Bush's message on health care

Dear Mainstream media,

Bush devoted only one paragraph to the topic of health care. So much for the media's hype which stated: "Health care will be the centerpiece of the White House's domestic agenda for 2006." Wrong again! Main thing I head tonight was the message, "Be Afraid--unless Republicans are in charge of the country-- then it's OK."

Yeah, right....

Bush's State of the Union

Well we saw the Karl Rove blueprint for fighting the Democrats in action tonight in the State of the Union address: F E A R

I have to admit, as I heard Bush going on and on about the radical muslim jihadist that want to kill us, after about 10 minutes of it, I felt fear bubbling up inside me, even though I tried to ignore it. The problem is that when you hear the President of the United States tell you that someone is trying to kill you, it has an effect on you, which is exactly want the Karl Rovian fear-mongers wanted me to feel. And I fell for it! Darn it!!

Bush will introduce his "Trickle-Down Health Care Plan"

I had a dream last night and I dreamed that after the I heard the Democrats take a stand on something, I deamed they were saying:

Tonight, after 1,934 days in office, President Bush will finally acknowledge that the America's health care system is broken and is in desperate need of repair. Bill and Hillary are laughing in the background saying, "Yup, we tried to tell you that in 1993, but you guys said we were out of touch with the American people, remember?"

Watch him propose a "Trickle-Down Health Care Plan" that will do nothing to control skyrocketing costs or increase access for the 45 million people who can not afford health care.

A "Trickle-Down Health Care Plan" works for the wealthy, his base. That's right, he is fighting for a brighter future, but he's fighting for the top 1% of this country. So his "Trickle-Down Health Care Plan" will leave out 99% of the population.

I woke up... it was only a dream...

Bush and the State of the Union

Chris Matthews asked on Hardball tonight, "What can President Bush say in his speech on Tuesday, that will make the American people feel better?"

"I QUIT"

Follow the money

Bush following his principles...

http://www.andyfoulds.co.uk/amusement/bushv2.htm

Molly Ivans, Hillary Clinton and the Karl Rovian F-E-A-R mongers

Picture by: Ali Ali/European Pressphoto Agency and published in the NYTimes 1/28/06

My friend Bill sent me this article by Molly Ivan that explains why she is NOT going to support Hillary Clinton. (see comments for article.)

My husband, who I would describe as a social liberal and a fiscal conservative is anti-Hillary as well. I'm an undecided. I have ambivalent feelings about the war in Iraq. I think we were lied to and that we still don't know the real reason for this war. I think the public was manipulated. I also believe that there is a connection to this NSA spying revelation and the Valarie Plame CIA leak that is so obvious that it stands out like a wart on someone's nose and yet, the media draws no correlation between two. How else would Scooter Libby's attorneys know to subpoena journalist’s notes if they weren't eaves dropping? The press and the current administration think we are asleep at the wheel.

It is so obvious that the leaked pictures of Jack A. Abramoff with GW Bush was a warning to the White House that if they don't back off and play by Abramhoff's rules, they are going to get slammed publicly and that he will take them down with him. It is so obvious he has the goods on them.

If you throw in the Able Danger cover-up and all the emerging 9-11 conspiracies that are starting to gel and resonate with each other, doesn’t that smell a little like a "smoking gun." Come on guys and girls, do they really believe that we are that dumb and that we can't see it?

Anyone wonder why John Perkins’ book, "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man," stays on the International Best Seller's List but hasn’t been reviewed?

Karl Rove says, the Republican mantra for the 2006 election is ". . . f e a r . . . . " Fear the terrorists!

Anyone ever wonder how, whenever the neocons need terrorist picture in the news, and almost on que, Haamas or the Fatah or some other terrorist group delivers a “Just-in-time” photo-op for the morning news.

Bush’s people say, see F-E-A-R the terrorists, vote for us.

Ok, in truth, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I’m sorry, the mainstream media is a corporation and part of the Corporatocracy that really governs our country. Is that good or bad, there are two sides of that argument. But who holds them accountable? Why would they want us to know the truth? The truth would put people in jail, and hurt the status quo. It would hlep the competition and impact earnings, people would lose jobs, right?

If people really paid attention, it would be so apparent that our opinions are being messaged into compliance. Maybe that's another reason people don't want to support Hillary. Maybe she is too much a part of the Corpratocracy that is stealing our future, over-exploiting our natural resources in the name of corporate profits, leaving the elderly to fend for themselves, so Bill Frist can lie on Meet the Press and say, Democrats want to raise taxes on the American People instead of "Democrats want to rasie taxes on 1% of the American People, the wealthiest who won't even notice the money is gone." I don't know, you decide ...

If the Democrats were smart, how they would respond to Bush's state of the Union speech

According to the New York Times, President Bush's State of the Union speech will focus on health care. He will borrow words from Bill Clinton's September 22, 1993 speech he gave on the looming health care crisis in this country.

If the Democrats were smart, they would create a video piece showing the two speeches side by side:

Show what Bush says/stop/show what Clinton said throughout the speech, with the final tag line saying: “Republican’s have no ideas of their own; they simply borrow ideas from the Democrats!”

They also need to remind the public that it was the Republican's who killed the Democrat's healthcare initiative in the 90's, which had we addressed and debated the issue back then instead of caving into special interests, we might have avoided the current crisis.

Whether the government pays for the healthcare through government programs or through tax cuts, either way, the government is paying for it with tax dollars or the loss of tax dollars.

Democrats -- Defining our Message

I went to get a new pair of glasses yesterday. The Ophthalmologist doing my eye exam noticed my little donkey pin on my purse and opened a coversation about politics, obviously wanting to talk about her views and feeling somewhat safe after seeing the donkey.

In the course of our converstation she said this:

My friends want our government to --"INVEST --IN --THE --FUTURE."

Concerning environmental we want to see" WISE --USES --OF --OUR --RESOURCES."

Concerning terrorism:
" WE --ARE -- MORE -- AFRAID -- FOR -- OUR -- COUNTRY's -- FUTURE -- THAN -- WE -- ARE --TERRORISTS."

My Ophthalmologist is in her 30's. She is a Chinese American.

If the Democrats are trying to find thier message, will someone please tell Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Howard Dean, and Hillary Clinton?

Really, this is not rocket science.

This Stuff Drives Me Crazy-- News on Global Warming

In today's paper of the New York Times, there is an article titled, “Climate Expert Says NASA Tried to Silence Him by Andrew C. Revkin.

Dr. James Hansen a top climate scientist at NASA said that the Bush administration is trying to stop him from speaking out on global warming after a lecture he gave in December that prompted reductions of green house gases and sounded an alarm about the dire consequences that will result if we don't act and act soon.

In response the agency is now required to “monitor” his lectures, papers, and postings on the agency website.

Dr. Hansen said he was going to ignore their request to monitor his communications. He feels it would be irresponsible not to speak out, especially because NASA's mission statement is "to understand and protect our home planet.” Hansen feels it is important to issue warnings to the public regarding the consequence of continuing on our current course with our CO2 emissions which will leave our planet drastically changed.

Hansen says they are "censoring him" the agency PR people say they are simply trying to “coordinate the messages that are going out to the public.”

His superiors rejected a request from NPR to interview Hansen saying that did not want him talking to NPR, “the most liberal media outlet in the country."

"Mr. Deutsch, a White House appointee, said "his job was to make the president look good."

To speak out of the loop is considered, "disloyal to the President."

Dr. Hansen feels that federal scientist have a duty to inform the public. The agency "coordinates" scientist that disagree with the administration but places few restricted on scientist that agree with the administrations' position on global warming.

Five years ago scientist were able to talk to reporters, today talking freely to reporters is controversial closely monitored when they are outside of the administration position. Hansen continues to speak though and says he always prefaces his comments by emphasizing that he in representing his views and not the agency.

Hansen is regarded as one of the most creative climate scientists in the world.

Russerts unacceptable interview with Bill Frist on Meet the Press

Bill Frist on Meet the Press when being questioned by Tim Russert

(not exact but close quotes):

Russert questions Frist about the trillions dollar Federal debt; how much it will cost to rebuild New Orleans and Russert asks, "How is that being a conservative?"

Frist rambles his replies.

Russert: "The Democrats Party says that if you roll back the "Bush tax cuts" on the top 1% of the wealthiest citizens there will be enough money to pay for Iraq, New Orleans etc."

Frist: “THE DEMOCRATS ANSWER TO OUR PROBLEMS IS TO RAISE TAXES OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE."

Russert changes the subject...

If Russert was doing his job as a REAL journalist his follow up question would have been:

Senator, are the Democrats saying to raise taxes on the AMERICAN PEOPLE or just 1% of the "AMERICAN PEOPLE."

If American people allow the Republicans and mainstream media get away with this kind of rhetoric, then I have to agree with something I've read recently, “Never underestimate the stupidity of the American people!"

Jack Abramhoff and Martha Stewart

How does that compare to Martha Stewart?

Official Tipped Abramoff on Client's Case, Filing Says

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 — Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist at the center of a widening influence-peddling investigation, used a contact in the federal government to give an early warning to Tyco International, one of his clients, that its subsidiaries were about to be suspended from doing business with the government, according to a court filing.

By NEIL A. LEWIS
Published: January 29, 2006

Weaning ourselves from oil

This just goes to show how untapped our national imaginations are toward the creation of renewable energy that weans us from oil. This is an example of a tethered wind-mill.
http://www.magenn.com/index.php
Imagine what we could come up with if we really wanted to...

Karl Rove’s Play book for the 2006 election

"Naturally, the common people don't want war, but they can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. Tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and endangering the country. It works the same in every country."
-Herman Goering, Hitler's Reichsmarschall at the Nuremberg Trials.

Martin Luther King Day

I was off work today and used the time to learn how to use Flickr. In honor of MLK Day, I made my first Flickr slide show to honor and remember the people in New Orleans who have lost so much.

Maybe we should set aside this day for African Americans and have it be like a Jewish holiday We could say that if you are African American, you get this as a paid holiday. You do not have to work on this day to honor all that your race gave to make this country what it is today.

These are slides that I saved from all of the various news articles that were written in the aftermath of Katrina.

See my slide show:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/99351869@N00/show/

John Edwards

Edwards definitely lights up the room when he walks into a room. I have been reading a lot about the concept of an "electronic democracy" and how the advent of the Internet opens a window of opportunity to create a society where we can use these tools for citizen input. He has been doing great things with his website, One America. It is a great example of how our leaders could use these tools.

I'm not the type of person that likes to get signatures or pictures with the "super stars" but I thought I'd catch him when he walked in the room and just say how much I liked his website. What an eye-opening experience. Others must have had the same idea because the number of people standing around him quickly turned into a crowd of people. His "body guard" started pushing people out of the way, saying to people "Don't push, get back." He shoved me out of the way, making me go from being next in line to speak to him to about 10th or 11th. I waited and the crowds continued to grow.

I overheard what people talked to him about. One woman gushed over him about his wife's illness and asked him questions as though he was a family member. A young twenty-something girl enumerated on all the work she had done from him in North Carolina in the presidential campaign. I wondered about why these people were saying these things to him and what they hoped to accomplish? I wondered what I hoped to accomplish...

After a few minutes, the body guard starting shoving people again. His shoving upset the crowd which only made a polite situation turn ugly. He started saying, "DON'T PUSH, DON'T PUSH, GET BACK." and pushing people around for no apparent reason. I said to him, "I'm sorry but you are the only person who is pushing and shoving people." He stopped and then John Edwards turned a few seconds later and looked at me. I said to him, " I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciated want you are doing with on your website and I hope continue to do more of this type of thing." I was going to ask him how to send him a video question, but by them, I felt like it was a lost cause and ended the brief encounter. He of course said, "thank you" and that was the end of it.

A few acquaintances of mine managed to get a picture with him for bragging rights I suppose. I had another friend waited to talk to with John Edwards. She overheard people asking him for money. Needless to say, this whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. Why am I doing this, I keep asking myself? Does our input really matter?

Making people nervous

Announcing that I was going to write about my impression of the two candidates on my blog was quite interesting. A few people were noticeably uncomfortable with my decision to express my opinion about the two democratic gubernatorial candidates. One person even asked me not to publish my opinions on this blog for fear that I would be breaking some rule that would get us into trouble. "If we are allowed to talk about the candidates, why can't we write about them?" I innocently asked.

I suppose the real reason blogs make people feel uncomfortable is that's just not the way the game has been played in the past. You're supposed to be a foot solider and you are supposed to take orders. You're not suppose go to have a way for REAL input, right?

The gossip about Rod Smith vs. Jim Davis

So what about the candidates? We actually didn't go hear either of them speak at the convention. I had already heard both of them speak previously so I skipped that. I did notice however that all of the leaders at the convention were wearing Jim Davis buttons, not Ron Smith buttons and I wondered why. Interestingly the gossip that was buzzing around about the two candidates answered that question.

According to the gossip, Rod Smith has a habit of changing his message to accommodate what ever group he's talking to and he panders to their needs. Jim Davis on the other hand, according to the gossip, has gone around the state and talked to the Democratic Leadership. Even the lowliest of positions, like school board members of small insignificant districts have not been by-passed. People say that he has been straight with them. He has explained his vision, what he hopes to do and what he knows he will have difficulty doing with the Republican Party in control of both legislative bodies. They are impressed with his candor, doesn't make false promises, he's realistic and that's why so many of the leaders have vowed to try and help him get elected to office.

So my take on the situation: both men are qualified and both have served their country well, but it might be that we need a straight shooter right now in Tallahassee.

Disney strikes out

The convention was held at the Disney Contemporary Resort in Orlando. The parking was insufficient, the tram broke down and we had walk, there were no signs for information posted to help people find their way around the hotel. We made lunch reservations at the Disney's Grand Floridian Resort. The hotel smelled musty, we had to wait 30 minutes WITH reservations, the drinks were over priced, and the food was horrible. The dinner speaker was Barak Obama. There were candles on the tables and when someone at our table lit them, the Disney folks came and scolded us, blew out the candles and told us not to light them again. We paid $150 for the dinner and the staff didn't bring out desert. The best thing about the Disney resort was leaving that night and heading home.

Barak Obama

He was a refreshing speaker and funny at times. I hope he doesn't get corrupted...

Tom Vilsack

Our DEC had the opportunity to go and speak with him privately during the convention. I was surprised at having this opportunity and wondered why he would want to speak with us since we were not his constituency. But I must say it was a very good experience. He told us about his website: The Heartland Pac this is another good example of electronic democracy at work.