Really? 4/27/14 – Adultery/Idolatry; Christian China; Humanism in the Army; Cheerleaders’ Vajayjays; Saints; and Omens.

Pop Christian psychology.

Hi, I’m Det Bowers, and I will say any crazy thing that comes into my head.

Det Bowers, a pastor and primary challenger to Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) fancies himself a psychologist, an expert on matrimony and a problem solver of failing marriages. Heknows that men’s adultery is caused by women who love their children too much.

“And yet, I find that in about 95 percent of broken marriages, though the husband’s the one that ran out on his wife, the wife loves her children more than she does her husband. That is an abominable idolatry.”

This blog tries to maintain a certain level of respect for, and civility to, those with whom the author disagrees. But in this case it must be said that Bowers is an idiot.

The nation with the most Christians is?

Today it is the USA, by 2025 it will be China. Yes atheist, communist China.

The Army adds a category.

It is said that here are no atheists in fox holes. But from now on there will be humanists.

The army has added that category to its list of religious preferences.

The Buffalo Bills’ cheerleaders have a very thorough handbook.

Cheerleaders’ vaginas.

The Buffalo Bills cheerleader handbookcontains three directives vis-á-vis their lady parts.

11. Intimate area’s: Never use a deodorant or chemically enhanced product. Simple, non-deodorant soap will help maintain the right PH balance.

12. When menstruating, use a product that right for your menstrual flow. A tampon too big can irritate and develop fungus. A product left in too long can cause bacteria or fungus build up. Products can be changed at least every 4 hours. Except when sleeping, they can be left in for the night.

13. Clean/rinse razor often while shaving. Especially after going to a new “area”. Change razors often, they harbor bacteria.

Your humble reporter has no words. Except to say that the Bills don’t even know how to use an apostrophe correctly. (#11 “Intimate area’s”?)

On reflection, I hope this is a fake.

John XXIII & John Paul II reach the pinnacle.

Two Popes are promoted.

Ex-Popes John XXIII and John Paul II were announced as saints by the current Pope Francis. Much has been made of the liberal John and conservative John Paul being honored in tandem.

But the act was controversial. The two miracle requirement was halved for John and the five-year period of consideration was waived for John Paul. The Church is known for its methodical approach to things. Which makes the rush to sanctify John Paul – who lead the Church through its child-raping phase and personally sheltered a leader of the cover-up faction, Boston’s Cardinal law – seem unseemly.

An omen?

A giant crucifix erected to honor John Paul II collapsed 2 days before his canonization, killing a 21 year-old man.
Make of that what you will.

Portrait of a Conservative

Cliven Bundy is the latest hero of the right. He has been elevated to the status of little man facing down the power of an overbearing federal government. He is, however, nothing more than a thief, stealing from his fellow Americans. And now this celebrated – by the clueless – champion of the people has proven to be a dyed-in-the-wool racist. Any self-respecting citizen, who may have been swayed by the lies propagated by the right-wing media, should cut bait on this self-centered, selfish bigot.

Cliven Bundy. This man is not a hero.

But there will be politicians and talking-heads clinging to the myth of the man – confusing his crime for the act of a principled man standing up against tyranny.

It is an often exploited theme from the folks on the right – that they are the victims.

Take Brandon Eich. This former CEO of Mozilla, who resigned after news of his $1,000 contribution in support of a California proposition outlawing gay marriage, is promoted as a victim of the gay mafia. It doesn’t matter that it was the company’s employees, discomforted by his bigotry, who lobbied against him. No, to the “victims” on the right, it was a the gay agenda and its effort to chill free speech, that was the evil-doer of the piece.

These bigots hide behind “sincerely held religious beliefs”. But your beliefs do not govern the conduct of others. If you are opposed to gay marriage, don’t get gay married. If you are opposed to abortion don’t get one. If you are opposed to assisted suicide then you are free to suffer the agonies of terminal cancer – but don’t tell others that they must.

Robertson and Falwell. The unChristian faces of the religious right.

Too often religion is used, not as a comfort in the believer’s life, but as a club to hurt others who do things the believer doesn’t like. Take Jerry Falwell’s reaction to 9/11, “I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say ‘you helped this happen.’”

Add to that, Falwell’s antediluvian attitude to race (see Bundy above) and you have a monstrous man. If Falwell is right about his God’s Day of Judgement he has a lot of explaining to do. Jesus’s first question will probably be, “why did you chose to ignore my teachings?”

The acme of conservative science.

Falwell offered his hatred on Pat Robertson’s TV show, “The 700 Club”. Robertson is best described as a fellow traveller. He has warned against the Antichrist lurking in the wrong sort of Protestant denominations; claimed that Hinduism is demonic and Islam is Satanic; and taken issue with gays, feminists, abortion and liberal intellectual elites.

It is an unreasoned position. But reason is in short supply among the ultra-right. Take their dismissal of science. Conservatives are far less likely to believe in evolution and global warming, both settled science. They claim that there is a controversy, a divide in the science community. No, there isn’t.

It is this kind of deluded thinking that causes them to see the United Nations as fomenting a take-over of America’s sovereignty; strategizing a seizure of our land-use codes; and orchestrating a gun grab to strip away American’s 2nd amendment rights.

Ted Nugent. The face of the gun lobby.

On guns they are particularly crazy. Before the last election the gun-nuts were whipped into a froth of fear that Obama was going to confiscate their guns. They fell short of offering any proof of that assertion. Much as they fall short on explaining exactly how the UN is going to effect its diabolical ministrations on the American people. Can you picture the blue-helmeted army landing on the shores of the Chesapeake and marching on Washington? Neither can I.

And how do they fight back? By promoting policies that will benefit the very wealthy – assuming that somehow the benefits will trickle-down to them. They get their marching orders from multi-million dollar radio personalities and their “news” from a cable channel dedicated to promoting a corporate agenda.

The portrait of an American rightist is not pretty. His hero is a thief. He whines that he is the victim of the people he oppresses. He wants his religion to be the law of the land. His religious leaders are bigots of the first order. He cries that the international community is out to get him. And he believes that science is a matter of opinion.

Further, he doesn’t think and waits to have his opinion handed to him. He believes uncritically what he is told. And he lives in a constant miasma of fear – where he is surrounded by evil forces bent on his destruction.

It really rather sad.

The Creation Museum Takes On the American Museum of Natural History.

The Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY and the Museum of Natural History in New York NY both claim to explain the origin and nature of the physical world. But there the similarity ends. The Creation museum traces the world’s origin to the whim of a biblical God 6,000 years ago. The Museum of Natural History has creation originating in a “big bang”, 13.5 billion years ago.

Which one, if either, gets it right? After all, both seem far fetched. And both beg problematic questions.

For instance, why was the creationist God so intimately involved with humans in the beginning – talking to them, putting marks on them, demanding sacrifices of family members, turning them into pillars of salt and selecting one family to avoid the drowning death that befell every other – but then so little?

The “Big Bang” theory maintains that all the physical matter in the universe was once compacted into a volume smaller than that now occupied by a sub-atomic particle. Mind-boggling. How is that even possible?

So what to believe? Let’s look at the evidence.

Creationism’s authority is based on one book, written 2,000+ years ago by a Bronze/Iron age civilization. As evidence, it is thin gruel. Believers in its authenticity as God’s inerrant word must explain the remarkable coincidence that His knowledge was only as great as that of the humans that wrote it – and far less than what we know today.

Creationism is also hobbled by its immutability. When new facts challenge scientific wisdom, the science is discarded. When new facts challenge creationism, it is the facts that are discarded. The Creation Museum even admits so. Written in its Statement of Faith is, “By definition, no apparent, perceived or claimed evidence in any field, including history and chronology, can be valid if it contradicts the scriptural record.”

The Creation Museum

So the Creation Museum’s position is this. “We are right. If you disagree with us, you are wrong. And there are no facts that will change our mind.” Based on that hubris, it is safe to discard the Creation Museum’s position as bunk.

So does that prove the American Museum of Natural History’s explanation of existence is correct? No. The museum has to put forward its own proof positive. Has it? The scientific community overwhelmingly says yes.

Unlike the denialism inherent in creationism, science cannot ignore facts it finds inconvenient. In the biblical era, it was “obvious” to contemporary thinkers that a flat earth was the center of a universe comprised of a sun, a moon, some planets, and holes in the celestial sphere letting in heaven’s light.

Better tools have revealed a much greater truth. A universe unimaginably vast, made up of particles unimaginably small, working in ways that cannot be adequately explained by reference to the observable world. In all likelihood that which we know, amounts to far less than that which we do not know. Fortunately, we have done a better job with earthly concerns.

We may be at the beginning of the journey to understand the behavior of cosmic “strings”, but our understanding of things longer contemplated is far more profound.

Even in the earliest days of scientific thought academics accepted the theory that 2+2 = 4. As time passed other scientific explanations matured from proposition to theory (to whit, a universally accepted true account of a physical phenomenon). Good examples include the theory of gravity, the germ theory of disease transmission, and the theory of evolution.

The American Museum of Natural History.

So the American Museum of Natural History’s position may be describes as this, “The consensus of the minds educated to analyze these things is that we know some things to be true beyond all reasonable doubt. That we know other things to be well and best explained by these ideas. And that there are some things we have no good ideas on yet.”

Visit both museums by all means. For truth, visit the Natural History Museum. For a good laugh, visit the Creation museum.

Obama Owns the Economy – So what Does he Own?

Desperate to move past the disastrous legacy of the previous administration the GOP is demanding that Obama own the economy today. Fair enough – let him own it. Now let’s look at exactly what it is he owns.

Render to Bush the things that are Bush’s and to Obama the things that are Obama’s

When Obama assumed office in January of 2009 the Unites States was in the midst of its first trillion dollar deficit. Don’t fall for the claim that the 2009 budget was Obama’s. George Bush signed off on it and the 2009 fiscal year started on Bush’s watch.

The deficit is now under $500 million. Or put another way, it is less as a percentage of GDP than in any year of the Reagan administration.

The investor class is celebrating. The stock market has more than doubled since the President’s 2009 inauguration. The housing market is rebounding.

And America still has a car industry.

Too many people are unemployed and conservatives carp on the slowness of the recovery. But surely it is better to suffer a second-rate recovery than a first-rate recession. It takes chutzpah to complain that the fix is sub-par when you were the one who broke it in the first place.

Too many people are receiving a government benefit. But that includes full-time employees and members of the military. Shouldn’t a full time job pay enough to feed a family and pay the rent? Shouldn’t serving your country guarantee a living wage?

The GOP says that growing income equality is Obama’s fault, but they have resisted his stimulus efforts. And the tax code continues to favor the ultra-rich, whose income depends far more on unearned income than other economic strata – including the merely very rich.

Argue all you want about the meaning of the 8 million signed up for Obamacare. The fact is that Americans have more access to quality health care than at any time in the nation’s history. The faults in the system – most notably the 5 million left out of the Medicaid system by intransigent GOP governors – can be squarely blamed on hysterical opposition. It would be one thing if Republicans were a arguing the merits of a different plan. But they have nothing to offer but “NO!”

Overall, the rate of the increase in health spending has gone down. How much is due to the ACA? There is open to debate. But down is down.

“Aha, what about gas prices” the Tea Party bleats. There, they have a fact to support their case. On Inauguration Day, gas was $1.86 a gallon. Today it is $3.65. But commodity prices are volatile. A year before Obama, gas was $4.12 ($4.54 in 2014 prices).

Let’s look at another commodity – gold. Its price has been declining, which, far from being a harbinger of a poor economy, is a sign of strength. Money flees to gold in times of economic woe. In rebounding economies demand for it goes down.

Inflation is nonexistent. Government revenues as a percent of GDP are the lowest since the 1950s. Taxes are historically low (The Tea Party please take note). And there are nearly 400,000 fewer civilian federal employees than after eight years of Reagan.

The number of US troops in war zones is the lowest since 2001. And far fewer are dying. Foreign affairs are fraught with uncertainty. But the threat from terrorists remains muted. In fact, the President has been roundly criticized for going too far with NSA surveillance and his love of drones.

Although quick to beat the President up for his “permissive” immigration policies, conservatives ignore the record number of deportations – another area in which liberals criticize him for going too far.

Is the Obama administration perfect? Not even close. But when contrasted with the previous lot it looks good. And he has had to do it in the face of a monolithic “just say no” policy from the GOP.

In 1980 Ronald Reagan famously asked the American voter if he was better off than he had been four years earlier. Asked today, the answer would be “yes”.

Creationism – Even Wearing its ID Frock – Isn’t Science.

Christian creationists have their explanation of man’s origin. Other religions’ creationists have theirs. They will never agree. Which points to the mystical rather than scientific basis of creationism. In an attempt to give their “theory” a scientific veneer modern-day creationists would pull the wool over our eyes with the introduction of a designer. Which is no more than putting a Groucho mask on the God figure.

No, He is neither our creator nor our designer.

Scientists are not fooled by this flim-flam. Almost to a warm body they espouse the Theory of Evolution. Is it a scientific cabal? Are scientists having a laugh at the expense of the man-in-the-pew? Hardly. Their Theory has literally had its day in court, as has the creationists’ version. Each time, evolution has survived the experience with its reputation burnished, while the judge has ordered the mystical crowd to stop trying to shoehorn their crack-pot ideas into science class.

Even grown-up religions have accepted Evolution as a holy truth. They just ask that God get credit for getting the whole thing started. (Started, mind you – He keeps His hands to himself afterwards.) Evolutionary purists might want to extract the last gram of flesh and deny any divine role – but really, where’s the harm?

We must look to the most gullible to find the soil in which creationism flourishes; to those who least understand the nature of science. The Bible thumpers, and their fellow-travelers in the far reaches of other faiths.

Science doesn’t have the option of declaring the debate over and the final victory won. But it may assign a likelihood that that the Theory will stand the test.

Consider this. We can say with almost perfect certainty that we are the product of our parents’ having sex. But we cannot be so sure that those people who claim to be our parents actually are. We may have been at the seminal event, but our memory is missing.

Jenna is so clearly George and Laura’s daughter. For Barbara we need more evidence.

Nevertheless there are things we can do to test the validity of their claim. Do we look like them? It won’t be conclusive but it may indicate shorter odds. Photographs of the new-born probably exist. Again, not definitive proof – but another step toward the truth.

Then there is documentation – birth certificates, hospital records and the like. Each of these things bolstering the case. Next you can test blood types. That could definitely exclude these parent claimants, or line up one more fact to support their claim. And finally a DNA test. Now the truth can be discovered to a one part in millions certainty.

That’s were we stand with evolution. It has passed all tests from the broadest “looks like” review – to the analysis of its DNA. At any time the Theory could have been revealed as a fraud. But it has not been.

So where does that leave creationism? In bad shape. There are two main “proofs” for creationism/ID. The first the plaintive claim – we must be designed, because we look like we were designed.

A favorite tale is the watch in the field. It goes like this. If you were walking across a field and found a watch you would not believe that all its elements came together spontaneously to create its chronographical existence. Rather, you would believe it to be the creation of a designer. But the difference between living things and a watch (besides the living part) is that living things reproduce.

Reproduction provides the agent of change. People produce people, but watches don’t produce watches – so where’s the validity of the comparison?

The second, more confidently held, assertion is that evolution is riddled with errors and impossibilities. There is plenty of sound scientific literature that refutes those claims. There is no need to do it here.

So in short, facts support evolution. Faith supports creationism/ID. Facts are the basis of science. Faith the basis of religion. And there we have it.

Really? 4/12/14 – Comcast sponsors a Senate committee; Schools that don’t teach; The GOP’s cheap talk; More sex in LA; Spreading the wealth in college sports; Town names; Huckabee dribbles on his shirt.

How money free speech works in Congress.

This week the Senate Judiciary Committee held its first hearing on the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger . Every single Senator on the Committee has taken money from Comcast.

Move along – nothing to see here.

If you are not sure what the answer is, just write “God”.

Science test at a South Carolina Christian school.

I wish I could report this was a hoax, but Snopes has it rated as probably true.

Impeach, Impeach, Impeach.

The IRS’s Lois Lerner takes “the fifth”  and there is muttering of contempt. The President takes a bite of his omelet and a constitutional crisis is sparked. AG Eric Holder isn’t dragging the right people to court and Ted Cruz is waving the impeachment flag.

Benghazi, Fast and Furious, so much macho talk. If there is real malfeasance, let the GOP take action. But if they choose to do nothing, then will they please shut up.

Heaven forbid that the administration actually do something illegal. Any GOP protest will be greeted with – “here they go again”.

Was the “kissing Congressman’s” role model another Louisiana politician?

“I’m David Vitter, and I know nothing”.

Man of God, father-of-five, family-guy, Rep. Vance McCallister (R-LA) was video taped  kissing a staffer. Cries for his resignation resound from the state’s Governor, Bobby Jindal. “Congressman McAllister’s behavior is an embarrassment, and he should resign.”.

They ring out from the state party. “Mr. McAllister’s extreme hypocrisy is an example of why ordinary people are fed up with politics. A breach of trust of this magnitude can only be rectified by an immediate resignation”.

But the state’s junior Senator is silent on the subject. Perhaps because David Vitter didn’t just kiss – he paid for the whole ugliness. Again and again. In Louisiana and in DC. This fan of commercial lovemaking – famous as a name in the DC Madam’s “little black book” – has demurred from comment. Let it be said that at least he can keep his lips zipped

Pay, you don’t need no stinking pay.

The Northwestern University football team won the right to be considered employees – at least in the eyes of the NLRB – putting them and other college athletes in position to demand some of the billions that flow to university athletic departments.

Sixty-four percent of Americans believe that is only fair. Which begs the question, who are the 32% who don’t think that is fair? Surely they are not under the illusion that big time men’s college football and basketball are academic endeavors.

What’s in a name?

After 600 hundred years a Spanish town contemplates a name change, feeling perhaps that Castrillo Matajudios or Castrillo “Kill Jews” may be sending a bad message.

Celebrating North Korea’s vaunted freedoms.

Mike Huckabee suggested that there is “more freedom in North Korea sometimes than there is in the United States”.
It is unclear whether he was referring to North Korean freedom of speech, freedom of religion, or freedom to make an ass of yourself.

The Fight Against Bigotry isn’t Bigotry.

Arizona’s Orwellian “Religious Freedom Restoration Law” was vetoed by Governor Jan Brewer. Brendan Eich, ex-Mozilla CEO, was forced to resign after the brouhaha over his $1,000 donation to an anti-gay marriage movement. Recent court decisions have repeatedly struck down states’ anti-gay law measures. So what is a poor bigot to do? Answer: Accuse the object of his bigotry of being a bigot. Better yet, accuse him of being part of a cabal with an agenda to force his views on the mainstream.

Brendan Eich. This man is not a victim.

Eich has become a rallying point for anti-gay rights activists. They claim that the outcry against Eich was nothing more than reverse bigotry. Further, this punishment of free-speech strikes at the very soul of the Republic. The argument is superficially good enough that even some in the gay-rights crowd, notably Andrew Sullivan, subscribe to it. But while the Eich affair may possibly be bad PR for gay-rights activists, it is not bigotry. And it is, most definitely, legitimate debate.

In many states, you can be fired for being gay. So to whine about being hounded for anti-gay speech is thin gruel.

Conservatives defend their support for religious freedom laws by claiming that the market-place will force bad actors out of business. Surely then, the same market forces will punish Mozilla for its shabby treatment of Eich. If the market is sauce for the goose, let it be sauce for the gander.

The Bible. By all means use it to direct your life. But it is not a US law book.

Gay marriage, despite the ululations of “traditionalists” is not a threat to straight marriage. In the 10 years since Massachusetts legalized gay marriage, not one straight marriage has been harmed. And that is the nub of it. Everyone is entitled to be bound by their religious mandates, but no one is entitled to demand that others live by them – especially in the complete absence of any evidence of harm.

Eich called for a section of the population to be denied the rights he enjoys – and that is bigotry. On the other hand, to demand the rights for yourself that others enjoy is only fair play.

It will seem strange to the millennials that their parents and grandparents grew up in a world where there were still laws against interracial marriage and a husband could not be charged with raping his wife – a world in which contraception could still be criminalized.

As recently as the early 1960s minorities could still suffer legal discrimination.

And less than a century ago women were not guaranteed the right to vote.

Progress is messy. And the road to marriage equality will have some bumps. It is hard to summon up much sympathy for a man who loses his job, because he pays to deny his fellow citizens the rights he enjoys.

“Molon Labe” – A Celebration of Statism.

“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it.” ― Henry Ford.

There is a well-intentioned (I will give them the benefit of the doubt) naive, and misguided belief among the gun-nut, 2nd amendment  absolutists that guns will ensure their freedoms. So be it. But they want to have their cake and eat it.

What do I mean? Let me explain.

These ‘swear by my gun’ types are typically libertarians with an explicit antipathy to “statism”. Their rallying call is “Molon Labe”. A phrase – meaning “come and get them” – attributed to King Leonidas I at the Battle of Thermopylae, in response to the Persians’ demand that the Spartans surrender their weapons. It is guaranteed to send shivers up every survivalist’s spine.

Celebrating statism (Note: the numbers are hyperbolic – what’s new?)

 But if you think this rallying call is positively dripping in libertarian individualism – it isn’t.

The Sparta that Leonides ruled, and in which his “3oo” were raised, was dominated by the state. The state mandated exactly how the young Spartiates  should be raised – the agoge. (Deformed children were not even allowed to live.) It was an oligopoly in which rights were doled out by the state. And a large part of the population was officially second class citizens – especially the Helots, the slave/indentured servant class.

In short, Sparta was the antithesis of the libertarian utopia so beloved of the “molon labe” crowd.

Alice Down the Rabbit-hole of Illegal Immigration

It is common wisdom that the Democrats are the party for Hispanics, because liberals have more welcoming views on immigration and a greater support for a “path to citizenship”.

On the flip side, the Tea Party GOP has alienated Hispanics by throwing cold water on the Dreamers and with rhetoric that demands the total removal of millions of undocumented. Pull the string on any GOP politico and you will hear a plaint that the Obama administration is doing nothing to cleanse our shores of the mahogany masses.

But what’s the truth?

Obama soft on deportations. Hardly.

If you drop the politics, the President has been a far more effective executioner of the far-right’s immigration policy than any GOP holder of the office. The administration has set records on deportations – and not just the worst of the worst –  while at the same time they are accused of being “soft” on illegal immigrants.

If the Tea Party GOP were to run commercials touting the truth of Obama’s deportation efforts they would succeed in peeling away Hispanics from the Democrats. Although, ironically, they would risk losing some of their core support. What is the party of bigotry to do?

A Democratic Playbook for the 2014 Mid-terms.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”  ― Winston Churchill

The conventional wisdom is that the Democrats have a 60% chance of losing control of the Senate (h/t Nate Silver) and 0% chance of retaking the house.

The further conventional wisdom is that Democrats’ only road to victory  is disavowing everything that they are supposed to stand for. Unfortunately that will only doom them. So what is this poor party – that never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity – to do? The answer is man-up and fight.

Let’s start with the 600 pound gorilla in the room – Obamacare. Some red state Democrats are muttering about repealing it. Even in blue states liberals are sounding apologetic – and talking about “fixing it”. Bad idea. Obamacare sucks – but it sucks far less than the GOP alternative (spoiler alert, there isn’t one). And it sucks because the President wimped out (back when he was deluded enough to think that Republicans would work with him) and dropped the single payer option – while negotiating with himself.

Democrats should own Obamacare and demand that the GOP explains why they support insurance companies kicking people to the curb when they get sick . Why they support kids being thrown off their parents’ policies. Why they think women should be charged more than men. Why they think that benefits should have annual and life-time caps.

Talk about voodoo economics.

Democrats must call out the GOP for its lack of a health plan. And hammer home that bleating about “market-driven” solutions is meaningless codswallop at best .

They must demand why the rich get more tax cuts, while the poor go hungrier. And demand why the GOP wants to throw more money at the already bloated Pentagon, while health care for the old is slashed.

They must demand why the GOP insists on pursuing tax policies that have twice before exploded the deficit (remember Reagan’s infamous “voodoo economics”).And why the GOP pursues fiscal policies that decimate the stock-market and drive up unemployment.

The stock market in the last two years of the previous administration and under Obama.

Then Democrats should pivot to consumer protection. They should demand why the GOP supports banks and credit card companies as they gouge their customers. They must demand that the GOP explains why it wants another recession by deregulating the financial industry. And ask why bank robbers spend years in jail – but bankers that rob, get off scott-free

Then they should ask why the GOP lobbies for diseased food. And why it is fine with polluted water and  poisoned air. And why they don’t give a damn about work place safeties.

Then they should ask why the GOP pretends to love the worker, but does everything it can to strip workers of their rights to be paid fairly for their labor. They should ask why it is okay for the minimum wage to be set so low that the tax payer is subsidizing Walmart.

What Democrats should not do is apologize. They shouldn’t equivocate and waffle. If they think their policies are better they should get out there and say so. What Democrats have to do is grow a spine and remember  Benjamin Franklin’s admonition, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

Charles Koch Feels Sorry for Himself.

Charles Koch has been so beset by the forces of collectivism and an out-of-control government that he was moved to defend himself in a “woe-is-me” letter of self-justification to the Wall Street Journal.

Charles Koch off to slay collectivists.

In it he portrays himself as a modern day St George, manfully donning his armor to slay the dragon of collectivism. He has gird his loins for the existential struggle against statists wielding the sword of big government.

It is all a little overwrought.

Consider his plaintive grumble –“Unfortunately, the fundamental concepts of dignity, respect, equality before the law and personal freedom are under attack by the nation’s own government”. Wow! He must be referring to attacks on gays, women, non-Christians, voters, workers……wait, that is state governments.

Maybe he means the contraception mandate and Obamacare. Except he doesn’t explain how a goal of universal, affordable, quality health care, is an attack on dignity, respect, equality etc. (A goal that would have been a lot closer with “Medicare-for-all” – which was fiercely resisted by Koch and his ilk.)

He goes on to write, “In a truly free society, any business that disrespects its customers will fail, and deserves to do so”. A noble goal indeed. But it is a myth in Koch’s plutocrat Eden. Or would he have us ignore the banks, Duke Energy, General Motors and the like – who, despite plundering their customers, violating the environment, and killing our children are going from financial strength to financial strength.

Is this an example of the “free and open debate”, without “character assassination” Charles Koch advocates?

He adds, “Instead of encouraging free and open debate, collectivists strive to discredit and intimidate opponents. They engage in character assassination. (I should know, as the almost daily target of their attacks.)” Poor boy. It is, of course, characteristic of a bully that he can dish it out, but he cannot take it. It is also a human flaw, that we attribute to our enemies the sins we, ourselves, are guilty of.

He drags Saul Alinksy into it – knowing full well that “Alinsky” is plutocrat code for “really, really bad”. He can also rely on the fact that the vast majority of his dittoheads know nothing of Saul Alinsky. For information, let me share one of Alinsky’s bon mots, “if you think you’ve got an inside track to absolute truth, you become doctrinaire, humorless and intellectually constipated”. Bit too close to home for Koch, I suspect.

He goes on to talk up how wonderful Koch Industries is. How it employs a lot of people, who make a lot of money and receive a lot of benefits – and of whom 30% are unionized. Koch adds that Koch Industries is a careful steward of the environment – and had, in fact, received commendation from the EPA as a “a model for other companies”.

Koch Industry’s stewardship of the environment.

Let’s examine those claims. It is indeed a large company and like all large companies it employs and pays many people. If 30% are indeed unionized, then that is above the rate for private business and Koch should take credit. But when it comes to the environment Koch is just lying.

The company has a rich history of spills and other chemical releases. It has paid millions in fines and restitution. And it has been forced to change its business practices. And what of that chest-puffing claim that Koch Industries is a “model”? It is an egregious misstatement. The EPA suggested that one process for reduction emissions in processing petroleum, in one Koch division, was a model for others to follow. But the company as a whole has kept the EPA very busy.

In summary, the letter says Koch and his company are great, his opponents are the lowest form of pond life – and nothing new is learned.

Lies, Damn Lies, and Claims About Obamacare.

Obamacare stumbles across the finish line - sort of. The administration has yet again "tweaked" the law to extend the sign-up time. And, no doubt, the GOP will soon vote - for the 52nd (?) time - to repeal the law.

The rhetoric generated by the President's signature law - bringing affordable healthcare to all Americans (according to its supporters), or imposing a punitively expensive, socialist, job-killing overreach by a totalitarian government (according to its opponents) - is overheated and often just flat-out lies.

Here are some claims that have been rated false (even pants on fire) by Politifact.

From the anti-Obamacare coterie.

Politicians.

The United States has seen "a net loss of people with health insurance" because of Obamacare. - John Boehner.

"Virtually every person across this country has seen premiums going up and up and up" due to Obamacare. - Ted Cruz.

Ted Cruz's disregard for the truth is shocking, even in a town that has little use for it.

"A strong bipartisan majority" in the House of Representatives "voted to defund Obamacare". - Ted Cruz.

"Obamacare will question your sex life." - Betsy McCaughey (Ex-Lt. Gov. NY).

Under Obamacare, "The IRS will have access to the American people's protected health care information." - Eric Cantor.

Under Obamacare, "75 Percent of small businesses now say they are going to be forced to either fire their workers or cut their hours. - Marco Rubio.

The IRS is going to be "in charge" of a "huge national database" on health care that will include Americans' "personal, intimate, most close-to-the-vest-secrets." - Michele Bachmann.

"Federal government reneging" on Medicare payments to Wisconsin caused about $240 million in extra costs in the 2013-'15 state budget. - Scott Walker (Gov. of Wisconsin).

"Forty years ago, hardly anybody in the country had health insurance." - Rep Louie Gohmert. (R-TX).

"Don't know much about history" Louie Gohmert. (He doesn't know much about biology either.)

Why would our President close the embassy to the Vatican? Hopefully, it is not retribution for Catholic organizations opposing Obamacare." - Jeb Bush.

"Hidden" in the healthcare.gov code is language that means users "waive any reasonable right to privacy of your personal information." - Rep. Joe Barton (R -TX).

The health care marketplaces have "no privacy protections." - Tom Cotton (GOP Senate candidate Oklahoma).

Warren Buffet says stop Obamacare now and start over. - Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA).

In a "sweetheart deal...members of Congress, thanks to the Obama administration, are going to be the only people in America to get subsidies in the Obamacare exchanges." Rep. Jeb Harnsarling (R-TX).

Conservative groups

Millions of Americans are "paying more and getting less" under Obamacare. - Americans for Prosperity.

For prosperity - maybe. For truth - not so much.

"According to Obama's newest unconstitutionally enacted law, health care professionals are now required to violate HIPAA privacy laws and submit medical data to the government," which is "then used as justification for gun confiscation." - Mr Conservative.

Local law enforcement ...will have access to the [Obamacare] Data Hub's treasure trove of personal info. - Evan Feinberg, President of Generation Opportunity.

Internet rumors

Says Nancy Pelosi said "waiting long hours in the emergency room will allow you to make new friends" - Facebook reposts of a satirical article.

"Obamacare medical codes confirm: Execution by beheading to be implemented in America." - Internet rumor.

A man opted out of Obamacare after the marketplace launched on Oct. 1, 2013, and was informed he owed a $4,000 fine. - Internet rumor.

Obamacare provision will allow "forced home inspections" by government agents. - Internet rumor.

Obamacare "will provide insurance to all non-U.S. residents, even if they are here illegally." - Chain email.

The word "Dhimmitude" is on page 107 of the health care law and means "Musims are spciffically exempted from government mandate to purchase insurance." - Chain email.

Talking heads

"A friend's sister "died from Obamacare" because Blue Shield "completely just pulled out of California." - Ann Coulter (NB urban legends often start a "friend of a friend" or a "relative of a friend".)

Meanwhile, back on earth.

No doctors who went to an American medical school will be accepting Obamacare." - Ann Coulter

"Obamacare is going to increase the divorce rate." - Rush Limbaugh.

Backdoor gun control is in full effect in the United States" due to "Obama's Environmental protection Agency". - Allen West.  (Not strictly related to Obamacare - but has looney value.)

The Affordable Care Act alters the "sensible doctor-patient-relationship-centered health care program ...we see today." - Sarah "death panel" Palin.

In July 2010 the government said small businesses - 60 percent - will lose their health care, 45 percent of big business and a large percentage of individual health." - Sean Hannity.

Barack Obama "knew half of the population on the United States would lose their health insurance." - Glenn Beck.

The insurance industry is actually run by mostly Democrats." - Dana Perino.

As a result of Obamacare, we are becoming something of a part-time employment country. - Maria Bartiromo.

"74 percent of small-business people believe that Obamacare is a bad idea." - Larry Elder.

From the pro-Obamacare folks. 

"Most young Americans right now, they're not covered" by health insurance. - Barack Obama.

It you said it - own it, don't "lawyer it".

We've got close to 7 million Americans who have access to heath care for the first time because of Medicaid expansion." - Barack Obama.

"What we said was, you can keep (your plan) if it hasn't changed since the law passed." - Barack Obama.

If I have affordable coverage in my workplace, I'm not eligible to go into the marketplace - it's illegal." - Katherine Sebelius.

FACT: Nothing in #Obamacare forces people out of their health plans." - Valerie Jarrett.