Bob Iritano and the Politics of Health Care

An excellent set of letters to the editor yesterday, at Los Angeles Times, "On health insurers rationing care...." And the last one:

Please. Everyone who hasn't lived under a rock all their lives knows the bad stories about national health coverage.

We have a friend who lived in Britain for many years. It took her two years to get a hysterectomy that would have taken her two weeks at an HMO here — two days if her condition were life-threatening. The numbers don't coincide with your version of reality.

This death is a sad thing. But his extra year and a half of life was won by a successful struggle that he and his family could not have waged against the bureaucracy of, say, Britain's healthcare system.

Your argument is driven by political hope, not reality.

Joan Moon

Burbank

And the initial article to which readers were responding: "Putting a price on prolonging a doomed life."

Tea Party Zombies Must Die

Verum Serum has the story: "New Tone Video Game: Kill Fox News “Zombies”…Who Paid for This?" Seriously. The "Koch Whore Lobbyist Zombie"? These people are beyond the pale. But check that link to watch the clip.

At Linkmaster Smith, at The Other McCain, "Raaaaacist Tea Parties: The Frankenstein Vampire Werewolf Zombie Argument."

BONUS: From Daniel Foster, at National Review, "Tea Party Zombies Must Die":

Hey kids, hear about the latest rage? It’s “Tea Party Zombies Must Die” an exciting new first-person shooter “Advergame.” Here’s how it’s described:

DON’T GET TEA-BAGGED! The Tea Party zombies are walking the streets of America. Grab your weapons and bash their rotten brains to bits! Destroy zombie Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Glenn Beck, the Koch Brothers, and many more!

Don’t believe the hype? I took the game for a whirl and managed to snag some choice screenshots...

Via Memeorandum.

Bachmann Campaign Shake-Up

Ed Rollins is out. (Good thing too.)

See Los Angeles Times, "Michele Bachmann's campaign sees major shake-up."

And from Chris Cillizza, at Washington Post, "Michele Bachmann’s rise and fall in the 2012 Republican primary":

In politics, things change fast.

Less than a month ago, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann sat atop the political world fresh off her win at the Ames Straw Poll.

Today, two new polls show Bachmann’s support badly eroding — a finding that when coupled with a Labor Day staff shakeup raise serious questions about her ability to recapture the momentum that shot her into the top tier over the summer.

In a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, Bachmann now stands at six percent in a hypothetical 2012 Republican primary ballot, well short of the 13 percent she took in a mid-July Post/ABC survey of registered voters

The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows a similar decline with Bachmann now winning 8 percent — half of the 16 percent she received in July.

There appear to be a few reasons for Bachmann’s slippage.

Keep reading.

Rick Perry's surge came primarily at Michele Bachmann's expense. That said, Cillizza sounds a bit too bearish on Bachmann. She needs to stay focused on Iowa. Obviously her Ames victory got buried in the sensation of Rick Perry, but we've got a debate tomorrow and lots more retail politics before Iowa, where Bachmann remains the favorite daughter.

TSA Agent Threatens Amy Alkon with Defamation Suit!

Oh my goodness, this is lovely.

From Kash Hill, "Female Blogger Threatened With Defamation Suit For Writing About TSA 'Rape'." (Via Instapundit.)

Go read it all.

And at Amy's blog: "Breaking News: The TSA Agent Who Visited My Vagina."

RELATED: I was searching for Amy's post on Google, and punching in "Amy Alkon Libel Suit" you never know who's name will pop up in the results. Man, that's gotta be a bitch.

Polls Find 3 of 4 Americans Saying Country's On Wrong Track

People keep talking about how dissatisfaction hasn't been this high since 2008 and the Wall Street bailout. But I'm thinking back to 1991, when President George H.W. Bush went from almost 90 percent approval on the Persian Gulf War to being defeated by Bill Clinton in 1992. At the Los Angeles Times a whopping 60 percent disapprove of President Obama's handling of the economy. There is no doubt that economic issues will be the number one priority for voters next year, so in California, a reliably blue state, those are horrible numbers for the Democrats. See: "Poll illustrates California voters' anger." Especially noteworthy about the Times' poll is that partisans on both sides are digging in their heels against compromise, with 57 percent of Democrats and 50 percent of Republicans backing a stand-firm position for their party's priorities. That's the anger factor right there. There's speculation that the summer's budget battle in Washington --- which Democrats lost --- has helped create a hardening of positions. This seems to go against suggestions that we should all just get along and work for the common good.

And today's Wall Street Journal poll is a keeper. See, "Voter Discontent Deepens Ahead of Obama Jobs Plan." (At Google as well.) Seventy-three percent say the country's headed in the wrong direction. But picking up on my discussion from yesterday on the Electoral College, this bit on Ohio is devastating for the White House:

Voters appear to be looking for a new direction. By 44% to 40%, Americans now say they are more likely to vote Republican next year than for Mr. Obama's re-election. In June, the president held the edge, 45% to 40%. The president is losing support from key groups including political independents, women and Hispanics.

In the Mahoning Valley of Northeast Ohio, a Democratic stronghold that Mr. Obama must win handily next year, the president can find all the hurdles that will impede his path: 10% unemployment, collapsing incomes, private-sector payrolls that have begun creeping back from the depths of early 2010 but which remain roughly 19,000 jobs down from a decade ago for the metropolitan area here.

The lukewarm support Mr. Obama finds here not only endangers his hopes in Ohio, one of the country's key swing states, but shows the erosion in enthusiasm for the president even among voters he should be able to reach and who he will need badly next year.

Bill Hiznay—a registered Democrat who voted for John McCain in 2008 and says he's currently undecided—says the president inherited the terrible U.S. economy, "But we're still going to blame Obama for our misfortunes." Mr. Hiznay, a 58-year-old pipe-mill worker, added: "He's in trouble, no question about it."

Among blue-collar workers nationally, the president's disapproval rating reached 56% last month. Some 49% of union members and union households disapprove of the job Mr. Obama is doing, vs. 45% who approve.

Blue collar America is turning against this administration. Not even three years after Barack Obama was elected as a man who could virtually walk on water, he's being repudiated viciously among voters from left to right. This helps explain why Democrats and union leaders are so combative. It's all slipping away. The mask of "hope and change" is falling off. The electorate's rose colored glasses are off too. I'm getting really excited for next year, no matter who wins the GOP nomination.

Suspect in IHOP Shooting Identified as 32-Year-Old Eduardo Sencion

The alleged shooter's motives are still unclear, and reports say the guy's a U.S. citizen.

See, This Ain't Hell, "Carson City shooter was NOT military."

Also at The Blaze, "UPDATE: MAN WHO SHOT 5 NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY PRIOR TO SHOOTING."

Background at Reno Gazette-Journal, "Update: Carson City IHOP shooting gunman had 2 more guns but did not fire them," and ABC News, "National Guard Members Among Four Dead in Carson City Nevada IHOP Shooting Rampage."

DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Fox & Friends: Won't Comment on Teamsters Leader's Violent Rhetoric

Nice Deb has the big roundup: "Video: Debbie Wasserman Schultz Also Not Interested In Condemning Violent Anti-Teaparty Rhetoric":

Not only is she out of her league as DNC Chair, she's really nasty woman.

See also at Althouse, "'We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers'."

I realize "let's take these sons of bitches out" can be interpreted to mean let's vote these terrible people out of office. But "take them out" is not an idiomatic expression that corresponds to "vote them out." Take them out? Maybe that's not the phrase he intended to use, but if it was unintended, it was still a gaffe. A revealing gaffe. Unless you're speaking in a positive way — referring to taking someone out on a date, for example — "take them out" is a violent command. With "sons of bitches" right there, it's unmistakably violent. Now, you can say it's only metaphorical, and all Hoffa really wants is to oust these people from office.

But it was only last January that Obama and many other Democrats were saying that violent metaphors, including a simple target on a map, were dangerous incitements for the unstable irrational folk out there.

Also, "Jimmy Hoffa's "Let’s take these sons of bitches out" speech — take 2."

Michael Coren Loves Zionism!

Via Blazing Cat Fur:

2012 Race For the Presidency: Doing the Electoral College Math

This is why I basically ignored the new poll out at Los Angeles Times, showing that President Obama leads "Romney by 19 points, Perry by 24 points and Bachmann by 26 points" in California.

See Larry Sabato, at Wall Street Journal, "The 2012 Election Will Come Down to Seven States":

Straw polls, real polls, debates, caucuses, primaries—that's the public side of presidential campaigns 14 months before Election Day. But behind the scenes, strategists for President Obama and his major Republican opponents are already focused like a laser on the Electoral College.

The emerging general election contest gives every sign of being highly competitive, unlike 2008. Of course, things can change: Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were both in trouble at this point in their first terms, and George H.W. Bush still looked safe. Unexpectedly strong economic growth could make Mr. Obama's re-election path much easier than it currently looks, as could the nomination of a damaged Republican candidate. But a few more weeks like the past couple, and Mr. Obama's re-election trajectory will resemble Jimmy Carter's.

Both parties are sensibly planning for a close election. For all the talk about how Hispanics or young people will vote, the private chatter is about a few vital swing states. It's always the Electoral College math that matters most.

Go read it all at the link above.

Republicans have no shot at winning California, but Pennsylvania's in play, and Sabato identifies 7 states that are totally up for grabs, including Florida and Ohio. Sounds kinda familiar, since those two states have been battlegrounds in recent presidential elections. I'm on record for President Obama as a one-termer. It's the economy, stupid. Sure, we'll have to pay more attention to trends across the states, but it's only 14 months until the election. Unemployment's still going to be excruciatingly high. I can't see how the Democrats can cobble together an Electoral College victory in this environment. Stay tuned.

Oh, and William Jacobson has some commentary on Obama's speech yesterday: "Is this the fight Democrats really want to have?"

Tolerance of Islam

I'm telling you, this lady's good, via Blazing Cat Fur, "'Overall, there is substantial evidence which indicates that 9/11 was perpetrated by American neoconservatives'":

She had me fooled last time I posted her stuff. Shoot, I thought she was serious about "Millionaires and Billionaires." Well, that's okay. We all make mistakes. My bad. Good satire fools people. And speaking of neoconservatives, a long while back I wrote a hilarious but preposterously absurd essay, "A Neoconservative Hate Crimes Prevention Act."

I'm busting up just reading this again! I wrote:

Congress must act now to pass a Neoconservative Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Such legislation should give federal authorities increased capabilities to engage in hate crimes investigations against those motivated by left-wing hatred who intend to cause injury or death to neoconservatives. Such legislation should give the FBI power to gather data on progressive-leftists who excoriate neoconservative activists, writers, and organizations. Additional provisions could include federal grants to local agencies to investigate groups fomenting hate crimes against neoconservatives. Additionally, such legislation should include a concealed-carry provision allowing neoconservatives to carry handguns for self-protection; and the legislation should allow for the interstate transfer of weapons from one state to another in accordance with concealed carry laws. Recent proposed amendments to the Matthew Shepard Act may serve as a model.

Such legislation is now necessitated by evidence from yesterday's tragic Holocaust Memorial shooting that William Kristol's Weekly Standard may have been a target of suspected killer James von Brunn...

Pretty good, eh?

Jonathan Swift can't touch that!

So good, in fact, that the my deranged far-left progressive hate-blogger stalker W. James "Costanza" Casper = RACIST = Repsac3 actually fell for it, writing a self-douche "gotcha" post at his hell-hole of hate, American Nihilist: "'AmericanNeoCon; Donald Douglas envisions himself the real victim, here... Gimme a friggin' break..."

It was a joke, idiot W. James "Costanza" Casper = RACIST = Repsac3. You fell for it, hard. So STFU. Loser. And I've warned you a million times, stay the f*** away from my comment threads, creepy freak ass stalking criminal!

New Video of Flight 93 Crash Aftermath

At Daily Mail, "Seen for the first time: New footage shows smoke cloud from Flight 93 crash":

There's more video at CBS if this one gets pulled: "Earliest video of Flight 93 crash on 9/11."

'Climate Justice'

Climate justice?

That's a scam right? There's no such thing as "climate justice," right?

Think again, at Pirate's Cove, "Apparently, 4.5 Billion Years Of Changing Climate Threatens “Human Rights”." Follow the links to the discussion of "restorative justice" for "those countries worst affected by the issue..." And "those countries" would be the LCDs, in the latest round of the global left's developmental shakedown regime.

RELATED: From Zombie, "Justice Justice."

Jimmie Bise, Jr., on Operation Fast and Furious

I've been meaning to blog this, but I keep getting distracted by my favorite topics (not to mention Rule 5).

So, check Sundries Shack, "Soon, It Will Be Time for Operation Witness Immunity."

BONUS: At Michelle's, "Fast and Furious update: Yes, the White House got e-mails."

Charles Moore at Telegraph UK: '9/11: what have we learnt?'

A great essay:

On a lazy summer’s day in 2002, it came home to me. I was mink-hunting (then a legal activity) by a river on the Kent/Sussex border, and a cockney foundry worker called Vince was there with his terrier.

We chatted, and eventually it came out that his sister had been killed in the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001. She had been helping to organise a conference there, Vince said. More British people were killed on September 11, 2001 than in any other terrorist incident ever, including 7/7 and the Lockerbie bombing.

Sixty-seven out of the 2,996 people who died in the attacks on the United States that day were British citizens.

The figure is relevant as the 10th anniversary approaches because it is a reminder that the argument that “it was nothing to do with us” was never, from the very first moment, true. We were in it from the start. The death toll of Americans was 40 times higher.

The sheer “lethality” of the event, as well as its spectacular, filmic quality, proved that terrorism works: it achieves the “propaganda of the deed” which it seeks.

More at that top link.

Deterring Enemies in a Shaken World

Daniel Byman reviews Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda, by Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker, at New York Times:

As they relate this new direction [in counter-terrorism after 9/11], Mr. Schmitt and Mr. Shanker put flesh on approaches and operations that in the past were largely in the realm of specialists. The book is sprinkled with small, vivid anecdotes that bring day-to-day counterterrorism work to life. Take the Horse Blanket, a “graduating series of contingencies that each federal agency could take in response to a potential or actual terrorist attack” beginning in 2007.

Much like a playbook, the Horse Blanket (whose intriguing name goes unexplained here) detailed the cost of each option, its level of disruption and its impact on foreign policy. A report of terrorist efforts to cross from Canada might lead to an increase in border security. Should intelligence agencies gather credible reports of the ultimate nightmare, a nuclear weapon being moved to attack an American city, the border would be shut. Policy makers can now ratchet counterterrorism up or down to match the perceived threat.

Technology has made a revolutionary difference. The authors explain how the contents of cellphones belonging to captured terrorists are cloned in seconds, with computers scanning the numbers to match those of other known terrorists. Such information can tie a suspect to an enemy network and its locations, which in turn helps interrogators ask smarter questions and enables them to direct military forces better. More bad guys die or are taken off the streets, and fewer innocents suffer.

Other efforts are aimed at the hearts and minds of those who have not yet taken sides. To discredit Al Qaeda with the Muslim public, officials sought “to create a constant drumbeat of anti-Al Qaeda information that was factual, directly quoted and heavily sourced,” as one White House official described it. So when the Taliban kill a schoolteacher or terrorists blind schoolgirls in an acid attack, the horrors are trumpeted in local and international media, countering Al Qaeda’s narrative that its fearless warriors fight only heavily armed United States soldiers.

Today, the authors write, American counterterrorism policy embraces “the new deterrence.” By imposing costs on terrorists’ reputations, chances for success, material assets — whatever they hold dear — you “alter the behavior and thinking of your adversary.” In contrast to deterrence strategies during the cold war, deterrence today does not involve a state actor, like the Soviet Union, with nuclear-tipped missiles but rather more nebulous networks that include not only fanatic suicide bombers but also more rational financiers, recruiters, arms runners and others who can be dissuaded by the threat of death or arrest. The new deterrence involves “kinetic” instruments, to use the military parlance for killing people, but also innovative information operations that might discredit a cause and scare away providers of funds.

Sounds like a great book.

International Cannabis and Hemp Expo

I guess they set up right in front of city hall, and fired up some doobies for the "medically impaired."

At Sacramento Bee, "Long lines as people attend Oakland marijuana fair":

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A marijuana street fair being held in downtown Oakland turned out to be a popular destination this weekend, with people waiting in long lines to attend the event.

The two-day International Cannabis and Hemp Expo was being held Saturday and Sunday over several blocks in the city's downtown, directly outside Oakland City Hall.

Besides vendors, speakers, music and other offerings, organizers say the event also includes a designated area in front of City Hall where those with a valid medical cannabis card will be able to smoke marijuana, organizers said.

It's basically a flower-power party downtown. If folks are so sick, you'd think they'd be home nursing their illnesses and taking their "medications." But of course, it's not really about "medical" marijuana. It's all about legalization, period.

Model Lara Stone Calvin Klein Naked Glamour Campaign

I'm a little late on this one, but hey, she's lovely.

At Telegraph UK, "Calvin Klein’s Naked Glamour campaign with Lara Stone unveiled."

RELATED: At Celeb Slam, "Dutch model Lara Stone is not happy with Playboy (NSFW)."

'Reelin' in the Years'

Some music for the evening:

I might post another one later. I'm in the mood.

President Zero SCOAMF

I was about to look up SCOAMF, but readers supplied encyclopedic linkage at the post.

See The Other McCain: "SCOAMF Nation."

And Dan Collins is looking good!

BONUS: At TOM, "SARAH PALIN IN NEW HAMPSHIRE."

PREVIOUSLY: "President Zero."

Image Credit.

Larry Powell, Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, Retires for One Day in Salary Give Back to District

Not the kind of story you see very often.

At Los Angeles Times, "Fresno school official has a gift for giving":

Reporting from Fresno — It was supposed to be a quiet thing; no fanfare, no press releases.

Fresno County School Supt. Larry Powell and his wife, Dot, a retired principal, had figured out a way to help imperiled programs in their struggling school district.

He would retire for one day. Then come back to work at a pittance compared with his former salary — putting more than $800,000 of his salary and benefits back in the district's coffers.

But in tough economic times, when public trust has been repeatedly battered, word of an elected official giving back money quickly made its way from a Board of Education meeting to national headlines. Powell spent his "retirement" giving television and magazine interviews.

"We were trying to not create a big stir," said Armen Bacon, spokeswoman for the Fresno County Office of Education. "But we're living in a time of despair and people are so hungry for stories about the impact one person can make."

Powell officially retired Wednesday. The district was contracted to pay him $235,000 plus benefits a year through 2014. He went back to work Friday, rehired at a salary of $31,020 with no benefits, to run 35 school districts with 195,000 students.

Powell said he will give his new salary to charity. His former, heftier salary will go into the district's discretionary fund.

The Boston Globe has more:

Powell, a Baptist minister and lifelong educator who began his career as a high school civics teacher, was appalled by the revelations in Bell, the poor Southern California city where corrupt public officials secretly padded their paychecks by hundreds of thousands of dollars. “My wife and I asked ourselves, ‘What can we do that might restore confidence in government?’’’ he told the Associated Press. Their answer was to voluntarily forgo $800,000 in salary and benefits over the next 3½years. Powell chose to “retire’’ and then be hired back for just $31,000 a year - substantially less than what first-year teachers in California are paid. For that modest sum, he will continue to oversee 325 schools with 195,000 students.

He's not even keeping the $31 thousand.

But go back and check that Los Angeles Times piece. Powell can do this because his wife's a former principal and he'll be on her health care, and he's already earned at $200 thousand annual retirement from the state retirement system. Basically, the guy was raking the cash off taxpayer largesse and thought, "You know, I've had it good. Perhaps I might give some of this back so that others won't need for things." And that's the honorable thing right there.