Will the GOP upChuck on Norris support?

Here we have the GOP's favorite far right wingnut Chucky Norris discussing his wish to destroy America with dreams of a Texas secession where he can reign supreme because he didn't get his way in the last elections with FOX news lunatic, Glen Beck, trying to start a wingnut revolution:

On Glenn Beck's radio show last week, I quipped in response to our wayward federal government, "I may run for president of Texas."

That need may be a reality sooner than we think. (...snip...)

How much more will Americans take? When will enough be enough? And, when that time comes, will our leaders finally listen or will history need to record a second American Revolution? We the people have the authority according to America's Declaration of Independence, which states:

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience has shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

When I appeared on Glenn Beck's radio show, he told me that someone had asked him, "Do you really believe that there is going to be trouble in the future?" And he answered, "If this country starts to spiral out of control and Mexico melts down or whatever, if it really starts to spiral out of control, before America allows a country to become a totalitarian country (which it would have under I think the Republicans as well in this situation; they were taking us to the same place, just slower), Americans won't stand for it. There will be parts of the country that will rise up." Then Glenn asked me and his listening audience, "And where's that going to come from?" He answered his own question, "Texas, it's going to come from Texas. Do you agree with that Chuck?" I replied, "Oh yeah!" Definitely.

...snip...

For those losing hope, and others wanting to rekindle the patriotic fires of early America, I encourage you to join Fox News' Glenn Beck, me and millions of people across the country in the live telecast, "We Surround Them,"

Certainly explaining why Chucky was so fond of secessionist Sarah Palin...

When I heard Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was McCain's choice, I knew she was a woman whom Americans could support and trust.

Will Palin renounce him and his lunatic call for secession? This is a woman who has secessionist issues of her own and still has aspirations to be the president. (Maybe president of Alaska?) But you have to remember that her and her families involvement in AKIP is about secession through a vote, not with some call for a violent revolution.

Although, some of her connections to far right wing secessionists are also tied into people with racist/conspiracist whack job extraordinaire Mark Chryson and other crazy militia type ties like "Black Helicopter Steve" Stoll:

During the 1990s, when Chryson directed the AIP, he and another radical right-winger, Steve Stoll, played a quiet but pivotal role in electing Palin as mayor of Wasilla and shaping her political agenda afterward. Both Stoll and Chryson not only contributed to Palin's campaign financially, they played major behind-the-scenes roles in the Palin camp before, during and after her victory.

Palin backed Chryson as he successfully advanced a host of anti-tax, pro-gun initiatives, including one that altered the state Constitution's language to better facilitate the formation of anti-government militias. She joined in their vendetta against several local officials they disliked, and listened to their advice about hiring. She attempted to name Stoll, a John Birch Society activist known in the Mat-Su Valley as "Black Helicopter Steve," to an empty Wasilla City Council seat. "Every time I showed up her door was open," said Chryson. "And that policy continued when she became governor."

...snip...

After intense evangelizing by Chryson and his allies, they claimed Palin as a convert. "When she started taking her job seriously," Chryson said, "the people who put her in as the rubber stamp found out the hard way that she was not going to go their way." In 1994, Sarah Palin attended the AIP's statewide convention. In 1995, her husband, Todd, changed his voter registration to AIP. Except for an interruption of a few months, he would remain registered was an AIP member until 2002, when he changed his registration to undeclared.

...snip...

Clark pointed to Palin's political career as the model of a successful infiltration. "There's a lot of talk of her moving up," Clark said of Palin. "She was a member [of the AIP] when she was mayor of a small town, that was a nonpartisan job. But to get along and to go along she switched to the Republican Party … She is pretty well sympathetic because of her membership."

Much like the loony secessionist Sarah Palin in Alaska, Norris is a crazed wingnut that has always been treated as a mainstream representative of the GOP...

1. Chuck Norris roundhouses GOP presidential campaign

   Dec 8, 2007 ... Chuck Norris roundhouses. GOP presidential campaign. Surge of national support for Huckabee triggered by WND column endorsement ...
   www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59090 - 38k - Cached - Similar pages -

2. Chuck Norris Boosts Huckabee | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008 ...

   Chuck and Huck: GOP's Delta Force? Now that the Gipper is gone and Charlton Heston is in his 80s, Chuck Norris has emerged as a dream celebrity 'get' on the ...
   www.newsweek.com/id/73272 - 70k - Cached - Similar pages -

3. Chuck Norris (I) - Biography

   A website known as "Chuck Norris Facts" has been created as a parody of his career. ....GOP candidate can be dissected to a point that he is railed for ...
   www.imdb.com/name/nm0001569/bio - 49k - Any Cached - Similar pages -

4. Video results for chuck norris, gop

   Mike Huckabee Ad: "Chuck Norris Approved" 1 min www.youtube.com

   Republican Debate OVER: Where is Chuck Norris? 34 sec www.youtube.com

5. Washington Wire - WSJ.com : Alaska GOP Touts Chuck Norris's ...

   Oct 7, 2008 ... Brad Haynes reports on the 2008 election. A few facts: Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open. Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one ...
   blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/10/07/alaska-gop-touts-chuck-norriss-endorsement-of-don-young/ - 178k - Cached - Similar pages -

6. GOP's Mike Huckabee campaigns with Chuck Norris in Huntsville ...

   GOP's Mike Huckabee campaigns with Chuck Norris in Huntsville S. Former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee visits ...
   videos.al.com/birmingham-news/2008/02/gops_mike_huckabee_campaigns_w.html - 38k - Cached - Similar pages -

7. Hotline - Chuck Norris' Tears Could Heal GOP Rift; Too Bad He ...

   Jan 13, 2009 ... Chuck Norris' Tears Could Heal GOP Rift; Too Bad He Doesn't Cry. Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009. Large GOP donors are "having to choose" between Gov ...
   nationaljournal.com/hotline/hl_20090113_4120.php - 32k - Cached - Similar pages -

8. CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive ...

   Obvisouly all those cuts in education by the GoP have made a difference over .... Go Chuck Norris…I love finding out whose a republican in Hollywood…there ...
   politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/10/22/martial-arts-tv-star-picks-presidential-candidate/ - 327k - Cached - Similar pages -

9. Chuck Norris Pictures - CNN And YouTube Host GOP Presidential ...

   Actor Chuck Norris sits in the audience during the CNN-YouTube Presidential Debate at the Mahaffey Theater at the Progress Energy Center for the Arts ...
   www.zimbio.com/pictures/aHV7U6TlYFj/CNN+YouTube+Host+GOP+Presidential+Debate/4oP2iirr8Vo/Chuck+Norris - 17k - Cached - Similar pages -

10. Chuck Norris - the GOP's Oprah - The Daily Breeze

    Chuck Norris - the GOP.
    www.dailybreeze.com/ci_7748032 - 49k - Cached - Similar pages -

Right now, the FOX news sponsored group "We surround them" has not only exposed, yet again, their true allegiance to Republican rule for ever but, also, the violent underbelly of supporters amongst their viewership willing to fall in line for a war against the USA, with literal calls to arms by some of the most extremist Americans:

The call by some right wing leaders for rebellion and for the military to refuse the commander in chief’s orders is joined by Chuck Norris who claims that thousands of right wing cell groups have organized and are ready for a second American Revolution. (snip) Norris claims that; “Thousands of cell groups will be united around the country in solidarity over the concerns for our nation.” The right wing cells will meet during a live telecast, "We Surround Them," on Friday March 13 at 5 p.m.

Which the rest of the lunatic fringe right wing is already quite willing to do:

Norris and Beck are not the only crazies. Watch this video by a group called "Restore the Republic" calling for soldiers and law enforcement to not only to disobey President Obama but to be prepared to arrest and detain federal officials.

The lit match has always been there in the heart of the crazed GOP and these fanatics are trying to lead their allies into a pool of gasoline, dragging the entire USA into the fire with them.

Will the GOP stand by and watch their own side ignite a war on the USA?

Will Huckabee renounce him? John McCain, whom Norris eventually stood beside? How about WorldNetDaily? Will they renounce these calls to violence? Townhall? The Alaskan GOP and Rep. Don Young? Will Ron Paul, a guy he told conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was "the only guy he trusts" in politics kick Norris to the curb?

And How about FOX news? Will they fire Glen Beck and renounce these lunatic calls for a treasonous movement to begin their violence against the USA?

I doubt it because these people are just sick. All of them. Hate, lies, violence and tearing down our own government is all they know.

Another Single Payer National Call In Day

In my email inbox from COMA-CT: Another national call in day in support of H.R. 676. But before you do, we all want you to take a minute and dig through your drawers for some of your your insurance papers if you have any. With emphasis on paperwork showing these death dealers denials of service:

So on March 10th, 2009, we will host a deluge of activity in support of HR 676.

We ask that you join with thousands of others to call Congress and fax your health insurance bill or letter of denial to your Congresspersons.

If you don't know your Congresspersons, or want a script and sample fax coversheets, all of the information you need is on our National Call-In Day page.

They have additional information and resources at the Healthcare-NOW! site. And please remember to blank out personal information like your Social Security number. You don't want your activism to result in identity theft.

Negotiate with AHIP vs. Best We Can Get 51 Senators For?

Hijacked in entirety from DrSteveB at dkos.

Since we all want to get health some (any?) kind of health reform" we are being told by Washington insiders to set aside our advocacy for single payer and join in with the kumbaya negotiations with enemy (AHIP) to get 'er done. Sure, as a matter of policy and economics, single payer is the best way to reduce and control costs, and also get to universal comprehensive coverage. However, as a matter of realistic power politics, I am told by the powers that be that we can't do it this year, so we should settle for what is doable.

Okay. I'll bite. Let’s get the best plan we can get with 50% plus one in each house of Congress. And as usual, that means 51 Senators, since we have a larger and more probably liberal majority there.

But can we please please stop pretending that we can or should "negotiate" with AHIP? This idea that the private insurance companies are compromising is nonsense!

Ron Brownstein provides some happy talk in the Atlantic regarding talks between SEIU Andy Stern and Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry trade association. Supposedly, there is a convergence around the goal of "universal" coverage with progressive calling for "guaranteed issue" while the insurance companies get "individual mandates." They are of course opposite sides of the same coin. The insurance companies would have to sell you an insurance plan product; the police power of the state would require you to buy it.

Brownstein does point out that the "only" thing left to negotiate is "affordability." Gee. Is that all?

Community rating is the term for setting the cost of a plan (your premium) based on everybody in the same insurance pool, and not basing it on your individual risk. It ends the practice of most insurers in most states charging different customers different prices (not just premium, but also deductible, copes, exclusions, etc) based on age, health status, location. This is important since even if they have to sell it to you, and even if you have to buy it, if you have a serious pre-existing condition (i.e. are actually sick and need care), they may charge you a million dollars to buy the plan. Or exclude your prior condition. Or set a million dollar deductible. Or 50% copay. Or whatever makes it so they can still make a profit, even if they have to sell you plan and you have to buy it.

Therefore, community rating helps a bit with this, though once again the devil is in the details. What is the community, that is the pool, on which your plan rate is set? Is it just the small company who is your current employer; in which case, one person getting sick increases the rate a lot for everybody? It is always better (for we the people) to have the community pool be as large and unselected as possible. Of course, the best would be a single big insurance pool covering all Americans. Hmmmm... I wonder if there is a name for something like that...?

Of course, if there were also a broadly available public option, open say to everybody, then the insurance companies would have to compete for your business.

So there has been lots of talk about AHIP compromising and being weak 'cuz everybody hates them. Yes, insurers ought to be operating from a position of weakness, and their business model is increasingly inadequate, and everyone should be able to imagine a health system without their participation. Alas, we have on our side Senator Max "lobbyists just want what’s best for America" Baucus negotiating for our side, who knows what we are going to get.

Actually it was pretty funny reading Brownstein's Atlantic piece about Andy Stern/SEIU trying to find common ground with Karen Ignagni/AHIP, having just read the NY Times a day before reporting just the latest collapse of the phony grand coalitions, with AFSCME and SEIU pulling out when AHIP & Pharma were signaling no compromise was possible on Public Option, and silence on Community Rating.

On the other Michael Hitzlitz gets it better than most in today's LA Times:

The genius of modern marketing is pouring old material into new packaging. Over the years this has given us yogurt in tubes, prechopped salad greens in cellophane bags and, most recently, the health insurance industry's new image as a friend of reform.

In December, the industry's trade group, AHIP (for America's Health Insurance Plans) revealed that it had experienced an epiphany and decided for the first time to support the principle of universal healthcare -- insuring everyone in America, regardless of health condition.

It described its change of heart as the product of three years of sedulous soul-searching by AHIP's board of directors, who claimed to have "traveled the country and engaged in conversations about healthcare reform with people from all walks of life."

As a connoisseur of health insurance lobbying practices, however, I withheld judgment until I could scan the fine print. What I found by reading AHIP’s 16-page policy brochure was that its position hadn't changed at all. Its version of "reform" comprises the same wish list that the industry has been pushing for decades.

Briefly, the industry wants the government to assume the cost of treating the sickest, and therefore most expensive, Americans. It wants the government to clamp down hard on doctors' and hospitals' fees. And it wants permission to offer stripped-down, low-benefit policies freed from pesky state regulations limiting their premiums.

As for universal coverage, which is the goal of many reformers (if not yet the Obama administration), the industry will accept a government mandate to take on all customers, as long as all Americans are required by law to buy coverage.

[snip]

The insurers think government intervention is fine if it applies to customers they don't want. The way they put it in their reform plan is that we need a system that "spreads costs for high-risk individuals across a broader base" -- the base consisting of all taxpayers, that is.

Who are these "high-risk" individuals, by the way? At an AHIP convention last year, I heard a prominent industry consultant describe the customers the industry is desperate to dump on taxpayers as those with multiple chronic diseases, like diabetes sufferers with asthma or cancer patients with heart problems. He called these people "clinical train wrecks." (Nice way for someone connected with the "caring professions" to talk, isn't it?)

So how about this:

Insist that the CBO do an honest, complete, side-by-side comparison that includes true single payer such as John Conyers HR-676 United States National Health Insurance Act, and the alternative of a strong public option such as Pete Starks' HR-193 AmeriCare (keep what you have if want to; strong public option of expanded and improved Medicare otherwise), and whatever it is that HCAN, Obama and Baucus, etc are proposing as of now. Heck, for that matter, they should also look at whatever it is important Republicans such as Enzi or Grassley or AHIP are proposing.

And, then lets have a straight up and down vote... on the best plan that can get 51 senator (heck let's make it 50 + vice president Joe Biden; gotta give him something to do).

Let the Republicans (and if need be blue dog DINOs) block the best real reform we can get now. One option is to bypass the filibuster via budget or reconciliation. The other is to make them REALLY filibuster by having the Senate Majority Leader (I hear he is one of us) disallow or revoke Senate Rule 22 (which it is his power to do) and actually force them to vote.

Layers of Irony

As the financially crippled NY Times writes about the financially disastrous Citi's reckless new campaign:

Citigroup — the mega-bank that managed its own finances so badly that it has required three taxpayer bailouts totaling at least $45 billion so far — is preaching fiscal responsibility to young people

Now, I am quite willing to cut the NY Times a lot of slack here because they aren't doing this on my dime. Others don't appear to be so forgiving on that and hilarity ensued in the comment threads there.

But Citi trying to sell My Space credit cards to kids with interest rates that can go as high as 29.99% as some kind of responsible thing to do is the height of irony.

And I am so sure "Generation Forward" is looking forward to the nationalized Citi bank.

[update] Some FDIC irony:

At a time when the FDIC is seeking a $500 BILLION dollar loan - only $470 Billion than their normal line of credit and for reasons unknown as of yet - and with trillions of dollars being poured into welfare bonuses for bankers we get this announcement from the FDIC:

Nuts and Bolts: Tools for Today’s Economy

National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW) highlights consumer education efforts across the nation. NCPW 2009 can help people get the most for their money, whether they are trying to stretch their paychecks, improve their credit history, or tell the difference between a real deal and a potentially fraudulent product or service. For more information about this program visit: http://www.consumer.gov/ncpw/index.html.

The FDIC is a major sponsor of NCPW (...snip...)

(emphasis mine) It would be funnier if it were coming from the Treasury Dept. or the FED, but still pretty funny as is.

Healthcare CEO Phone Sex

Courtesy of getofflikeaceo.com:

Health Insurance Companies are Toxic: Do Something About It

Insurance Company Rules
Health Care for America Now
Campaign for America's Future
AFL CIO
SEIU
MoveOn.org
Labor for Single Payer
Families USA
Health Care Now!
Health Care United
Health Beat Blog of the Century Foundation

So much for the Obama citizenship conspiracy nuts.

Throwing out the lunatic conservative fringes' lawsuit, U.S. District Judge James Robertson is going to decide how to penalize them for wasting everyone's time:

Robertson ordered plaintiff's attorney John Hemenway of Colorado Springs, Colo., to show why he hasn't violated court rules barring frivolous and harassing cases and shouldn't have to pay Obama's attorney, Bob Bauer, for his time arguing that the case should be thrown out.

If justice had any sense of humor with a serious twist of irony the judge would sentence these idiots to jail time in Kenya or, maybe, just take away all of their citizenships.

Interesting healthcare links

Mike's Blog Roundup at C&L has an interesting trio of heatlhcare diaries put together today.

"David Sirota: If private insurance is so awesome, why would it lose a competition with government health care?"

I like it. I could've told them that even if I had nothin' to do wit' dat one. :) He also has a bunch of other interesting things to link out to, as per usual.

DINO Extinction

Not really. But they are becoming less and less relevant to the political equation in what is clearly a center-left America:

The Democratic Leadership Council — a group of centrists that dominated politics during the Clinton presidency but is laboring to remain relevant in the Obama era — is on the brink of a major shake-up.

Al From, the DLC’s founder and leader since its creation 24 years ago this month, said he plans to step down within the next couple of months, handing the chief executive reins to his longtime protégé, Bruce Reed.

At the same time, the Progressive Policy Institute, an influential think tank closely affiliated with the DLC, will soon part ways with the council. Will Marshall, who heads the think tank, said the recent Democratic electoral gains and a massive new agenda being pushed by the Obama administration “require us to think anew.”

CNN: 72% Want More Governmental Involvement With Health Care

Hot off the front page of the burnt orange...

More proof we are a center-right nation from CNN:

Seventy-two percent of those questioned in recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey say they favor increasing the federal government's influence over the country's health care system in an attempt to lower costs and provide health care coverage to more Americans, with 27 percent opposing such a move. Other recent polls show six in 10 think the government should provide health insurance or take responsibility for providing health care to all Americans.

Is it me or is it getting hot in here? Even the media is ratcheting it up a notch.

Republicans are Failing their Constituents

Given that 30 out of the top 50 (60%) districts in trouble with foreclosures (34 out of the top 56 listed - 60.7%) are in Republican controlled turf, you might think Republicans would be working harder to save these homes in their own districts.

Republicans failing to fight for saving these homes are failing their constituents. Minority districts or not, and for the most part they are not, every home that goes under affects everyone living in that district.

Never mind the fact that Republicans are, in large part, responsible for this problem in the first place because of their "L'aissez faire" free-market-run-amok policies.

The Center for Responsible Lending, whose work I cited the other day in looking at the number of projected home foreclosures in 2009 by Congressional District, has come out with a revised set of numbers.

And those revisions are... substantial. Both in terms of the numbers of foreclosures predicted, and in terms of where those foreclosures fall. It really changes the picture on both counts.

The REVISED top 56

Yet again, Republicans seem more interested in obstructing any and all remedies proposed by the majority than, you know, actually doing something. Instead, what do we hear from the right wingnut idiot factor?

Republicans on Capitol Hill are on the warpath about a bill that would allow bankruptcy judges change mortgages to help homeowners stay in their houses.

The Democratic-controlled House is scheduled to vote today on the measure, which would let judges reduce the principal owed, cut the interest rate, or extend the length of the loan.

House GOP leader John Boehner's office calls the legislation a "textbook example" of why Americans are increasingly fed up by the series of bailouts and rescues coming out of Washington.

Americans are fed up with you, Boehner. Yes, we hate the bailouts that you and the GOP are largely responsible for necessitating. There are so many reasons why Americans think more of communist China than Republicans right now:

USA Today/Gallup Poll. Feb. 20-22, 2009. N=1,013 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.

"Do you approve or disapprove of the way the Republicans in Congress are handling their job?"

Approve 36%--56% Disapprove

Gallup Poll. Feb. 9-12, 2009. N=1,022 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.

"Next, I'd like your overall opinion of some foreign countries. Is your overall opinion of [see below] very favorable, mostly favorable, mostly unfavorable, or very unfavorable?"

China: Favorable 41%--51% Unfavorable

Tell Boehner that what we want right now is for republicans to, you know, do something other than just obstruct and bloviate the nation into more failure. And they can shut up about "Socialist Obama policies" since Americans clearly prefer communists over the GOP.

Single Payer is NOT Socialism

Single-payer isn't socialism - March 5, 2009
B. Jason MacLurg, M.D. | Letter to the Editor | Seattle Post-Intelligencer
As a long-time Seattle physician, I was pleased that the P-I supports health care reform toward a single-payer system (Opinion, Wednesday). Most Americans now fully understand that our health care delivery system is too expensive, too complex, too fragmented and overwhelmingly frustrating. Although some still believe that America has the best health care in the world, the truth is that our reimbursement system is killing us.

To be honest... I would support socialism in health care - it is the only issue that I am in the left on big time. Well? That and the socialist military and police which we already have in the USA.

But I would truly be happy with a compromise between the liberal and conservative ideas and getting Single Payer for health care because it would be vastly superior to any of the for-profit insurance scams killing well over 18,000 Americans every year.

Texas Telephone Tag is Torture

With permission and by jmadlc55
- Other toons by jmadlc55 here.