Hello and welcome to our Sunday evening open thread.
I managed to avoid the Democratic Convention (mostly) - sadly, my Facebook page was positively spammed by enthusiastic pseudo-live-blogging Obama fans who trod dangerously close to getting themselves unfriended by the time it was all over. These are intelligent people who I would have thought would have been too smart to be taken in by propaganda and cheerleading, but apparently not so much. I think the final straw for me was a post from someone who I know is really struggling financially, applauding Michelle Obama for "only" spending $400 on her Convention speech dress (vs, apparently, Ann Romney's $2,000 outfit). This, from someone who could no more afford to spend $400 on a dress than she could flap her arms and fly to the moon. I mean, seriously. $400 on a dress? How many average Americans can afford that? It might as well have been two grand as far as most of us are concerned. Yeah, Mitt Romney is waaaay richer than Barack Obama. Romney is a one-percenter; Obama may 'only' be a two-percenter or a three-percenter, depending on which estimate of his net worth you use and how you calculate that one percent. Still. Obama is not one of "the rest of" us. Those who think he is, and who think that his interests and priorities align with ours, are suffering from a really bad case of wishful thinking.
Some highlights/lowlights from the week that was:
Religious intolerance run amuck in Pakistan forces a fourteen year old, mentally disabled girl into hiding.
Canada has severed diplomatic relations with Iran.
Sectarian violence in Iraq as its fugitive Vice President gets the death sentence.
Big Brother is definitely watching you: US Government surveillance of its citizens is still happening, and it's escalating.
Personally, I think she should get an award for creativity: A potty-mouthed cockatoo has landed his owner in legal hot water. The woman has allegedly trained her bird to hurl curses at her next-door neighbors - who just happen to be her ex-husband and his new girlfriend.
This one's not safe for the kiddies: Minnesota Viking punter Chris Kluwe schools a Maryland politician on gay marriage after said politician asked the owner of the Baltimore Ravens to muzzle a player who spoke out in favor of marriage equality. For those like me who have an epicure's appreciation for the articulate and creative use of profanity, this is a thing of beauty.
How was your week?
Comments
I'm glad this week is over.
I agree that the owner of the cockatoo should get an award for creativity.
On the same page as that was a link to an article that Tom Brokaw felt lightheaded, so he went to the hospital. I wish him well, but fcol, light-headedness calls for a trip to the hospital?
He says he "took an Ambien." pfft
I guess when you're worth 70 million, you DO get the best healthcare in the world.
I know for a fact that people without health insurance who suffer chest pains do NOT go to the hospital -- they wait it out. Sometimes they're lucky.
I'm sorry for being so negative, but I'm so fed up with reading story after story of wealthy people, be they worth just a million or many millions or billions, being able to get the best medical treatment for symptoms that millions of people don't seek treatment for because they can't afford the bill.
And don't even get me started on Congress people who have catastrophic illnesses and easily manage platinum healthcare and months and months paid leave from work. Then they turn around and oppose single payer.
Sorry for the vinegar here, but I meant every word.
I wish everyone well, and I wish everyone the same chance at getting well.
HeeHee
Yeah me too.
For anyone that missed it
Bill Moyers Full Show: Challenging Power, Changing Politics
Foot-ball. Rah rah.
Wait a minute ...
... are you seriously trying to tell me that an effort led from a White House occupied by the leader of the Hedge Fund wind of the Democratic party is not going to be prosecuting the industry it represents?
Well, that is a surprise.
Link
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/08/criminal-charges-wall-street_n_...
How do people know how bad a Romney presidency would be?
Did they know how bad an Obama presidency would be?
Not for sure ...
... but a majority of what Obama promised is what he did.
So reading the details of what he promised and ignoring the rhetoric would give a reasonably good idea of how bad the Obama presidency would be. It ended up worse on civil liberties for most people, but other than that its mostly been as promised: neoliberal economics, corporate wealth agreements, shutting down the "dumb" war and doubling down on the "war of necessity", "clean coal" ... it is mostly what Obama's more progressive opponents in the primary campaign season were saying it would be.
Indeed, AFAIR, in the ideological ranking in the Senate, his score and Senator Clinton's score were identical, so the primary season quite quickly came down to which Clintonian Hedge Fund Democrat was going to be the Democratic party candidate.
For some reason people like to imagine that its a personal decision they are making, but what we are doing is picking between two different factions of the corporate party. Anybody on either the right or the left that pretends its a choice between a "conservative" candidate and a "progressive" candidate is just deluding themselves.
Well put.
I suppose let's just get it over with and move on to whatever's next. Austerity and more war.
pretty clear the eligibility age will rise
I note that Obama is being very specific in how he phrases this. Rather than say SS and Medicare will be untouched he says he won't allow them to become voucher programs. This gives him plenty of room to "save" them by "compromising" so that they kick in when people turn 70.
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