Who loves Jesus

Chinese narcs looking for drugs,
stop van, find 173 bear paws,
4 python skins, and a dead anteater.

The MSM went out of its way today to report that President Obama uses the word Jesus more often than George W. Bush did. Wow! Now that’s what I call news. I never thought I would see the day when our leaders were compared on the basis of how often they used the Lord’s name. I guess it’s okay, so long as Obama doesn’t take orders from, or claim to talk with him. Obama seems to have escaped the ubiquitous separation of church from brain so characteristic of Bush and others.

Well, the big health care problem is now on the table. True to the best of American politics, we already know that the cheapest, most efficient and sensible way to go about health care will not even be discussed. Single-payer is a system that has to be supported by people who seriously want a decent, universal, efficient, most-affordable plan. As we seem to have virtually no one who meets that description in our political system, we will now argue over some lesser, more complicated, more expensive, and less efficient plan. On the one hand we will have those who want to have a Government sponsored plan for people who might desire such a plan rather than a private plan, as it will quite likely be cheaper and better. But there is great opposition to this idea because, the opponents say, it will compete with the private plans (which is, of course, the basic point of having it). Confusingly, they also argue that our current private plans are so wonderful not enough people would want to switch, so why bother. Then, in the next breath, they say 119 million people will switch, which will then leave so few in the private sector plans their costs will increase. I guess there are 119 million people who don’t agree with them on how great our current plans are. If we do get a Government plan, and if it is less expensive and better than private plans, it is quite likely the case that it will draw many people and might well harm the private sector. But that is precisely as it should be. Who will care about this? Mostly no one will care but huge Insurance companies, who are to health care what parasitic worms are to their hosts. We could have a perfectly wonderful, less expensive, well-run, health care system without insurance companies being involved at all. Up until now the Insurance people, along with big pharma, have managed to keep any reform from happening. They could prevail once again unless the public absolutely insists they get out. If you are sick and need treatment, why should you be at the mercy of some insurance bureaucrat to make decisions about your treatment? Oh, in a government run system you would still run up against a similar bureaucratic problem at some point. Probably true, but would you rather have the decision made on the basis of what might be best for your health, or what is the most profitable for the insurance company? This whole controversy is a no-brainer. We already know single-payer is the best, and if we can’t have that a government sponsored plan will greatly help and be by far the most sensible. But hey, this is the U.S.A., we don’t do sensible here. If we are, at last, to have universal health care, the Democrats are going to have to drag Republicans into the modern world, kicking and screaming all the way.

Won’t someone please try to find the Republicans something to do, some kind of busy work at least? All they seem to find to do is just obstruct things for no reason. Now they are going to delay the Sotomayor hearing (if they can). Why? Because they just don’t have anything else to do. Of course they say they need more time, and they imply they are going to review her some 600 decisions, and this has to be done carefully and all. But that is all just more Republican nonsense. They will have at least 48 more days, they probably already know whatever they need to know, after all she’s been around for 17 years and is recommended by everyone, so what more would they expect to find, some inconsequential typo somewhere they can pounce on? There simply is no reason for delaying this. I don’t mean there is no good reason – there is no reason at all.

They are also raising a gigantic fuss over the fact that a terrorist has been brought to New York for trial, another fuss over absolutely nothing, with nothing to justify it other than making a fuss. They are acting like a bunch of hysterical old ladies that just saw a mouse, only worse. “Obama is importing terrorists into the U.S.,” they proclaim. “What if he is acquitted?” It would certainly never occur to them that if he was found innocent and acquitted he ought to be released. They act as if this is an unprecedented, even unheard of procedure, even though four of his fellow conspirators have already been tried, found guilty, and are serving time in one of our super prisons. Many previous terrorists have been tried and incarcerated here as well. It is all much to do about nothing, just like the case with Sotomayor, just more Republican obstructionism to no real purpose.

Then there is the case of the 17 (Chinese) Uygurs who remain at Guantanamo. Even though they are known to be completely innocent, no one seems willing to take them. As Uygurs they are persona non grata in China (as the large Uygur population has been restless for independence). Other places in the region don’t seem to want to irritate China by accepting them. They could be released in the U.S., but of course Republicans and some others won’t stand for it. They are not terrorists and had no history of anti-Americanism (although they might have by now). They were in Pakistan on their way to Turkey when they were picked up and sold to the U.S. where they ended up in Guantanamo. Seventeen innocent Uygurs who have basically done nothing wrong. I heard on Rachel Maddow just now that the U.S. is thinking about offering Palau $200,000,000 to take them. As only 20,000 people live on these small islands in the South Pacific, that would be $10,000 to each Palauan. But golly, what would happen if they escaped from there and came back to attack the U.S.? Can’t be too careful you know, especially with innocent non-terrorists.

LKBIQ:
The healthy man does not torture others - generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers.
Carl Jung

TILT:
The wingspan of the largest albatrosses can exceed eleven feet, the largest of any bird.