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Rahm's Historic Stupidity
Charles Dharapak / AP Photo
When Rahm Emanuel dismissed Obama’s critics as descendants of Father Coughlin, he showed that he doesn’t know a thing about why we conservatives oppose the president.
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel demonstrates earthy zeal in his job as scoutmaster of the President’s political bureau, and it is therefore a fresh puzzle that he is apparently uninformed of the true nature of the opposition to the Obama administration’s policies.
“Father Coughlin called Roosevelt a socialist, the John Birch Society was created in reaction to Kennedy, Clinton has Scaife and others who went after him,” Emanuel told The Washington Post for an article about the “right-wing noise machine.” He continued, “And now they’ve come after Obama on Socialism and other things. This has always been a creed from those voices dealing with Democratic presidents. But yes, there’s an intensity, given the time frame we’re all under, that’s different.”
Rahm Emanuel, the man responsible for organizing the responses to the daily criticism of the Obama administration policies, is ignorant of both the Republican Party and modern conservatism.
Before addressing the true nature of Republican conservative opposition to the Obama administration’s melodramatic policies of the stimulus the budget, cap and trade, healthcare reform, and national defense, it is necessary to correct the record on Emanuel’s Archie Bunker tour of American political debate since FDR.
• Lloyd Grove: Rahm’s Precedent for Meddling Rahm Emanuel could not be familiar with the facts of Father Charles Coughlin (1891-1979), a gifted, Canadian-born Catholic priest who served greater Detroit at the famous Shrine of the Little Flower Church and took up a spectacular career as a pioneering radio preacher on WJR after 1926. Coughlin endorsed Franklin Roosevelt for the 1932 election with the ringing phrase, “Roosevelt or ruin,” and whole-heartedly backed FDR’s dynamic 100 Days and the first years of the administration, declaring, “The New Deal is Christ’s Deal.” When Coughlin did turn away from FDR, it was to denounce the president as servant of Wall Street and to admire the utopian promises of the populist hero Huey Long of Louisiana. Coughlin’s National Union for Social Justice was a sticky Irish stew of state owned industry, state redistributed wealth, and state guaranteed income. Later, after Long’s murder, Coughlin’s tirades became ever more incoherent as he railed against both Wall Street and Communism. Coughlin was neither a Republican nor a conservative at any moment of FDR’s presidency, nor is there evidence he spent a moment of his life as other than an obedient parish priest.
Emanuel’s disdainful declaration that “the John Birch Society was created in opposition to Kennedy,” is wrongheaded and deserves an F for never having cracked a book. The candy manufacturing millionaire Robert Welch (1899-1985), famous for Sugar Babies, gathered a handful of pals to form the clubby John Birch Society at Christmastime, 1958. The Birchers attracted many more thousands with a fevered fear of Communism and then with the creative paranoia of discerning a worldwide “Master Conspiracy.” Did the Birchers oppose JFK? Kennedy was well down on Welch’s list, since Welch defamed presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower as Soviet agents and named Milton Eisnhower as the president’s superior in Moscow’s secret chain of command in America. Welch did run unsuccessfully for Congress as Republican in 1950, and supported Robert Taft at the 1952 Republican convention, and later admired Joseph McCarthy. Then again, William Buckley and other conservatives showed Welch and his cronies the exit door from the Republican party after the Goldwater defeat in 1964. Welch lived another 20 years in a swamp of conspiracies that denounced Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, and the Trilateral Commission and every American politician of note.
Emanuel’s mention of the Pittsburgh philanthropist and published Richard Mellon Scaife (1932-) seems as sentimental as it does trite. Scaife’s career is that of a Mellon Bank silver-spoon-born playboy (tossed out of Yale for drinking), whose chronically unprofitable Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was used to knock President and Mrs. Clinton in the 1990s. Otherwise, Scaife’s money has been lavished on all manner of philanthropies, and his older sister Cordelia Scaife May (1928-2005) was a longtime supporter of Planned Parenthood. The last media notice Scaife received involved a peculiar feud with his second wife “Ritchie,” who took with her the family dog during the divorce proceedings. There is no record of Scaife having stable partisan beliefs other his funding of a hatchery of Clinton-bashers that produced the vile theory that Bill and Hillary Clinton were responsible for suicide Vincent Foster’s death.
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I think the conservative movement needs to worry about something besides Rahm Emanuel. Even if Rahm has made some historically inacurate statements, the author's own credibility on history is doubtful. I find his version of history fantastical and sentimental. I find the so-called conservative arguments against any progress the Obama administration wants to make to be inconsistent and tired. Conservative thought has become muddled and contradictory, and I would be more worried about that. This article, like the Republican party, is focused on a triviality, and is missing the larger point.
Which is......
Which is that the Republican/Neocon experiment to create an Imperial America is failing on many fronts for most of us (economics, civil rights, modern terrorism, Nuclear instability are all good examples, there are many more).
The problem with trying to find what the Republican Party is about right now is the level of rightwing insane noise (which can't be a reflection of the Rational Republican's) is creating a false picture - it must be. But the RR isn't putting itself forward - so the Party seems to be vacant of intelligent guidance. This is a shame and has prompted the Democratic party to begin fracturing into moderate vs liberal factions (to take up the slack that the RP has created). This is a two party system - but only if there are two strong parties.
Prove what larger point we are missing?
Rahm Emanuel is a thug from the sewer of Chicago politics. Enough said!
Pardon me, I should have said that Rahm Emanuel is a foul-mouthed thug from the sewer of Chicago politics. The liberals need to look to their own before getting their panties in a wad over uncivil discourse.
"Rahm Emanuel is a foul-mouthed thug from the sewer of Chicago politics"
Like Cheney? To Senator Leahy: "Go f--- yourself." How about no-bid contracts for Halliburton, and other cronies? Hey, where are the WMDs in Iraq? W and Cheney are from the sewer of Halliburton. How about Bush and his coterie's tolerance of Saudi Arabia's public beheadings, which pass for entertainment there? How about their tolerance for women being chattel there? How about their tolerance, and military support, for a corrupt 8th century theocracy? Their tolerance for child brides? Google it.
Cheney is more corrupt than Agnew, another Repug. You people are vile.
Rahm also knows how to make a buck. $16,000.000 in two years ain't bad.
You base your conclusions on what, exactly? What specific parts of the author's historical credibility do you challenge? You're just parroting boilerplate.
The point is that we have problems bigger than birthers, medicare recipients railing against government-run healthcare and praising incivility from members of Congress.
I'm an independent who voted for Pres. Reagan and the first Pres. Bush. Then the base of the Republican Party was taken over by a moral majority more concerned with expanding government in order to create social change.
If given a choice between higher taxes and school prayer, the current Republican Party would choose prayer.
Hypocrisy has taken the place of Buckley conservatism. The Republicans elevate quitters, TV celebrities and family-value liars (ie. Palin, Limbaugh and Sanford/Vitter/Gingrich, et al).
Democrats do it too, but they don't set themselves up as Moral Compasses. As an Independent, I'll take the one that's at least honest about their lack of fiscal restraint, than the Hypocrit that lies to me.
Until the Republicans grow a pair and say the wing-nuts and their representatives don't have a place in the GOP, you'll never get this Independent's vote again.
************************************************************************ ***
Political parties elect candidates, Independents elect Presidents.
tonyjenson wrote:
"Democrats ... don't set themselves up as Moral Compasses."
___________________________________
*** You must be joking. Democrats reach for the "moral" card more often than overeaters reach for pork rinds.
Obama called the health care bill a "a core ethical and moral obligation."
Hillary Clinton said it was a "moral imperative that we provide health insurance for the 47 million uninsured Americans."
Jimmy Carter once urged Americans to treat his energy policies as the "moral equivalent of war."
Joe Biden said of the $787 billion stimulus boondoggle, "I believe this was the right thing to do morally."
Need I go on, or are you ready to concede that neither party holds a monopoly on masquerading as a moral compass?
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Father Coughlin, the radio priest, was a vicious anti-Semite. His bishop finally shut him up. The Birch Society is a haven for anti-Semites, too.
Anyone who defends those two, is comfortable with racism. Beck and Limbaugh, who are both junkies, are trying to incite a lone wolf. See Drs. Slepian and Tiller.
"a gifted, Canadian-born Catholic priest who served greater Detroit at the famous Shrine of the Little Flower Church and took up a spectacular career as a pioneering radio preacher on WJR after 1926."
Thanks for confirming you have a Klan uniform in your closet. I've always said the conservative movement is riddled with anti-Semites, white nationalists, theocrats, tax rebels and assorted other kooks.
Any Jew who lies down with conservatives, just gets fleas.
The Republicans have always appealed to various nativist, racist and right-wing populist groups, going back to the Know Nothings of the 1850s, the American Protective Association in the 1890s, the KKK in the 1920s, and again in the 1950s and 1960s--as part of the Southern Strategy of Goldwater, Nixon and Reagan.
In the past, they were just more blatant about this than they are today. Now, they make racist appeals to these people one day, then deny it the next, which was not really necessary before the 1960s.
Ask New York DEMOCRAT Rep. Caroline Maloney about
her recent " N " word comment, that the liberal media ignored.
DEMOCRAT Robert Byrd. "Former" member of the KKK.
Great. Two guys vs. a century of jackasses. Always fun, Sophia5
That's sophie's typical strategy of false equivalency. Nothing new from her.
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Lets not let historical facts get in the way of making a point. The KKK was Democrat organization. Rebubs were notr allowed.
The Democrats were the party of former Confederates in the South. Repubs were Scallawags; Lincoln was the first Republican president.
Can't be compared to today. Old Southern Dems fled the party when Lyndon Johnson broke ranks with the Civil Rights Act, as he knew that act would cripple the Democratic party in the south for a very long time. Took them awhile to regroup the Republican party in the 70s but they came back roaring with the new conservative Christian movement in the 80s, with a strong foundation of southern churches.
"Rebubs were notr allowed."
--Except for the Republican president, who joined in a ceremony on the White House lawn?
"All the politics that Coughlin, Welch...have in common"
What they have in common is virulent anti-Semitism, and they detested black people and Asians.
Jesse Helms: 'UNC stands for university of ni---rs and communists.'
Hagee: 'The anti-Christ will be Jewish, as was Adolph Hitler.'
Any Jew who lies down with conservatives, just gets fleas.
When asked about Afghanistan by Charlie Rose on the 'Charlie Rose Show' you could see Rahm Emanuel had no answer in reply and was trying to play past the question asked, in another attempt by Charlie Rose, Rahm indicated his sense of power in the White House and how he was lapping it up, and would use it for the sheer satisfaction of the feeling it gives him knowing he's got it. It's gone to his head, not in the same way one would lust for power, but as one lost in a power lust with no end. He even portrayed himself in one instance of being more important in decision making than US General Stanley McChrystal, who wants more troops on the ground in Afghanistan. A General who was actually serving the country while Rahm Emanuel was trying to be a Ballet Dancer. Rahm like his partner Obama are too big headed for the country and have less concern for America than for the power and glory they are so desperate to have. There is a feeling that comes through loud and clear they have no actual knowledge of what they are doing for the country nor do they have any real sense of purpose.
He had no answer because liberals are spring loaded to cry, say their feelings were hurt, then blame the republicans for everything.
Thin-skinned crybabies....that's what we elected. Yay team!
You have to be kidding - Conservatives are the queens of crying - just look at Glenn Beck. Not to mention the fact that anytime that anyone criticized president Bush we were called "anti-American" or "traitors" or "Baby Killers". Now, the ex vice president candidate for your party goes to a communist country and bashes the president on foreign soil - where is the Conservative outrage at un-Americanism now?
George W. Bush made it pretty easy to blame Republicans for everything. Increasing the debt from 5 trillion to 11 trillion from Clinton's surplus, starting two unnecessary wars, ignoring the Geneva conventions (not to mention the anti-torture treaties signed by Reagan), allowing millions of people to slip into poverty and lose health care, among many other things... Pretty easy target he gave us. But, it is not just him - Republican presidents are responsible for 77 percent of our current debt - they are wasteful spenders that increase the size of government (especially Reagan and the two Bushes) and then rail against spending and big government. Not to mention the party of pushing morals has the biggest immoral actors in the history of politics - Sanford, Foley, Ensign, Vitter, Craig, Bill O, and many others.
Their hypocritical nature provides a pretty big target for us to aim at.
Keatsian, although Clinton had a surplus budget in his final 3 years, the national debt went up from 4.4 trillion to 5.6 trillion during his 8 years. And the deficit through 2008 in now at 10 tillion. You can get those numbers from the treasurydirect.gov web site.
The projections for the debt are to double again in the next ten years. And at least the first 4 will be Pres. Obamas. You can blame Bush for Obama's first year Debt addition of 1.5 trillion if you like, but if you do, blame the increase of debt in the first years of Bush on Clinton.
Anyway you slice it, our debt sucks, and its only getting worse with our present course of policy.
Natural Selection, you forgot they cry Racist to try to stop the conversation, which if they havnt noticed didnt work....and wont anymore
Conservatives love to use words like "whine" and "cry" any time people dare to criticize them or point out things like the Southern Strategy.
It is just part of their Standard Operating Procedure to ward off any comment or criticism, along with accusing everyone else of being racist while constantly engaging in racist appeals themselves.
"Thin-skinned crybabies....that's what we elected."
Hey, is Beck sober this week? Are Beck and Limbaugh off the junk this week? Let me know.
When is Beck going to start sobbing on TV again? Does Beck practice polygamy in private, like most Mormons? You guys are the biggest hypocrites going.
You gotta be kidding me. His answer was well thought out and clear. For the right, everything in foreign policy seems to come down to 'how many troops can we throw at it'. He clearly pointed out that Afghanistan is a rat hole that we are stuck dealing with. There is no real central government, there is no real economy, there is no 'partnership' with the foreign forces in that country, and as a result there may be no value added to throwing more troops into the hole.
What I hear him allude to was that Afghanistan is probably a lost cause. Unless we are willing to commit trillions to build an economy, an infrastructure to support an economy, and kill every last warlord that dabbles in the poppy trade, we probably can't do much there.
We have accomplished the goal of unseating the Taliban as the ruling entity, we screwed up the goal of killing Bin-Laden, and we are unable to complete the effort to destroy Al-Quaida because they are no longer in Afghanistan in numbers. As with the Soviet's, they are holed up in Pakistan, striking out at coalition troops with sorties across that effectively non-existent border.
Time to refocus the mission. We cannot build a modern Afghanistan, we are a rich nation, but we are not that rich.
If the rest of the world is not going to sign on to building a modern and stable economy in Afghanistan we need to acknowledge we cannot do much more there.
Al-Queda is the target.
GOP christianity = fascism
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." Sinclair Lewis
Yes. Some fucking arrogance, "we're the chosen ones, and you must do as we say because otherwise you will suffer forever."
Well, at least that suffering will happen in some mythical place after we're dead. Secular paternalism hits us while we're living - "we know best, and you'll pay for it until the day you die."
eurydice9276
Seriously? Have you taken a look at teen pregnancy rates in red states? Fear of sex ed is just one of the many ways christianity is working to make the afterlife seem like a great idea.
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GOP christianity = fascism
Coughlin became convinced that President Roosevelt and his "Jewish conspirators" were keeping the country from reaching its full potential. He blamed Jewish bankers for the Russian Revolution. In 1938, Coughlin published a newspaper, "Social Justice," which for all intents and purposes, was a newspaper aimed at directly attacking Jewish people.
Then at a speech Coughlin gave in the Bronx - perhaps his most famous - he gave a Nazi salute and yelled out, "When we get through with the Jews in America, they'll think the treatment they received in Germany was nothing."
Father Coughlin's anti-Semitism made him a hero in Nazi Germany, where newspapers ran daily, stating that "America is not allowed to hear the truth." Some of the American public shared Coughlin's views, and 2,000 supporters gathered and marched in New York, protesting the migration of Jewish refugees from Hitler's camps. These protests were not short-lived; they went on for several months, and Coughlin embraced his supporters.
At the height of his anti-Semitism, Coughlin had joined forces with an organization named the "Christian Front," which cited the now-famous priest as a vital influence. In 1940, the FBI shut down the Christian Front, after discovering the group was arming itself and planning to murder Jews, communists, and even United States Congressmen.
So we have a bunch of junkies, getting into bed with racists. Sign me up.
He was part of the America First movement along with Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh, who both shared his Nazi ideas. They were against going to war with Germany because they wanted Hitler to win. Of course, this "isolationist: movement was always more associated with the Republicans than FDR and the Dems at that time.
Anti-semitism was pervasive at that time - it wasn't just one party or the other. Most everyone accepted some kind of discrimination against Jews.
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When you think Pat Buchanan, think Father Charles Coughlin six decades ago, the chief engineer of the most dangerous anti-Semitism to ever plague America.
Like Buchanan, Coughlin started his career as a respectable figure in the mass media. But both men share the same beliefs.
I agree with you about Buchanan. I always surprised at how frequently he appears to spout his thinly veiled HATE and self righteousness. Like many modern racists he wears a veneer of sophistication and education which can make him appear rational. He is not.
I'm truly afraid that as America became a country where material possessions outweight issues of social justice, we opened the door for the next Coughlin and others who would seek scapegoats to blame for all the ills of this nation.
Mixpixlix - "I'm truly afraid that as America became a country where material possessions outweight issues of social justice..."
Please. We've always been like this. The chief writer of the Declaration of Independence, which states "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" was a slaverholder who ultimately valued the material things in his life more than he did the liberty of his slaves.
Pat Buchanan was also a long-time admirer of General Franco, the dictator of Spain in in 1939-45.
G. Gordon Liddy had fond memories of listening to Father Coughlin as a boy, and was encouraged in this by the German lady who kept house for them--who was also a Nazi. later, he went to work for the FBI. where J. Edgar Hoover's ideas were not all that different from Liddy's. Needless to say, Hoover also fed some of his famous "files" to people like Joe McCarthy.
I had great respect for Pablo Picasso for never steeping foot in Spain untill that murdering scum Franco drew breath.
Gurnica (spelling?) was his best work of art, perfectly capturing the suffering and murder of children Franco, and his Fascist cohorts carried out.
To think the Apostate Catholic church embraced Franco, and their still is a shrine to that scumbag pig in Spain today.
Keep up the good fight, misha1000, Coughlin should not be forgotten.
Welch's famous book, The Politician, caused a stir even among many loyal Birch members who were shocked by Welch's assertion that President Dwight D. Eisenhower was "a dedicated conscious agent of the communist conspiracy."
The Birch Society promoted the book "None Dare Call It Conspiracy" by Gary Allen who included a discussion of the Rothschilds and other Jewish banking interests as part of a sketch of a much larger conspiracy.
The JBS opposed civil rights.
Bullshit. He was dead on correct.
"Bullshit. He was dead on correct."
Welch is in the dustbin of history, where he belongs.
Rahm thinks he is the smartest guy in the room. Not.
And Glenda, not, not, not, not, not.
I think Batchelor mistakes ignorance for interest. Emanuel doesn't care. It's probably part personality and part strategy. Either way it's served him well.
rahm emanuel doesn't know history? who taught you american history, john, gerald l.k. smith?
try googling "father charles coughlin, anti-semetism" & you'll get 115,000 references. he blamed the depression, for example, on an "international conspiracy of jewish bankers."
in fact, the man you call a "gifted priest" is known as the "father of hate radio." his anti-new deal/-fdr/-jewish
rants eventually got his radio show cancelled--are you listening glenn beck?
Thanks for bringing up Gerald LK Smith, who was a fascist supporter. He and Coughlin made a great pair. They also detested black people, and Asians.
And thanks John, for confirming for the world to see: the Conservative movement is a haven for anti-Semites, white nationalists, theocrats and assorted other kooks.
I am so happy you wrote glowingly of Coughlin and Welch - you saved me hours of research about what's in Beck's, Limbaugh's and Coulter's closets. Hey, is Beck sober this week? Are he and Limbaugh off the junk this week? Just checking.
Something else: Ezra Taft Benson, a Mormon prophet, was Eisenhower's Agriculture Secretary. He always referred to black people as "darkies." Google it. And Benson was a supporter of the JBS. Ah, it doesn't get any better.
I think Batchelor is full of baloney, but he didn't write "glowingly" of Coughlin and Welch. He said Coughlin was a gifted priest and successful radio personality, but that doesn't mean approval, especially since he goes on to point out what a crackpot Coughlin was. I can say that Rush Limbaugh is a gifted communicator and successful radio personality and still think he's a racist and a viper. And there's nothing glowing about the way Batchelor describes Welch - he pretty much calls him a whacked-out conspiracy nut. Batchelor is trying to say that these crazies that Emmanuel is trying to identify with the Republican party either didn't consider themselves Republicans or were shunned by the Republican party.
Ok fine. But just as Emmanuel is talking apples and oranges, so is Batchelor. Forget history - right now, certain self-identified Republicans are acting like vicious, paranoid bigots. So, where are the towering conservative intellects, like Buckley, to kick these pests out the door? If Batchelor, who seems to feel he's one of those intellects, isn't willing to stand up to them and stake out what he believes to be true conservatism, then he's pretty much an accessory after the fact. To allow Limbaugh, Beck and the like to run unchecked is the same as accepting them - Batchelor is tarred with the same brush, and he deserves it.
I can never tell what Batchelor thinks because he says one thing in one place and another thing in another place.
Here, Batchelor appears to be celebrating the teabaggers:
http://johnbatchelorshow.com/jb/2009/09/tell-the-truth/
...and here, he is convinced they are hurting the GOP through his careful reading of Edmund Burke:
http://www.pjtv.com/video/PJTV_Daily/John_Batchelor_on_Republican_Party_ Problems:_Phonies,_Old_Fogies_and_Fanatics_in_the_Streets/2368/
How anyone can consider themselves a thinker and be in a party with THESE people calling the shots. Clearly, it requires some SERIOUS amounts of self delusion on some really good liquor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_jZdkCFAUw
I can't wait to see Mr. Batchelor's mental gymnastics at work for the Palin/Wilson ticket.
Thank God I'm an Independent.
I forgot that the Daily Beast cannot deal with long URLs.
Here is Batchelor decrying the teabaggers:
http://tinyurl.com/yc9z5a9
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Ooookay, so maybe Emmanuel is wrong about history, and maybe there've been some towering conservative minds out there (your examples of which seem to be all dead) - what does that have to do with the conservative movement today? If they don't stand for whatever it is Emmanuel thinks they do, what do they stand for? Because all I'm hearing is a lot of crazy cacophony. In fact, that volatile legion, while not using the exact words as Coughlin, Welch and Scaife, are sounding just as loony.
So, tell me, Mr. Sober Literate Historically Accurate Guy - what does the Right actually represent, and why should the entire country embrace it?
eurydice -- For an answer expect only the sound of crickets.
Such a peaceful sound - I wish there were more of it. But really, if Mr. Batchelor wants to join the ranks of great conservative minds, he might try emulating their courage in being able to face facts. Right now the inmates have taken over the asylum. If conservatives want to be taken seriously, thay have to stop making excuses and do something about it.
"If conservatives want to be taken seriously, thay have to stop making excuses and do something about it."
Forget about it. He just wrote glowingly of Coughlin and Welch. Coughlin wa a Hitlerite. Welch detested black people and Asians.
Their true colors came out, for the world to see.
It sounds like Mr. Batchelor was just talking about the same old silly right wing to me. It's not much different from what we have today. So how is Rahm so "historically stupid"? I think he was right on about calling Obama's critics the descendants of Father Coughlin - who was a radical right wing polarizing figure.
He's not wrong at all. If anything, he greatly understated Republican attempts to appeal to various right-wing populist types over the decades.
Seems to me eurdice there are no great thinkers for the conservative or Liberal side right now. That is not to say both sides don't have smart people that know their history and philosophy but I really don't hear anything that moves beyond the current paradigm.
There are the wack cases and nativists like Limbaugh who purposely rile up racial hatred, and there are responsible opposition people like Batcheler and Sen Grassley, who unfortunately, don't have the courage to read the haters and wack cases out of the movement. Dems fall all over themselves to condemn even the Move On Betray-Us Ad, but the few GOP pols with the gumption to express some reservations about where Limbaugh, Beck et al are leading them have to execute a craven apology the very next day. There's just too much of the unhinged in the movement on a percentage basis now, the clowns who want the government to keep its hands off their medicare, or who bring monkey signs or guns to town halls. The moderates have fled -- the Becks hate the McCains, and always have -- so how do you weed out your lawn, when it has very little actual grass left in it?
If Buckley or Goldwater were here, and in a truth-telling mood, they'd admit that your party is paying a high price now for letting the fundamentalist low-information crowd take over the party in the Reagan years. Although Reagan had the good sense to yes the rubes to death, and give them nothing.
cresttwo: After Grassley's attacks on health care reform, especially supporting Palin's "Death Panels" lies, I find it hard to consider him very responsible.
Can you say Rules for Radicals AlandD2...dont even try to minimize the "Death Panels" as a lie, maybe its a Government Run board of people making decisions and not a Death Panel, but its the same thing, they make the dicisions not the people!
"but its the same thing, they make the dicisions not the people!"
Just like insurance companies do today. I know, I faced that.
Diamond
Death panels have been resoundingly discredited, period. It is a discussion between a person and their doctor, and you know it; unless you choose to remain willfully ignorant, and that too is your choice.
diamondgirl: Do you do Sarah Palins PR?
PR for SP. No Alan, diamondgirl, for some unfathomable reason, is doing PR for Seals and Croft and one of the lamest songs of the 1970s. Fathom that.
Nice try all of you, yes the insurance companies do it. Thats bad enough, we dont elect them, we have little control over them. We need to correct. The last thing we need it theGOVERNMENT getting control over our health care, we elect them, and I for one dont want a government board run by a bunch of socialist who care more about how much its gonna cost or if you live or die. I dont care if you nut bags dont agree with me, dont even bother trying. Thats how a HUGE number of us see it, deal with it!
Diamondgril...try educating yourself to the facts. You give all women a bad name when you show just how uninformed you are...move away from Fox News...where the news lies honey.
diamondgirl: How about a private insurance company board run by a bunch of capitalists who care more about how much its gonna cost than if you live or die?
"An investigation by the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations showed that health insurers WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group and Assurant Inc. canceled the coverage of more than 20,000 people, allowing the companies to avoid paying more than $300 million in medical claims over a five-year period."
"The South Carolina Supreme Court has ordered an insurance company to pay $10 million for wrongly revoking the insurance policy of a 17-year-old college student after he tested positive for HIV. The court called the 2002 decision by the insurance company 'reprehensible.'"
"Humana was recently featured in a HuffPost story for denying health care due to lack of an enema. In 2005, it settled a racketeering suit for $40 million. It settled a fraud lawsuit in 2000 for $14.5 million. Since 2000, its profits have soared from $90 million to $834 million."
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
"Death panels" was a very clever way of bringing attention to the panels that would be used by the government to evaluate "outcomes" and where to best invest health care dollars.
It was "discredited" like Joe Wilson's claim of lie was "discredited".
This constant attempt to ridicule and demonize and trivialize by both sides is disgusting and revealing.
Politics is the art of persuasion. Persuading people that your ideas are the best ideas. It's not the art of cramming things down people's throats, that's what dictators do!.
If you win by trickery it's a false win and you won't be able to govern effectively. That's when you find yourself thinking you'll have to cram things down people's throats.... for their own good.
ThinkAgain: It is hard to persuade Republican politicians these days. Their position is "No" on every bill that Obama wants to pass.
Republicans are the ones behaving like dictators, trying to cram the status quo down American throats. For their own good, of course...
Just like Bush 43 crammed two wars and a $5 trillion national debt down our throats. Talk about trickery!
Hey, conservatives: where are the WMDs in Iraq? How many are coming back missing eyes, limbs, 3rd degree burns, and psych cases? How many civilians were killed in the crossfire?
Just checking.
Trickery and the attendant problems which are much more serious that involve slander, libel among other civil wrongs have been practiced by conservatives, which is why they are in the position they are in. You can try every platitude you want, think, to cover this up. Keep posting and trying to figure it out if it helps you sleep at night.
Hey Alan, the dems are the ones cramining this health care bill, Who voted not to let the bill be on line for 72 hours before it was voted on? The Democrates, if you think thats not dictating..., and dont waste your talking points on me... I am not a Republican and I want health care, just NOT GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTH CARE! I agree with you on Bush, biggest right wing progressive I have ever seen in my life time, Pissed money away like a drunken sailor, ran the deficit up, went to war with the wrong country, I agree with all of that. But Obama is no better than him, you will never admit that because all you know are democrate talking points, that dont work on me.
Dems cramming the helath care bill? LOL 80% SUPPORT Universal health care.....again try educating yourself before you open your mouth......
diamondgirl: Congress has been working on health care reform for about 6 months now. This is hardly "cramming".
Republicans are doing their best to kill any reform by delaying it until it dies of old age. Forgive me if I disagree with you about more delays.
If you don't want government-run health care, you must want private health care. This is part of what you get:
Pfizer recently agreed to a record $2.3 billion settlement for health-care fraud.
An average of 22% of health care claims in California are rejected by insurance companies. PacifiCare, the worst, rejects 40% of its claims.
After UnitedHealth Group paid fines of $1.4 billion for various frauds, they fired CEO William McGuire. McGuire took with him a golden parachute of $1.1 billion, the largest in the history of corporate America.
Rick Scott, leader of Conservatives for Patients Rights, was CEO of a hospital which defrauded Medicare for $1.7 billion.
Stephen J. Hemsley, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, has made over $750 million in salary, bonuses, and other income in the last 4 years.
"An investigation by the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations showed that health insurers WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group and Assurant Inc. canceled the coverage of more than 20,000 people, allowing the companies to avoid paying more than $300 million in medical claims over a five-year period."
"The South Carolina Supreme Court has ordered an insurance company to pay $10 million for wrongly revoking the insurance policy of a 17-year-old college student after he tested positive for HIV. The court called the 2002 decision by the insurance company 'reprehensible.'"
"Humana was recently featured in a HuffPost story for denying health care due to lack of an enema. In 2005, it settled a racketeering suit for $40 million. It settled a fraud lawsuit in 2000 for $14.5 million. Since 2000, its profits have soared from $90 million to $834 million."
Are you sure this is what you really want, diamondgirl?
Nice try. But you can't convince people who are so certain the problem lies with everyone else.
Rahm Emanuel, ....is ignorant of both the Republican Party and modern conservatism, heh? So tell me Mr. Batchelor, what exactly does the Republican Party know about DEMOCRACY and the American public? A whole lot of ignorance going on there in my estimation.
So Rahm's all confused about why "we conservatives" oppose the President. I guess by "we" Mr Batchelor includes himself among the serial liars, thieves, pill addicts, and self-aggrandizing losers who run the Republican Party as well as the birthers, the 10thers, and senile women with bad hair who think Obama's "an Arab." Those are pretty much the only conservatives I've seen on my radar. Unless, of course, you include the self-identified conservatives (aka dipshits) who post the same monotonous blather over and over and over again on websites such as TDB. Mr. Batchelor is apparently hearing conservative voices of reason, but not voices coming from conservative TV and radio. The Party of No has a simple plan: block any and all reform and let the country and current Administration go down in flames. Many within the Democratic Party have a different, but basically similar plan: do what their corporate masters paid them to do, and let the country go down in flames. In the meantime, lie, lie, lie, stir up the rabble, contradict yourself in the same sentence, lie some more, and pretend that things are moving way too fast (Tuesday) or being delayed for far too long (Wednesday). Whatever you do, take care of the super-rich and avoid accountability. My one and only question is: How does a guy like John Batchelor make himself sit down and write this ridiculous shit?
Religion and money.
Rahm's only "stupidity" was that he went too easy on y'all, John.
Mr. Batchlor knows full well why conservatives oppose Mr. Obama. It's because he's black and they are bigots.
Try as they might, conservatives cannot hide what they are. The 'we're misunderstood-you don't understand us' line just doesn't cut it.
Fact is, they're thoroughly understood. Fortunately for our country, there are fewer and fewer of them every year. We're down to the real crazy ones at the bottom of the barrel now.
Bi-racial is not black, just like bi-sexual is not gay.
numonk: Really? And where would Obama be sitting on a bus in Selma, Alabama, in the 1950s?
You are wrong. According to the old "one drop" of black blood rule, all bi-racial people of mixed caucasian(or another race) and african american heritage are considered to be BLACK. I have two first cousins who are half black and Japanese, but they are still considered to be black as well - and not just "biracial".
Technically correct on both, but wrong on others perception of bi-racials and bi-sexuals. General populations just don't parse as finely as you do.
Tell me again why those of us called unpatriotic, un-American, traitors should pay any attention to anyone on the right criticizing the president's chief of staff for not "getting it"...
Rhambo is a spoiled brat, bully, assclown who one day will get what he deserves. Obama would do well to stop listening to the little imp
abobinmn: Projecting again?
And abo, what exactly is it you think "Rhambo" deserves? Come on, don't be a pussy. Let it all hang out. What would you like to do to him?
WUSS = Wingnuts United Shouting Slogans
Leave Rham alone, all he understands is putting on his ballet slippers and his too-too and dancing around, spewing with his foul mouth.
"and his too-too"
Thanks, Mr. Semi-literate conservative. First, it's spelled "tutu." Second, only women wear a tutu, which is a small, projecting skirt. Emanuel majored in Dance. What did you major in, taking up space? Or did you fail out?
I love your defense of Coughlin and Welch - two professional bigots, just like Falwell and Hagee. Birds of a feather, and all that.
Phony
Attention troll.
Attempting to provoke a response-
Insincere
Unconvincing.
These tin hatters show their ignorance again and again and again...makes one wonder if their parents bred for stupid.......
If you wish to make sense of the behavior of the Far Right, you must understand that their brand of conservatism springs from a condition that lies somewhere between a mental illness and a major character flaw. Unreasoning fear, poisonous antagonism, and a clear tolerance for inequality are among their more distinctive characteristics. These are people who are not fully in control of themselves. John Batchelor appears to exemplify a number of their cognitive weaknesses.
Batchelor is a two bit wannabe journalist. And it is disturbing Tina Brown considers his attempts at "writing' are worth posting here.
Well said, Torodad (and Bullmoose).
torodad: I think the best explanation of conservative behavior is this old motto - variously ascribed to British labor unions or libertarians:
"I got mine, f**k you."
I thought it was the utterance of the Priestess of Wackos, Ayn Rand.
Really, when you break it all down, that's what the Conservapigs are saying: I got mine, f**k you.
Ayn Randites are a cult unto themselves. She had a fantasy Atlas shrugged over her.
Thank you.
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