Monday, September 30, 2013

Not In The House, Not With A Mouse

Congressclown Cruz, during his exercise in Theatre of the Absurd, chose to read that classic of classics, GREEN EGGS AND HAM aloud. This was positively one of the most brilliant, enlightened, prescient moves this clown could’ve made. He used a children’s classic, so simple, so straight forward, so easily distilled that my kids could discuss in its native Hebrew, to illustrate precisely, concisely, and exactly what is wrong with his argument.

You see, Sam-I-Am is bugging the unnamed narrator to step outside his box and try something new. But narrator-guy has formed a belief without any empirical evidence to support it. It’s foolishness, but he’s got one excuse after another as to why he won’t try the green eggs and ham. Interestingly, the excuses aren’t excuses at all. He just insists over and over that he doesn’t like them and will not try them here, there, anywhere, in a house, with a mouse, in box, with a fox, in a tree, on a train, in a car, in the dark, in the rain, on a boat, with a goat…until he finally agrees to taste them just to make Sam-I-Am just go away. And of course, he loves them.

But Congressclown Cruz won’t let Obamacare happen because, as Republican Sen-nutella Mike Lee of Utah pointed out, health care is just another entitlement:

It's a reason to stop it be with because what we discover about entitlements, Rush, is that once they're in place, they're almost impossible to get rid of.  You got death, you got taxes, and you've got entitlements.
Sen. Mike Lee on Rush Limbaugh Show
July 31, 2013

Right. An entitlement. Like Medicare, Sen-nutella Mike? Or Social Security? Like the stuff that’s supporting your rapidly aging base? You mean those entitlements?

This is not to suggest Obamacare is a great program. Anything short of single-payer national health coverage is merely a stopgap measure. But it’s a start. And Sen-nutella Lee is right; once people have access to health care, they’re not gonna give it up.

If this wasn’t so ridiculous, it could be a plot line on sitcom, but unfortunately, these assholes are playing roulette with the nation. They will hold the nation hostage to their view and their view only, trying to  cast millions of We, the People, onto medical and financial ice floes. And the really bizarre thing is that a high preponderance of those floatees will be the less affluent members of that cabal.

The GOP, led by the Teabag Brigade, is actively pursuing a course of economic terrorism. They seem to believe that Government Chicken is gonna win friends and influence people. Au contraire, mes amis! So the National Parks close. Who cares? So some strangers in bloated Washington get sent home and not paid. So what? If these clowns wanted to really impact the nation, they would close the shop, lock, stock, and barrel. Do exactly what the GOP has dared this nation to do: shut the whole thing down.

You wanna get things moving? Shutter the clinics in the VA system and stop taking in new, non-emergency patients. And by emergency I mean bleeding on the floor emergency. Dialysis isn’t an emergency…unless you don’t have a functional kidney. But it won’t matter because after there’s no health accessibility, you won’t be able to get dialysis anyway. No chemo, no bone setting, no nuthin’. Send the air controllers and the TSA home. Shut down the locks and dams, the ports, and the customs stations. Close up the federal courts, and go to skeleton crews at the federal prisons. Hoo ha!!! Then you’ll see some movement…probably with pitchforks and torches headed toward the Big Top on the Hill.

You think I’m kidding, right? Nope. Start with the air traffic controllers and the TSA. Get those clowns right where it hurts the most…in their frequent flyer accounts. Boy, will you see some negotiating then!

By the bye, I’m not just blaming the GOP on this. The Dems own a fair sized chunk of the problem, but economic terrorism isn’t really their thing. When they want to hold hostages, it’s usually about environmental issues, but they already know they’re fundamentally right and they don’t have to do much more than sit back and wait for the next hurricane to hit the east coast. Still, they could’ve done more to bring the conversation to the table. They had the opportunity to be the adults in the room and pretty much failed.

As I type this, it’s 11:36 PM in Washington, and this is what the GOP leadership just issued:

“It’s regular order,” a House Republican leadership aide said. “It means we’re the reasonable, responsible actors trying to keep the process alive as the clock ticks past midnight, despite Washington Democrats’ refusal – thus far – to negotiate.”

Sure. And I’m Madame Defarge. 

Did you know you can’t accuse someone of treason during peace time? Well, we have one open front and one potential front. Oh, yeah, and then there’s Iraq that we’re supposed to be out if. Here’s the legal definition of treason:

Under Article III, Section 3, of the Constitution, any person who levies war against the United States or adheres to its enemies by giving them Aid and Comfort has committed treason within the meaning of the Constitution. The term aid and comfort refers to any act that manifests a betrayal of allegiance to the United States…. If a subversive act has any tendency to weaken the power of the United States to attack or resist its enemies, aid and comfort has been given.

So, gentle readers, you tell me: Is Speaker Boehner and his minions committing treason? A rose by any other name……
  
Wifely Person’s Tip o’the Week

CNN posted a poll today that showed Congress’s approval rating at 10%.
This means 90% of We, the People, think they’re doing a lousy job.
Someone really ought to tell them we’re on to them.



18 comments:

  1. Separated at birth: Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz and Eustace Charleston Haney (Mr Haney from Green Acres) as played by Maxwell Emmett "Pat" Buttram.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY3ncbgbUYk

    ReplyDelete
  2. As I said, if ACA were that bad, Sen. Cruz could have spent 20hours explaining why it is so bad instead of reading a children's book.

    So why aren't we all in the streets?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just wanna shake the hand of whomever gave him that book to read. It was priceless.

      Delete
  3. Do the Repubs really think they get credit for collaboration by setting a vote to go to conference an hour after they shut DC down? As were pointed out by Dems many times on C-SPAN tonight (I think I made my wife want to go to bed early), they've been trying to get the House to conference on budget issues since March. None other than none-VP Ryan admitted this summer that there was no point in going to conference earlier because they didn't have sufficient leverage. Yep, our economy and full faith and credit are just that the the Rs - leverage.
    We live in a democracy (government by the people; especially rule of the majority). That means the elections of 2012 have consequences and you can't force the Romney/Ryan platform down our throat.
    They now want to compromise (a way of reaching agreement in which each person or group gives up something that was wanted in order to end an argument or dispute). Why in the world would President Obama give the Rs everything they want in exchange for something THE ENTIRE WORLD WANTS? They don't want compromise, they want a ransom (a consideration paid or demanded for the release of someone or something from captivity). I'm pretty sure good ol' GWB regularly made clear that we don't negotiate with terrorists and I've seen enough movies to know you never pay the ransom.
    I'm glad to see President Obama saying "no negotiations" and it's nice to see President Bubba has his back. If he gives, no election will ever matter. No law will ever be safe. No principle will ever be protected. And no sense will ever be made of our government again.
    Yes, the Rs hate Obama. And yes, they are scared the ACA is going to be a success, despite every attempt to kill the bill (even though it hasn't been a bill for YEARS). I think the Dems and the media need to stop with "Obamacare" and at least say the "Affordable Care Act" if not "Public Law 111-148." This isn't a game, it's the law. It's not a notion, an idea, or a campaign promise. There is no reason to compromise - I'm pretty sure what was enacted in 2010 was a compromise, so why should the Rs get another shot at a better deal?
    The biggest problem is messaging. While Dems try to govern, Rs try to set things up for a good sound bite. I often think the Rs have a better system of getting the word out (lies and half-truths are technically words) than the Dems. This was clear when Faux News(!) found that 9% more people like the ACA than Obamacare. Tonight was entirely pointless posturing by the Rs and they are going to spend the rest of the week pounding the Dems with these set ups. They aren't right, but they are convincing to the unsophisticated man on the street. Ideas on how we can get the truth to the masses because apparently the liberal media(?!?!?!) isn't doing the job?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think the Dems and the media need to stop with "Obamacare" and at least say the "Affordable Care Act" if not "Public Law 111-148." This isn't a game, it's the law.

    ----

    "I don't need health care, I'm fine"
    -"You do need it, it's the law".
    "I can't afford it"
    -"It's the law! Break the law and you're a criminal."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I happen to agree with you...but even the President has referred to it as Obamacare, so I'm kinda on the fence....but actively thinking about this.

      Delete
  5. It's already ILLEGAL that obama changed the ACA law by giving corporations a 'year off' on the mandate. Funny how he's not very good at his job and yet continues to try to do 'other's jobs'. So why won't the senate budge when it comes to delaying the individual mandate and ask congressional workers to join the ACA debacle? Why such unfairness? I'm so tired of republicans and democrats. They are one and the same. This is nothing but a hoodwink, and we the people are the losers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How is it illegal? It is proper exercise of executive function, which part of democratic government in our three-branch system.
      Obama could have sold the program better. He's not the best at messaging. To me that says he's a Democrat, he wants to believe people will do what's best for all the people of the U.S. and not just look to their wallet and nut-job base.
      The individual mandate and the employer mandate are entirely different. The vast majority of business already offer insurance to their employees and that is not going to change. The individual mandate is the means to fill the hole in coverage that currently has over millions of Americans without health insurance.
      "Ask congressional workers to join"? Congress and congressional staffers are the ONLY employees of large businesses that are part of the exchanges. Special rules had to be put in place to make the ACA exchanges work for them. So why are those people in the exchanges? Because the Repubs tried to get a talking point and the Dems called their bluff. Those who are not rabidly opposed to the President and the ACA are willing to buy policies from the exchanges; Repubs did not expect that. Now they are running fair.
      Dems and Repubs are both to blame on a lot of things. This is not one of them. We live in a democracy, at least I still believe that. If the President and the Dems decide to negotiate with the terroristic threats of the Right-wingers, we may have to rewrite our American government textbooks. I don't what we'd call that new method of governance, but democracy is not the word. Chroni-Extortio-BS has a nice ring to it.

      Delete
    2. Chroni-Extortio-BS. Hmmmm. I could use a phrase like that. But I woulda spelled it Croney-Extortio-BS. Just a thought.

      Delete
    3. Your spelling is much better...

      Delete
  6. So, gentle readers, you tell me: Is Speaker Boehner and his minions committing treason?

    Yes, starting on May 2, 2011

    ReplyDelete
  7. If not treason, he is definitely guilty of malfeasance. Like anyone who is responsible for the care of funds not his, he has a fiduciary responsibility to the American people to authorize proper payment of our bills or risk destroying our good credit.

    ReplyDelete
  8. We, the people, mostly try to be fair, to see things from both sides. But this time, I cannot agree that the Democrats did not act as the adults in the room. They tried. For months they tried. The President bent over backwards and forwards attempting to show a willingness to negotiate. They tried. But there is no moving those set on having their way regardless of who they hurt. Democrats have no choice now, but to stand firm and wait for Republicans to grow up or the 2014 elections, whichever comes first.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't understand why making affordable healthcare available to every single American is such a divisive issue. How is that an entitlement? The name of the law if the Affordable Care Act not the EVERYONE GETS SOMETHING FOR FREE act - affordable and available... seems like that's something Republicans and Democrats should both want for all of their constituents.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wrong strategy for the GOP?
    Shut down the government for you & me?
    Why not let the Dem's Obamacare prevail
    If you're so sure it's gonna fail?
    Then thump your chests when all admit
    That we should repeal it lickety split!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Poetry time! What fun...

    The GOP is split
    Between Cruz the twit
    and the few that have any wit.

    Boehner just can't decide
    Which one of the horses to ride
    So he sits in the middle
    and plays with his piddle
    while all of the moderates hide.

    The economy is sure to head down
    Because of that orange-hued lead clown
    They call him the speaker
    But could he be weaker?
    He's the quietest "leader" in town!

    Despite all the fed jobs at stake
    There's one step Obama can't take
    He must hold his ground
    Gladly allies he's found
    As the principles of democracy are at stake.

    Hannity, O'Reilly and Rush
    Have Cruz as their biggest man crush
    They follow his ways
    As if in a daze
    Though the rest of us wish that they'd hush

    Right wing, left wing
    Whatever makes your heart sing
    Believe what you will
    But remember this still
    Votes and elections mean something

    Healthcare
    Sounds fair
    Despite the spin
    Their reason is thin
    Why is reason so rare

    Okay, my wife tells me I'm getting way to into this...

    ReplyDelete
  12. Isn't terrorism the more apt description - when you take a nation hostage to your ideology?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ted Cruz: Wrecking Ball
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juOhHFRF2Dk#t=32
    ROFLMAO

    ReplyDelete