Which intellectual giant it was who decided the country should grind to a halt every two years so the politicians could play ‘musical chairs,’ I’m not sure. But one thing is increasingly clear – Our wonderful President could lose several seats in the next round.

The GOP has stalled, lied and even sided with BP in an endless and indefensible effort to retard the repairs to this nation that are clearly and desperately needed after eight years of their rule. And their latest bone of press-seeking contention is immigration reform.

Arizona’s xenophobic ‘SB-1070′ law is one of the most repulsive examples of legalized bigotry anyone could imagine – but Republicans love it because hating ‘illegals’ gets them lots of attention – and votes.

Most of those in this country without their documentation are law-abiding, hard-working types would love to get legal – but they dare not step out of the shadows for fear of imprisonment, deportation or both.

If those in D.C. declared amnesty and let them be legal, the tens-of-millions of dollars of new tax revenue this would create would make a large dent in the horrifying deficit the GOP caused with two ‘wars’ and tax cuts.

But does the GOP see this or help it to happen? Of course not.

The President wants comprehensive reform, but the GOP blocks it. And if – as some sources predict – they win control of the House and / or the Senate in November, any reform would be prevented for years.

And when [if] that happens, three things will follow – Those without papers will continue to suffer poor housing, low wages and no access to healthcare, this wonderful nation will slide deeper in debt – and the GOP will preen for the media, purring about how they made the country ‘more safe.’

I would dearly love to have been born an American. But to then be the peer of people so mentally frigid, maleficent and driven by ego would scare me to death.

The Brits are holding a general election, and voting to choose a potentially new leader closed a few minutes ago.

The latest reports say Conservative leader, David Cameron is 19 seats short of wresting control of the nation from Gordon Brown, who has served as the country’s Prime Minister since inheriting the job, unelected, on Tony Blair’s resignation in 2007.

So far there appears to be no clear winner – the Conservatives have enough votes for 307 seats, while Labour would have 255.

That means that even by forming an alliance with the minority party, the Liberal Democrats, Labour could not reach the 326 seats needed for a majority and therefore stay in power. So we’d have a hung parliament.

But the battle is not over yet – The BBC reports long lines of people still waiting to vote in Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle and numerous other cities. So Gordon could still claim his prize.

One which half the nation will tell you he does not deserve.

The final count that will decide what has been one of the closest elections in recent memory will not be known until the small hours of the morning in Europe.

If Gordon succeeds, the country’s dead in three years. If David is chosen we might last one more.

I’ll keep you advised…

Photo by Secret-London

Last week President Obama signed a nuclear reduction agreement, and so far there’s no word the GOP plans to block this at all.

The Republicans had eight unbroken years in which to change healthcare, and they did nothing. They also had the same window in which to ban nukes and were similarly idle.

And there, I believe, we have a true illustration of the collective Republican mind – Allowing the people of this nation – their own voters – to improve their lives with decent healthcare is deeply offensive, while letting those same people dissolve in a nuclear cloud is completely okay.

One can only hope President Obama is granted six terms…

Attorneys General from Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, Utah, Pennsylvania, Alabama, South Dakota, Louisiana, Idaho, Washington and Colorado have filed what is basically a class-action lawsuit, claiming the bill’s ‘individual mandate’ which requires people to have coverage is ‘unconstitutional.’

Thirteen of those states are Republican-owned.

The AG’s say that, while the constitution gives Congress the right “to regulate commerce,” this power does not, and should not extend to dictating what people must indulge in such commerce to buy.

“The Constitution nowhere authorizes the United States to mandate, either directly or under threat of penalty, that all citizens and legal residents have qualifying health care coverage,” says the suit.

Not surprisingly, the Department of Justice who do know what they’re doing is sure the law is within bounds, and that they would win if the 14 AG’s take their complaint to a court.

And those who have actually read this wonderful nation’s laws can see the DoJ’s case;

“When uninsured people get sick, they rely on their families for financial support, go to emergency rooms, or buy over-the-counter remedies,” Professor Jack Balkin of Yale Law School tells MSNBC. “All these effects are economic.”

On Monday, the Republicans tried to sink the new bill with a procedural move, claiming it would damage Social Security. That witless act of despotic sabotage shriveled and died, so they’re now trying this. It is pathetic to watch, but entirely predictable.

Those in charge of the GOP are clearly willing to let an untold mass of their fellow citizens risk illness and premature death just to keep themselves in the media and retain their own jobs. It remains to be seen if even one will have the guts or the basic humanity to disown this repulsive charade when the first voter actually dies…

Photo by: Messay

By a vote of 219 to 212 the House approved a bill first passed by the Senate four months ago. And still they’re not done.

And even after stalling for a year so the same high quality, affordable health care their jobs give them could not be shared by the people who gave them those posts, the two sides could not resists getting close to a camera so they could con those same voters into keeping them in DC to do even more damage.

Outside the Capitol a group of ‘rent-a-mob’ protesters waved dumb signs on a stick, chanting, “Kill the Bill!” Inside, equally immature Democrats claimed the shameful act of wasting a year to pass a bill that would have been done in two weeks if it was pointed at them as some kind of historic miracle.

They won election by promising the most influential, most massively life-improving new law since Social Security, and instead delivered a weak, mewling, bastardized cross-breed that barely makes a dent in the chaotic, unequal, extortionate nightmare that is this nation’s health service; Nor in the profits of those who selfishly made it this way.

Not being a citizen I can’t get this new ’service,’ and am therefore an annoyed but impartial observer. And from where I sit I can see blame on both sides;

The Republicans waste $1.4-trillion on two invasions that have no basis in truth, then whine that the healthcare bill will waste the taxpayers’ money.

The Dems, meanwhile, promise the nation a ‘new start’ on health, then slice the bill into ribbons to placate the Republicans, until what they finally deliver is a vast breach of promise to the people who put them in power, expecting and deserving to get the bill as it was!

And both sides eagerly indulged in this year of ego-polishing indolence with the shared selfish goal of raising their profile in the media in order to win their jobs – and their free health care back -  in the November mid-terms.

I only hope all you good people fittingly reward them for letting you down…

Source

If you think you need cover, at least until Congress decides, care like this is one ‘option’ you’d do well to explore…

For a foreigner, this wondrous country [especially California,] is an endless litany of unheralded joys. Just when you think you’ve got the place tagged, something occurs that resets your whole scale. And today is a welcome example – Despite heated debates and downright lies from its sponsors, the war on Prop. 8 is not as dead as we thought.

Interviewed yesterday on CNN, California’s inimitable and iconoclastic Governor let it be known that his office may soon petition the State’s Supreme Court to set aside the result, and repeal Prop. 8 before it wrecks peoples lives.

Thanks to the freedom it was contrived to destroy, more than 18,000 couples were finally able to celebrate their devotion in the same way as those  whom Prop. 8’s judgmental supporters would no doubt refer to as ‘normal’ people could since the birth of this nation. But according to Arnold, their fetid proposal will have no effect on these new couples’ status or choice. And he advised gay rights groups to stay on the case until it is won.

In the presence of such egalitarian thinking, there’s only one thing to say: Arnold for President!

Photo by SchumakerGirl

Not being a citizen does have its perks. You can’t be drafted, you never have to serve on a Jury, and this endless, three-ring circus of an Election is purely a spectator sport. I have my opinions, but should I try to enact them by pulling a lever I’d probably spend the foreseeable future dressed entirely in orange.

No, thanks.

On the down-side, it means I have no way to actively block legislation that weakens this wonderful country. The most repugnant example of this – in recent memory, at least – is known to us all as ‘Prop. 8.’

If the people against whom Prop. 8 is aligned were black, not gay, the merest mention of such a proposal would see its creators being burned at the stake. The national media would be in an outrage and the indelible infamy bestowed on the guilty would haunt them to the end of their days. But myopic xenophobia against those who are gay is apparently perfectly fine.

A Prop. 8 supporter is basically saying that a man they don’t know, in a town they’ve never seen, can’t marry a friend they’ve never met and share a house they’ll never visit…because that doesn’t meet their approval.

Then they have the disingenuous guile to suggest it’s the gay guys who have all the problems.

If the gay community tried to constrict our lives in a similar way, the howls of protest would be almost incessant. And for those who embody the land of the free to abuse legislation to dictate and limit the lives of their peers would be an indefensible insult.

A gay person’s free will is not the offense, it’s judgmental zealots who hijack the law to serve their own ends that truly need to be banned. Prop. 8, like its sponsors, should be strangled at birth. On the 4th, you have that chance.

After a long and atypical silence from a woman not known for such calm introspection, Ellen has released a PSA on her talk-show website, urging California-based voters to oppose Prop 8, the ballot initiative that seeks to revoke gay people’s access to the dubious joys of engaging in marriage.

Ms. DeGeneres, who married Portia de Rossi in August, had made no previous contribution, either fiscal or personal, to the ongoing fight against this malodorous plot. Her Mother, however [who is not currently a millionaire,] has donated $700 to strengthen the cause.

The ‘Prop 8′ campaign is absurd, and founded on breathtaking arrogance. A small, judgmental and vociferous group, based in a State that has arguably the highest gay residency percentile in the country, are engaged in a battle to restrict and revoke people’s freedoms and rights in a way that would leave them apoplectic with rage if they were the target instead.

If a gay man – or woman – wishes to indulge in a ceremony that proves their depth of affection and emotional commitment to someone who enhances their lives and helps makes them happy, it’s that person’s choice, their partner’s option…and no other living being’s business!

Were the gay community to even dare suggest that our rights should be limited in a similar way, the results would be instant and almost incendiary. Yet in the full scope of history they’ve made no such demand. This beneficent forbearance of those who are different embodies a lesson from which some of their heterosexual brethren could learn a great deal.

As I mentioned before, both Steven Speilberg and Brad Pitt have brought their celebrity presence [and considerable wealth] to bear on this vital campaign. Ms. DeGeneres, however, along with many of her peers who share her choice, seems to happy to sit on her hands. Should she still be unsure of just how to employ them, I offer some simple, well-meaning advice…

Put them into your pocket, or over your mouth.

Photo by Brainchildvn