason so much historic legislation happened. He was bipartisan, and worked with everyone in the Senate. He leaves a great legacy, and will be missed.
Republicans, upon hearing Senatory Kennedy has died: CHAPPAQUIDIK? (OK, I can’t spell it either)
NOM brings me back to 1967
Okay, so I wasn’t born until late 1967, and I don’t remember this myself. But the feelings are the same. Watch NOM’s latest commercial (you can find it here) talking about “activist judges” and “forcing gay marriage on Iowa”. Then take a step back and think about 1967 and interracial marriage.
You know, back in the 1960s, not every state allowed interracial marriage. That’s why the case of Loving v. Virginia is so important. The Supreme Court ruled that the ban was Unconstitutional. And no, it wasn’t a popular subject; if you were to “put it to a vote”, it probably would not have passed.
Just because a popular vote comes from the people does NOT mean that it is fair or just. But NOM doesn’t understand that. They only understand uglyness, ignorance, and intolerance.
Read some of the arguments against interracial marriage. Replace the race words with gay or lesbian. They hold the same meaning; using religion to create intolerance, hate, and to oppress a minority.
Why I Want To Run the White House Healthcare Planning and Debate
Okay, I have to admit that at times, I can be a control freak. But it is only because when I see something is misguided and not firing on all cylinders, I want to make it right for all those concerned. It’s this reason that I want to go to the White House and be put in charge of our healthcare planning. Here is what I would do:
First thing that happens is to empower every single person that is visible, and even those that aren’t considered in visible positions, to go out and make a push for healthcare. I don’t care if you run the White House briefing room, or if you are a staff person. You should push for healthcare.
And what about the push itself? It would have to be a concert of the same message coming out of every single person’s mouth. I want to hear the same thing coming from Obama’s mouth that I hear coming from Sebelius’, Rahm’s, and Clinton’s. A powerful message that says that healthcare is a right, and that the plan that puts people before insurance companies is what is on the table – and it is non-negotiable.
Next, I would develop a set of vocabulary, and I would lead with the all powerful word LIE. I want the word “lie” to be in every single person’s speech at least a dozen times. Like, “You know when the Republicans are trying to scare you, all they are doing is lying. That’s it. All a lie.” That word is POWERFUL. It calls out the bastards for what they’re doing, and it makes the public do the Scooby Do “Rwah?” and pay attention.
How about attacking the right-wing polls and calling them out for what they’re doing? You know like, “When polled, Americans overwhelmingly want a public option. But these politically-slanted polls that trick the public with mis-directing questions and then get picked up by the health insurance companies as “evidence” – that’s a bunch of bullcrap. And they know it.”
Put Obama and other high profile officials at retirement communities. Tell the seniors that we protected them with Medicare back in 1965, and we will continue to protect them and their GOVERNMENT SPONSORED Medicare program now and in the future. Then say, “We give every senior healthcare now. Isn’t it our moral obligation to help your kids and your grandkids, too?”.
Last, I would make a set of phrases and ultimatums. You know, like GWB did. “You’re either with us, or you’re with the profit-driven insurance companies.” That would be a good one to start with. Then I would go after the Republicans saying, “We tried, we compromised, and it did no good. Now you can see for yourself that it’s only the Democratic Party that’s working for your families healthcare.”
If you have to lie to make a point, don’t you know it discredits you?
Apparently not, at least to Republicans. Take a look at this video. The “I’m just a local mom” lady is a Republican plant, who worked on the campaign of the Republican trying to defeat the Democratic Representative in the last election.
Just a mom? No. But maybe a Mother…
New DNC ad. What do you think?
Have you seen the new DNC ad? It explains how the RNC attacks on Obama and healthcare are purely for political reasons, and the public “outrage” at town hall meetings is bought and paid for by the RNC.
Watch it here – and tell us what you think.
