THE END IS INDEED NEAR

I am starting to believe that the great American Empire has reached its peak and has started a downward trek towards chaos and eventual ruination. What was once a culture that prided itself on beliefs like decorum, dignity and self respect is falling victim to a mentality driven by an obsession that centers on a morality that compels us to prevail at all costs. Winning is everything.

We now believe that rules and laws are there to be broken or manipulated. Institutions that have served as the very foundation of our growth and achievement are under attack by arrogant, egotistical and conceited partisan politicians who don’t care what they destroy to defeat what they see as the enemy. Their mantra has become “democracy be damned.”

What once was a flourishing culture has become a climate of provincial, unrefined and toxic behavior. We are descending into mob rule. We move towards anarchy and civil war. .

We were once the envy of the world. We were seen as a people who were civilized, courteous, and enlightened. We were sensitive, tasteful and tolerant of others. Not all of us, but most of us for sure.

Now the liars rule. Now the manipulators weave the fabric of deceit. Now anger and hatred has replaced culture and civility. Political debate is no longer about issues but has devolved into an anarchism driven by the malicious, malignant and wicked ramblings of a few men and women who think they know what is best for America.

And who is to blame: We are, of course.

We have become a society that has lost our senses. We have lost our sense of dignity and self respect. Last week, two prominent Washingtonians crashed a White House party. Why? Because they wanted to get on reality TV. These iditots are so obsessed with obtaining their fifteen minutes of fame that they prostituted and whored themselves and conned their way into a White House party. It is not funny. It is not something to chuckle about because look what it says about us as a society.

Bravo TV is crawling to get these people on TV. And we’re going to watch them.

The Salahis, recent filers of bankruptcy but having enough money somewhere to buy the gowns and the tuxes, are sitting in their living room laughing and thinking about life on reality TV. Dignity and self respect mean nothing to these people. And we are going to reward their insanity by creating a new set of idols to worship, a new deity to quest after.

And as I said before, we are at fault. We will sit in front of our TVs and watch these whores and prostitutes every Tuesday night. We have only ourselves to blame for enabling the crumbling of our once wonderful civilization.

God help us.

THOUGHTS ON THE DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING

I read that people throughout Florida and the Gulf Coast area have been exposed to toxic dry wall manufactured in China. With their homes and lives endangered and an immediate remedy very much needed, they have turned to the Federal Government asking for the government to pay for the removal of the dry wall. Aren’t many of these people the same that march against socialized medicine….so it’s okay to have socialized drywall but not socialized medicine?

And then there is that walking, talking piece of manure named Glen Beck who just recently called a US Senator a whore and a prostitute. Has this man no shame? Has this man lost all sense of dignity and civility? This is a US Senator he is disrespecting.

Yes, Mr. Beck, the Senator voted for the Health Care Reform Legislation and yes, negotiated a sizable portion of pork and other spending be directed at her state. Okay, maybe not the idealistic way to go but she still is an US Senator. Treat her so.

And of course the Republican leadership hide in their closet playing with their vote counters.

I guess we have become the turkeys.

The Bleacherman wishes you all well….be blessed, be healthy, be safe. Happy Thanksgiving to those who dwell in the left, center and right field blechers.

REFLECTIONS ON THE DAY WE GIVE THANKS…

Consider this a memorandum to:

1. Rush Limbaugh
2. Glen Beck
3. Sean Hannity
4. Sarah Palin
5. Michelle Bachmann
6. The entire GOP Leadership
7. The entire Democratic Leadership
8. And the rest who have abused the trust bestowed upon them

On this Thanksgiving I can only offer the 101st Psalm for your reading and reflection. Read it as may and may its message be heard in every corner of your soul.

Happy Thanksgiving.

THE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP: THE ART OF SELLING OUT THEIR MORALITY.

A week or so ago, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) threw a party of sorts on the steps of the Capital. Her goal was to show, in real time with real actors, the Nation’s anger over the Democratic sponsored Health Care Reform legislation. But it seems that she staged her little circus and more chose not to show than did show. But it made for great TV.

Although the numbers of those who actually attended vary, the more honest of those doing the counting estimated the turnout at some 10,000. Of course, Bachmann and Hannity and the rest of the distorting, manipulating, lying minion of thieves and parasites claimed their count to be a much higher figure. Mr. Beck, though, did not ask his University of I Don’t Remember to do an actual mathematical estimation so we will never know what the true number was. But we do know that the standard cast of characters who could not tell the truth if their lives depended upon it, did offer estimates of a number of attendees at a multiple of four or five times more that actually attended. In fact, so great was Hannity urge to lie that on his tv show he used footage from the larger 9/12 protest to support his claim that Bachmann’s circus was attended by a large number of angry, frustrated, ignored Americans. He later apologized for his mistake…has he been waterboarded yet? He said he would allow himself that honor. Okay; another day, another lie.

But size doesn’t matter; at least not for this discussion. What does matter is content and intent. And a thing called morality.

An attendee of the rally held up a sign that showed a picture of Holocaust victims being buried along with a commentary saying that this was health care reform, National Socialist style.

How vile, disgusting, contemptible, repulsive and just plain nauseating. Whether you like or dislike the health care reform effort, this attempt to Nazify the debate is sickening. Men like Limbaugh, Beck and the others who occupy the space referred to as right wing radio live to divide this nation. They enjoy the transformation of debate into ideological warfare. They couldn’t care the least about things like truth, morality, ethics, principals and good will. They only want to destroy, at any cost, that which they say they do not like. Destroy is the operative word here.

So these parasites, whores and two legged vermin, who claim the moral high ground, laugh in the face of God and decency and bring into the debate Nazism. And the throngs of the ignorant and the stupid, too lazy or dim-witted to try to understand and debate the real issues, have adopted this hate mongering and made it part of their mantra.

But Nazism? Have we not forgotten what Nazism was really all about? Have we forgotten the brutality, the malevolence, the genocide and atrocities carried out by the Nazis? Have we not forgotten the sacrifice made by thousands of young men and women who fought in the European theater during World War II to defeat Nazism? What are we doing to their memory?

Spineless weasels like Congressman Eric Cantor seem to dismiss the horror as it being some jokesters off color joke.

“Do I condone the mention of Hitler in any discussion about politics?” said Cantor, who is the only Jewish Republican in Congress. “No, I don’t, because obviously that is something that conjures up images that frankly are not, I think, very helpful.”

That’s it. This Jew just sold his soul to anti-Semites and Racists just for a few votes here and there.
And where were the complaints and outbursts of outrage voiced by other members of the Republican leadership? And what about the newspapers; where were they? Have we lost our moral compass? Has this nation lost its morality?

No, let me tell you Eric Cantor and the rest of the more-or-less silent GOP leadership: that sign was more than just inappropriate. It was vile, vicious, repugnant, revolting, disgusting, immoral and an insult to the very soul of this country.

The swastika and all references to the deeds of the Nazis is not something that should be taken lightly and thrown around because cancers like Rush and Glen say it is so.
Can’t you see beyond your pocket books for a moment? Their actions, words, and the silence of the Republican leadership neutralizes and de-horrifies the atrocities of the Holocaust. And we sit back, too busy to care.

What have we become?

Where are the death panels, Sarah Palin

Show us where in the health care reform legislation does it estabish death panels. Just once, just one shred of honesty. Is that too much to ask.

If not, then I can safely and correctly call you a liar!!!!

Bill (O’Reilly) and Glen (Beck) Circus of Lies

Yesterday, I was channel surfing – my favorite indoor sport – and stopped long enough to enjoy a few laughs while watching the Bill and Glen Circus. The two of them were discussing the pending health care reform legislation and with their wonderful anything-but-the-truth style, criticized the health care plan. The center piece of their daily dose of anti-Obama mantra was their declaration that no one in America was dying because of a lack of health care coverage. The rationale that vomited from their mouths was that everyone had access to health care: all they had to do was go to the emergency room. With absolute certainty and with almost biblical authority the two clowns declared that no one in America was dying because of a lack of health care coverage. In the background I could hear cheers from the circus tent. The bobbing, empty heads were all in agreement. If Bill and Glen says it so, that it is so. It has to be so. It is the word of God himself.

It took me hours to stop laughing. Or was I crying over their stupidity or just plain propensity to lie and distort the truth. Yes, emergency rooms were open to everyone in need of emergency care. The operative words are emergency care. Not on-going treatment. Try getting chemotherapy from an emergency room. Or a transplant. Or any other on-going treatment.

These morons just don’t get it. They claim to be fiscal conservatives. So why do they think that sending everyone without insurance to the emergency room makes sense? It is, if you think about it, socialized medicine at its worst. Hell, it is an environment where everyone with insurance and money is really paying for the treatment of those who walk into the emergency room without the ability to pay for their care. I just don’t get it. And obviously, the Bill and Glen circus doesn’t get it as well.

Medical care dispensed through the emergency room is the most expensive and inefficient means of delivering health care.

I guess that the necessary logic to really understand what they are saying involves too much honesty and too much deep thinking for Bill and Glen to really digest the stupidity of it all. What phonies. What liars. What typical Fox News commentators; loud on volume, even louder on insult and short on truth.

So here is the challenge I give to the two Clown Kings:
For two years they need to drop their health care coverage for themselves and their families. No coverage what so ever! All heath care will be paid by cash. Their cash. Their heath care providers can offer no discounts, no freebies; no exceptions to treat them any differently than others without health care coverage would be treated. They and their families are to billed like all other cash paying or non insurance carrying patients.

In two years if they can honestly stand in front of their audiences and say that health care is available to everyone and is affordable, then I will remove the clown moniker from my opinion of them.

It really is a simple challenge. Especially to Clown Glen who only two years ago was complaining (as in whining and crying) on the air on how bad our health care system was and how much it needed to be changed.

Rodger Hedgecock: Hate Monger Supreme!

I live in San Diego. It can safely and accurately be described as a Navy town. Even with changing demographics and a certain influx of liberals, independents and intellectuals, San Diego, correctly or incorrectly, will always be a feeding ground for conservative political ideology. Not as bad as Orange County, but still, the political culture here for the foreseeable future will have a certain right of center flavor to it.
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The vast majority of conservatives that I know are good people. Actually, they are exceptionally good people who just happen to passionately and respectfully believe in conservative political and social dogma. These good neighbors of mine are vocal, passionate and very engaged in the political environment. And these good neighbors are people who understand and respect the fact that there are other people, like myself, who do not share their same values, beliefs and visions.
But what I guess distinguishes my conservative neighbors is that they are willing to debate the issues but do not stoop and embarrass themselves by throwing out personal insults, distorting facts and just outright lying. They honestly and factually debate the issues. They support their argument with facts and valid economic and social theories. They do not hide behind innuendo and slurs. They do not fog the debate with distorting allusions and outright intimidation. They don’t try to shout down opposing viewpoints. They listen, and then calmly, civilly, offer their rebuttal. They engage in debate. They do not resort to vocal and social anarchy.
Yesterday, while stuck in traffic, I accidently hit the scan button on my radio and somehow I found myself listening to the Roger Hedgecock radio talk show. It is better described as hate mongering radio. It is one thing to voice opinions but what I heard was outright hate and slander.
Mr. Hedgecock’s listeners, with good reason, were angry at what had just happened at Food Hoot, Texas. And they were venting their anger. As they should.
The shooter, the assassin, (identified as a Major Nidal Malik Hasan) was of Jordanian descent (but he was born in the United States) and was a practicing Muslim. There is evidence that he was becoming more devout in his worship of Islam, some in part due to his opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is evidence that he hated America and his fellow soldiers.
But Mr. Hedgecock immediately and quite passionately used the tragic incident in Texas to fan the flames of anti-Islamic hatred. Hedgecock turned Major Hasan into a one man Jihadist. Hedgecock turned Major Hasan’s actions into an indictment against all Islam. And Hedgecock encouraged viewer after viewer to vent their anger not at Major Hasan, but at the religion of Islam itself.
What happened in Texas was a tragedy. There is nothing that can be said or should be said to mitigate and lessen the pain of what happened to our sons and daughters who were killed there. If Major Hasan survives his wounds, he should be prosecuted with all the vigor and force the law allows. But we should all understand that we must prosecute Hasan, the Man, not Hasan, the Muslim. We should not prosecute Islam, the religion, because one man (or even hundreds of thousands of men if that is the case being argued) interpret the Koran in a way that motivates them to kill what they perceive to be their sworn enemy.
Hell, the history of Man is filled with fanatics and extremists who have used religion to further their own merciless agendas. And Christianity is not exempt from such transgressions.
And here we go again. The madness continues.
Earlier today, a man went nuts in an office building in Orlando, Florida today and as I write this, one person is known dead and many others have been wounded. Evidence suggests that he was mad at his employer and fellow employees. So he took his rage out at them. The assassin, because that is what he is – as was Major Hasan – is white. He may even be a Christian.

If that is true, if this man in Florida is a Christian, are the Roger Hedgecocks of the world going to focus on that as well. Are they going to fan the flames of hatred against all Christians? Are they going to tell us how evil the Bible is? Are they going to talk of Christian Jihadists? Or does such ranting as I heard yesterday reserved strictly and specifically for Muslims because the Roger Hedgecocks of the talk radio, hate mongering world are simply ignorant men and woman whoring out their souls to support a more personal agenda by inciting others, much less intelligent than them, to hate?

You see, I once respected Roger Hedgecock until he tripped and hit his head on a Sarah Palin blow up doll and became a hate mongering, evil human being. I often wonder how this God believing, God loving, God praying man actually does all that and keeps a straight face. Isn’t he afraid of lightning bolts? Plague? I mean how could God not be angry with him?

You know, God, that compassionate being that should inspire people such as Roger Kedgecock to seek out the goodness in all. Maybe there is a small division of God worshiping people who frequent the Church of Hypocrisy; the Church whose dogma demands that on Sunday you say one thing and then for six days do the exact opposite.

I don’t know. For me, I think it is safer to stay with FM stations. Or is it time to invest in satellite radio?

Damn You, Pat Boone….Damn You

Pat Boone likes to portray himself as a clean cut, apple pie and mom loving, God-fearing, white buck shoe wearing, mister nice guy American. On Halloween, however, he showed us his true colors. In an act of pure iniquity, Mr. Boone, finally acting like the two-bit whore he really is, stripped off his costume, and exposed himself for the person he really is.

We finally got to see the real Mr. Boone, the man not hidden behind a theatrical, special effects make over. What we saw was an evil, hateful, wicked, hypocritical and detestable, (and I really believe) racist moron. And I’m being kind here in describing this bootlicking, bottom-feeding, back stabbing, reptile that tries to pass himself off as a man of virtue and righteousness.

In a column/blog written for the worldnetdaily.com, our Bernadette-loving, Chevrolet-driving sycophant refers to the occupants of the White House as parasites, vermin, et al. He calls for a tenting. He calls for the administration of a lethal ( yes as in dead, yes as in kill, yes as in murder) fumigant.

Mr. Boone asks, “Who gave him this right? Don’t the people he’s supposed to serve have a say in something this ominous? “

Yo, Mr. Boone. We had an election. One year ago today. And millions, tens of millions voted for the man now occupying the White House. We the People gave him this right. We the People spoke. We the People did have a say in getting him where he is and you myopic, slandering fool, we do not have an Emperor running our government. We have a process of government. We have a legislature that serves as a balance of the executive branch. The battle over health care reform fully demonstrates that the system of government that we cherish works despite idiots like you.

Wake up and be a man. There are no “socialists, extreme leftists and even proud, boastful Marxists and Communists” running around the White House.

And please, do us all a favor, when you go into your character assassination mode, use facts, not distortions before you wipe your anger over people like Van Jones, Ron Boom and Ed Montgomery.

But being a man is beyond you. Living as a man as God has asked of us is also beyond you.

All I can say is Damn You, Pat Boone, Damn you. And yes, I ran into my garage, found your records and immediately threw them out in the garbage where they and you belong.

And if anything needs tenting, it’s that empty space between your ears that should be cleansed.

Another War That Cannot Be Won

There was once Korea.  Its general purpose: stop Communist aggression.  It started on June 25, 1950.  The parties called a timeout (a truce or armistice in more conventional terms) on July 27, 1953.  American casualties: thirty-six thousand dead, one hundred thousand wounded.  The country remains divided at the thirty-eight parallel and North Korea continues to pose a strategic threat to the United States.  We still have soldiers on the Korean peninsula.  So, exactly, why were we there and why are we still there?

There was once Vietnam.  Its general purpose: stop Communist aggression.  It started in 1961 and for America the war ended January 27, 1973.  American casualties:  fifty-eight thousand dead and hundreds of thousands wounded.  North Vietnam won the war.  Communist aggression was not stopped.  But Nike now builds many of its athletic shoes there.  We buy many of Nike’s shoes.  Nike declare dividends because of the cheap labor this communist country provides.  Americans make money.    So, exactly, why were we there?  We lost the military battle but did we, in the end, win the political war?  Or do conservatives boycott Nike?  Do they not give their children Air Jordan’s?  How un-American.

There was once Operation Iraqi Freedom.    It started March 20, 2003.  It has not yet ended.  American casualties:  Over four thousand dead and still counting; tens of thousands wounded and still counting.  We invaded the country because we believed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and  we knew that Iraq was immediately about to use them against us.  Thus, as proclaimed by our government, the justification for a pre-emptive massive strike against this sovereign nation.  Ooops.  No weapons of mass destruction were found.  Ooops.  No delivery mechanisms were ever found.  We replaced a tyrant.  In the vacuum a deadly civil war rages.  We still have soldiers based in Iraq.  So, exactly, why were we there and why are we still there?  Can someone spell oil?

So now there is Afghanistan.  It really has no strategic value to us unless we want to legalize heroin and tax drug dealer’s profits.  So, again, why did we start this conflict?  Yes, Ben Laden was given refuge by the Taliban.  And the Taliban were in power in Afghanistan.  No they’re not.  Instead a corrupt government rules about 20% of the country.  So we will send our children to protect corruption.  So more of our children will die.  More will be wounded.  Even more will be stationed there for the foreseeable future.  So more heroin can be produced there.  So more corrupt governments can rule small pockets of the population.  So the terrorists will just go to Sudan or Yemen and train there. 

My point:  here we go again.  We are about to fight a war whose military objectives are round pegs that cannot be inserted into the square slots of a political solution.  This is a war that, politically, cannot be won no matter how many troops are being sent into the region and how many Taliban are killed.  Any victory, any military victory, is temporary, transient and will not really have significant meaning in our war against terrorism.  The terrorists will put there hate into a U-Haul and take their camps elsewhere.

We are committing American men and women to support Afghan President Hamid Karzai whose own electoral victory is considered a political sham.  When are we going to stop wasting our children’s blood on lost causes and stupid wars?

The Case for Health Care Reform

Well here I go again. I have returned back to my blog.

I find it interesting that, for me, this blog acts like one of those emergency venting mechanisms built into a steam engine that automatically engages when excessive (and potentially threatening) pressure has been allowed to build in the boiler. Similarly, this blog has always served as my own personal venting device. When my political blood pressure begins to boil over, the explosive frustration is easily vented after a few minutes of pounding away on the keyboard and screaming at the computer’s monitor. For me, it’s like a modern, technology-driven version of primal therapy.

Today, I have finally reached a level of frustration that compels me to write on the white board of my conscience – my blog. The source of my almost explosive frustration is the war being raged between the political left and political right over health care reform.

I am tired of the debate. I am tired of the nonsense. I am tired of the inability of Congress to move beyond petty and potentially destructive partisan–driven politics and address this most important issue.

Boys and girls of Congress hear me; it’s time to put down your toys of self endearment and satisfaction and get out of the sandbox that you love to play in so much and do what you have been elected to do. It is time for you to Govern!

Yes, I know it is a novel idea and very unique to the Washington microcosm. But you boys and girls should try it sometimes.

What I don’t understand is all of those who wave the American Flag on the porches and fear the great Red invasion, seem to have conveniently forgotten that we went through an election last November. You know; that exercise in democracy where we decide who we want to represent us and what we want them to do with the powers of government that we are bestowing on them.

The people have spoken, so I ask the boys and girls of congress to start listening to them and not just focus on the words of Rush and Glen and Sean and their minion of clowns and cowards who, having literally lost the election, seek to somehow nullify its results.

We desperately need an open, honest, fact-driven discussion over the merits and mechanics of health care reform. Questions like ‘do we need it?’ or ‘can we afford it?’ need to be addressed, debated and reconciled in an environment that is free of pettiness and prejudice.

I am not a politician. I am not a healthcare professional. I have no exceptional or unique insight into the issue. I get my daily dose of issue distortion and factual misrepresentation by watching FOX, CNN and MSNBC. So what I do know is that somewhere in the middle of all the manure that is vomited on the air, somewhere there is as sliver of fact. There is an element of truth. Finding it proves to be something very difficult but it is out there. And we as Americans have an obligation to be an informed and involved constituency and we need to take the time and make the effort to wade through the hyperbole and find the elusive grail we call truth.

So in my own unique style, I take the first step. I am turning my Spockian logic equalizer to its highest setting. Hopefully, the bullshit and hyperbole will be filtered out in the process. I will keep this simple. And I will try to keep the construction of this argument as close to the correct use of the English language as I can. It will be very obvious very early in this dissertation that I am no George Will, David Brooks or Maureen Dowd. I never received a grade higher than “D” in English in my entire life. My SAT and ACT scores were so low, they couldn’t even be graded. So bear with me. Please seek to understand the content of what I am offering and not concentrate on the spelling and grammatical errors that I know are abundant.

Question: Do we need heath care reform?

Answer: (My opinion of course) A compelling “YES!”

When I ask this question to the reflection that I see on the other side of the morning mirror, my first response is to laugh. Then I shake my head in disgust. My mind immediately fills with the image of a man standing at one of those – now infamous – Town Hall Meetings and complaining that health care is not a constitutional right. So, he asks, why should everyone be entitled to it? He curses those who come to tell their congressman of their plight because they were either denied insurance or were cheated out of benefits they thought they had paid for. He pounds himself on his chest and bellows his “I am a real American and give me back my country” mantra as he storms out of the meeting. The next day he is in Church singing the praises of benevolence and compassion.

Somewhere in the Heavens above, I know that God shakes his head and cries. He asks, “when did I teach my children to be so deceitful and hypocritical?”

So I would like to address this Mr. Hypocrite. Yes, I agree with you that access to health care is not a constitutional right unless one wants to read into the Constitution’s preamble that when our forefathers were talking about “…[promoting] the general welfare…” they understood that it is ultimately the role and responsibility of government to establish fair and equal access to the many facilities that provide for the common good. But, Mr. Hypocrate, at issue and the real issue here is this: access to health care should not be an exclusive by-product of wealth. Access to health care should more than ‘just a dream’ to those less fortunate. Consider it part of the great American dream. The constitution does not talk about a chicken being cooked in every kitchen nor a car or two in every driveway. But we must acknowledge that the greatest country in the world owes, at the very least, access to comprehensive and quality healthcare to all of its citizens.

And then there are those who argue against health care reform by indicating that there are not enough doctors and medical facilities to provide health care to the millions of uninsured. That is their argument. As ludicrous as it may sound, that is their argument. So I guess the man is saying that it’s okay for the uninsured to die because we just don’t have enough doctors to take care of them. He is saying,” stop using up my doctor’s time. I have insurance, I have money. I should be saved. You have no insurance, you have no money, and you can die.”

Does this not sound like de-facto death panels. Sarah Palin, where is your Twitter. Why isn’t it Twittering?

Then this fool, a few questions later, mumbles about something he heard from Rush and Glen. No one, the man says, is denied health care in America. All they have to do is to go to the emergency room. Like all those illegals and terrorists that walk our streets with impunity. Health care is available for the taking so why the need for reform?

Of course this is the same clown that ten minutes later complains that we cannot afford universal health care and yet his philosophy of health care fiscal responsibility is to send everyone to the most expensive platform for the delivery of health care – the Emergency Room.

So the rich can get their health care and the poor, who have worked 60 hours a week at minimum wage so the rich can get richer, must wait for hours in a disease-infected, overcrowded emergency room hoping not to die before their number is called.

Ah, Health Care in America: Tea Party Style. Of course, don’t fuck with their Medicare.

Okay, I am calm now.