I'm BACK!

I know, I know, it has taken awhile. But, an outright drubbing of progressives in the '10 election (if one more person in the media says "shellacking," I'm going to spontaneously combust), along with some fresh new outrages, have spurred me back to action. I can assure you, I won't be going away this time. (That reminds me - one of my New Year's Resolutions - Manage my time wisely! If I manage to do that, I'll have even more time to blog than planned. Well, that's the plan, anyway.)

So, I will definitely be back later tonight (probably MUCH later) to unleash a slew of stuff on you, including some announcements, which I'm pretty excited about. For those of you new to the blog, I'm a 30-something progressive, living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Sorry about Pat Toomey, everybody!)

In the meantime, take a look at what President Obama is doing - it's starting about an hour from now, at 2:30 EST - he's answering people's questions on YouTube. Below is a preview video, and if you click Here you can watch it live. Should be pretty interesting.

A new day is almost here, but now quite yet

CNN is reporting this morning that House Democrats have enough votes to pass the Senate bill on health care, so the big vote's probably coming this evening. It's truly an historic day for America, but there will still be a lot of work to do after this bill becomes law. This will be a major victory for Obama, but the president and his team had better go on the offensive, because the GOP noise machine will go into overdrive after this becomes law.

It just kills me that the term "socialized medicine" is "sticking" with most of the American public. Most who keep repeating this don't even know anything about what's being proposed, because if they did, they would know that this is anything but socialized medicine. In fact, it's giving the private, profiteering insurance companies 32 million new customers to gouge and overcharge.

This bill is far, FAR from perfect, but it's an important first step, and I'm happy that it looks like it's going to become law.

President Obama seems pretty confident:

(This video is pretty long, but if you catch the first few minutes, you'll get the idea - Obama thinks this one is gonna go the distance.)

Just a few more thoughts, and I'll be back tomorrow with a lot more on the health care issue.

I find it stupefying that Republicans are objecting about cost. Suddenly, deficits are an issue with Obama in the Oval Office, but let's forget the profligate spending under eight years of Bush. We are spending over $708bn on next year's Pentagon budget, and people are complaining about needed health care reforms that are projected to cost about $975bn over 10 years, along with prolonging life, giving more and more people access to affordable health care, and, according to the CBO, actually reduce the deficit. Nonsense.

Honestly, I think this all boils down to a "We" society vs. a "Me" society. Many (but certainly not all) Republicans view this as another handout, another government give away. However, they are too myopic to realize that they are paying for people without health insurance anyway, right now.

I take you back to the '08 election presidential debates when the candidates were asked, "Do you believe health care is a right of every American?" McCain's response was "I think it's a responsibility," a very clever dodge. Obama said it's a "right," and it is. You need look no further than this phrase from our Declaration of Independence:

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

It doesn't get any plainer than that. With thousands dying every year in America because of a lack of health care, the conditions described above in the Declaration of Independence hardly exist right now in America.

To wit, take a look at this Parkinson's sufferer in the video above from a recent Tea Party rally, and how he was treated by these frothing-at-the-mouth morons who don't even really seem to know what they're protesting (for starters, the fact that the health care bill passed by the Senate and being considered by the House, while being FAR from perfect, will actually benefit probably 99 percent of the people there). Anyway, take a look - I'll wait.

...

Pretty sickening, huh? It's a good thing I wasn't there, because I'd probably be blogging from jail now. Do they let you blog from jail?

I think it's pretty safe to say that a vast majority of people who are opposed to the health care bill ("Hey! I already have insurance! I don't want to pay for someone else's care!") would do a lightning-quick 180 if they lost their jobs (along with their health care), or if they had a family member get critically ill, only to be dropped by an insurance company. Millions in this country are under-insured, and they don't/won't even know it until it's too late.

Bankruptcies from medical bills are right now the single biggest cause of mortgage foreclosures in the United States. I strongly feel that there are economic links and benefits to this health care debate that the Democrats aren't discussing nearly enough. I'll have more on that later, but in the meantime, I'm crossing my fingers for the vote.

Limbaugh now merely a parody of himself

I stopped getting angry at anything at comes out of Rush Limbaugh's mouth long ago. But that doesn't mean that I'll stop pointing it out.

During one of his latest tirades, well documented as always by Media Matters, the drug addicted, bloated one dropped the curtain to give us a deep look into the commode that passes for his soul to reveal his MO for the length of the Obama administration (let's hope it's 8): that he hopes Obama "fails."

All I can say is this: Typical.

I find it pretty stupefying how quickly Repubes have changes course in just over 30 days since Obama took office. For eight years, they whined, sniveled and complained about liberals and progressives "rooting for Bush to fail in Iraq" (among other places), yet now they openly despise Obama while shamelessly rooting for his policies to fail. Talk about Party Before Country.

As much as I despised Bush's policies in Iraq (and will go to my grave with the unflinching belief that our misguided war was and is a wast of taxpayer money, not to mention all of the bloodshed), I never, EVER hoped that our military would fail. I think Bush led us down many disastrous roads, but I do believe that he believed he was doing the right thing for the country and the American people. Well, that's not entirely true, though - I think the last six months of his presidency (and especially during the last three), when he knew Obama was going to be president, Bush quietly did all he could to make sure that Obama got handed a big steaming turd on January 20, 2009.

I do support Limbaugh's right to say what he says, and quite frankly I hope he keeps on saying it. Hey, God bless him - it just reaffirms my belief that Obama is doing something right if he's driving Limbaugh nuts.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see Limbaugh's ratings go up, not down; so many conservatives now feel under siege because Obama is president - you know, that they've losing their country, and blah blah blah.

However, I do think that the government should step in and do something to promote a diversity of voices over our radio airwaves. NO, I'm not advocating that anyone should have his or her "microphone taken away" (already a trite right-wing talking point), but the government should do all it can to strongly encourage companies to provide a diversity of voices on their airwaves. Actually, no, the government should REQUIRE a diversity of voices. I'm sick and tired of right wingers whining about the phantom "liberal media."

I wrote about his last fall before the presidential campaign got into high gear, but perhaps it's best to remember one of Sun Tzu's maxims from The Art of War: It is wise to present your greatest strength as your greatest weakness, and that's precisely what Republicans have been doing for the last 40 years with regard to our mainstream media. (Thanks once again, President Nixon.)

If you think I'm exaggerating, go back and find some Sarah Palin interviews from last fall's campaign - whenever bad news came out, she just went on the offensive, bashing the "liberal media," which is always red meet for the drooling drones on the right.

Anyway, Limbaugh is simply a modern-day Joseph Goebbels, although thankfully many more Americans dismiss Limbaugh than Germans dismissed Goebbels.

By the way, if you're one of the few liberals left who doesn't support and visit Media Matters, I strongly encourage you to do just that. The folks over there are doing tremendously effective and important work.

I'll be back later this evening with lots more, so please check back. (And, as usual, there I'll have lots to share on Sunday.)

Obama's speech: HOPE vs. NOPE

Just in case you didn't get a chance to view it the other night, here's President Obama's complete speech. I'll be back a bit later today with much more to say about it, but in short, below is the part of the speech that I found particularly poignant (and I'm echoing C&L from a few days ago, because I agree whole-heartedly):

President Obama: I've come here tonight not only to address the distinguished men and women in this great chamber, but to speak frankly and directly to the men and women who sent us here.

I know that for many Americans watching right now, the state of our economy is a concern that rises above all others. And rightly so. If you haven't been personally affected by this recession, you probably know someone who has – a friend; a neighbor; a member of your family. You don't need to hear another list of statistics to know that our economy is in crisis, because you live it every day.

It's the worry you wake up with and the source of sleepless nights. It's the job you thought you'd retire from but now have lost; the business you built your dreams upon that's now hanging by a thread; the college acceptance letter your child had to put back in the envelope. The impact of this recession is real, and it is everywhere.

But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken; though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this:

We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.

Yes! That's exactly the note of optimism that America needs right now. Of course, the Doubting Thomases (Read: Republicans) are taking aim at Obama's speech, saying it was "well short on specifics." In some ways, yes, but what was he supposed to do, talk for four hours? Then these people would have complained that his speech was too long. Obama needs to mostly ignore these critics bitter nitpickers, who are angry that McSame and Palin didn't win the election. No matter what Obama does, these people will have something to say. So be it - at least Obama is trying, which is much more that can be said for Bush during the last year of his presidency.

Put another way, just think for a second what kind of confidence McCain and PALIN would be instilling in the American people right now had they won; McCain would be babbling about a $300 million award for a car battery, and Palin would be responding to questions about the economy with a *Wink* and a "You betchya!" Puleeze.

Perhaps no one summarized Obama's speech better than CNN's David Gergen on Tuesday night, who had this to say:

...this was the most ambitious president we've ever heard in this chamber in decades. The first half of the speech was FDR, fighting for the New Deal. The second half was Lyndon Johnson, fighting for the Great Society, and we've never seen those two presence [sic] rolled together in quite this way.

That about nails it, and I rarely find myself agreeing with Gergen.

However, the night was only getting started. It really got entertaining when Gov. Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (R-LA) gave the Republican response to Obama's speech, which was beyond laughable. See for yourself:

I don't have enough time to offer thoughts on Jindal's "response," but I'll be back later today. It was pretty priceless.

I'll also have lots more today on Obama's $4 tn budget that he unveiled yesterday; it's not a perfect budget (no budget is), but there is a great deal to like.

It's fun watching Sean Hannity melt down

Sean Hannity is a great American success story - success because he has no college education, yet because he knew someone in the right-wing media, and because he's willing to say anything to propagate a right-wing extreme agenda, he gets paid millions. (By the way, if this sounds like envy, think again - I'd much prefer the life I have now than be a multi-million dollar liar.)

Anyway, it's going to be equal parts amusing and frightening to listen to Hannity over the next four years (and hopefully the next eight) while he no doubt does anything he can to undermine President Obama and his attempts to better America, which has suffered mightily under Hannity's object of worship, Dubya.

As C&L so wisely noted a few days ago, since Obama's inauguration, Fox has run what little dignity and air of objectivity it had through the shredder. The "network" is now a veritable 24-hour propaganda network devoted to destroying Obama and his plans for America, consequences be damned. And most of its viewers go forth and mimic the musings of Hannity and Co. as if it's political gospel. (I know a few people like this, and when they say something particularly ridiculous and I ask, "Oh, did you hear that on Hannity's show?" they play dumb and say "Hannity?!? I don't listen to Hannity!")

By the way, I love how Fox now never misses an opportunity to use the word socialist like they've being so clever. Count that as another word (right behind liberal) that progressives need to reclaim. And I LOVE the creepy music in Hannity's little montage above about the stimulus package - it really does sound like one of those old recruiting commercials for the U.S. Marines.

As I said, it's all pretty entertaining. And frightening.

h/t to C&L for the video

VICTORY! YES -- WE -- DID.

I couldn't be prouder to be an American than I am right now. I haven't typed for a little while, because I just wanted to soak it all in. It's been quite a day in so many respects. I'm pretty happy to say that maybe some of us (including me) were very wrong about the vote being hacked, and that's a good thing, but I certainly hope that in the wake of a non-contested presidential election that wasn't all that close vote wise, we don't lose sight of the fact that we are in desperate need of election reform. But, more on that in the coming days and months.

Here is the full footage of Obama's acceptance speech - truly inspiring words from a man who will soon be known as President Obama.

This was one of the best speeches I've heard him give; the right mix of toughness toward those who wish us harm, and even some words of bipartisanship to his opponents and to those who didn't vote for him.

Tonight's Obama victory was a clear sign that America is disgusted and tired of the politics of old - the slash and burn, conquer, divide and marginalize mentality that's been used too often in the past 30 years to win elections. I really do hope that Obama means what he says - especially when he said, in so many words, that he wants to move beyond these 20th century political clichés.

I heard someone say this tonight on MSNBC, I think it was Doris Kearns Goodwin, who stated that she hopes the Obama administration doesn't make the same mistakes that Clinton did in his first 100 days. Amen to that - I certainly hope and pray that he surrounds himself with good, decent, competent people. What's more, I hope Obama doesn't let his guard down against those who wish to destroy him, because these people will not take a break from trying to tear him down. (Getting some advice from President Clinton about how to effectively combat the right-wing noise machine wouldn't be a bad idea.)

Sen. John McCain's speech was pretty magnanimous, and good on him for that. I watched his words with more than a touch of sadness though; I really would have considered voting for that version of McCain had he run this year. Unfortunately, I never got to vote for that McCain. Many of McCain's mistakes, gaffes and missteps were self-inflicted, from his selection of Palin to the political gutter through which he crawled in trying to win the presidency.

McCain is a true American patriot who I have no doubt loves his country. Too bad that he accused Obama of otherwise during a hard-fought campaign.

As for Sarah Palin - I have no use for her, and I have very little respect for her, because quite simply, she hasn't earned any, period. She was McCain's attack dog, an ill-advised role for her, and one that will take a long time to wear off in the eyes of wary independents and Democrats, too. If she's the face of the future of the Republican Party, then that party is going to have a lot of trouble over the next decade or so. And speaking of her face, I will go to my grave convinced that if she were an average looking woman, she would still wallowing in obscurity as the Governor of Alaska.

How many days until the '12 election again? Just kidding.

Now, the real work begins.