Rush's hypocrisy abounds on MJ Fox

I got a bit thrown off my schedule about writing on this, thanks to John Kerry and the media, the latter of which is rife with talking heads, endlessly analyzing what Kerry meant, what will it mean next Tuesday, have the Democrats handed the Republicans a November gift, blah, blah, blah.

Raise your hand (or read on) if you're sick to death of hearing about this crap, especially as North Korea tests nuclear weapons, Iran tries to acquire them, an American soldier is missing in Iraq, we're told to leave a part of Baghdad (Sadr City), 105 Americans were killed in Iraq in October, and I haven't even touched on numerous domestic issues that face us all.

Anyway, my point is that Kerry's gaffe was a momentary slip of the tongue at best, and a dumb attempt at humor at worst, not an attack on our troops or military by a decorated Vietnam Veteran, as some have suggested. My point is, Kerry's comment was a mistake - his didn't come out right. Ever happen to you? Yea, me too.

This in contrast to my favorite Republican blowhard of all, Rush Limbaugh, who last week took off on a slander and burn campaign directed at Michael J. Fox, who supports Claire McCaskill in the Missouri Senatorial Race against Republican incumbent Jim Talent. McCaskill supports stem cell research, and Talent does not.

Uh oh, a speaker with credibility on stem cell research? Well, the GOP talking heads weren't going to stand for that. And, Republicans, before you come at me with the "Limbaugh doesn't represent Bush's opinions" defense, President Bush was on his program yesterday, well after Rush's sickening comments about Fox.



It's not news that Rush is totally gutless and soulless - he's been lying, distorting and slandering for years, so I'm not surprised by these comments.

What really irked me about Rush's Fox commentary was his comment that Democrats always using "victims" to make their political points. Oh, and I have to mention his mocking Fox's movements, too. I wonder if he would do this if the tables were turned and Republicans supported stem cell research and Democrats did not? Puleeze. I also wonder if a one-legged war veteran came home and cut a political ad for a Democrat, would Limbaugh hop up and down, mocking him, too?

What's really pathetic is that there are people, millions of them, in fact, who listen to Rush religiously. Saddest of all, many of these people can't think for themselves. Hey, they aren't called "Dittoheads" for nothing.

And, you may not believe me, but this isn't about politics, when someone like Rush gets this hateful. This is about a dreaded disease, Parkinson's, and this is about improving the lives of those who suffer from it. I'm so sick of Pro-Lifers clouding the issue, too.

What most sensible people who are pro-stem cell believe and advocate is the use of frozen embryos for research that would otherwise be destroyed anyway - most are not adopted and the facilities that store the embroyos will not keep them. I support this important research, with strict oversight. I can understand and appreciate the many important, ethical considerations involved in stem cell research, but that shouldn't prevent this important work from moving forward to hopefully lead to cures or treatments not only for Parkinson's, but for many other diseases as well.

Oh, and for those of you who think Rush might have a point when he says that Democrats always trot out victims or people as props largely immune to criticism to make political points, you may want to take a look at the video below. And, Action! ...



This is President Bush with Snowflake Families at a press conference in July '06 announcing his first presidential veto - a bill passed in the Senate, 63-37, authorizing research on discarded embryos. Snowflake children is a term used by organizations that promote the adoption of embryos left over from in vitro fertilization to describe children that result, where the children's parents were not the original cell donors. So, Bush appears with these families at a press conference, but that's not grandstanding or using people as props?



Another example of Republicans using people as props - video from the Boot Murtha campaign. I get a kick out of this one in particular - notice the people who speak at the pro-Murtha rally, then the people at the Boot Murtha rally. And notice the attendance, too; the Boot Murtha rally uses tight camera shots, but you can still see the rows upon rows of empty seats in the background of the speakers.

I get pretty roiled when I hear people say that "we are winning this war (in Iraq)." We aren't winning, and we aren't going to win. What exactly would victory be, anyway? If this isn't echoes of Vietnam, I honestly don't know what is. Another thing that makes me angry is when I hear people say that comments critical of an administration in war time "embolden the enemy." I don't think our enemies are watching TV to get motivated to fight us - their beliefs and moral values, however misguided (and of course I think they are just that) are what motivates them, not politicians disagreeing on TV.

Oh, and the clip immediately above has comments from a father of a lost son in Iraq, a WTC survivor, and also the father of Todd Beamer. It looks an awful lot like using people and victims as props to me.



MJ Fox responds to Limbaugh's comments on CBS News with Katie Couric. Notice how Fox takes the high road, resisting the temptation to slam Limbaugh for his drug use/addiction or the dozens of other things he could have said to make Limbaugh look bad. You're a bigger man than me, Michael.

Couric also talks about how Limbaugh gets angry because Democrats use victims to make political points because they believe they are infallible and immune from criticism. But, Republicans do, too. Just because someone is a victim, survivor or family of a survivor of something tragic or a celebrity, he or she doesn't lose his right to express his or her political opinion.

I don't care which party does it, one or both or none - I'm merely pointing out the hypocrisy of Limbaugh for criticizing Democrats for using Fox, to say nothing of his comments about Fox's physical condition.

The only thing that does surprise me about the whole Fox fiasco is that Bill Frist hasn't diagnosed Fox by watching the video, Terri Schiavo style, or that Santorum hasn't rushed to his side to try to score cheap political points. Oh wait, Fox is campaigning for a Democrat. Sorry, Santorum.

Your never forget your first, eh, W?

As the saying goes, you never forget your first, and I know I'll never forget President Bush's first veto, when the president denied federal funding for stem cell research. My feelings upon reading the news ranged from outrage, disgust, sadness, confusion and back to outrage again.

This religious-driven decision is just another signpost on the road to religious extremism ruling and ruining this country. Not only does the president veto the bill, but he has a ceremony (above) with snowflake families, that is, families who have had a child born from a transplanted embryo. So, not only does he stick his finger in the eyes of people who could really be helped (and maybe in some cases, even saved) by signing a stem cell bill into law, but he gives the radical religious right another tongue bath by having these families appear with him at the announcement.

President Nixon, a man who truly knew what it was like to be hated, once said, "Always remember, others may hate you. Those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself."

I bring that quote up, because I hate the president and Karl Rove for what they are doing to this country, most of it in the name of religion. It sickens me every day. And I don't give a shit about people saying, "Hate's a pretty strong word," or "Wow, you shouldn't hate anybody." No, you shouldn't hate anyone, and I try not to, but for these two deserve that dishonor. I don't care about being politically correct in most instances, and this blog is the very embodiment of that belief.

All that's left for the religious zealots to accomplish in this country is to outlaw abortion, and that day isn't too far off, I'm afraid. I used to often tell people, prior to the 2000 and 2004 elections - "If Bush wins, he will reshape the Supreme Court for decades." Well, he has, and now these red states are reaping what they have sown. To digress for a quick second, I wonder if Louisana, post-Katrina, would still buy into all of Bush's bullshit during the '04 campaign and help him to the presidency? (Bush carried Louisana by a wide margin.) I think not.

"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job!"

Anyway, the encouraging thing about the stem cell vote in Congress is that many Republicans joined ranks with Democrats to have it passed so the president could veto it in the first place. The public wants this passed, but the radicals on the right don't.

For once, the Democrats may even have a backbone on this one. Said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi after the president's veto:

By using the first veto of his presidency to strike down this vital legislation, President Bush has shown us once again, that the extremists in his party come before progress...The public is fed up with the agenda of the Republican leadership and its clear lack of concern about the challenges facing ordinary Americans...Democrats in the House and Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of this bill. Ninety-eight percent in the Senate and ninety-three percent in the House; if only we had more Democrats in Congress to vote for the override. Our resolve is absolute. We have fought this battle for years and we will continue to fight. We will not give up, even in the face of extremist, anti-progress opposition...Republicans in Congress will have two choices: vote with the 72% of Americans who want to see this bill pass, or rubber stamp President Bush's out-of-touch agenda yet again.

The rubber stamp happened - the veto override vote fell short by four votes. Hopefully, come November, some prominent Republicans will be out of Congress...



...like Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA). It's going to be an uphill battle for Bob Casey Jr. though here in Pennsylvania - Dick's got a lot of money for attack ads and lies, nearly twice what Casey has.

These religious hypocrites all talk about the sanctity of life, until the War in Iraq or capital punishment comes up. Then, it's a different story.

Thousands are dead in Iraq, and for what? A giant fucking lie.

And capital punishment? That's humans merely playing God. One one hand, you have Bill Frist embarrassing himself by misdiagnosing Terri Schiavo on national television , saying nature should take its course and that her brain was still functioning (the autopsy proved Frist absolutely false). I'll never forget political opportunists like President Bush, his brother Jeb, Frist, and Santorum trying to use the whole unfortunate Schiavo incident for political gain.

However, most of these Republicans have no moral conscience about bombing and killing thousands of innocent Iraqis, OR advocating capital punishment, which, in some cases kills innocent people. The first thing I hear from advocates of capital punishment when I bring this up is "What about all of my tax dollars to keep these people in prison for years?" That's just morality with a price tag. But, I digress.

I hope and pray (yes, pray! God is not a Republican) that the time will soon come when Democrats can take back control of at least one body in Congress to stem the tide of Republican shit that we are awash in.

And I hope the first thing they do is approve federal funding for stem cell research, by a veto-proof margin.