The Liberal Curmudgeon

"It's Your Appendix, It's Not Theirs": Jon Stewart Captures Glenn Beck

2009-11-08T16:14:00.006-05:00

Jon Stewart does a masterful job in capturing the weepy mannerisms, buffoonery and outlandish conspiracy theorizing that form Glenn Beck's shtick. Watch him explain the "larger, more serious point" about Beck's appendicitis:

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Republican Anh "Joseph" Cao Shows More Conscience Than Democrats Who Voted "No"

2009-11-08T13:25:00.015-05:00

The Republican tally for House votes in favor of health care reform: one. That one affirmative voter is Representative Anh "Joseph" Cao (left) of Louisiana. Explaining his vote, Cao said:

“I read the versions of the House bill. I listened to the countless stories of Orleans and Jefferson Parish citizens whose health care costs are exploding — if they are able to obtain health care at all. Louisianans need real options for primary care, for mental health care, and for expanded health care for seniors and children.”

In voting to expand the numbers of Americans who are able to receive health care, Cao has shown more concern for his fellow citizens than the following Democrats who joined Republicans in voting "no":

John Adler (NJ); Jason Altmire (PA); Brian Baird (WA); John Barrow (GA); John Boccieri (OH); Dan Boren (OK); Rick Boucher (VA); Allen Boyd (FL); Bobby Bright (AL); Ben Chandler (KT); Travis Childers (MS); Artur Davis (AL); Lincoln Davis (TN); Chet Edwards (TX); Bart Gordon (TN); Parker Griffith (AL); Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD); Tim Holden (PA); Larry Kissell (NC); Suzanne Kosmas (FL); Frank Kratovil (MD); Dennis Kucinich (OH); Jim Marshall (GA); Betsy Markey (CO); Eric Massa (NY); Jim Matheson(UT); Mike McIntyre (NC); Michael McMahon (NY); Charlie Melancon (LA); Walt Minnick (ID); Scott Murphy (NY); Glenn Nye (VA); Collin Peterson (MN); Mike Ross (AR); Heath Shuler (NC); Ike Skelton (MO); John Tanner (TN); Gene Taylor (MS); Harry Teague (NM)

These officials mostly represent districts that voted for the GOP presidential ticket last November. They put politics above an issue that has been central to the Democratic Party for decades. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio deserves particular mention for his "nay." Kucinich, who is for universal health care, foolishly reasoned that since the bill wasn't progressive enough, whatever progress it represents should be scrapped.

One unfortunate aspect of Cao's vote, along with the "yes" votes of anti-abortion Democrats, was its reliance on tight abortion restrictions, sure to hurt women who can't afford the procedure. As the Guttmacher Institute and World Health Organization have shown, restrictions don't reduce the abortion rate; they just make the procedure more dangerous. Pro-choice House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, included these restrictions to get the bill passed, showing more pragmatism than Kucinich.

Tancredo Storms Off Set After Moulitsas' Challenge On Vets' Health Care

2009-11-07T22:05:00.011-05:00

Former Republican congressman Tom Tancredo asserted on MSNBC that all veterans are dissatisfied with Veterans Administration care and want a more privatized system: "Every veterans group I ever went and talked to complained about the Veterans Administration... They would much rather have vouchers that would allow them to go out and buy their insurance in a private marketplace."

The problem is that he was debating Markos Moulitsas, founder of the Daily Kos and a veteran. Moulitsas questioned the credentials of Tancredo, who supported the war in Vietnam yet received a deferment after telling doctors at his physical that he'd been treated for depression. Markos said, "Tom, I'm a veteran. Okay? I did not get a deferment because I was too depressed to fight a war I supported in Vietnam. I'm a veteran. They want a more effective V.A. ..."

When Moulitsas refused to apologize, Tancredo stormed off the set. Tancredo did not show the same sensitivity when he attacked then-Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor for belonging to La Raza, which he called "a Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses."

Moulitsas concluded that the Republicans "built an entire ideology predicated on telling people that government does not work. They are terrified of government programs that work because then people will realize that the government's not the enemy..." Watch:

Saturday Night At The Liberal Curmudgeon: Stockhausen/Snetberger Duo Live

2009-11-07T16:00:00.007-05:00

Trumpeter Markus Stockhausen, son of 20th century composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, and guitarist Ferenc Snetberger perform an instrumental whose haunting opening and closing passages frame a dynamic improvisation. The duo appeared at the Clusone Jazz Festival, Italy, June 2008.

Signs Of Hatred At Anti-Health Reform Rally

2009-11-06T23:23:00.015-05:00

During the past week, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and the group Americans For Prosperity (AFP) joined forces to hold an anti-health care reform rally in the capitol. The AFP is a right-wing astroturf group that provided attendees with free buses, signs, directions, talking points, petitions and donuts.

Just as in the recent past, the tea party crowd carried signs (those below are not necessarily from the AFP) that expressed hatred of the president and a distorted perspective on health care reform. The familiar yet disgusting tea party comparison between Obama and Hitler found especially vile expression in the following sign, which showed victims of the Holocaust and the sentence, "National Socialist Health Care: Dachau, Germany–1945":

Of course there was also racist imagery, as in the following depiction of a ghoulish Obama in white face:

The individual carrying the following sign seems quite amused by its bigotry:

Maine Majority Votes Against Marriage Rights Of Gay Minority

2009-11-05T19:31:00.012-05:00

Following the upholding of Proposition 1, Maine has become the latest state to reject marriage equality by repealing a law recognizing the right of gays to wed. Worse than the outcome of the vote was the fact that a vote was held at all, in which the majority was allowed to decide whether to grant civil rights to the gay minority. By that logic, voters, and not the Supreme Court in 1967, should have been allowed to decide the fate of anti-interracial marriage laws.

The injustice of such a ballot question was put by Jennifer C. Pizer, marriage project director of Lambda Legal: “They tend to marginalize the group that is being targeted and inflame people’s passions in a way that is at best divisive and at worst terribly cruel. Our founders did not intend to allow a majority to take basic rights from a minority.”

When the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that a state law limiting marriage to a man and a woman was unconstitutional, it invoked the "duty to ensure equal protection of the law." Gay marriage should be treated as the legal issue it is, not a popularity contest. As such, the courts and state legislatures are the proper forum for addressing this ongoing blatant injustice.

Despite Upstate NY Loss, Right Wingers Press On For Ideological Purity

2009-11-05T18:21:00.009-05:00

One of the shrinking group of moderate Republicans, Dede Scozzafava, was pushed out as a candidate for New York States' northernmost Congressional district by right-wing forces that included Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, The Wall Street Journal and The Weekly Standard. They favored Conservative Party candidate Douglas L. Hoffman, who lost to Democrat Bill Owens (left).

So what's the conclusion of the coalition behind Hoffman, the first Republican to lose the area in generations? Is it time to moderate the GOP's message and not subject candidates chosen by party districts to primary challenges? Here are two characteristic comments:

“To the tireless grass-roots patriots who worked so hard in that race and to future citizen-candidates like Doug,” [Sarah Palin] wrote on her Facebook page, “please remember Reagan’s words of encouragement after his defeat in 1976: the cause goes on.”

...Other conservatives, too, were not deterred by the New York defeat. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a conservative organization that strongly supported Mr. Hoffman, said that conservative activists intended to play a role in Republican primary and general elections next year and that it was just as important to keep unacceptable politicians out of Congress as to help others win.

May "the cause go on" for these true believers in their effort to root out "unacceptable politicians." With only 20% identifying as Republicans, the lowest since 1983, let them continue their quest for ideological purity.

Reality Vs. Perception In New Jersey And Virginia GOP Victories

2009-11-05T00:06:00.012-05:00

Do Republican gubernatorial victories in New Jersey and Virginia spell trouble for President Obama, who campaigned especially hard for Jon Corzine (left)? Not if one realizes that the electorate was focused on state issues and not the President. From a CNN analysis:

Further proof that this election was not solely focused on Obama, 56 percent of Virginians said that the president was not a factor when it came down to their vote. In New Jersey, that number increased to 60 percent of the people who went to the polls on Tuesday.

The New York Times reported a similar finding:

Voters in both states remained strongly supportive of President Obama, exit polls conducted by Edison Research showed, though they said that was not a factor in their decisions.

That's the reality of the election–but there's also the perception, including the media spin:

Still, in the coming days a storyline will develop that this was a referendum on Obama and his policies.

Naturally, we can expect Fox, the propaganda arm of the Republican party, to spin this narrative. In fact, its ratings have been boosted following election night.

The problem is that some Democrats, mistaking perception for reality, will try to appear as Republican Lite. That never works. Those who want Republicans in office will vote for the real thing. Independents will not respect unprincipled politicians, and Democrats will be alienated:

Jane Hamsher, founder of the liberal political blog firedoglake, noted that it is freshmen and sophomore Democrats who won by narrow margins in 2006 and 2008, who "are scared" of losing their seats in 2010.

"I would suggest that appealing to Republican interests is not the best way to turn out Democrats," Hamsher said. "It is just a fact of life. They have to turn out Democrats."

Schakowsky: After CIA Admits Lying, Republicans Owe Apology To Pelosi

2009-11-02T23:13:00.007-05:00

When Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said that the CIA had lied in a briefing about the use of waterboarding, Republicans including Sen. Kit Bond (MO), Rep. Pete Hoekstra (MI), Rep. John Boehner (OH) and former speaker Newt Gingrich roundly attacked her. In a recent House Intelligence Committee hearing, however, an intelligence official related instances in which the CIA misled or lied to Congress, including withholding information to House and Senate committees on the use of torture.

Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL, shown above), one of the chairs of House Intelligence subcommittees, spoke about what the panel learned:

Schakowsky revealed that, in addition to withholding information from lawmakers about torture, the CIA lied or misled Congress about the shooting down of an airplane over Peru in 2001 carrying American missionaries, the destruction of torture tapes and a top secret assassination program aimed at targeting leaders of al-Qaeda. She would not reveal details of what the fifth case was. A 2008 CIA inspector general's report had already concluded that the agency lied to Congress about the Peru incident.

These revelations follow CIA director Leon Panetta's admission in a briefing to lawmakers months ago that the agency misled Congress "on significant actions" for "a number of years."

When asked whether Republicans owe Pelosi an apology, Schakowsky responded, "I certainly think they do." We await the words of contrition from those who savaged the Speaker.

Scozzafava Resignation From Upstate NY Race Shows Shrinking Of GOP Tent

2009-11-01T13:28:00.007-05:00

The resignation of assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava (left) from the race for an upstate New York Congressional seat shows that there's no room for moderation in today's Republican party. Though Scozzafava was backed by the Republican National Committee and party leaders Michael Steele and Newt Gingrich, she was under siege from prominent right wingers such as Sarah Palin and Dick Armey for being too liberal on social and fiscal issues.

The race is now between accountant Douglas L. Hoffman of the Conservative Party and lawyer Bill Owens, a Democrat. Some Republicans criticized the intrusion into district affairs:

...If we get into a cycle where every time one side loses, they run a third-party candidate, we’ll make Pelosi speaker for life and guarantee Obama’s re-election,” said Mr. Gingrich, who had endorsed Ms. Scozzafava.

“They’re trying to bang 435 elections across the United States into the same mold,” said James Ellis, chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party. “It’s a detriment to democracy.”

Frank Rich, in "The G.O.P. Stalinists Invade Upstate New York," agreed with Gingrich on the danger to the Republican party of insisting on ideological purity:

...it’s even better for Democrats if Hoffman wins. Punch-drunk with this triumph, the right will redouble its support of primary challengers to 2010 G.O.P. candidates they regard as impure. That’s bad news for even a Republican as conservative as Kay Bailey Hutchison, whose primary opponent in the Texas governor’s race, the incumbent Rick Perry, floated the possibility of secession at a teabagger rally in April and hastily endorsed Hoffman on Thursday. The more rightists who win G.O.P. primaries, the greater the Democrats’ prospects next year.

Jon Stewart Explains Fox's "Perpetual Revulsion Machine"

2009-10-31T12:53:00.012-04:00

Media Matters recently released a document and video showing how Fox's news shows echo its right-wing opinion shows. This point was made by White House communications director Anita Dunn, who stated that Fox is a "wing of the Republican party," not a real news network. Fox News senior vice president responded, "It's astounding the White House cannot distinguish between news and opinion programming." Can one make such a distinction, though, in Fox's case? Jon Stewart explains the process through which Fox blends opinion and news to the point that they are indeed indistinguishable:

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Stewart: The pot has now been stirred on the opinion side of Fox. The journalists on the other side of the wall are starting to smell something delicious: 'Is that a story?' And thus release the news hounds... Yes, [the White House is] being accused by the guy whose show was on right before you… See, the Fox opinion guy’s outrage becomes the “some say” source for the news side. It’s a perpetual revulsion machine.

Saturday Night At The Liberal Curmudgeon: Tom Rush Expresses No Regrets

2009-10-31T11:45:00.007-04:00

Tom Rush, among the influential singer-songwriters who shaped the folk music renaissance of the 1960s, started his career playing in Boston coffee houses while attending Harvard University. Here in San Diego he performs his original, classic song "No Regrets." Rush's haunting lyrics about the end of a romance belie the song's self-assured title.

Republicans Introduce Resolution Honoring Tea Party Marchers

2009-10-30T22:23:00.012-04:00

Representative Tom Price (GA) recently introduced a resolution honoring "tea party" marchers who gathered in the capitol on September 12. He was joined by 75 Republican co-sponsors, including House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (VA) and Rep. Joe Wilson (SC), who shouted "You lie" as President Obama addressed Congress on health care–conduct applauded by the protesters. The resolution contains a wildly inflated crowd estimate of 1,700,000.

Price released a statement calling the event "a great step forward for the causes of freedom and limited government." He looked forward to "continued efforts" through which "these patriots will once again make accountability and responsibility core values in a government of the people, by the people, and for the people."

Watch as Max Blumenthal interviews those whom the Republicans want to honor: the "patriots" who compare the President to Hitler and Al Qaeda, who call him "the enemy within," and who state that his goal is to destroy the U.S.:

Soviet Quagmire In Afghanistan Offers Lessons For U.S.

2009-10-29T22:49:00.011-04:00

Victor Sebestyen, author of "Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire," writes in "Transcripts of Defeat" about the Soviet debacle in Afghanistan:

...For years, the Soviets heavily bombarded towns and villages, killing thousands of civilians and making themselves even more loathed by Afghans. Whatever tactics the Soviets adopted the result was the same: renewed aggression from their opponents. The mujahideen, for example, laid down thousands of anti-tank mines to attack Russian troop convoys, much as the Taliban are now using homemade bombs to strike at American soldiers on patrol, as well as Afghan civilians.

“About 99 percent of the battles and skirmishes that we fought in Afghanistan were won by our side,” [Commander of the Soviet Armed Forces] Marshal Akhromeyev told his superiors in November 1986. “The problem is that the next morning there is the same situation as if there had been no battle. The terrorists are again in the village where they were — or we thought they were — destroyed a day or so before.” Listen to a coalition spokesman now explaining the difficulties its forces are facing in tough terrain, and it would be hard to hear a difference.

Sebestyen points out lessons that the Soviets learned in Afghanistan and the Americans learned in Vietnam: a technologically advanced military can unleash massive firepower and win battle after battle against a guerrilla force–all the while losing the war. This is especially true in difficult terrain, whether mountains or jungle, that affords an insurgency places to attack and hide. As Marshall Akhromeyev stated, "...to occupy towns and villages temporarily has little value in such a vast land where the insurgents can just disappear into the hills.”

In his commentary, Sebestyen drew upon materials recently discovered by American and Russian cold war scholars, including Politburo papers on the Soviet war in Afghanistan. He stated that the documents "may provide the administration with some valuable counsel." Indeed, the Obama administration is well advised to consider the Soviet quagmire in Afghanistan, lest it become the American quagmire–or the American repeat of Vietnam.

Sen. Joe Lieberman Rolls Political Hand Grenade At Public Option

2009-10-28T23:15:00.012-04:00

Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, an independent who supposedly caucuses with the Democrats, stated that he will help the Republicans filibuster the public option:

Joe Lieberman has once again rolled a political hand grenade into the Democrats’ tent.

The Connecticut independent obliterated any illusion that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) can quickly ram through health care reform with a public option, telling reporters on Tuesday that he would join Republicans in a filibuster to prevent a vote on Reid’s plan if it isn’t changed first.

...“To put this government-created insurance company on top of everything else is just asking for trouble for the taxpayers, for the premium payers and for the national debt,” added Lieberman, whose state is headquarters to many of the nation’s biggest insurance companies.

Firedoglake points out the fallacy in Lieberman's argument:

...Lieberman’s justification on this is just nonsense – the public option would SAVE money for the government, to the tune of $100 billion dollars over 10 years according to the Congressional Budget Office. It also would cost nothing to the taxpayer, being financed by individual premiums.

Lieberman is singing a different tune from the one he sang in his 2006 campaign:

Lieberman, July 2006: What I’m saying to the people of Connecticut, I can do more for you and your families to get something done to make health care affordable, to get universal health insurance.

This is also not the first political hand grenade that Lieberman has rolled at an administration that has stood by him:

President Barack Obama and Reid personally intervened to keep members of the Democratic Caucus from punishing Lieberman for his 2008 transgressions by booting him out as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, a position the hawkish Lieberman cherishes. But that hasn’t kept him from siding with the GOP on the administration’s plans to shutter Guantanamo, the Iraq drawdown and, now, the public option.

Halloween Starts Early With Nightmare World Series

2009-10-27T22:12:00.007-04:00

The baseball gods are taunting us Mets fans in a most diabolical way. The Yankees against the Phillies? Are they kidding? Can there be a more unfortunate World Series matchup? We're being treated to our crosstown rivals against our divisional rivals, both of whose fans are an obnoxious bunch.

Okay, I admit that my assessment of the fans is based on unscientific, anecdotal observations. I also admit that the Mets haven't provided much for me to write about on the blog. I already spend enough time here kvetching about the state of the nation or the world, so why add the Mets? I'm reminded of the time I pulled into the parking lot this summer at Citi Field, the Mets' new home (quite impressive, by the way), to attend a Paul McCartney concert. When I complained to the attendant about the $30 parking fee, she told me, "You'll see a better show here tonight than you ordinarily would." True enough.

Regardless, Yankees fans consider the Mets the lil' brother team of New York, and Phillies fans consider them choke artists. Whether there's any truth to these observations, do I need to hear them? So which team to root for? The fact is that if the Yankees win, I'll be directly subjected to their fans' bragging. Then there's my age-old resentment: the Yankees are the ultimate beneficiaries of the lack of a level playing field that taints baseball. Unlike all other major sports, baseball has no salary cap. It's no coincidence that baseball's richest team is also its most successful. What would you expect with a 2009 payroll of $208, 097, 414? That's higher than the GNP of many countries. What kind of record would the Yankees have without that unfair advantage? Nor am I impressed when Yankees fans talk about the team's home-grown talent. They can afford to keep their players. In baseball's case, Obama's comment about "spreading the wealth," if applied, would be to the betterment of the sport.

Then there's the question of character. What kind of character does it take to root for the team with the best record? Isn't it a greater testimony to one's intestinal fortitude to stick with the team more prone to misfortune?

For all these reasons, then, I'm rooting for the hated Phils as the lesser of two evils. Even if I'm choking as I say it.

Sen. Reid To Bring Public Option To Floor Debate

2009-10-26T23:46:00.005-04:00

Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that he will bring a bill to the Senate floor that will have a public health insurance option, and that states will have the choice not to take part in it. Here Reid makes his announcement:

Reid: As we’ve gone through this process, I’ve concluded, with the support of the White House and Senators Baucus and Dodd, that the best way forward is to include a public option with an opt-out provision for states.

...I believe that a public option can achieve the goal of bringing meaningful reform to our broken system. It will protect consumers, keep insurers honest and ensure competition and that’s why we intend to include it on the bill that will be submitted to the Senate for consideration.

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that the Senate leadership prevailed upon the White House, which doubted that Reid could get the 60 votes needed to avoid a Republican filibuster. The administration's strategy was to pursue the "trigger" compromise of Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-MN): if the insurance companies failed to reach certain benchmarks in a state, the public option would be triggered. Though Snowe expressed "disappointment" at the announcement, Reid expressed hope that she will be the lone Republican who "...sees the wisdom of supporting a health care bill."

We still have a long way to go–but Senators Reid, Pelosi and Schumer, along with Roland Burris (D-IL), Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Bernie Sanders (IND-VT) are to be commended for insisting on the public option as a critical component of health care reform.

Where Is Obama's Leadership On The Public Option?

2009-10-26T00:18:00.005-04:00

Is President Obama providing the leadership we need to pass a government-run public option for health care? Not according to Democratic and administration sources:

President Barack Obama is actively discouraging Senate Democrats in their effort to include a public insurance option with a state opt-out clause as part of health care reform. In its place, say multiple Democratic sources, Obama has indicated a preference for an alternative policy, favored by the insurance industry, which would see a public plan "triggered" into effect in the future by a failure of the industry to meet certain benchmarks.

...Administration officials say that Obama's preference for the trigger, which is backed by Maine Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe, is founded in a fear that Reid's public option couldn't get the 60 votes needed to overcome a GOP filibuster. More specifically, aides fear that a handful of conservative Democrats will not support a bill unless it has at least one Republican member's support.

Without the President's support, the failure to pass a public option may be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) have complained about the President's tepid leadership on the issue:

“I’ve not been very happy with the White House’s lukewarm support of the public option,” [Harkin] said, articulating a gripe liberals have been making for months.

“I would hope the president would speak out more forcefully in favor of the public option,” Brown said, adding “I expect he will.”

The Progressive Campaign Committee has taken out an ad in Maine, Senator Snowe's state, calling on Obama to step up to the plate on an issue critical to meaningful health care reform:

To sign a petition calling on President Obama to fight for the public option, click here.

Guerilla Musical Disrupts Private Health Insurance Conference

2009-10-24T16:51:00.008-04:00

The Billionaires for Wealthcare, which has done marvelous street theater satirically posing as "a grassroots network of health insurance CEOs, HMO lobbyists, talk show hosts and others profiting off our broken health care system," has struck again. They disrupted a speech by Bill McInturff, hired pollster for the private health insurance lobby and the force behind the infamous "Harry and Louise" ads that helped kill health reform plan in 1994.

As McInturff began his speech at a recent conference in Washington, DC, of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), whose aim is to kill health reform in 2009, the protesters sang a plea for the public option to the tune of "Tomorrow" from the musical "Annie": "The option, the option, the public wants options/Without it, it's a corporate give-a-way!" Their voices were quite fine, too. Listen and enjoy:

Saturday Night At The Liberal Curmudgeon: Live Acoustic Grateful Dead, 1980

2009-10-24T11:01:00.017-04:00

The Grateful Dead's versatility and improvisatory skills extended to their acoustic sets, in which lead guitarist Jerry Garcia reached back to his early 1960s roots in folk, bluegrass and old time music. Here the Dead perform a hypnotic "Birdsong" at Radio City Music Hall in 1980. Band lyricist Robert Hunter wrote the song as a tribute to Janis Joplin: "All I know is something like a bird within her sang/All I know she sang a little while and then flew on." In his performances, bassist Phil Lesh now sings the song as a posthumous tribute to Garcia: ""All I know is something like a bird within him sang..."

Sen. Franken Educates Hudson Institute Rep. On Medical Bankruptcies

2009-10-23T23:43:00.010-04:00

During a Senate Judiciary sub-committee hearing on medical bankruptcies, Senator Al Franken (D-MN) questioned Diana Furchtgott-Roth of the conservative Hudson Institute. Furchtgott-Roth contended that health care reform would increase bankruptcies. Franken made it clear that she was either being disingenuous or hadn't done her homework:

How is it that a representative from a think tank that supposedly studies health care economics doesn't know that there are no bankruptcies due to medical expenses in Switzerland, France and Germany? How can she contend that if we move toward a system that exists in those countries, we will experience more bankruptcies? The U.S. is the country where 60 percent of all bankruptcies are caused by medical bills, according to a report compiled by researchers at Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University, as published in the American Journal of Medicine.

Professor Uwe E. Reinhardt, professor of health economics at Princeton University, has researched health care in the U.S. in comparison to other countries, including his native Germany, a nation mentioned by Franken. In an interview, Reinhardt said, "I have not ever read of Germans going bankrupt over health care." No, that happens in the U.S., under the system defended with such lack of expertise by Diana Furchtgott-Roth.

WWII Vet On Equality For Gays: "What Do You Think I Fought For In Omaha Beach?"

2009-10-22T23:40:00.008-04:00

At a public meeting on Maine's Marriage Equality Bill on April 22, Philip Spooner, an 86-year-old World War II veteran, Republican and VFW chaplain, provided moving testimony on why his gay son should have equal rights:

Philip Spooner: "A woman at my polling place asked me, 'Do you believe in equality for gay and lesbian people?' I was pretty surprised to be asked a question like that. It made no sense to me. Finally I asked her, 'What do you think I fought for in Omaha Beach?' I haven't seen much, so much blood and guts, so much suffering, much sacrifice. For what? For freedom and equality. These are the values that give America a great nation, one worth dying for."

On November 1, voting NO on Question 1 will uphold Maine's Marriage Equality Bill. To find out more, visit Protect Maine Equality.

Month After Month, Fox Is At War With The White House

2009-10-22T23:09:00.006-04:00

Did the White House declare war against Fox News? Media Matters has already produced an outstanding document and video showing that the station's news shows echo the right-wing talking points of Beck, Hannity and O'Reilly. This echo chamber effect exposes the fact that Fox is not a news station; it is indeed a 24/7 political operation, a wing of the Republican party. Now Media Matters demonstrates that month after month, it is Fox that has declared war on the White House. Watch:

Sen. Vitter Won't Comment On Official's Refusal To Marry Interracial Couple

2009-10-21T23:36:00.007-04:00

Keith Bardwell, a white justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, recently placed personal prejudice above his obligation to serve the entire public by refusing to marry an interracial couple. Now watch Republican Senator David Vitter of Louisiana slink away and refuse to comment when asked about the case:

Is Vitter afraid that, in 2009, the people of Louisiana will find it unacceptable to condemn this racial prejudice? Is he reflecting his own racism? Does Vitter, who was linked to a prostitution ring, feel that interracial marriage goes against his conservative "family values"? If you're curious, call the senator's office in Washington at 202-224-4623.

Fox News: A 24/7 Political Operation

2009-10-21T23:01:00.003-04:00

Following White House communications director Anita Dunn's accurate statement that Fox News is "the communications arm of the Republican party" and not "a news network the way CNN is," Media Matters put together a document exploding the myth that while Fox's commentaries are politically oriented, their news shows are objective.

Media Matters also created a video showing how "Fox News' dayside programming unquestionably echos the tones, themes, and content of its evening programming. In fact, the parallels are so clear that the network's daytime anchors often seem to be taking direct marching orders from their colleagues like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity." Watch the echo chamber in action:

At the end of the video, Eric Burns, president of Media Matters, explains Fox's evolution–or devolution: "I think that what we have all thought of as a conservative news organization has really morphed itself this year into a 24/7 political operation with a very specific goal. And that is to destroy this presidency, and destroy any sort of progressive policy agenda that the American people voted for in November."