It Sucks To Be You

If it's Sunday morning, it means we're watching the political talk shows, and one of the morning's most intriguing moments came when David Gregory interviewed House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor, (R-Va), this morning on "Meet The Press". Gregory attempted to pin Cantor down on several specific questions, but Cantor is more slippery than a greased pig at a prison rodeo, and he managed to skim through the question and answer session giving away nothing more than generalities and campaign talking points. Cantor was especially oily when Gregory asked him about the Health Care debate.
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So since your elected representative in Congress won't answer any questions, we'll do it for him. Last week, the Republicans in the House voted to repeal the new Health Care Law, even though they knew the Law wouldn't be repealed because their vote wouldn't be upheld in the Senate. But the Republicans still need their talking points, and they claim that they want to "replace" the Law with a better one. We'll sum this one up for you: No, they don't.
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Look at it this way. The Republicans are in between a rock and a very hard place. The only two ways to provide health care coverage for all Americans is through a form of "socialized medicine" or "Medicare for all" plan, or to keep the status quo, and continue to let our health care system operate on a "for profit" basis. The Republicans hate "socialized medicine", (even though they really don't understand what it is or how it really works), but they also have to admit that a "for profit" health care system doesn't work for most Americans, and is continuing to disentegrate our health care system into one in which only people with substantial means can afford care. Currently, under the "for profit" system, 50 million Americans are without health care insurance, and that number is growing.
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So what are the Republicans to do? They hate "socialism", and so they couldn't bear to let "America become like Russia", even though Social Security, Medicare, our schools, police departments and fire departments are all already forms of "socialism", and everyone seems to love those institutions. Oh, and don't forget, the Republicans all take their government paid-for health care as members of Congress, and they don't seem to have a problem with that "socialist" institution. But hating "socialism" with such a passion as they do, they'll never vote for "Medicare for all", but if they continue the status quo of health care delivery in this country, soon our health care system will completely collapse. So the Republicans are, once again, screwed. They have no answers, and they're not ready to make those "big boy decisions" that they claim have to be made in the new Congress.
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So while it's a little painful knowing that for the next two years, our Republican-led House of Representatives won't provide any real leadership on our most pressing problems, it at least will be enjoyable to watch them squirm for awhile before they finally "cut and run" on the big issues. Watching the Republicans in charge is more entertaining than a three ring circus; the only thing we can't figure out is how they get so many Tea Bagger clowns in that tiny little car.

Douche of the Day

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Last night when staunch pro-lifer Rep. Bart Stupak, (Dem-Mich.), took the House floor, just before the vote was taken on the health care bill, to explain why he was voting for the bill, someone on the House floor shouted out, "Baby killer!"

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(texas douchbag rep. randy neugebauer)

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Rep. Randy Neugebauer of Lubbock, (Rep.-Tx), a Southern Baptist, came forward today and admitted he had shouted the remark, and apologized to his colleagues and to Stupak. Look at this guy, why is it that everyone in the brain trust that is the right wing fringe of the Republican party looks like pedophiles?

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It was also revealed that before the vote was taken, that some Republican members of Congress waved flags and posted signs in their office windows encouraging the nutjob protesters outside, yes, the same protesters that called Rep. Clyburn a nigger and Rep. Frank a faggot. Now, that's class. What is this, the U.S. Congress or a junior high school pep rally for homecoming queen?

The Health Care Bill Passes

It is an historic night in America. The Health Care Bill, under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives just now by a vote of 219-212. Regardless of how one feels about the bill, one has to admit it is truly historic. Every Democratic president since Franklin Roosevelt, and even Republican Richard Nixon, has tried to pass a health care reform package of some sort. Not one single Republican voted for this bill tonight, which we predict will come back to bite them in the ass in the next election cycle, despite the fact that they believe it will be the downfall of the Democrats. Congratulations to Pres. Obama, Speaker Pelosi and to we, the American people!

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Oh, and there's a huge added bonus, Rush Limbaugh will now be leaving America! Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, Rush!

Keep Your Government Hands Off My Medicare!

Pres. Obama gave a speech to House Democrats today, and thousands of Republican Tea-Bagging protesters showed up. As members of Congress passed through the Longworth House office building on their way to the speech, the protesters became abusive. Tea-Baggers heckled Rep. John Lewis, (D-Ga.), calling him a "nigger", and they called Rep. Barney Frank, (D-Mass.), a "faggot", shouting at him with lisp-y screams. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, (D-Mo.) was spat upon.

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Frank shrugged off the incident, but Clyburn was shocked, saying he had not witnessed such treatment since he was leading civil rights protests in South Carolina in the 1960s. "I heard people saying things that I have not heard since 1960 when I was marching to try and get off the back of the bus," Clyburn said.

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The Fox News/Republican led protests against the soon-to-be-passed Health Care Reform Bill have become increasingly hostile in the past couple of weeks. But it's difficult to decide which has been more shocking, some of the statements which have been made against the bill, or the incredible, mind-boggling ignorance behind those statements. It's like a bunch of cave-dwelling Neanderthals have been hiding in the woods for forty years, leading us to believe they no longer existed, and then, all of a sudden, some revenuer got them all riled up, flushing them out of their trailer parks and into civilization for the first time in a long, long time.

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(does anyone know what the fuck his t-shirt means?

we're laying 10-1 odds that he doesn't either)

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This reminds us of an episode we saw last night of the genealogy-inspired show, "Who Do You Think You Are?". It was the episode in which Lisa Kudrow traveled to Poland and found out that her great-grandmother had been murdered by the Nazis. The German soldiers rounded up everyone in her great-grandmother's village one day, marched them to a pit, three by three, shot them dead, let them fall into the pit, marched three more to the same spot, shot them dead, etc., etc., until every Jew in the village was murdered in one day. Lisa cried when she learned of her grandmother's fate, and slightly stunned, all she could think to say was that, "I guess that's what happens when a group of people are whipped into hysteria by fear. That fear can make them commit unspeakable acts, even becoming cold-blooded murderers." Not that we're comparing the Republicans or the Tea-Baggers to Nazis, but the Republicans have gone out of their way to defeat the Health Care Bill by creating incredible fear among their naive and uneducated legions. That is a fact, and it's something for which they'll have to answer at some point. Hopefully soon.

Douche of the Day

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There are two things you can count on with Republicans:
1. Irony and hypocrisy are completely lost on them, and...
2. The level to which they're so out of touch with modern American life in 2010 that they eventually, always say something incredibly stupid.

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As recently as Sunday, we reported that Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican from South Carolina, stated on a Sunday morning talk show that Americans were "tired of this crap", referring to the Democrats' push for health care reform.

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Well, now, less than two days later, Graham said this in a radio interview, "Nancy Pelosi, I think, has got them all liquored up on sake and you know, they're making a suicide run here." Sake, of course, is a Japanese beer and with the term "suicide run", Graham was referring to the fact that Japanese airplanes purposely crashed into American battleships during World War II in an effort to destroy them.

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Japanese-American Representative Mike Honda, Democrat of California, who spent part of his childhood interned due to his Japanese origin, asked Graham to "show respect for our fellow Americans." "I am disheartened that Senator Graham chose to use racially tinged rhetoric to express his opposition to health care reform," said Honda.
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Graham replied that he was making a broader point -- that he believed there was already too much government involvement in health care. "My comments really reflect the fanaticism of the Democratic leadership. And I don't know whether (it was) sake or moonshine, but no sober person would do this," he said. "What I would ask the congressman to do is stop this process (so that) all Americans, Japanese-Americans included, do not need to lose their choice in health care," Graham told Fox News.

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The explanation did not assuage Honda, who hit back that health care reform would in fact open up choices for Americans by "putting the health care industry in its place." "For the senator to add 'moonshiners' to an already unsavory sake and suicide statement does a disservice to the underlying issue," Honda said. "I question who has, in fact -- to use the senator's words -- lost their political mind."

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You have to love the Republicans, we keep making the claim that they're really not very bright, sometimes even stupid, and then they keep opening their mouths and proving it.

A Nation of Jay-Walkers

The level of ignorance on display at the health care town hall meetings is astounding. Yesterday, a woman accused Barney Frank, (a Jew), of being for a "Nazi" policy. Wow.
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Frank replied to her, "Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it."
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Remember when Jay Leno did a regular bit on "The Tonight Show" called "Jay Walking"? The piece consisted of showing people on the street photos of obscure Americans such as the current Vice President and asking them who the person was, or asking tough questions like "How many states are there in the United States?" Unbelievably, a lot of people couldn't identify the Vice President and weren't sure how many states there are. Is it ignorance, is it stupidity, is it a rare genetic ability inherited by some to live completely inside their own heads and not notice anything else in the world around them? Whatever it is, these "Jay Walkers" are the same people who are now showing up at the town hall meetings. We're not saying that everyone doesn't have a right to voice their opinion, that's what makes America America, but if you're one of those people screaming, "Keep your government hands off my Medicare!", maybe you should just sit there and keep your mouth shut. Or at least become a contestant on the next edition of "Jay Walking".
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A breath of fresher air can be found on MSNBS's "The Rachel Maddow Show". Yes, she's a Dem and she's partisan, but her manner is light and intelligent, and most importantly, she makes good common sense. Last night, she did a comedy bit with Kent, her sidekick, in which they were ordering pizza. Kent said he wanted pizza, but then proceeded to state that he didn't want any toppings, cheese or sauce. The elementary-level but effective point was that the Republicans who say they're for health care reform are like Kent ordering pizza. They say they want reform, but then fight against every single proposal that arises. The overall point being that maybe it's time to call a spade a spade and start realizing that the Repubs do not want health care reform. Period. And maybe if Obama and more of the Dems realized this, they could just leave the Repubs behind, pass the needed health care reforms without them, and let the Republicans continue to slowly trudge their way toward the tar pits.

Bill Maher was also on Rachel Maddow's show last night, and as always, he brought up a very good point when he and Rachel were discussing the health care debate; a point which no one else has yet mentioned. He asked where all those people were that worked so hard to get Obama and the Dems elected. Where are they now that the real work is to be done? He made his point best when he simply asked, "Where is Oprah now?"

Finally!

Here at East Village Afternoon, we have a new hero: Congressman Anthony Weiner, Democrat of New York.

Weiner has quickly come to the forefront of the health care debate when word leaked on Monday that the White House, i.e. Obama, was considering dropping the "public option" aspect of the upcoming health care bill. Liberal congressmen, led by Weiner, quickly fired back late Monday, saying that he and other Dems wouldn't vote for any health care plan unless the "public option" was left in the legislation. Then, Obama just as quickly stated that the "public option" was still in play. Finally! A Democrat with a backbone! Thank you, Anthony Weiner. Thank you for having the courage of your convictions, and not backing down as the Dems always do when faced with a fight from the Repubs.

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But we most love Weiner for his appearance this morning on MSNBC's "Morning Joe", when he exposed Joe Scarborough for being the superficial, intellectual lightweight that he really is. What passes for meaty political discussion on Morning Joe actually consists of never having on a guest who disagrees with Republican Conservative Scarborough, and if anyone does make an appearance with an opposing viewpoint, the script is always the same. Joe becomes heated and angry and begins to verbally bully the guest until finally, the guest gives up and backs down. Yes, Joe is one of "those types", he always has to be right, and he always has to have the last word.

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But today, Weiner stood his ground, he refused to back down, but more importantly, he made sense. So much sense, in fact, that Joe was completely flummoxed. Weiner at one point simply asked Joe why we need the insurance companies. Joe didn't know what to say. Scarborough tried that old, tired tactic of accusing Weiner of not being for commerce, or the free market, but Weiner held firm. He continually repeated the question (to paraphrase), "Why should we pay insurance companies to help us pay for our medical bills?" It's such a common sense question that Joe was left speechless. He couldn't answer because there is no sane answer to that question. Weiner also continually dared Scarborough to state that he was against Medicare, which is what any of us should do when a Repub says he's against a "government takeover" of our health care system. Of course Joe couldn't be against Medicare, that would be ridiculous and suicidal. Weiner ended up making such an impression on Scarborough, and his dim-witted co-host Mika B., that they invited Weiner back to the show on Thursday. We'll be watching.