Socialized Medicine = Jesus

I'm back. I haven't blogged in a while. I've been busy, but now that health care is safely past, and Obama accomplished more in a week than Bush accomplished in 8 years (12 if you count Daddy Bush), I decided to share some thoughts.

The Tea Baggers et al really flipped out over the passage of the health care reform bill. You'd think that it was actually going to affect them in some way. Democrats in Congress have received many death threats and other types of threats of bodily harm from Sarah Palin showing Congressional with targets over them on her Facebook page to Bart Stupack, Alan Grayson and others receiving threatening phone calls. It is not happening on both sides as some misguided and uninformed Republicans would love to believe. Eric Cantor received a death threat from some psycho anti-semite. That wasn't even related to the health care bill so it doesn't qualify as "happening on both sides." Those on the right-wing in the media and in Congress are being irresponsible because they are inciting these folks who are fragile to begin with. If anyone gets hurt, I hold them responsible.

These tea baggers are extremely misguided and uninformed. For instance, they believe this bill is socialized medicine. What about this bill is socialized? There is nothing in it that is government run. The only thing that is government run is Medicare, and most of the these morons don't even understand that because they call for government to stay out of health care in one breath and don't touch my medicare with the other. How about if we do away with medicare? Would that make them happy?

If we had a public option, that would be a form of socialized medicine. However, the whole system would not be socialized because there is still the private insurers. Yes, they're being regulated, but they should be because peoples' lives are at stake just like with air travel, prescription drugs, food, pollution etc. All these have some sort of regulation for the public safety.

If we had a single payer system, which we don't, that would be socialized medicine. That is, health care for all. What's wrong with that? Everyone would get health care, no one would be denied. It works in Denmark. Shoot, it works in Taiwan. Citizens in both countries pay less for health care. Imagine if Jesus asked for proof of health insurance. Imagine if Jesus refused to treat people because of pre-existing conditions.

I can't think of a concept more inline with the spirit of Jesus than socialized medicine.

Convicted Felon Ollie North Weighs in on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

GOP gets school on camera

I love it. Obama made the GOP his bitches yesterday. Not that there isn't an extreme lack of masculinity in the GOP these days, but Obama really gave them what fer, bent over.

Hardcore Teabagging In Mass

I bet there is some hardcore tea-bagging going on in Massachusetts tonight as it elected it's first Nazi, er Republican to the Senate in lord knows how many years. The so-called Tea Party people, take their name from the Boston Tea Party must be so proud. The truth is, the members of the Boston Tea Party were a bunch of hooligans, misguided patriots, who thought they were doing good by throwing some tea in the water. That's vandalism and destruction of property, and they should have all gone to jail. They had absolutely no impact on the Revolution. Their heroics are complete mythology. Go ahead right-wingers gloat. You've earned it with your assinine tactics of disrupting health care town hall meetings, and bringing guns to the President's speeches and electing morons like Scott Brown and the douchebag governor in Virginia. You can screw up the country some more.

Trolls be gone

I am no longer going to allow losers to make comments on my blog. You know who you are. You are the ones that can't make a point so you insult. You have no clue what you are talking about. I do. You all are morons who have nothing to say but Fox News and Rush Limbaugh talking points. If you have something to say, I'll post it. You are the same people that allow George W. Bush to destroy our country for 8 years. You let it happen. Now, all you want to do is impede the current President, who I believe is trying to fix things. Go back to tea-bagging each other in private.

Still not "Free at Last"

I am writing this in honor of the Reverend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a great man and a visionary. Our country would not have been the same without him. He had a dream. Though we have come very far, that dream has yet to be fulfilled.

This country is more divided than it has been since that time. Despite having an African American President in Barack Obama, racism is still alive and well in this country. Racial politics are at play with Republican trying to make something out of nothing on Harry Reid's recent comments. We see racism in the various "grass-roots" movements" tea party, birthers, deathers, town-hallers, whatever. All of these movements have a hatred for a black President at their bases. True, people hated Bush, but their patriotism was challenge: "you can't talk that way about the President of the United States. That's treason." Where are those same calls? You don't here them because somehow it's not treason if it's a black President. That's not quite consistent with "the dream."

There are also divides among the classes. There is the rich versus everyone else (middle class and poor). Those of us in the middle class can go out and raise money and campaign for political candidates. That is our voice. However, when they win, these same candidates show their allegiance not to the people that work so hard for them, but to the corporations and special interests that promise them money. This is a travesty. Why campaign for candidates? Why even have elections? Just let Blue Cross/Blue Shield select our candidates like their writing our health care bill. The American people are losing here. I do not believe this was part of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream, and I believe he would have been out there protesting and fighting for fair and affordable health care for everyone.

The dream will not be fulfilled until all people, who are created equal, are treated equal. The dream will not be fulfilled until people are judge by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin, the neighborhood in which they live, the amount of money they have in the bank, the type of profession they hold and all the other factors that divide us as a people.

Hume-rous

Let me start by saying I don't give a shit about Tiger Woods, and I don't watch cable news. Even so, the world is abuzz with the news of his affairs so it is hard not to hear anything at all. It truly is much ado about nothing. However, it becomes something when assholes like Brit Hume suggest that Tiger Wood's Buddhist religion offers no path to forgiveness, and he should convert to Christianity because only Jesus can provide forgiveness. (What should David Vitter, Mark Sanford, John Ensign, Larry Craig, Dick Cheney, George Bush and Rush Limbaugh convert to?) This is exactly the arrogance that Jesus did not want; it's what he preached against. Judaism offers the best path to salvation because it is the only true monotheistic religion (it is neither trinitarian nor does it hold any prophet holier than thou). I don't really think my religion is superior, but if I were to go around saying this I would be persecuted. Not that Jews have ever really experienced persecution the way Christians have (i.e. the war on Christmas). Even in Judaism we can't agree on how to live your life. I don't think my religion is superior, but it works for me, and I accept and respect other religions.

Who really cares what religion Tiger Woods is and whether or not he is granted forgiveness through it? He only needs to come to peace with his wife, his family and himself. In Judaism, we believe that God always grants forgiveness when we ask for it. However, we can only truly receive forgiveness when we make amends with those we've wronged. Only those we've wronged can grant us forgiveness. I believe Jesus spoke of this as well. It is also a Confucian and a Buddhist concept, and I'm sure many other religions ascribe to this.

I suggest Brit Hume do a little introspection. I suggest he seek forgiveness from his god for being such a doucebag and a cheerleader for the GOP, who've been destroying this country for the last nine years.