3 posts tagged “villainy”

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Jackie Speier Disappoints Me

Aug 29, 2009
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My member of the U.S. House of Representatives is Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo). I have just returned from her Families and Health Care Forum Event at Burton Park in San Carlos, which was attended by a few hundred constituents of which only a handful were unruly and disorderly protestors. I have some news to report about what her press director told me personally at the meeting when I could not address my question directly to the congresswoman.

Before I tell you what I heard, and why I'm disappointed, let me first be fair to her. I should note the following points:

She supports HR. 3200, the compromised but still acceptable House reform package with the gutless public option and the slow phase-in.
She also supports HR. 676, the Kucinich amendment that would allow California and other states a way to implement single-payer systems.
She is one of 60 members who signed the Pelosi Letter, which declares that the Waxman deal with the Blue Dog Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee that would gut the House bill of the public option and many of the other important provisions to control health care administrative costs.

These are all good positions. I'm glad she's taken them. So, why am I disappointed?

Because it's clear to me that she's insincere. She's all in favor of real health insurance reform, but not up to the point where she has to take a real stand where it counts. How will she vote when the bill comes out of conference with the Senate, and it doesn't have a public option for controlling costs? When it doesn't have subsidies for low income families? When it has individual mandates for private health insurance with criminal penalties for compliance, but nothing to make private insurance either affordable or universal? How will she vote then?

I put that question directly to her press director, Mike Larsen, and I made it clear that I want an unequivocal public declaration, now, not later when the outcome of the conference committee is a fait accompli. He responded with two clear statements of the congresswoman's position:

She absolutely will not take the Firedoglake pledge to vote NO if the final bill does not contain a real public option.
If the final bill fails to comprise a public option or any of the other improvements that her public statements say she supports, but President Obama promises to sign it, then she will vote YES on the final bill.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier gives a decent slide deck, but I think we can safely say she isn't committed to real reform. When the final bill comes, and it turns out to be a wet sloppy kiss from Senator Grassley to the greedy and rapacious special interests in the health insurance industry, she is planning to sell out her constituents' health and families, while smiling and pretending that she did everything she could to prevent it. It will be a dirty lie, and I plan to remind all my neighbors and friends in her district of that tawdry fact every chance I get.

Yes, I am extremely disappointed. I gave the congresswoman money for her re-election in 2010 before I found out about this betrayal. I want my money back.

I Am Officially Weirded Out

May 26, 2009
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Apparently, the ghost of Jon Postel is leading a pack of superheroes determined to defend the Internet from Fear Uncertainty and Doubt. Promote The Internet Way with Team ARIN!

Welcome to the world of Team ARIN! We hope you find these publications educational and entertaining. Team ARIN is a fictionalized view of the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), its processes, and the whole concept of Internet governance. Though our heroes are fictional, the issues they face are very real.

Team ARIN is a group of superheroes that represent four of the principles by which the Internet is operated and governed...

I'm Outraged By President Obama

Feb 10, 2009
2 comments

Glennzilla explains in his trademarked, exhaustively linked way what happened.

Basically, Mr. Obama campaigned on a promise to stop the abuse of the executive state secrets privilege initiated by President George W. Bush, and now we discover that he has broken this promise.

It's a big deal.

The abuse of the state secrets privilege that President Obama is now continuing is preventing the federal courts from hearing cases against the U.S. government that involve the illegal and morally bankrupt "extraordinary rendition" program that kidnapped people without warrant or due process and delivered them foreign countries where the reasonable expectation is that they would be tortured.

It's outrageous. No, I'm not surprised that President Obama has done this, but I'm no less outraged by it. If you're surprised, then consider this your wakeup call. The game was not over in November when you voted out the jackholes; now, you gotta MAKE them live up to their promises. It's time to start rotating and radiating again, people. President Obama needs to understand that he's going to have to walk back on this or there will be hell to pay. Start wailing in your senators. They're the people who can make him sweat over this. Do it now.

There is nothing more important for citizens than putting a stop to the U.S. torture state.