susan the bruce

NH GOP - a constant source of pride

2009-11-14T15:48:00.003-05:00

I'm not going to link to their site, but Skip and Doug at GraniteGrok do a live radio show, where today they had special birthday wishes for NHDP Chair Ray Buckley.

NH Political Report has the story:

After his radio show "Meet the New Press" ended today, GraniteGrok.com co-founder Doug Lambert looked into a live web-streaming camera, mockingly wished state Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley a Happy Birthday and then called Buckley a "faggot" before basically wishing him dead.
Buckley is the only openly gay chair of a state party in the country. He is also the first openly gay male vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Read the whole story.

I wish I thought that some of their fans would criticize them for this - but after a few visits to their site, it's apparent that it's not a place for thinking Republicans - it's a place for knee jerk reactionaries, who spout the party line as regurgitated to them by Rush Limbaugh. If I liked them at all, I'd be embarrassed for them. They look a little too old for this kind of frat boy hijinks. Adult men who are confident in their sexuality are not threatened by homosexuality.

Yet another look at today's GOP - spewing hatred for anyone not a white heterosexual (at least in public) male.

Moving Closer to Theocracy

2009-11-10T15:18:00.002-05:00

The peculiar and secretive religious cult known as "The Family" has a number of members who are Congressmen living in a house on C Street in Washington, DC. Both Stupak and Pitts of the woman hating Stupak/Pitts amendment to the House health insurance reform bill live at this residence.

The Stupak/Pitts amendment seeks to rob women of insurance plans that cover abortion. No word on when insurance will be asked to stop covering penis pumps, penis implants, and penis pills. Of course, a silly girlie like me ought to understand that God loves penises, but wimmin are expendable.

Get out your copy of "The Handmaid's Tale. We may be living there before long.

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

Swine on Wall St.

2009-11-10T12:40:00.004-05:00

The virus known as H1N1 (or swine flu) has been found in nearly every country now. President Obama declared it a national emergency on October 23. This declaration allows HHS Secretary Sebelius to waive certain requirements under Medicare and Medicaid, privacy rules and other regulations.

"The H1N1 is moving rapidly, as expected," White House spokesman Reid Cherlin said Saturday. "By the time regions or health-care systems recognize they are becoming overburdened, they need to implement disaster plans quickly."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday that the flu was spreading widely in at least 46 states and had already caused the hospitalization of at least 20,000 Americans. More than 1,000 deaths have been attributed to the virus and more than 2,400 additional deaths were probably associated with it, officials said.

According to the CDC website
These groups should receive H1N1 virus first:
These target groups include pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, healthcare and emergency medical services personnel, persons between the ages of 6 months and 24 years old, and people ages of 25 through 64 years of age who are at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.

With those guidelines in mind, the fact that Wall St. firms (the same ones bailed out by US taxpayers, the same ones who gave themselves huge bonuses as they were failing) have been given H1N1 vaccine is creating some outrage.

"Frankly, it is astonishing that in the face of widespread shortages, the CDC has seen fit to approve distribution of the H1N1 vaccine to Wall Street firms not known to be populated by those in the highest risk categories," CREW Director Melanie Sloan wrote to Sebelius on Nov. 5.

And

"Although CREW has been unable to uncover the demographic makeup of Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase, surely it is safe to assume the vast majority of their employees are not pregnant women, infants and children, young adults up to 24 years old, and healthcare workers," Sloan added.

The most ethical company in the bunch appears to be:

Morgan Stanley -- which also has returned the $10 billion it got from the bailout -- received 1,000 doses of the vaccine for its New York and suburban offices, but turned over its entire supply to local hospitals when it learned it received shipments before some area hospitals, spokeswoman Jeanmarie McFadden said.

These companies already have huge PR problems, and this is certainly not going to help. You know you’re in trouble when SNL gives you the treatment:

cross posted at workingamerica.org/blog

teh stoopid - it bernz

2009-11-06T19:17:00.002-05:00

This picture was taken at Michelle Bachman's (Congresswoman from Minnesota, with what could at best be described as a tenuous grip on reality) tea party rally in DC yesterday.

Yep, they're comparing health insurance reform to Dachau. Lots of people died at Dachau. People die every day in this country because they can't afford health care. Are these people so DIM that they can't make that connection?

Fox News: making people stupider, and angrier, every day.

The Sanctity of Marriage is Saved!

2009-11-06T10:26:00.002-05:00

In May 2009, the Maine legislature passed a marriage equality bill. Governor Baldacci signed the bill - ensuring that Maine gays would have the same rights as Maine heterosexuals into law. Sadly for everyone, Maine has a process known as “the People’s Veto” which means that any Maine voter may propose a veto referendum to be placed on a statewide ballot, in order to reject a law recently passed by the Maine state legislature. The “People’s Veto” may have once seemed like a swell idea in a democracy, a way to give folks at the grassroots level a voice. In terms of social issues, a referendum question on a ballot means that tons of special interest money will pour in from out of state, to influence, and (in Maine’s case) determine the outcome.

This week, Maine voters vetoed the marriage equality law. Was it because Mainers feel differently from the very people they elect to represent them? I don’t think so. For months, Maine has been subjected to ominous TV and radio ads, telling them that if they didn’t vote yes, “Homosexual marriage would be taught in the schools.” This was a message that scared people, especially in the rural (more traditional) areas of the state. Thanks to No Child Left Behind, we all have a lot of concerns about what is and isn’t being taught in schools. These ads were a constant drone in the background of the lives of folks who ordinarily might have been inclined to live and let live. Maine school curricula were not suddenly going to feature classes in “Homosexual Indoctrination 101” – but the dishonest ads certainly gave that impression.

Where did the money come from for all this advertising? The group known as Stand for Maine Marriage raised approx. half a million dollars. Over 87% of that came from religious groups, and 72% of that was from out of state religious groups. The bulk of the money funneled to Stand for Maine Marriage came from four sources: The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the Knights of Columbus, Focus on the Family, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland. Or, to put it more succinctly: Catholics, Evangelicals, and Mormons.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland had special second collections in September, to raise money to fight marriage equality. Those collections raised $86,000. At a time when Maine has an 8.5% unemployment rate, where homelessness is on the rise, and soup kitchens and food pantries are serving record numbers of people – the Roman Catholic Diocese chose to dun their parishioners (with a second collection!) for funds to fight gay people getting married.

No one has ever been able to explain how it is that gay folks getting married will affect heterosexual marriages. If gay people can get married, will straight guys (who may have occasionally looked dreamily at pictures of gay men) suddenly abandon their wives, and run out to buy leather chaps to wear in Gay Pride parades? That seems unlikely, though there are those closet leatherboys who may long to. The reality is that nothing will change, other than more folks will be getting married. It won’t mean diddly to your heterosexual marriage. Losing jobs and homes are a lot more likely to have an impact on Maine families.

Churches all over the state had “Vote Yes” signs on their lawns – in flagrant violation of their tax-exempt status. If the Roman Catholic Diocese wants to play politics (and it seems they do), they should start paying taxes, and that goes for the evangelicals and the Mormons, too. NOM is believed to be a front for the LDS. They’re very careful to keep their donors a secret, so that no one will know where their money comes from. Maine election laws stipulate that groups raising over $5.000 have to file forms and disclose their donors. NOM is suing the state of Maine because they claim this is a violation of free speech, and all that paperwork is just too onerous. The marriage equality groups didn’t seem to have any trouble meeting the requirements. Of course, they didn’t have anything to hide.

It was an odd election. Maine voters voted down TABOR, again. The so-called taxpayer bill of rights keeps cropping up in referendum states, no matter how many times the voters kill it. TABOR has been a huge failure in Colorado, and Maine voters are wise to keep cutting that particular hydra off at the knees.

Even more interesting was the vote on medical marijuana. Less than a week after the NH legislature failed to override Governor Lynch’s veto of a medical marijuana bill that passed the House and Senate earlier in the year. Maine passed a medical marijuana bill in 1999. The sky didn’t fall, and the chronically and terminally ill were not selling pot at schoolyards. A decade later, Maine voters voted in favor of expanding their medical marijuana statute to include more heath conditions, and to set up distribution centers for medical marijuana patients. Mainers very clearly have compassion for the chronically and terminally ill people in their state, and a live and let live philosophy about the whole thing.

That kind of live and let live philosophy is part of Maine tradition, which makes the veto of the marriage equality so strange. It seems likely that once this all settles down, and the good people of our neighboring state realize how religious groups from out of state manipulated them, they will be ready. Marriage equality will be passed by the legislature again, and it will be challenged again, but next time, Maine voters will know better.

“They are preserving the sanctity of marriage so that two gay men who’ve been together for 25 years can’t get married, but a guy can still get drunk in Vegas and marry a hooker at the Elvis chapel! The sanctity of marriage is saved!" Lea DeLaria

© sbruce 2009 This appeared as an op-ed in the November 6, 2009 Conway Daily Sun

h/t to Feministing for the picture

Jon Stewart on marriage equality in Maine

2009-11-05T18:02:00.001-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Can't Get Queer From Here

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Full Episodes

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Health Care Crisis

Yep

2009-11-05T14:21:00.001-05:00

subtle, they ain't

2009-11-03T20:19:00.002-05:00

Viagra celebrates a birthday! Viagra is, of course, covered by most health insurance plans, even though some of those same plans do not cover birth control pills.

Mainers: Vote NO on 1

2009-11-02T16:06:00.002-05:00

Tell your Maine friends and family to vote for love and families, and against hate and bigotry.

Poland Spring flyers contain wrong polling hours | SeacoastOnline.com

2009-10-30T20:43:00.000-04:00

Poland Spring flyers contain wrong polling hours | SeacoastOnline.com

WELLS — The town scrambled Oct. 27 to inform residents of the correct polling hours for the Nov. 3 vote, after two Poland Spring mailers gave the wrong time.

Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Wells High School, according to town officials.

Poland Spring/NESTLE are advocating that the town pass and ordinance that would enact regulations on large scale water withdrawal.

The Poland Spring mailer advocated that residents pass an ordinance that would enact regulations on large-scale water extraction operations.

It stated the polls opened earlier and closed earlier than the correct time frame.

Opponents of the ordinance claim, if enacted, the change would open the town to large-scale water withdrawal operations like that of Poland Spring.

Poland Spring/NESTLE is, of course, saying it was an honest mistake.

Medical Marijuana Bill Veto Override Fails in NH Senate

2009-10-28T16:19:00.002-04:00

UnionLeader.com - Medical marijuana veto override fails in Senate - Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009

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"The Legislature failed today to override Gov. John Lynch’s veto of a bill that would have allowed seriously and terminally ill patients legal access to marijuana. It takes a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate to override a veto."

During the legislative session, Governor Lynch refused to meet with chronically and terminally ill patients who were lobbying on behalf of this bill. Yep - he refused to meet with these constituents. He fobbed them off on some "advisors." I know - I was there. My husband (who died in August) had multiple myeloma. I was the public face of David's support for the medical marijuana bill, since he couldn't travel. I'm certain Lynch would have given an insurance company lobbyist a private audience, but he refused these people.

These are not people who are going to sell drugs to schoolchildren. These are people who use marijuana to relieve pain, anxiety, and for appetite stimulation.

I won't be supporting or voting for Lynch again. This is not the only reason why, but call it the twig (seed, bud, bong) that broke this camel's back.

My state Senator, John Gallus, whom I seldom agree with, was a co-sponsor of the medical marijuana bill. Thank you Senator Gallus.

Senator Betsi DeVries was the only Democrat who voted against the bill initially, and then the sole Dem to vote against the override. I sure hope she never has to watch someone she loves die of a long, lingering, painful, and debilitating disease. The kind where you would do anything, anything to stop them from suffering. It will be a terrible way for her to learn compassion.

AHIP Pollster Interrupted By Singing Troupe Of Protesters

2009-10-23T20:14:00.002-04:00

AHIP Pollster Interrupted By Singing Troupe Of Protesters

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From Sam Stein at Huffington Post:

Republican pollster Bill McInturff was the keynote speaker on the final day of the America's Health Insurance Plans's state issues conference on Friday morning.
But his speech on how the health care reform debate was playing among the public was interrupted before it even began. A group of protesters began aggressively cheering McInturff for the work he has done for AHIP (he's a hired pollster for the private insurance lobby and, most infamously, was the force behind the 'Harry and Louise' ads in 1994)

Then they start to sing. This is brilliant! This is just the kind of clever protesting we need to be doing:

Pants on Fire

2009-10-22T20:58:00.002-04:00

Ah, New Hampshire. This year we had a long, cold, wet spring; a cold, wet summer, and a glorious fall with spectacular foliage. It was a rancorous year in the NH legislature, with the budget being a particular thorny issue. Mel Thomson and William Loeb still dictate our tax policy from the grave, and Judd Gregg voted in favor of rape. It was a year blissfully free of electoral politics for most of us, but the end of the year is drawing near. Next year we’ll be voting for 2 Congresscritters, one US Senator, the entire NH legislature, the Executive Council, and the Governor.

The NH GOP is unhappy about losing their divine right to run our state. Despite steady losses in the last 4 years, they have not been able to come up with a new message. They’re still saying “no taxes and cut spending.” It was a great message in 1910. In 2010 the reality is somewhat different. Things cost more, an elementary concept that the NH GOP is unable to embrace. Sure, there are ways to spend less money. At a time when many states are eliminating the costly death penalty as a way to save millions, NH is the only state looking to begin executions. The budget for lead paint testing has been cut recently, but we’ll be building a death row and an execution chamber.

Meanwhile, the NH GOP is trying out some new messaging, akin to throwing stuff at a wall to see what sticks. In September, former NH GOP Chairman Wayne Semprini wrote a letter to the Portsmouth Herald, accusing Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter of being a hypocrite for criticizing disruptors at town hall meetings. Semprini claimed that in 2005, at a Bradley town hall meeting he moderated, that Shea-Porter and her supporters wore waffle hats and continually disrupted the meeting.

The GOP lost both Congressional seats in 2006, but they took the loss of the CD 1 seat much harder. They’ve never gotten over losing that seat (which had been comfortably occupied by multimillionaire do-nothing Jeb Bradley) to an upstart, grassroots candidates. That the upstart is a woman is the angry frosting on their cake of rage.

Semprini tried. He thought he’d get the party faithful all wound up, and soon the villagers would be out with pitchforks and torches, yelling “kill the witch.” Poor Semprini, it didn’t work out the way he’d planned. The trouble with telling lies in the Internet era is that anyone can look up stuff in newspaper archives. A story about that particular town hall meeting, published by the Portsmouth Herald in 2005 was quickly unearthed. There was even a picture – a picture that showed a hatless Shea-Porter. The newspaper told a different story of the events than the one Semprini was attempting to tell.

That’s another problem with lying in the digital age. News travels fast, and immediately the recollections of folks who were at that town hall meeting began to contradict Semprini. I was one of the contradictors. In 2005, I was working for a non-profit that was fighting Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security. Former Congressman Jeb Bradley had run for office saying he was against privatization, but after BushCo began twisting his arm, his once strong stand was turning to Jell-O. I was there with a group of folks who were pressuring Bradley to stop waffling – hence the hats. I made those hats. Our theme was “Leggo my Social Security.”

Carol Shea-Porter was not part of my group. I met her for the first time a few weeks later. She was not there with a group of supporters – she didn’t decide to run for office for another 8 months. She was present, as a citizen, asking questions, as she did a number of times. I was at the same meetings. Carol was always friendly and polite to the Congressman, even as she asked hard questions and wouldn’t let him off the hook for the answers. My waffle crew was not disruptive. We did not want rudeness to be the story – we wanted Bradley’s waffling on Social Security to be the story. We were not at all like the tea party disruptors at town hall meetings in 2009. Wayne Semprini has never apologized to Congresswoman Shea-Porter for his accusations, which tells me that this wasn’t a memory lapse. Maybe he’s still putting the fire in his pants out.

That try at a GOP message got thrown out, contradicted quickly, and didn’t stick. This week, a story at Politico.com suggests that Shea-Porter has “gone native,” and become a “Washington insider.” Nashua Telegraph reporter Kevin Landrigan was quoted as writing, “The irony is, of course, that Shea-Porter used to be a ‘tea-bagger’ on the left.” The real irony is that Kevin Landrigan used to be a decent reporter. Now he’s just another right wing mouthpiece, spouting this silly, debunked meme. The Politico story tries to muster up all kinds of outrage about a grassroots activist turned insider. Jeb Bradley is quoted as saying, “I think she’s gone to Washington and forgotten that she’s New Hampshire’s representative in Washington.” This comes from a guy who was fired by the voters from his job as Congressman, failed to get re-elected, and was reduced to the NH State Senate, where he earns $100 a year. He would do ANYTHING to get back inside Washington. The real prize goes to GOP stenographer Jennifer Donahue, of the NH Institute for Politics, who said: “She’s not really viewed by most people as an activist or an outsider. “She’s part of the establishment, and I think she faces more scrutiny than before.” Carol Shea-Porter got elected and went to Washington to do her job – oh, the horror!

The desperation of the NH GOP is palpable. One would think that in the face of the changes in the political climate in our state, and the failure of their party in the last 2 election cycles, that they might do some navel gazing. One would be wrong. The strategy seems to be to continue to keep selling the same, failed message they’ve used for the past 100 years – and to keep telling lies, hoping something will stick.

“One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat only has nine lives.” Mark Twain

This was published as an op-ed in the Conway Daily Sun on October 23, 2009

© sbruce 2009

This sums it up

2009-10-20T11:21:00.001-04:00

cause and effect - a lesson never learned by the GOP

2009-10-14T22:27:00.004-04:00

Local GOP county committee member Maynard Thomson has been writing letters to the editor for years, and has finally been rewarded with columnist status. As a result, he gets to bore us all at even greater length.

This week, Mr. Thomson chose to entertain us with a piece on political discord, and just how sad it is that we all can't get along. I trust the irony of the writer's political affiliation won't escape you. Instead of reflecting honestly on the racism and bigotry inherent in today's GOP, Thomson chose to present himself as a world weary, superior individual, who is above all of this silliness.
In fact, he went as far as to say this:

"Meantime, I’ve written two local critics, suggesting our insult swaps needn’t preclude friendly relations. Regrettably, both responded churlishly. This bespeaks a lack of confidence, or a destructive conflating of personal and political."

I confess. I'm one of those churls. Mr. Thomson did send a missive to me in the spring. This was my reply:

May 29, 2009

Dear Maynard Thomson,

Thank you so much for your very entertaining letter. I can’t think when I last received a missive that insulted my intelligence, threatened me with a lawsuit, and then invited me out for coffee with an offer of friendship. I don’t believe I’ve had anything comparable since my last stalker, and that was over a decade ago. Your comedic timing (intentional or otherwise) is amazing.

Over the years you’ve called me stupid, accused me of lying, and in once memorable instance, berated me for not having traveled sufficiently. In fact, your constant droning responses to my columns over the year have shown that you possess a lack of basic reading comprehension skills, snobbery, elitism, and an overweening ego.

I urge you, Maynard, to make good on your rather thinly veiled threat of a lawsuit. Please – sue me for defamation in my May 8 column. You could give me no greater gift than to make your claims public. You would be revealed as the thin-skinned buffoon that you are, attempting to threaten me into silence, on a bogus claim. I would enjoy every minute of this action, so please, I implore you - go forth and sue.

I’m not apologizing for anything, Maynard. You might go back and reread my May 8 column. I’d be interested to hear where it was I mentioned your views on abortion or marriage equality, seeing as how I didn’t. I referenced the views of your political party, and if you weren’t such a reactionary dolt, looking to take offense at the flimsiest pretext, you might have figured that out. Years of your letters to the editor, however, have shown your utter inability to comprehend what you read.

Sadly, I am certain you’ll be surprised that I have no interest in meeting you. I don’t willingly meet up with those suffering from narcissistic personality disorder – there are too many chances to meet them randomly.

With the utmost sincerity,

Susan Bruce

Lack of confidence? Destructive conflating of the personal and political?
Nah. I just don't voluntarily associate with assholes.

Military Rape Awareness Week Starts At Times Square Recruiting Station; Recruiters Shut Out Retired Officer | AfterDowningStreet.org

2009-10-14T21:29:00.002-04:00

Military Rape Awareness Week Starts At Times Square Recruiting Station; Recruiters Shut Out Retired Officer | AfterDowningStreet.org

One in three women in the military in Iraq is raped. We need to say this over and over and over again until it sinks in. Over half of the federal discretionary budget goes to defense. Our tax dollars are paying for rape and the covering up of the crime. None of our elected officials are strong enough to stand up against this, and force the military to change. It's up to us.

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Judd Gregg's Family Values

2009-10-08T21:54:00.004-04:00

Jamie Leigh Jones went to Iraq in 2005, to work for Halliburton’s then subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown, and Root. When she signed the contract, she was shown pictures of a small trailer where she would live with other women. The reality was quite different. She found herself assigned to a huge barracks full of men. She complained to the company. Nothing happened. Four days after her arrival, she was socializing with some coworkers. One of the male firefighters handed her a drink, while making a comment about “roofies.” Ms. Jones was 21, and believed that she was working with people who were all on the same side. She thought he was joking. She remembers taking a few sips. After that, she has no memory.

Ms. Jones woke up naked and in pain. She’d been gang raped and sodomized. One of the men was still there, passed out. He wasn’t worried about the repercussions, you see. The men had learned that there would be no repercussions. She reported the attack to the company. A doctor examined her, and a rape kit was done. It was turned over to KBR officials, and has never been seen since. Jamie Leigh Jones was locked in a shipping container with no food or water. She was told that she needed to “get over it.” She eventually convinced one of the guards to allow her to use his cell phone. She called her father, who called their Congressman, and she was rescued, and brought back to the US. She had to have reconstructive surgery on her breasts.
Halliburton/KBR took no action against her attackers. The military, and the US Dept. of Justice did not prosecute. The contract she’d signed forced her into mandatory, binding, arbitration with the company. Halliburton would hire the arbitrator, the proceeds would be secret, and Jamie Leigh Jones would have no right to appeal if she lost. Halliburton had only lost 3 arbitration cases.

Ms. Jones realized, 5 months into the arbitration process that she wasn’t going to get anywhere. She went to court to fight the arbitration agreement, saying that the gang rape was not related to her employment, and should not be covered by the agreement. Two years later, the US 5th Circuit of appeals ruled in her favor.

There have been 38 similar claims made by women who were employed by Halliburton/KBR. Sexual assaults, rape, discrimination and groping were all charges made – and ignored by the company. If women complained, they were fired.

These contracting companies, hired by the DoD to work in Iraq and Afghanistan are not bound by military law. They are not subject to the laws of the countries they are working in, and they don’t seem to be subject to US law, either. Instead, these contractors live in some kind of a lawless empire, where women have no legal rights, and the men are free to rape and assault them without fear of prosecution or any repercussions.

These contracting companies are paid by US taxpayer dollars. Next time you’re watching Glenn Beck or Lou Dobbs work himself into a lather about ACORN, think about what else your taxpayer dollars are subsidizing. Next time you listen to some GOP Congresscritter get wound up about the way women are treated by the Taliban – remember, your tax dollars are subsidizing rapists and criminals.

Halliburton and KBR have been unrepentantly bilking the US taxpayers for years now. Halliburton overcharged the Pentagon for fuel delivery. In 2004, the GAO estimated that over $1 billion US taxpayer dollars had been wasted on overcharging by contractors. Nothing happened. KBR’s shoddy construction caused soldiers to be electrocuted in the showers. KBR served contaminated water to troops, and made them sick. Nothing happened. Both Halliburton and KBR are still working for the Pentagon. These contractors make ACORN look like boy scouts – but oddly, they’ve never been on the receiving end of the same operatic media scrutiny that ACORN gets.

Three years after being drugged, gang-raped, mutilated, and locked in a storage container, Jamie Leigh King has finally reached the place where she’ll be able to sue the company that protected the men who assaulted her. It will be years before she ever gets any kind of justice, but finally, she is on her way.

This week, the US Senate is working on the 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill. Senator Al Franken of Minnesota introduced an amendment that would withhold defense contracts from companies “if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery, and discrimination cases to court.” It’s unfortunate that this is even an issue, but surely, we the people don’t want our country to be represented around the world by rapists and criminals.

Apparently, this is not so. Senator Franken’s amendment passed, 68-30. There are thirty members of the US Senate who are just fine with rape. In fact, Senator Jeff Sessions spoke against the bill, calling it a “political attack directed at Halliburton.” All 30 Senators who voted against the amendment are Republicans, all who run on the issue of “family values.” David “likes to be spanked by hookers while wearing a diaper” Vitter voted against the amendment. So did Mitch McConnell, John Kyl, John Cornyn – from the state of Texas, where Jamie Leigh Jones is from – Jim DeMint, and of course our very own NH Senator, Judd Gregg. These men all decided that lawless military contractors are no big deal. The gang rape and mutilation that Jamie Leigh Jones experienced was not even worthy of consideration to them. Think about that, the next time you hear one of them nattering on about family values. What they really mean is that if it affects their family it’s an issue. If your daughter is raped, well, too bad. War profiteering is more important.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen voted in favor of the Franken amendment. Only Judd Gregg voted in favor of protecting these contractors. If it were up to Senator Gregg, the contractors hired by the Pentagon, and paid for by you and me, would be allowed to conceal their crimes, rape women with impunity, and continue to overcharge us. I have never been more ashamed.

h/t to LA Progressive for the "Dollar Soldier"

© sbruce 209 Published as an op-ed in the Conway Daily Sun on October 9, 2009

Happy Birth Day Lucy!

2009-10-06T21:48:00.002-04:00

"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind."
Kurt Vonnegut

Lucy finally arrived tonight - nearly 2 weeks late. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 3 oz. and is 21" long, and reportedly has big feet and a lot of hair. Lucy already has a chocolate birthday cake. I'll begin her political indoctrination on Thursday.

I can't wait to meet my first and only grandchild! This is an unexpected joy in a long, dark year.

use 'em and screw 'em - it's the Murriken way

2009-10-05T21:54:00.003-04:00

WellPoint Cuts Workers' Health Insurance Benefits

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Jon Stewart on the Democratic Super Majority

2009-10-01T14:24:00.001-04:00

Democratic Super Majority

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

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National Coffee Day

2009-09-29T10:01:00.002-04:00

National Coffee Day

I'm celebrating as I type!

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Jim Hightower | HEALTH CARE TIDBITS

2009-09-28T19:25:00.001-04:00

Jim Hightower | HEALTH CARE TIDBITS

"For example, insurance corporations are infamous for denying coverage to anyone with a pre-existing condition â things like cancer, or that ingrown toenail you had 20 years ago. The National Women's Law Center, however, recently revealed another "condition" that can preclude coverage: domestic violence. Yes, eight states allow insurance giants to categorize "getting beat up by your spouse" as a pre-existing condition!"

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Leading Dem Plans To Blow Up Deal With Big Pharma

2009-09-28T19:22:00.001-04:00

Leading Dem Plans To Blow Up Deal With Big Pharma

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We're Number 37

2009-09-25T00:39:00.003-04:00

On September 12, thousands of angry white folks marched on Washington. This was billed as part of Glenn Beck’s 9/12 “Movement” but in light of the fibbing that went on about the number of people present, I prefer to call it the Million Moron March. Many of the nowhere-near-a-million are angry about the possibility of health insurance reform. The idea of everyone having access to health care sends these folks into a tizzy. They’re all wound up about the deficit, and spending. It sure is great to see folks getting concerned about US spending – but you have to wonder where they’ve been for most of the last decade.

The US spends approximately $12 billion each month to occupy the country of Iraq. We have about 100 military bases there – down from the 300 we had at the height of the war. . The hope is to whittle that number down to 6 huge bases, as we “withdraw” from Iraq. There are over 1.5 million pieces of equipment that must be removed, when we “withdraw.” It is estimated that the cost of the debacle in Iraq is going to be about $3 trillion when all is said and done. This war costs each US family about $100 a month. I wouldn’t attempt to speak for all of you – but I’d rather have health care, myself.

The US built the largest, most expensive, and easily the ugliest embassy in world history in Iraq. It is 10 times larger than the UN complex in Manhattan. The embassy complex has 20 buildings. It’s bigger than the Vatican. Why? No one has bothered to explain to we the people why such a thing is necessary. We’re also funding a $17 million troop barracks in Afghanistan. I’m sure that’s very comforting news to all of us who are unemployed or underemployed. Yep, we don’t have jobs, we’ve lost our health care – BUT – we’re continuing on with the “war on terror.” What that really means is that we’ve chosen to sacrifice the well being of our country and our citizens in exchange for being in a permanent, undeclared state of war.

The US may rank 37th in the world for health care, but we are number one in weapons manufacturing and sales. Isn’t it great to know that we still manufacture something in the US? Apparently the three jobs of the future in the US are going to be making weapons, being military cannon fodder, or working for private companies like Halliburton and KBR. We aren’t too selective about who we sell weapons to, so as a special added bonus those folks will undoubtedly use the weapons we sold them against us at some point, thus perpetuating the endless war.

So far, we’ve killed over 100,000 Iraqi civilians. The costs of the permanent war are staggering – the dead, the injured, (physically and/or mentally) and the money wasted – but not a peep out of the angry white folks about any of that. What gets them moving is the idea that their neighbors might be able to have affordable health insurance.

One of the groups present at the Million Moron March was the American Life League, billed as the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life education organization. If you were thinking, “surely a pro-life group would be in favor of affordable health insurance,” you’d be wrong. They had a big sign reading, “Bury Obamacare with Ted Kennedy.” Not exactly a Christian message, is it? It’s also curious, given this statement from the Resolution on Health Care Reform, from the US Catholic Bishops in 1993:
“Every person has the right to adequate health care. This right flows from the sanctity of human life and the dignity that belongs to all persons, who are made in the image of God... Our call for health care reform is rooted in the biblical call to heal the sick and to serve 'the least of these,' the priorities of justice and the principle of the common good. The existing patterns of health care in the United Sates do no meet the minimal standard of social justice and the common good.”

Operation Rescue is against health insurance reform. These people also claim to be good Christians, and pro-life – but they don’t want women and potential fetuses to have affordable health care. It sure seems mighty contradictory, doesn’t it? Instead, they’re bellowing that the health care bill (which doesn’t exist yet) will use taxpayer funds for abortions. From what I’ve read, this isn’t true – but truth isn’t of any importance at all in the “debate” about reform. In the media only one side is being represented; the side the Republicans, Teabaggers, and Evangelical Christians are on.

The group Focus on the Family is against insurance reform. Apparently good, focused families don’t get sick. Gary Bauer of the group, “American Values” is opposed to health insurance reform. It seems that affordable health insurance is not an American value. Gary was, however, a big supporter of George Bush and the war in Iraq – and bent over backwards to justify torture. Torture, it seems, is an American Value.

These are people who claim to believe that every person is made in God’s image, which would seem to indicate that they would deny God affordable health insurance. Matthew 22:36-40 quotes Jesus (in part,) “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Who would Jesus refuse to heal?

The endless war and killing isn’t even being discussed. The possibility of reforming health insurance is cause for angry displays at the grassroots level and the shocking rudeness we saw aimed at the President, on the floor of the People’s House. Our national priorities are a mess, and we are fast turning into a country impossible to recognize, much less be proud of.

"Of all forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." --- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you look at the bottom right hand corner of the Bury Obamacare sign, it says ALL, which stands for American Life League, with a little fetus attached to it.

© sbruce 2009 Published as an op-ed in the Conway Daily Sun on Sept. 26, 2009

Mending Broken Hearts at Sacramento's New Tent Village - Christina Davidson

2009-09-22T11:03:00.002-04:00

Mending Broken Hearts at Sacramento's New Tent Village - Christina Davidson

The story of a former US soldier and his wife, newly homeless because of medical problems. This is the kind of story that is NOT being told by the mainstream right-wing, corporate media. Is this really the way we want people in our country to live? How is it that we can spend TRILLIONS on the war/occupation of Iraq, but we can't take care of our own? What has happened to our country?

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