A History of "Death Panels" -- part 1

Another comment about the so-called "death panels" which right wingers are (falsely and absurdly) claiming is in the health care legislation currently winding it's way thru Congress.

These people that are screaming the loudest about health care reform are on the lowest part of the knowledge bell curve when it comes to having a coherent understanding of what Obama's health care reforms are all about. They don't even realize that grandma and grandpa have been for some time, and still are, being sentenced to early, unnecessary death -- not by Obama and evil socialist libruls -- but by health care insurance company bean counters.

Only they don't call them "death panels" in the health insurance industry -- they have a much more innocuous sounding name for it --- RESCISSION. Familiarize yourself with that word and how it applies to health insurance - if you dare.

Here's links to a few articles which details what has been happening and is happening today when grandma or grandpa (or even baby dumpling) have pre-existing medical conditions, expensive illnesses or have already racked up too many health-related bills.


http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/17/business/fi-rescind17

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/18/business/fi-rescind18

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/19/begala.health.care/index.html

http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/12/magazines/moneymag/insurance_rescission.moneymag/index.htm


Obama's reform intends to end this abominable practice. If you're against that, I honestly cannot fathom how you can be of the belief that your position on this important issue is worthy of any modicum of credibility, much less respect.


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Americans and their penchant for picking the wrong target to attack . . .

Too bad the wingnuts are so blinded with fear and hatred of the skinny mulatto Democrat in the White House that they fail to see the true villains at the heart of America's economic meltdown:

The Wall Street Robber Barons and Bankers.

All that pent up rage being wasted -- what a shame. I wonder what the results might be if the screaming maniacs were to aim all that vitriol and hate at the crooks who've been stealing everyone blind the past decade and continue to do so today?


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Alaska's elderly and disabled - - already have been facing "death panels" . . .

Hmmmmmm -- refresh my memory --- what's the name of that person, who until they recently resigned, was the great state of Alaska's Chief Executive?

IN-HOME CARE: Lawsuits, huge case backlog prompt moratorium on applications.

State programs intended to help disabled and elderly Alaskans with daily life -- taking a bath, eating dinner, getting to the bathroom -- are so poorly managed, the state cannot assure the health and well-being of the people they are supposed to serve, a new federal review found.

The situation is so bad the federal government has forbidden the state to sign up new people until the state makes necessary improvements.

No other state in the nation is under such a moratorium, according to a spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

In the meantime, frail and vulnerable Alaskans who desperately need the help are struggling. One elderly woman is stuck in a nursing home, for lack of care at home. Another woman, suffering from chronic pain and fatigue, said she's so weak, she often can't even pop dinner into the microwave.

The moratorium is expected to last four or five months. State officials estimate about 1,000 Alaskans will be affected.

A particularly alarming finding concerns deaths of adults in the programs. In one 2 1/2 year stretch, 227 adults already getting services died while waiting for a nurse to reassess their needs. Another 27 died waiting for their initial assessment, to see if they qualified for help.

What more is there to say about it?



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The Beckster - - Lead conductor of The Crazy Train

Play both videos simultaneously to get the full effect.





Glenn Beck is going off the rails on The Crazy Train . . . .






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Tea-Bagger e-mails suggest inciting "riot" for upcoming Dem Town Hall event . . .

More proof that the mob scenes taking place at (almost exclusively) Democratic sponsored Town Hall events really have little, if anything, to do with average citizens exercising their constitutional rights to civil public debate and having an in-person opportunity to request an accounting from their duly elected representative. It's already been reported in several venues that most of the shouters and protesters at these meetings are not even residents of the districts where they are disrupting the debate. That speaks volumes.

It's really all about bullying to these people -- bullying and denying fellow Americans the chance to have their voices heard through intimidation and threats of physical violence. The leaked e-mails referenced in this article demonstrate that this is solely what it's all about for the "anti-healthcare reform" mobs.

If I've asked the question once, I've asked it a hundred times these past several years on this blog -- Why Do Right Wingers Hate Democracy?


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Vacation M-Vloggin - - with Pink Floyd and Brain Damage/Eclipse

After all of the recent right-wing insanity, I can't think of a better named song to play right now (except maybe Ozzy's 'Crazy Train' - lol). Anyhow, this one is dedicated to "The Birthers", "The Deathers", the gun goons, the rent-a-mobs and especially, dear, dear demented Sarah Palin. Enjoy.





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"Send them home with a bullet to the head" . . . An apt metaphor for everything American conservatism stands for these days

Here's a thought that will likely cause a few of my conservative acquaintances to spurt Budweiser out their noses.

I gotta tell ya -- having been married into a Latino family for 20+ years, living in Southern California for just as long, and by virtue of both, pretty much having spent half of my adult life in and around Latinos both legal and illegal, I have no shame whatsoever in saying I'd rather have 20 million illegal Latinos in this country than 20 million of the fat, obnoxious, ignorant, and hateful fucks like the "good American" shown exercising his free speech rights in this video.

Yep -- no shame at all in saying that.


[Video from outside President Obama's Health Care Town Hall meeting in New Hampshire Aug. 11, 2009]




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Creepshow - - The Sequel . . .

Chris Matthews: "Well, why did you bring a gun to a Presidential event today?"

Chris - I'll save you the time and effort of trying to get a sensible answer to that very important question - and I'll preface it by stating that the answer has absolutely nothing to do with the myriad interpretations of the 2nd Amendment.

The truth and crux of this specific matter simply is this: Right-wing rubes like this Wyatt Earp wannabe are, quite frankly, woefully incapable of civilly articulating their positions on any subject of complexity and substance - - such as the health care debate. And so, to make up for their intellectual and social shortcomings, and (I believe in cases such as this one - their small penises), the ass-hats like this dullard instinctively regress psychologically into the cocoon of their neanderthal, lizard-brain nature, pound their chests with fury, bellow loudly, bully more passive individuals and employ macho imagery related to the use of weaponry and acts of violence - all in a bestial attempt to express their views and feel good about themselves (and become sexually stimulated).

Now -- setting aside my thorough and on-the-money psychoanalysis of why Yosemite Sam here thought it was a wonderful idea to come strapped with heat to a Presidential speech about Health Care -- I have to say -- something else is really gnawing at me -- and I think it's the fact that these people are truly beginning to fucking creep me out.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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Vacation M-Vloggin - - with The Beatles/Revolution

Topical song title for the events going on in America today. Take that to mean anything you wish.






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Lou Dobb's Credibility - - R. I. P.

I'm honestly perplexed as to what in the fuck has happened to CNN's Lou Dobbs.

For years he was probably one of the most staid, matter of fact, tell it like it is news anchors on television. He wasn't very exciting, but you could always count on getting straightforward news from Lou without the attitude and personal advocacy. Then something dark and terrible happened to him.

I think, personally, that somebody in the past year or so has been incrementally spiking Lou's daily regimen of Prune Juice and Geritol with double shots of right-wing kool-aid. Yep -- that has to be it. That is the only possible explanation for Lou's impressive, gyrating descent into the nether regions of conservative Cuckooville. It's a credibility and integrity death spiral of such harrowing spectacularity that one has to stand in muted reverence of it.

See/hear for yourself:





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Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some are beginning to abuse the privilege. . .

Listen -- I understand that Fox (for whatever reason) feels the need to play the media role of the deranged Uncle living in the basement. However, in order to bolster that image of their network, do they seriously feel compelled to showcase actual mentally disturbed people on their "news" shows as "spokespeople" for their political causes? Really??

Well -- considering what's transpired the past few weeks what with the right claiming Obama was born in Kenya, and health care reform is going to make soylent green crackers out of grampa, grandma and baby Dumpling, "death panels", etc. -- is it any wonder then that the natural progression of such idiocy now has some clown going on national teevee claiming that Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Steny Hoyer sent thugs to his house in the middle of the night to threaten his children's lives? Holy Fuck! Somebody needs to start coordinating a headcount of America's insane asylums man. It's obvious our big national village is missing a whole lot of it's idiots.

Frank Zappa was right when he stated, "There is more stupidity around than hydrogen and it has longer shelf life."







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The "Ugly Americans" are getting uglier by the day . . .

Sometimes there's nothing left to do but stand in slack-jawed awe of right wing conservative's ability to kick the level of pubescent charlatanism up even more notches. This one's worth reprinting in it's entirety. [ LINK ]

GLADNEY THE UNINSURED ACTIVIST.... Over the last few days, a conservative activist in St. Louis named Kenneth Gladney seems to have become something of a cause celebre in far-right circles. Depending on which version of events you choose to believe, Gladney either initiated or was involved in a scuffle at a town-hall event late last week.

At least one prominent conservative blogger said Gladney was "brutally attacked" by SEIU members outside the event. After watching the video, there's ample reason for skepticism. Gladney was, in fact, pulled to the ground during the fracas, but he seemed to bounce back up quickly, and is seen walking around soon after without any obvious injuries. His attorney has argued that Gladney was beaten during the fight, but there's nothing in the clip to support that.

Gladney later went to the hospital, claiming to have sustained injuries to his "knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face."

Yesterday, about 200 conservative activists held a protest outside the SEIU office in St. Louis. Gladney was there -- bandaged and in a wheelchair -- as a featured guest. Some of the activists held signs that read, "Don't Tread on Kenny." Reader R.D. alerted me to this tidbit in the local news account of the protest:

Gladney did not address Saturday's crowd of about 200 people. His attorney, David Brown, however, read a prepared statement Gladney wrote. "A few nights ago there was an assault on my liberty, and on yours, too." Brown read. "This should never happen in this country."

Supporters cheered. Brown finished by telling the crowd that Gladney is accepting donations toward his medical expenses. Gladney told reporters he was recently laid off and has no health insurance. [emphasis added]

Wait, the conservative opponent of health care reform, fighting (literally) to defeat a plan that would bring coverage to those who lose their jobs, lost his coverage because he got laid off?

I'm not in a position to say whether Gladney sustained genuine injuries or whether he's exaggerating for 15 minutes of Fox News fame and a lucrative out-of-court settlement.

Either way, the new right-wing cause celebre needs to take up a collection to pay for his medical bills because he doesn't have health insurance. It's a fascinating sign of the times.

While there's no arguing the fact that passions are elevated on both sides of the fence in the health care debate, it's also glaringly obvious that the the people who are predominantly responsible for dragging the maturity level of the discourse down to the high school, competing clique level are the hard-core right wingers -- egged on by Beck, Palin, Limbaugh, Hannity and Fox Noize.

I say "glaringly obvious" because I'm still waiting for someone to show me the videos of non-right wingers storming Republican sponsored Town Hall meetings, elbowing and bulling their way into the meetings, then shouting down speakers and questioners and purposefully denying their fellow citizens a chance to present their points of view.

And now this clownishness.

What with Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich spreading falsehoods that provisions in the health care legislation are advocating for euthanasia of the elderly and handicapped babies, and Rush Limbaugh comparing Obama to Hitler and the extermination of the Jews, not only (as the article writer states) is this pathetic Kenneth Gladney incident "...a fascinating sign of the times," it's also a wide-open window onto the freak show that right wing politics has evolved in to.





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