Good ol' California

Pastor threatens his son
and family with handgun
over poor church attendance.

Good ol’ California, always on the forefront of intelligent change (but not always immediately successful). The California Senate has passed a single-payer health care bill, absolutely the most intelligent, efficient, sensible, economical, and effective way of providing universal health care. Of course the Gropenfuhrer will veto it, but I would venture to predict that someday, somehow, someway, someone, will see such a system materialize for the entire country (if, that is, the country survives long enough). This single-payer system was not even considered by the Obama administration, apparently on the grounds that it would be impossible to pass. It was to be sort of replaced by a public option plan, but that, too, was regarded as too difficult to pass. What finally emerged was an enormous gift to the Insurance giants that are the heart of our totally dysfunctional system to begin with. Now, of course, there is considerable doubt that anything will pass, thus giving the Insurance companies their fervent wish for nothing to upset the status quo. The billions they have invested in acquiring 40 million more citizens who must now be forced to purchase their flawed health care, and enable them to continue deciding those who need health care the most shouldn’t have it, while those who need it least will have it, is about to pay off big time. In any other business this would no doubt be labeled fraud, but the health care rackets in the U.S. are apparently sacrosanct.

Another attempt on the cutting edge of sanity in California is a rather massive attempt on the part of some to legalize and tax marihuana. This is something that should have been done years ago as it has been known for a long time that marihuana is much less of a threat than alcohol, doesn’t kill anyone, does not automatically lead one on to other drugs, and in general is much more benign that it has been described by those responsible for that famous propaganda piece, “Reefer Madness.” Legalizing pot would raise a good deal of money for a state that desperately needs it, and would doubtless lessen by a huge margin the prison population there. Of course this attempt will be opposed by those who either know nothing about marihuana or wish to ignore what they do know in order to keep it illegal. Who wants to keep it illegal? Churches, of course (they are opposed to most anything that gives pleasure), but also the police (who depend on it for jobs), the pharmaceuticals (who would lose money if it were legal), and no doubt others who benefit materially in one way or another (prisons, schools for troubled teens, etc.). Here again, I have no doubt this attempt at common sense and reason will fail, but it, too, will inevitably come about, just as gay marriage will, and probably even the legalization of all drugs (when it finally can no longer be denied that the famous “war on drugs” has been the most dismal failure imaginable). Drugs are a medical problem, not a political problem, but this idea is resisted by those who wish to pretend otherwise to continue the scam.

After listening to President Obama’s speech last evening, and some of the responses to it, and having watched most of his meeting with the Republican caucus today (rather like watching an adult speaking to children), I am led to ask the question: Are stupid and ignorant people somehow led to become Republicans (is there something intrinsic to Republicanism that attracts them), or do otherwise normal individuals become stupid and ignorant only after becoming Republicans? I have no other way of attempting to explain Republican behavior other than perhaps because of some mental aberration. That is, what is one to make of a political party that announces immediately after the election of an opponent, they wish him (and by implication the country) to fail, and they are going to say “no” to everything, and then turn around and whine incessantly they were not listened to and had no input into the political process? I guess you can call this what you wish, to me it is just plain stupid. Of course I believe most Republican ideas are stupid anyway, and they only seem to have a few they employ constantly in a kind of formulaic manner: tax breaks, tax breaks, tax breaks, drill baby drill, kill all entitlements, save the Israelis, bloat the pentagon, government is bad, socialism in any form is an absolutely mortal threat to humanity, except when it comes to their own health care and benefits, a weird bunch, these Republicans. Listening to most of their stalwarts like Her Silliness, Palin, Her Ignorance, Bachman, Fat Rush, the druggy, the Glenn (the Demented) Beck, and others, does nothing to make me think more positively about them. Today I heard one of them say proudly, they do share something with Obama, more offshore drilling and nuclear power plants, two of the most stupid ideas one might imagine. Perhaps this does make sense, after all we’re only going to be here for a short time, might as well use up all the resources and pose a real challenge for coming generations. To quote a famous old Idaho Senator, “Let coming generations look out for themselves.”

LKBIQ:
Get all the fools on your side and you can be elected to anything.
Frank Dane

TILT:
President Obama apparently knows more about everything than the entire Republican caucus combined.