Set truth free

 Politics, Truth  1 Response »
Jan 312010
 

The largest ongoing threat to the strength of our country and democracy is the continued demise of the power of truth.


Truth from our news media.
Truth from our politicians.
Truth from our ideological adversaries.
Truth from ourselves.

Winners and losers in politics have less to do with the merit of the policies or people, but rather by the relative effectiveness of the message.

The policies that we ultimately adopt are rarely the most effective or efficient; the policies that are enacted are those that can be framed in a fashion that can be sold.

I do not think that the use of frames is necessarily wrong but when they are employed strictly as a method of obfuscation, hyperbole or fear then the user does a disservice to our democracy and the people it is supposed to serve.

In a government that is of, by and for the people, those who would bastardize our system for financial or political gain ultimately damage us all.

It is understandable that progressives should look to the success of the right and want to employ the same methods that allow them success in the face of such obvious inferiority of ideas, convictions and yes morals. Wanting to adopt these tactics for the sake of winning is completely understandable but it will serve no purpose other than to escalate to the next level a system that rewards style over substance and politics over policy.

The greatest gains available to progressives in this country are in the advancement of truth.

Truth from our news media.
Truth from our politicians.
Truth from our ideological adversaries.
Truth from ourselves.

We need a movement that demands the truth. The truth is first and foremost required from our news media, I don’t want to hear about fair and balanced I want to hear about faithful to the facts.

The news media in turn should demand that politicians cannot spew ridiculous hyperbole and demonstrably false claims without any meaningful challenge.

It is up to us to challenge with calm thoughtful fact based dialogue those who would employ lies, distortions and hyperbolic rhetoric to further their ideological notions without regard for truth.

Finally we must, must, must avoid the temptation to employ those very same tactics. The ends do not justify the means. Truth is too important to be sacrificed for short term political gain. Truth is too powerful to be shoved aside for political expediency. The truth can set you free, but you have to free it first.

Life Support

 healthcare reform, Politics, Truth  Comments Off
Jan 222010
 

The cold hard truth is that health care reform is on life support, the sad reality is that health care reform doesn’t have insurance and as soon as it is stabilized it will be kicked to the curb like 30 million Americans who share it’s fate.


As I type these words, polls project that 55% of Americans want to “kill the bill”, a travesty of hyperbole and distorted perceptions. We were always going to lose the 25% or so of the far right, the tea party, the “I am the mob” crowd. As soon as the mainstream Republican politicians bought into the argument and started preaching death panels, pulling the plug on grandma and government take over of health care we were bound to lose another 10%, the balance of the self identified Republicans. What was unexpected was that we would lose another 20%, people to the left of the legislation that advocated that the only way to get a better bill was to demonize the current one as a corporatist wet dream, a give away to the insurance companies a cementing of their power in health care forever and ever amen.

So here we are, health care reform isn’t dead but it is on a respirator and a majority of the citizens of this country are chanting “pull the plug, pull the plug”.

It will be a crushing blow to the future of this country if we yet again let this process fall short of some kind of meaningful reform. For the first time in our history legislation that defines health care in this nation a right has passed both chambers of congress. Will we now be thwarted for lack of political will. Will we now be thwarted for lack of honest debate of what the bill does and does not accomplish? Will we now be thwarted for lack of sufficient push back for the huge piles of bullshit that have been laid at the door of this legislation?

Is this bill perfect? Of course not!

Is it better than relegating American citizens to emergency rooms for healthcare?

Is it better than having hundreds of thousands go bankrupt, lose their homes and life savings even if they do have insurance?

Is it better than the prospect of a 142% increase in premiums over the next fifteen years (the result between1993 and 2008).

Is it better than the prospect of health care eating up 20% of our economy? 22? 25?

Is it better than allowing insurance companies to stand between you and your doctor?

Is it better than allowing nearly 45,000 citizens to die each and every year for lack of health care?

If you answered the questions above in the negative, than I cannot reach you and shall no longer try… You can leave now… Really…

Still here? Then I have to ask you, what are we going to do about it?

The bill has the reputation that it has because people said things about it. Many of those things were distortions, many were hyperbolic stances to make a point, many were flat out lies. The American people have heard these statements and have come to the conclusion that no bill is better than the bill we have and yet most of those people have not the slightest idea of what is contained in the bill.

Congratulations, if you wanted this thing dead because you wanted to protect the status quo, you make more money that way, or you have an ideological aversion to universal heath care you are succeeding. If however you talked up the kill the bill rhetoric because you just wanted a better bill… I have to say it doesn’t look like you are going to get the better bill and it is looking pretty grim for getting a bill at all.

I know that there is talk of getting something else through, something smaller, simpler. I think that the idea of a Medicare buy in for those over 50 passed through reconciliation is a fine idea, but what happens to those who still can’t get insurance at any price due to a pre-existing condition? Some advocate passing legislation to force insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions, pass it it’s popular, but what happens to premiums if there is no mandate to spread the risk?

Healthcare reform is a great big mess of a problem it is not going to get done all at once. It is not going to get done without several bills through several congresses. I guarantee you this, it is NEVER going to get done if we don’t start getting SOMETHING done.

The Supreme Court of the United States just passed a political windfall for every vested interest in the American healthcare delivery system. They will be able to spend unlimited amounts of cash to promote whatever candidate will champion their best interests, not yours, theirs. The time to act is right now; the time to come together for the health and well being of the nation is right now. We need a national call to arms of the best and brightest minds on the left to get out the message. If we don’t get something passed in the arena of health care reform we really may NEVER get it done. It is time to put something meaningful on the books and force everyone into the task of improving it. I’m not kidding, step up, reach out, call, write, fax, speak organize, we must not let this moment pass.

Supreme Injustice

 Politics  6 Responses »
Jan 212010
 

Justice is supposed to be blind… it is not supposed to be ridiculously short sighted.


The Supreme Court of the United States in a narrow 5-4 decision ruled without precedent to trash more than a century of decided, recognized law to grant unfettered access to the political system by the deepest pockets on the planet (even if they aren’t American).

I am heavily involved in politics and very well informed. If you are reading this, regardless of your political bent, I am betting that you are involved and informed. It is unlikely that a barrage of commercials truthful or not, is going to significantly sway your opinion on the major issues of the day. That is not the case for the vast majority of ordinary people. People live their lives, they work they play, they watch television… If these people are subjected to a non-stop advocacy campaign for the interest of the largest corporations in the world, who is going to shout them down? Who is going to have the cash or the time to undo the spin? Do you not believe it possible to sell the big lie to low information voters in this world?

If there are no limits on the amount of money that corporations can dump into the political process who do you think they will be advertising to promote?

Conservative values?

Liberal values?

Really?

The corporations will be promoting whatever suits their interests. If their agenda destroys your water but it improves the corporations bottom line, they will hire the best PR firm that money can buy to sell it. If their agenda sends all their jobs to foreign countries but it helps their profits, it will be a television commercial featuring dancing cats.

Corporations are not inherently evil but without limits they have historically proven the capacity to act with very little regard for human life or the interest of the citizenry of this country. My goal is not to demonize corporations but I certainly will not willingly allow them the capacity to harm our democracy. Balance is crucial and this ruling destroys that balance.

It is very easy to be swayed by the prospect of some short term political advantage but ultimately the American people lose. Our democracy loses. Our country loses.

If there was ever an issue that citizens of good conscience could rally around, defense our democracy is it.

A few notes on healthcare reform

 healthcare reform, Politics, Truth  2 Responses »
Jan 202010
 

Healthcare reform has been demonized by the right and left, the general population is petrified. The only thing that scares them more than not having insurance or that their insurance might not be adequate is the possibility of passing meaningful reform.


People are afraid there will be unintended consequences. People fear that reforms will be too expensive. People fear that reforms cannot be good for them if insurance companies or drug companies will make money from it.

I don’t blame people for being trepidatious, it is frightening to make such a big change to such a large portion of our economy. It is hard to do something else when most people like the health care that they currently enjoy. The point is this, the health care that we enjoy is largely a fantasy, there is no security for the consumers of healthcare only the illusion of security. Who can say that they will be able to keep their family insured if they lose their job? Who can say that they will be able to keep their home if their insurance won’t cover them when they become ill? Who has deep enough pockets to fight an insurance company to honor their policy when you might be fighting for your life?

I am afraid that the insurance companies will continue to dictate the terms of healthcare in this country.

I am afraid that over the next decade or so the ranks of the uninsured will explode.

I am afraid that small businesses will crumble under the strain of increased health insurance costs and that many will be forced to drop coverage for their employees.

I am afraid that people with a pre-existing condition will continue to be uninsurable.

I am afraid that people will continue to have their lives financially decimated if they or a loved one gets sick, many times even if they are insured.

I am afraid that the continuing spiral of health care cost increases will continue to make us less competitive in the world.

I am afraid that we are going to let the spin and hyperbole once again deter us from making a meaningful step to redefining health care as a right for all of the citizens of the United States.

So in the wake of the special election in Massachusetts I ask, why would you want to represent the American people if you don’t want to solve this most basic of needs for your constituents? If your only justification in stalling or diverting the process is based on distortions that have no basis in fact, but sound good on the stump, what is the point of running for office? If you only can win by scaring people or selling some populist bullshit that will never actually happen, why win?

We need serious people with serious purpose to solve serious problems that have serious consequences for real people. Can we please have a little honest, transparent, logical, thoughtful debate with regard to health care?

What it means

 healthcare reform, Politics, Truth  1 Response »
Jan 192010
 

Martha Coakley lost the special Senatorial election in Massachusetts to Scott Brown.


There are some in on the left that will tell you that it is the fault of the progressives. They tore down Obama, demoralized the party and caused the apathy that allowed Mr. Brown to win. That is not true.

There are some on the left that will tell you that the Democrats were wimps trying to get the Republicans to be involved and that if we had tackled health care reform by jamming it through with a take no prisoner ruthlessness that the Democrats would not have be demoralized and therefore Mr. Brown won. That is also not true.

Martha Coakley got beat, partly because she didn’t run the best campaign, partly because the republicans were pretty damn effective at distorting what health care reform entailed and what it meant. A portion of the reason Martha Coakley lost is that the truly motivated voters were the tea party crowd. The tea partiers are angry and even if you don’t understand or agree with them, you have to respect the passion or it will bite you.

But mostly Martha Coakley got beat because the economy sucks. The economy sucks because we allowed regulation to be striped out of our financial systems to the point that Wall Street made a lot more money gambling than banking. We have been digging out of the worst recession since the great depression and it is going to take a lot longer to fix it.

It is truly unfortunate that the Republicans get to run on a bad economy when they were largely culpable for it’s creation. It sucks that they get to harvest the anger people feel from a crisis that Democrats are trying to clean up.

Deal with it.

Martha Coakley lost an election. Many people will try to make it mean a hell of a lot more than that, it doesn’t. Now we get over it and get back to the business of the American People. I think it fitting to finish this in the words of Ted Kennedy “For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.”

Yippie Ki Yay…

Survivor DC

 Politics, Truth  1 Response »
Jan 172010
 

I admit that I frequently view politics as a game. Politics requires strategies that are analogous to many games and so the comparisons are familiar and comfortable. Understanding these strategies is helpful if you are going to win. Politics requires some game playing if you are going to achieve your legislative goals, you can’t legislate if you don’t win.


Recently though it seems that politics has changed. Serious issues that impact the lives of American citizens and indeed citizens throughout the world are being debated by people who act like they are on a television reality show.

The 24 hour news cycle has transformed politics into what looks like the new season of a vicious game show. The networks and cables each have their own challenges and together it boils down to Survivor DC.

Political reality these days is about making a splash that creates a buzz that gets more YouTube hits than your opponent did last week. The media is no longer the fourth estate, they functionally are a collective Howie Mandell hosting a game of political deal or no deal. Reporting on the news cycles biggest loser, seeing who is going to have immunity on an issue and who is going to get voted off the island.

The main stream media has a voracious appetite for anything that has buzz and almost no stomach for the pursuit of veracity. A platform is regularly provided to whoever has the most hyperbolic or vitriolic statement. Fair and balanced means that anyone can lie to a network anchor, and they will only be called out by the other pundit on the show, and only then until they have to “leave it there”. News is no longer about reporting the facts, it’s about reporting what people say about facts and the facts can go to hell.

It is time to hold our journalist accountable, it is their job hold our politicians accountable. It is their job to call out the lies. It is their job to be informed and to immediately call out those who would say anything to score a political point. This isn’t a game, real lives are at stake and it is high time we have some people start to put principles back into the profession of journalism.

Dissension and division, ctd.

 healthcare reform, Politics  1 Response »
Jan 152010
 

The beat goes on, the fight for the hearts and minds of the left between those seeking common ground to get everything we can get from a Democratic majority and those who are angry with the compromises that have occurred in that effort.


I truly do understand both sides from an emotional standpoint.

I understand both sides from policy standpoint.

I do not understand one of these sides from a tactical standpoint.

Strictly as a matter of practical tactics…

If your message to push what you view to be a progressive agenda is pissing of those who ought to be fighting with you shoulder to shoulder is it possible, just possible that your methods might not be the most effective way of promoting your cause?

If you spend half of your time ripping the president and the other half defending yourself from those who should be your allies, what happens to your agenda? What about those who are completely opposed to your agenda? Do we cede the larger battlefield to them while we squabble in the corner?

We don’t want to kill the messenger, in many respects we agree with the disagreements that you have with the administration. How much more effective could your message be if the manner of delivery didn’t evoke such push back and division?

Limbaaauurrrgghh!

 Haiti, Hypocrisy, Politics  Comments Off
Jan 142010
 

I don’t make it a habit to comment on the bloviating of Rush Limbaugh I find the exercise largely a waste of time. I admit that I have only heard Limbaugh’s radio program a few times. I also freely acknowledge that even when he doesn’t specifically try to push the envelope of shocking rhetoric, Rush still manages to strike me as remarkably cretinous, even for an ugly, fat, white guy.


But something has changed recently. Maybe it is the election of Barack Obama to the presidency of what I am sure Rush considers to be a white nation. Maybe it is a return to actual values that respect human beings. Maybe it is just the over reaching of an ideological blowhard sensing the world is slipping away from his deluded notions as he gracelessly screams at his growing impotence.

Here are a few nuggets of pure Rush with respect to the recent horrific earthquake in Haiti:

“There are people who do charitable work everyday in Haiti. It’s not as though Debra Wasserman Schultz, ‘It’s our fault. Reverend Wright “It’s our fault; excuse for such poverty when there’ a nation as rich as we are so close. Uh. There are people who have been trying to save Haiti, just as we’re trying to save Africa. You just can’t keep throwing money at it cause the dictatorships there just take it all. They don’t spread it arou…and even if they did you’re not creating a permanent system where people can provide for themselves.”

Or this.

“We’ve already donated to Haiti, It’s called the U.S. income tax.”

Or this exchange with a caller.

Justin of Raleigh, North Carolina: “Why does Obama say if you want to donate some money, you could go to whitehouse.gov to direct you how to do so? If I wanted to donate to the Red Cross, why do I have to go to the White House page to donate?”

Limbaugh: “Exactly. Would you trust the money’s gonna go to Haiti?”

Justin: “No.”

Rush: “But would you trust that your name’s gonna end up on a mailing list for the Obama people to start asking you for campaign donations for him and other causes?”

Justin: “Absolutely!”

Limbaugh: “Absolutely!”


This while tens of thousands and perhaps hundreds of thousands of human beings are dead or dying in a horrible human tragedy that should demand a modicum of respect even from a scumbag like Limbaugh.

It is time to get enough compassionate human beings on the political right to call this cretinous ass out for his hateful rhetoric. We need to achieve critical mass in dissent so that one of two things happens:

1 – So many call him out that he is forced to apologize and back down to the point that he is reasonably radical as opposed to the completely over the top hyperbole spewing creep that he is now.

2 – So many call him out that he becomes much less relevant… the right denounces him and moves on, intellectually relegating him back to the minor leagues of hate and hypocrisy.

The time to render this pig irrelevant or responsible has long since past. I will start with the list of Republican Senators on Twitter below, feel free to join in.
@SenatorSessions @RichardShelby @lisamurkowski @senjohnmccain @johnensign @jminhofe @tomcoburn @senatorlugar @chuckgrassley @jimdemint @sensambrownback @johnthune @senbobcorker @davidvitter @johncornyn @senatorcollins @orrinhatch @markwarner @rogerwicker

Sanctimonious ass

 Haiti, Hypocrisy, Religion  1 Response »
Jan 132010
 

From Pat Robertson in response to the earthquake in Haiti:


Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French–uhh, you know, Napoleon III or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said, “We will serve you if you’ll get us free from the French.” True story. And so the Devil said, “OK, it’s a deal.” And they kicked the French out—you know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other—desperately poor. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It’s cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti, on the other side is the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etcetera. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have—and we need to pray for them—a great turning to God. And out of this tragedy I’m optimistic something good may come. But right now we’re helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable. – Pat Robertson

Pat Robertson has apparently has forgotten that roughly 1800 years before the slave rebellion in Haiti his professed savior ended the ridiculous retribution of a vengeful God by dying for our sins. The blathering coming from this pathetic blowhole reveal a sanctimonious ass that doesn’t even understand the religion he would foist on others.

Any Christian leader that doesn’t aggressively denounce Mr. Robertson for distorting religion to demean and dehumanize people less fortunate that are suffering a staggering tragedy are not the Christians that they profess to be… I mean it.

Dissension and division

 healthcare reform, Politics, Truth  8 Responses »
Jan 102010
 

The left is suffering a crisis of cohesion. We are fighting each other with ferocity normally reserved for those whose actions and beliefs offend our very sense of what it is to be a passionate and compassionate human being.

On one hand we have those who have been justifiably disappointed with the administration on a number of issues in what they thought would be a very progressive agenda. On the other hand we have a group that is justifiably upset at progressives who attack the administration in what they see as a scorched earth policy that will harm the agenda moving forward.

Both groups are correct and the intent of this post is not to convince anyone to abandon their belief or the passionate defense of that belief. The point of this post is to sow understanding. We need to debate the facts in good faith, not the fantasy we want to make those facts mean.

I do not object to someone disagreeing with a policy or decision that President Obama has made. I do not object to calling out the administration or anyone in the Democratic caucus for not representing the positions we hold or positions we thought they held.

I object when people sell that disagreement as meaning that the President is something, a sell out, corporatist, liar or pawn. Disagree with the policy, fight that policy, organize, petition, call, write, fax but leave the conjecture of what it means to history of more than twelve months.

I object when dissent turns into a 24/7 campaign to justify that conjecture about assumed meanings.

I object when the proof of the conjecture becomes more important than the actual debate about policy. No one benefits when the debate becomes about intent and not content. The focus becomes fractured the debate becomes personal, hurtful, hateful…

The President puts it as disagreeing without being disagreeable, and at the risk of once again being called a sycophant, I agree with the president.

 Older Entries