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Please take a moment to go here to send a note to President Obama and your representatives in Congress urging them to support the repealing of the unconstitutional and discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act. It takes no time at all. Thank you!
What do I think about Obama’s health care reforms? I don’t know, really. I haven’t had a chance to properly study the matter. I think that a public health insurance option–and getting uninsured people on insurance–is ultimately a good thing, but I can’t speak to the specific details of the Obama plan.
What I can speak to is the “impromptu” mobs that are cropping up at town hall meetings and similar settings around the country. As it turns out, these impromptu mobs aren’t impromptu, but are rallied by national conservative and industry groups.
It wouldn’t be as big of a deal if they were just sending people to contribute to the discussions and speak their piece. But they are encouraging people to be loud and disruptive. This prevents any real discussion from taking place. It’s OK to disagree. It’s not OK to stifle debate with pseudo-grassroots brute force.
Screaming constituents, protesters dragged out by the cops, congressmen fearful for their safety — welcome to the new town-hall-style meeting, the once-staid forum that is rapidly turning into a house of horrors for members of Congress.
The tactics are repugnant. At one rally a congressman was hung in effigy.
All this to try to give the impression that ordinary Americans are mad as hell, and not gonna take it anymore. This editorial claims it’s good that Rep. Tim Bishop was barely able to get a word in at his town hall meeting–and then goes on to lambaste single payer health insurance.
This irresponsible behavior is not only preventing useful discussion on the health care issue, but it may also prevent constituents from being heard on other issues as well:
In at least one case, a congressman has stopped holding town hall events because the situation has spiraled so far out of control.
“I had felt they would be pointless,” Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) told POLITICO, referring to his recent decision to temporarily suspend the events in his Long Island district. “There is no point in meeting with my constituents and [to] listen to them and have them listen to you if what is basically an unruly mob prevents you from having an intelligent conversation.”
This after police were called in to escort him safely to his car after a town hall meeting ran amok.
The Top 5 Reasons To Vote In Illinois*
Or: Why It Still Means A Thing Even If It Ain’t Got That Swing
*Or any non swing-state
Big margin = big mandate. The popular vote doesn’t put anyone in the White House, but it effects what presidents can do when they get there. Want Obama to be able to actually do the stuff he’s been talking about? Pass universal health care? End the war? Then we need a landslide.
The other things on the ballot matter! For example: Congress. Without more support in the House and Senate, Obama will have a hard time getting progressive laws passed. Plus, there are other important local races and ballot questions in some places.
If you don’t vote, everyone can find out. Voting records are public. (Not who you voted for, just whether you voted.) Pretty soon, finding out whether you voted could be as easy as Googling you.
Help make history. You could cast one of the votes that elect the first African-American president. If we win, we’ll tell our grandchildren about this election, and they’ll tell their grandchildren. Do you really want to have to explain to your great-great-grandchildren that you were just too busy to vote in the most important election in your lifetime?
People died so you’d have the right to vote. Self-government—voting to choose our own leaders—is the original American dream. We are heir to a centuries-long struggle for freedom: the American revolution, and the battles to extend the franchise to those without property, to women, to people of color, and to young people. This year, many will still be denied their right to vote. For those of us who have that right, it’s precious. If we waste it, we dishonor those who fought for it and those who fight still.
For those who don’t know, there is a proposition on the ballot in California that seeks to amend the state constitution to make gay marriage illegal. I don’t even want to get into this right now because I get too worked up. The proponents of Prop 8 are spinning it as being about education, and trying to convince people this is the only way to keep their kids from being brainwashed in school that it’s good to be gay. They are dumping millions of dollars into airing their misleading ads, and Prop 8 is in danger of passing. I’ve donated to the No On Prop 8 campaign. They still need money, so please give them some ASAP. Even a small amount can help.
If you are in Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa (they can vote?), Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee or Utah then tomorrow is Primary (or caucus) day for you. Please be sure to vote. This is one of the most important (and, in my humble opinion, interesting) elections of our time.
I’d prefer if you voted for Obama, but even if you vote for someone else the important thing is voting. I think it’s a responsibility as well as a right.
In case you haven’t heard, Congress has finally rallied together to address a major problem facing this country right now. Iraq? No. Health care? No. The economy? No. Immigration? No sir. Oil? No no no. Give up? It’s a newspaper ad.
MoveOn.org published an ad in the New York Times criticizing Gen. Petraeus for being a shill for the White House, presenting misleading information to Congress and the American people. Apparently the thing that really has our illustrious legislators burning bright with the fire of righteous indignation was the heading “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?” How dare they?! I’ll defer to MoveOn’s justifications rather than getting into them myself. They make sense to me.
To put this in perspective, I defer to the eloquence and knowledge of President Bill Clinton:
I sure do miss him sometimes! Sadly, it’s not just the Republicans involved in this nonsense. Many Democrats are jumping on the bandwagon as well, perhaps in fear of being left behind. My own Congressman voted for the House resolution condemning the ad. Way to go, Rahm!
Well, I hope now that Congress has dealt with this absolutely critical issue of a newspaper ad they’ll be able to move on to some of the lesser problems facing us. Like those I mentioned at the beginning of this post.
Dear friends, acquaintances and random anonymous readers:
The internet as we know it is under attack. No, not from bored Chinese programmers or cyberterrorists. It’s under attack from within. The concept of net neutrality, one of the founding ideals of the internet, is undergoing a full frontal assault by some of our biggest ISPs aided by our own members of Congress.
The issue in a nutshell is this: a person on the internet can access every resource on the internet with substantially equal speed (limited, of course, by servers and connections but web servers and high speed internet connections are very affordable). So MSN.com isn’t faster for you than my blog. Nothing is being sped up or slowed down at some point along the way. Essentially, all web sites and net applications are created equal.
But that could change. The nation’s largest telephone and cable companies “including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner” want to charge content providers to provide speedy access to their data. So MSN.com could pay the ISPs and get their data to you faster than my blog’s data. Giant media conglomerates could pay for faster access than local independent news sources. The possibilities are endless, and almost universally bad for consumers (that’s you and me).
Congress is currently considering a bill called the “Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006″ (COPE Act). An attempt was made to include network neutrality in this legislation but was shot down, thanks in part to heavy lobbying on behalf of the telephone and cable companies.
For more on this, visit the Save the Internet Coalition website.
Then sign the Petition and contact your representatives.
What do I think about Obama’s health care reforms? I don’t know, really. I haven’t had a chance to properly study the matter. I think that a public health insurance option–and getting uninsured people on insurance–is ultimately a good thing, but I can’t speak to the specific details of the Obama plan.
