Ted Kennedy - RIP

Other people have their opinions and feelings, but I personally owe Senator Kennedy my gratitude for all he's done throughout his career to make this society one that's more open, more fair, and more educated. All those who believe in an America as a society dedicated to equality, social justice, and basic health care for its citizens lost a fighter and a champion. Goodbye Uncle Teddy. May you rest well.

Is Hawaii Part of the U.S.?

Apparently some of the "birthers" who question President Obama's legitimacy do so because they don't know that Hawaii is a state. This article gives the details.

Scalia - Even If He Didn't Do It, He's Gotta Die

The Troy Davis has gotten quite a bit of press here in Georgia and other parts of the country. The U. S. Supreme Court, in a decision written by Justice Stevens, is allowing a District Court judge to hear evidence in order to determine if Mr. Davis is innocent.

Justice Scalia, in dissent:
“This court has never held,” Justice Scalia wrote, “that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is ‘actually’ innocent.”

In other words, fuck innocence; you've been convicted, you should die.

Unsurprisingly, Justice Thomas signed on to Scalia's dissent.

Scalia and Thomas are rank ideologues sitting in two of the most powerful positions in our government. When you think they can do no worse, they prove you wrong.

The New York Times article is here.

No Public Option?

It works again.

A bunch of loud, loony, anti-government crackpots make a lot of noise, and the Democratic leadership instinctively caves in.

Although polls showed over 70 percent of Americans desired a public option as part of health care reform, it now sounds like President Obama and the Democrats are willing to jettison that part of the bill in order to pass something. Thanks for the leadership guys.

Republicans kowtow only to their base. The Democrats piss all over theirs.

If the public option is truly dead, that's just one more item in the list of proofs that Barack Obama is more likely to be a Jimmy Carter, rather than an FDR or Harry Truman.

I'm hoping Congressman Anthony Weiner can back up his threat to snatch away 100 House votes if the public option gets dumped because without the PO, there is no true reform.

If Obama and the Democratic leaders are counting on progressives to have short memories, or to continue to do a bunch of nose holding, they're going to be in for a huge shock if they cave in on this. If the Dems are not willing to use their supermajority on issues like this, then they don't really need to have those numbers, which means we really don't need to put our time and resources into getting Democrats elected or re-elected.

Mr. Obama, it's time to cowboy up.

President Obama - We Need Leadership

As the non-debate on health care reform devolves into a referendum on non-existent aspects of the legislation (let's kill Aunt Sally), President Obama seems to be incapable of grabbing the reins on this runaway stallion of rumor and misinformation.

The president continues to want to play nice while getting steamrolled by his adversaries.

The American people made a bold move in electing President Obama, and despite the thinking of his advisers, the American people did so because they wanted bold action on a number of fronts. What the president has to understand is: it doesn't matter who you are -- if you can't sell it, folks won't buy it. It's time for him to use his bully pulpit to say what it is that must be in the bill, what is not and will not be in the bill he signs, and once, and for all, state that a bill without a public option is not reform, and is not acceptable. Mr. Obama must finally cross the threshold; does he want to be a transformational leader, or does he want to be Jimmy Carter -- a real smart guy who couldn't get anything done?

It's time for the president to show some backbone and some balls. George W. Bush used the perception of a mandate he never had to enact bad ideas. If this Democrat continues to fail to govern from the enviable position of strength he now has, he can count on being regarded as much a failure as his predecessor. It's much worse to have the right ideas die because of a lack of political will.

The Town Hall Protesters Are Thugs

Watching the news this week, it's interesting when stories were reported about the mobs that are engaging in attempts at intimidating Congresspersons at town halls, the talking heads seem afraid to state the proven fact that these activities are being not just encouraged, but sponsored by political and business interests aligned with the right wing. Rachel Maddow continues to report on this, on how the MSM continues to gloss over the fact that the GOP is starting to feel quite comfortable these Brown Shirt tactics.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Fox News - We're Not Disguising It Anymore

When Fox News cut off Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow (as can be seen here courtesy of Daily Kos) to go into a promo about "Shark Week", they finally reached the low point, the absolute nadir, in their pretense to be a news organization. Like the hollow headed teabaggers and astroturf thugs currently disrupting town meetings of Democratic Congresspersons, Fox has decided it's better to interrupt and shut down the debate than have people hear the speaker, and then make their own judgments.

By this time it should be common knowledge that Fox is, and always has been, propagandists, apologists, and shills for the right wing. Bolstered by decisions such as this from a Florida appeals court, the essence of which is Fox has no obligation or requirement to engage in honest reporting, Fox News has pretty much abandoned any facade that they are any more a respectable journalism outfit than that supermarket tabloid that has recent photos of the much alive Elvis Presley, his alien bride Xevrespii, and their recently born infant Hedetmosuvus.

Despite the fact the crackpots and gasbags at FNC have their idiotic exhortations debunked and disproved on a regular basis (something close to daily), there are people who continue to watch as fervent followers of their loony tune know-nothings Beck, Hannity, and O'Reilly, and their hour-by-hour "reporting", believing they're receiving incontrovertible facts from actual journalists. If they're not able to recognize the con by now, there's nothing that can be said to enlighten them, but why in the world do Democrats even consider giving FNC the time of day? They don't deserve it.

There are enough real news outlets to watch, and for politicians to talk to, without continuing to give legitimacy to the fraud that is Fox News. And it's not about ideology, or political views; it's about Fox's willful unwillingness to be a real news organization, and their insistence on pandering to the worst and most base human instincts. They deserved to be shunned. So shun them.