Snake Oil and the Snakes Who Sell It.

One of the arguments I consistently hear conservatives use against Health Care Reform is that “Government can’t get anything right! Why let them into healthcare?” (Right before they get on the interstate to buy a burger that was inspected by a Fed.)
Well, let’s look at some other facts and predictions by our Right-wing brethren, shall we?
It would seem that the Conservatives who argue against government involvement have quite a few favorite lines to throw out. Let’s take a detailed look at their logic using…their logic.
We are just a few years into the experiment but it would appear, according to the numbers, that the divorce rate in Massachusetts has dropped since homosexual couples have been allowed to marry in that state. I guess one group is defending marriage more than the others? They’re here, they’re queer and they’re not getting divorced like you folks who defend marriage.
Shall we touch on those awful weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Perhaps the Iraqi connection with 9/11? Maybe we should skip those and go right to the part where our troops were met with flowers in the street as liberators. "It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months." Ah, Rumsfeld: WRONG! How about G.W. Bush, over six years ago: “Good news to the men and women who fought ... their mission is complete.” WRONG! And six years ago Cheney told us “I think it'll go relatively quickly, …
Weeks rather than months.” When he was asked how long the conflict would last. WRONG!
Karl Rove predicted a majority for Repubs in 2006. That didn’t quite work. He also stated “"The Republican philosophy is alive and well and likely to reemerge in the majority in 2008." Well, isn’t that cute. And wrong. Very, very wrong.
How about Bill Kristol? "If [Hillary Clinton] gets a race against John Edwards and Barack Obama, she's going to be the nominee. Gore is the only threat to her ... Barack Obama is not going to beat Hillary Clinton in a single democratic primary. I'll predict that right now." Wow. Wrong-a-palooza!
Peter Mulhern in 2007- "In this case conventional wisdom is not just wrong but comically so. [Fred] Thompson will win the Republican nomination for two reasons. First, he's a very impressive candidate. Second, there's no realistic alternative. He will win the general election for the same two reasons." Wrong-a-long-a-ding-dong.
Ann Coulter in 2007- "I think it's probably going to be Romney for the Republicans, Hillary for the Democrats." Not even close!
Rudy Guliani in 2008- "We'll win Florida. It's an unconventional strategy, but I've never followed conventional wisdom before; it's always worked." Somebody call Rudy. Tell him he is SO wrong.
Rush Limbaugh- "I think [Obama has] been dead in the water since the primaries.” Ouchies!

"High tech is potent, precise, and in the end, unbeatable. …Look, I want to give the high-five symbol to high tech." —George Bush Sr., on the growing tech bubble. Remember that busting in our faces like a cheap bubble gum bubble?
Do you remember being told that even if you disagreed with the President you should have respect for the office? Guess what- It was a Republican who screamed out his (totally false) opinion in the middle of President Obama’s speech.
Now, this same group, this same mindset, is telling us all that Healthcare reform will be the end of us. They shout the word “Socialism” without being able to define it. They insist, through all of it, that they are compassionate.
How many times can you be sold the same snake oil? How many times can you believe? How many times am I expected to see the same people following the same group making the same bad predictions before it is no longer rude to laugh in your face?
We all know the adage "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and
expecting different results.” So how many times are you going to listen? Really.

Mavericky Anniversary

A year ago today everyone outside Alaska was introduced to Sarah Palin. Right before her big speech Fred Thompson(actor) denounced Hollywood, Rudy Guliani (NY mayor) denonced being cosmopolitan, Mitt Romney (Gov. MA) denounced East coasters and they ...all pointed at the mixed race son fo a single parent, middle class home as an elitist. While running an Admiral's son who married a beer baron against him.

Thank you 2008 Republicans, for turning up the cognitive dissonance to 11 and showing just how backwards and evil politics could be.

I remember fondly how Repubs constantly said sexuality had nothing to do with it behind headlines of "McCain taps Palin" and shouts of "Drill, baby, drill!"

Of course, I believe she was the only candidate protected from witches: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwkb9_zB2Pg&feature=related

And noone could doubt her experience: http://cache.deadspin.com/assets/images/deadspin/2008/08/sarahpalin01.jpg Lots of experience: http://www.giftsandfreeadvice.com/free_advice/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/sarah-palin-swimsuit-photo.jpg

And of course, now that we know she quits when criticized we can all feel a little better for having spurned this error, as a nation.

But lest I speak too much we shold pause and let Mrs. Palin speak for herself:

"As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border." --Sarah Palin, explaining why Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience, interview with CBS's Katie Couric, Sept. 24, 2008

"I think on a national level your Department of Law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we've been charged with and automatically throw them out." --Sarah Palin, referring to a department that does not exist while attempting to explain why as president she wouldn't be subjected to the same ethics investigations that compelled her to resign as governor of Alaska, ABC News interview, July 7, 2009

She WAS very good with foriegn dignitaries: http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/sarahpalinvideos/youtube/palin-prank.htm

And she knew the law: "Well, let's see. There's ― of course in the great history of America there have been rulings that there's never going to be absolute consensus by every American, and there are those issues, again, like Roe v. Wade, where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So, you know, going through the history of ... Read MoreAmerica, there would be others but ―" --Sarah Palin, unable to name a Supreme Court decision she disagreed with other than Roe vs. Wade What with Roe vs. Wade being THE law.

And she read EVERYTHING! "All of 'em, any of 'em that have been in front of me over all these years." --Sarah Palin, unable to name a single newspaper or magazine she reads, interview with Katie Couric

Her grasp of geography is brilliant: "They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan."

Did I mention er grasp of the law? "[T]hey're in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom." --Sarah Palin, getting the vice president's constitutional role wrong after being asked by a third grader what the vice president does

And she had an incredible grasp of legal statutes: "I'm the mayor, I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can't.'" --Sarah Palin, as quoted by former City Council Member Nick Carney, after he raised objections about the $50,000 she spent renovating the mayor's office without approval of the city council

McCain's aides remember her fondly: "A whack job." ―a top McCain adviser describing Palin, one-upping the McCain adviser who called her a "diva"

Women and Republicans praised her: "She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president? Look at what she's done to this state. What would she do to the nation?" ―Alaska State Senate President Lyda Green, who is a Republican

Of course, the country embraced her. McCain had chosen her and he was obviously an expert: "Our economy, I think, is still ― the fundamentals of our economy are strong." ―John McCain, Jacksonville, Fla., Sept. 15, 2008

But despite her gaffes you had to respect her honesty: "I'm very, very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing ... any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that." ―Palin, after an Alaska legislative report found she had broken the state's ethics law and abused her power in the Troopergate scandal

As well as McCain's honesty: "She's a partner and a soul-mate." ―McCain on Palin, whom he had met only once before selecting her to be his running mate

And we all know McCain knows how to deal wiht women: "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt." ―McCain, to his wife, Cindy

She was QUITE prepared for the office: "As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?" ―Palin

Sarah said: "Politics isn't just a game of competing interests and clashing parties. The people of America expect us to seek public office and to serve for the right reasons. And the right reason is to challenge the status quo and to serve the common good." and then she quit! You betcha!

"No one expects us to agree on everything. But we are expected to govern with integrity, good will, clear convictions, and ... a servant's heart." Uuunitl you quit.

We had to admire her clarity and energy knowledge: "A gasoline will help shape our economic future - the same way that oil has shaped our economic present."

And lastly, let us remember how she bravely stood against socialism....as governor of a state that gave every citizen $3,269 in 2008 just for being Alaskan.