Remember former UK Prime Minister, known worldwide as "Bush's Poodle" for going along with the war on Iraq and yipping in favor of it? He's been making some money (Scotsman 3/20/10 - Hat Tip Ten Percent)

It finally emerged this week that Mr Blair had been paid for advising UI Energy, a South Korean oil firm with extensive interests in the US and Iraq.

...

It also disclosed Mr Blair had been acting as a "governance adviser" to the Kuwaiti government since June 2008 in a deal reportedly worth £1 million.

Mr Blair's spokesman was quoted as saying the agreement with UI Energy related to a "one-off piece of advice" and was not related to Iraq.

The last paragraph from the quoted text should be worth a giggle or two.

After all, we know that the Iraq War had nothing to do with oil. It couldn't. It just couldn't. I'll let The Church Lady respond to this news.



Tony Blair is the world's wealthiest poodle.

Photo: World Economic Forum

 

Well, you've done it. You've told innumerable lies, taken and spread tons of HMO and health insurance money, and you've gotten a heinous attack on the middle class, the poor, and the elderly through Congress.

Now's your chance to sadistically gloat at the millions of Americans you are getting fined for not being able to afford astronomical and rising premiums. You'll have to wait until the fines go into affect to see the skyrocketing premiums your HMO and health insurer buddies will get to increase at will. But, I doubt you will mind that as long as you keep collecting their big money campaign contributions, contributions that ultimately will be paid for by the subsidies you have placed in effect for your wealthy industry donors.

Considering that you are such a batshit crazy misogynist (and homophobe) that you involved Rick Warren in the inauguration, it's no wonder that you are getting to gloat over woman hating and unpatriotic restrictions on abortion. Just as you have shown with your efforts to expand Bush's hate based initiatives, you are in bed politically with anti American Christian fundamentalists who want to replace our form of government with a Taliban style theocracy.

Watching the Republicans pretending to be against your wealthcare bill for the rich would be comical if the consequences of this legislation weren't so deadly. They make the most bizarre and weak arguments against it when a campaign against the fines for the uninsured would have easily made passage a political impossibility. After all, they are just as bought by the HMOs and health insurers as you are, the same interests that wrote the bill. They aren't going to do anything to actually defeat this monstrosity. Politics has become as transparently fake as professional wrestling.

You are just as much of a corrupt, rightist Republican as Bush, Cheney, the Clintons, or John "Keating Five" McCain. You have proven you are just as much of a pathological liar as Karl Rove or Bill Clinton.

You have governed exactly as McCain or Hillary Clinton would have. All that talk about "change" was the same talk we got from another rightist piece of shit: Bill Clinton. You may be able to bullshit a lot of liberals who are deeply in denial about what this wealthcare legislation actually does, but you can't fool all of us. You are just as persuasive argument for the Green Party as Bill Clinton, Ben Nelson, Bart Stupak, and Blanche Lincoln.

 

There's a serious message in this profile of the former WWE CEO/Diva



The stats at the end are a bit skewed, since they focused on rich people who spent a half a million or more on their campaigns. If they focused on rich people who spend $ten million or more, the results would have been more favorable.

For pure comedy value, here's a WWE video with Linda and her freakish family.



 

I'm not sure this one is for real, but I do know it would work.


This one is for real.


The scumbags at CBS and Fox banned this one.


You would think HIV would be more than enough reason for condom use, but whatever it takes.

 

This just in from Cindy Sheehan:

March 20th, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On Monday, March 15th, Camp OUT NOW, a Peace Camp erected by US Citizens on the lawn of the Washington Monument, was denied by the National Park Service its legal rights (based on National Park Service regulation 7.96) to erect temporary tents.

According to case law, tents are able to be erected as long as there is no sleeping—the Park Service forced the campers to take down the tents Monday afternoon immediately after they were set-up.

“On the 7th anniversary of an illegal war that has killed over a million people and in the shadow of the government that commits crimes on a daily basis, we will claim our legal rights to establishment an anti-war camp, and we expect to do so unmolested by law enforcement,” said Cindy Sheehan, National Director of Peace of the Action.

Peace of the Action is inviting all concerned citizens to join us at Camp this evening to help us fight the arbitrary enforcement of national law.

The action will take place Saturday night, March 20th beginning at 8pm.

Our government really is trudging its way towards dictatorship.

All of Barack Obama's campaign rhetoric about "change" is starting to seem like a sarcastic performance art piece.

Photo: bastique

 

Today is the worst day of the year. It's the seventh anniversary of the beginning of the war on Iraq, a war that has cost the people of that country over 1.3 million lives. It's cost us hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars. Over 4000 of our troops have been killed in an effort to keep Iraq under the dominion of international oil corporations, arms merchants, and mercenary corporations.

Remember when Barack Obama was running for president. In the primaries, he made opposition to the Iraq War. When the President began his tenure in office, he announced a phased withdrawal. What's actually happened?

We have fewer regular troops in Iraq now, but the increase in the presence of mercenaries paid by "our" government more than makes up for their numbers. The killing goes on. The rigged elections go on. The profits for war profiteers go on, and on, and on.

Where are the "Democrats" on this? Why haven't they cut off funding for this illegal and unAmerican war? Does it matter who we vote for?

This war is one of the main reasons why the Great Recession has been so long and so deep. Economic deprivation is the main reason why the Democrats are doing so badly in the polls. Yet, Democrats won't do anything to stop this war.

This is insanity.

 

With the heinous HMO/health insurer wealthcare bill being fought over in Congress and the court of public opinion, I've been too busy to mention one of the most dangerous decisions President Obama has made thus far.

He has decided to give billions of dollars in federal loan guarantees to build two nuclear power plants in Georgia. Nuclear power needs enormous government bailouts like this because the plants are so incredibly dangerous that no private insurer will go anywhere near them.

Aside from the financial risks to the taxpayers, there are enormous risks to human life in building the plants. Contrary to industry propaganda, all nuclear plants are vulnerable targets to terrorist attacks that could cause disasters as bad or worse than Chernobyl.

Why did Obama do this? Follow the money. From ABC News 2/24/10:

The president has had strong support from the industry. Executives at the Illinois-based utility Exelon -- a leader in the nuclear energy field -- contributed at least $227,000 to Mr. Obama's campaigns for the United States Senate and for president, according to a review by The New York Times, which noted that two top Exelon officials, Frank M. Clark, executive vice president, and John W. Rogers Jr., a director, were among Obama's largest fund-raisers.

The Greens, and anyone else with half a brain, are furious. Here's the start of their 2/18/10 press release on the subject.

WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders and candidates are calling President Obama's resurrection of nuclear power with a multi-billion-dollar taxpayer-funded subsidy for a Georgia plant his "worst idea yet" and warned about serious public health threats posed by mining, waste transportation, and waste storage. The Green Party disputes the myths that nuclear power is 'green energy' or a solution to the advance of climate change.

"The twin nuclear reactors in Burke County, Georgia, would be financed with $5.4 billion in loans from the Federal Financing Bank with money of the US Treasury. According to the GAO, this investment has a 50/50 percent or worse chance of failing. President Obama wants taxpayers to assume 80% of the financial risk to turn the southeast Atlantic states into a big open-pit radioactive barbeque. This investment is a terrible idea -- President Obama's worst yet," said Lisa Green, Green candidate for California Assembly Candidate, 53rd Assembly District (http://www.votelisagreen.net).

"If built, the plant will be a financial disaster because of high construction expenses and likely cost overruns, compared with other sources of electrical power. As the first of a new generation of nuclear power plants, it'll carry huge technical risks. Even more ominous is the problem of mining, waste storage, and waste transportation through populated areas, which carry huge public health dangers," added Ms. Green.

Read More...

Barack Bush strikes again!

Photo: jurvetson

 

As regular readers of this blog know, I've had a lot of fun with former WWE CEO/Diva Linda McMahon's efforts to buy the Connecticut Senate seat up for election this year. However, I admit that her background in WWE fakery will do her well if she is able to complete that purchase in November.

An extreme example of this GOP faking is in its mock opposition to the wealthcare bill for the HMOs and health insurers. Let's look at why the Goppers love, love, love the legislation.

The Wealthcare Bill Is Epitome GOP Policy Goals
Think about what this legislation does. It takes medical care and money away from the poor and much of the middle class in order to give a ton of money to big corporations, their executives, and their shareholders. Reverse Robin Hood economics has been the main policy priority of the Republican Party for generations.

The Legislation Screws Over Core Democratic Constituencies
Think of who this legislation screws over: the poor, the middle class, the elderly, union members, liberals, moderates, progressives, and women. The GOP hates all those groups of people, and usually has to rip those people off itself. Even better from the perspective of the rogue elephants, passage of this legislation will lower turnout of all those constituencies, producing an electorate that is skewed in their favor.

This Will Hurt the Democrats Repeatedly
Passage of this legislation won't be a one time hit against the Democrats. It will bite them in the butt so often. The series of betrayals during the legislative process has hurt the party of the corrupt jackass by alienating liberals and grassroots activists. The next step will be when Democratic voters find out the predicted levels of premiums they will have to pay in order to avoid heavy fines, not that they will be able to afford the fines either. That will be a huge hit.

When union members' contracts expire, they will be zapped next with much higher premiums and copays and much less care. That will alienate people who belong to unions but who have not followed the issue very closely.

Then, there is the big hit that happens when the mandates actually go into effect. Using government coercion to force people to subsidize the HMOs and health insurers will make it possible for them to jack already astronomical premiums much higher. If the government tries to enforce the weak restrictions on increases in the wealthcare bill, the corporations will concoct a phony "insurance crisis," and those restrictions will be repealed. (This is precisely what happened when auto insurance was made mandatory in California.) It will be corporate profits galore and much more suffering for most people in our country. This is electoral and policy bliss for the Goppers.

The Charade Goes On
This is why the Goppers are making the weakest and weirdest arguments against the bill instead of focusing on the mandates. If they made the mandates the issue, they would have created so much public rage that this bill would have died its well deserved death months ago.

Instead, it's fake punches and a lot of noise from the Goppers. This is the strategy of a party that wants legislation to pass, but wants its opponents to pay for it politically.

But, if you really so partisan that you refuse to engage your critical thinking skills, go ahead and buy the metaphorical bodies going through pre sawed tables routine. If you buy the GOP's antics, you are just as naive and silly as somebody who says that the WWE isn't fake.

Photo: LINXBAS

 

For the longest time, I thought the following three things were true about Dennis Kucinich.

1) Kucinich was liberal.

2) Kucinich had the highest degree of integrity.

3) Kucinich cared about the middle class and the poor.

I admit that I was completely and absolutely wrong. None of that ever had a shread of truth to it. He made that completely clear when he announced today that he would vote for the HMO/health insurer wealthcare bill. In a previous posting, I specified what this bill would actually do, which is what Kucinich is actually voting for.

1) Fines people for not being able to afford health insurance.

2) Makes it possible for the HMOs and health insurance companies to add astronomical premium hikes to already sky high rates.

3) Cuts life saving care for people on Medicare.

4) Puts into place unconscionable restrictions on abortion. (Yes, I know the Stupak restrictions are even worse, but that's still no excuse.)

5) Creates tax penalties for employers that provide mediocre health plans instead of terrible ones. (The mediocre plans are what the corporate media refer to as "Cadillac Care.")

6) Shovels a lot more of our nation's wealth in the direction of the HMOs and health insurers and away from the middle class and the poor.

I've taken the link to the Kucinich campaign off of my blog. I've unsubscribed from Kucinich's email list. Obviously, I won't be making any more campaign contributions, though Kucinich won't care. The enormous amount of HMO/health insurer money we all know Obama promised Kucinich on Air Force One will completely overshaddow the modest contributions a middle class person like myself can afford to give.

The sad reality is that Kucinich is just as much of a bought politician as Obama, Kantor, Pelosi, Reid, the Clintons, Scott Brown, or any of a number of sleazebags in Washington. He only pretends he is different in order to manipulate liberals and progressives.

Some of Kucinich's progressive critics have accused him of being a gatekeeper who blocks access to real dissent by the left against the Demopublican Party. Of course, Kucinich is acting just as much as a gatekeeper blocking dissent from centrists. The Public Option, which Kucinich betrayed is not a liberal position. It is a wishy washy moderate compromise. But, even that had to be sacrificed to grab the HMO/health insurer big bucks.

Fuck you Dennis Kucinich and the HMO powered, mechanical jackass you rode in on. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

I never will be fooled by you again.

 

Barack Obama is a politician. Nearly all politicians lie. They do it rather often too.

One of President Obama's biggest whoppers in a December 2009 Washington Post interview when he said:

I didn't campaign on the public option.

Obama was repeating the White House spin on the subject. That talking point was already proven false on 9/10/09 by Jane Hamsher of Firedog Lake, who has been one of the most tenacious supporters for healthcare reform that actually includes reform.

Hamsher did the kind of real research that corporate media "reporters" seldom bother with. She actually looked at "Barack Obama's Plan for a Healthy America." This was part of the Obama campaign website which told us the specifics of his healthcare policies. Those of us who were trying to decide whether or not to support him in the primaries used this as a critical aspect of evaluating the candidate.

Here it is on Page 2, at the top (bolding mine to save you time).

The Obama plan both builds upon and improves our current insurance system, upon which most Americans continue to rely, and leaves Medicare intact for older and disabled Americans. The Obama plan also addresses the large gaps in coverage that leave 45 million Americans uninsured. Specifically, the Obama plan will: (1) establish a new public insurance program available to Americans who neither qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP nor have access to insurance through their employers, as well as to small businesses that want to offer insurance to their employees; (2) make available the National Health Insurance Exchange to help Americans and businesses that want to purchase private health insurance directly; (3) require all employers to contribute towards health coverage for their employees; (4) mandate all children have health carecoverage; (5) expand Medicaid and SCHIP to cover more of the least well-off among us; and (6) allow state flexibility for state health reform plans.

If you go through the document, you will find this public plan referenced in several other places.

It should also be noted that, in response to a candidate questionnaire from the Washington Post, he said that his plan included "a public health plan." (Hat Tip: Think Progress)

Why am I bothering to debunk a lie Obama told a few months ago? I keep seeing it as a talking point in blogs where people defending Obama whip it out without realizing that it already has been proven false.

When President Obama lied about not campaigning on the Public Option, he was being just as dishonest as Sarah Palin was when she made shit up about death panels.

 

The teabagger movement is largely fake. It's mostly orchestrated by wealthy and corporate interests. One of the most powerful set of interests in that area is the Bush Family.

I've wondered why the teabaggers are so angry at a rightist nutjob like Crist. This may be the answer. From the St. Petersburg Times 3/14/10:

There's been a lot of speculation about when Jeb Bush will finally make his preference official and endorse Marco Rubio for the Senate.

But it strikes us that Rubio is better served for now with the popular ex-governor continuing with his current role: ostensibly neutral and taking increasingly tough shots at Charlie Crist from the sidelines.

Compared to the vast majority of Americans, Crist is pretty far right. However, for a Gopper, he's relatively non psycho (emphasis on "relatively"). That makes winning a Gopper Senate primary tough, but it would make him a potential GOP presidential candidate if he does.

That's the last thing Jeb Bush wants. The Bush's see the White House as their favorite vacation home, and it's Jeb's turn next. So, it's hardly surprising that he wants the next Florida Senator to be a circus sideshow, not a serious contender for nationwide office. When it comes to wingnuts, Marco Rubio sure fits the bill. As the Church Lady was famous for saying:

"How Convenient!"

The object lesson of this is never get in the way of the Bush Family. Remember what happened to John "Keating Five" McCain in 2000?

Photo: Skirsner