What’s on your mind?
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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Recent Posts
- Day 14: Louisiana Senator Approvingly Compares Trump to Stalin
- Day 13: Elon Musk Flexes His Muscles
- Day 12: While Elon Musk Takes Over, We Podcast With Driftglass and Blue Gal
- Day 11: Harm of Fascist Regime’s Foreign Aid Freeze Comes Into View
- Day 10: The Fascist Regime Blames a Plane Crash on Nonwhite People
A journalist (sorry name withheld because I can’t remember)stated on the Mike Malloy show (NovaMradio.com)on Thursday that VP Cheney will conveniently become “ill” and resign by Feb 07.
An insider at the Top of IL congressional candidate (Hastert’s district) John Laesh (sp) said Denny will be gone by end of 06. . .he gets a bigger retirement if he retires as Speaker than if he retires as just one of the boys. Figures. Malloy spoke on air with Laesh, who was very upbeat and keeping his campagn staff at close hand for a possible “special election.”
Don’t know if either rumor really has legs, but it is wonderful to speculate and hope they are true.
John Laesch has his website up in case you want to check it out at http://www.john06.com/
He has an inspirational biography, so I hope he has a second chance to run for this seat.
John sent a nice thank you letter and enclosed a small bumper sticker as his way to acknowledge my small netroots donation.
“John The Revelator”
Russ Feingold’s decision not to run for President brought back some memories, so I’m just reminiscing about when my father was alive. Good memories, but damn I miss him.
As far as I am concerned we have just begun to fight! There is not a time for lying down on the job and now is not the time to even try to do it. We have got to keep the momentum up and going forward for our own sake. We have medicare D to revise, right Kid? We have SS to keep solvent…we have to end this madness of war. We have lots and lots of work to do. I suggest we get behind Russ no matter wher he is to do this fight! We have lots yet to do…lets hold these new and old congresscritters feet to the fire…such things such as health care and taxes and ending the lobbying that is rotten for all of us out here. There is yet lots of things out there for us to take the tiger by the tail and get it down. That is my only thing I have to say….We are all still fighters for the right against the wrong….hugs to all…….
Medicare D has to be thoroughly investigated, repealed and REPLACED with a single payer health care system. And I mean SINGLE PAYER, as in ONE, not this state by state nonsense that is being talked about. Someone please explain why the hell someone who lives in one state should get better health care than a person in another state. That makes no sense, as there are people’s lives we’re talking about. Unless, of course, they are supposed to drop dead out to balance the budget.
SS? Solvent for the next 40-odd years, so that is a non-issue. But, bush is damn determined to make it one, by crying that it’s necesary for the future of our children. Why the hell should people today go without, so kids that aren’t even born can have it easy? There is absolutely NOTHING from stopping someone from setting up a private retirement account. Believe they are called IRA’s.
Reasons to end the war? Read this.
Taxes? To a person who makes 50K a year and complains that their taxes are too high, I say, “Don’t be so damn selfish–STFU and pay them. It could be you w/a tbi on SSD/I sitting in front of this keyboard. Ever think of that?”
I know a family of 4 that makes it on 25K a year which includes one parent’s college tuition and daycare! If a family of 4 can’t live on 50K a year, someone has very serious problems, which won’t be solved by lower taxes.
Kid, in most of those, you have made my case. Believe it or not, I too have been poor. As a single parent, trying to raise my children, the best health care possible that was not there for me, but for others. I still kept on fighting for them and others such as us. I finally got an education and got on with things to improve things for others. I never take things for granet. I never count my chickens before they are hatched. I am still afighter, even tho life for me has not gotten much better than most. Until you know where and with what I live with in my life I still will not stop fighting for others….I am a fighter and that is just how I am. What has been done on many issues was not my desire for our society….no matter what you or anyone else should think of me, I am not rich. I still have to fight for every $ I make. I do not know what others think of nurses out here but we, common ordinary nurse do not make money like you would think….That is just the way it is, yet, I still try hard to raise the standard of living for many, who are very poor….why, cause I was there once…I do not like where I have been and I choose not to have others live like that either. I do not brag of the fact I am or have been ill too…I just kept on going and doing what I had to do by making a living when, I felt I could not drag my body out of bed to go to work. I had children depending on me for their food and shelter…why cause their father did not care one iota about them and how they lived. So there you have some of my story. I am not rich…I am getting to the point my health will not last much longer for me to work. There you have it…so….yes I will continue to fight for me and for you and for others….I just am made that way. The only way I will give up the fight is when they put me 6 feet under….that is a promise I have made to myself many long years ago…I do not have to explain my ways to anyone….I only have to be true to myself. As long as I have a mind to think with, that will give me strenght to get up and do what I have to do. My hands shake with now what may become a handicap for me in my line of work. Then comes the other miserable failures of the nervous system. So please, do not put me down…I have saved some lives in my lifetime, and that has brought me great pride in me and my work. I have always tried to lead a life of pride that will always make me humble in doing the things I have to do to get things done…I just hope by doing this, I have led by example and given my children lots to think about while raising my grandchildren. The world does not revolve around just me only, but for all of us. I give you my trust and hope that we will make a difference…maybe not tomorrow, but down the road a piece, we will make a difference. We will see, for the future is not far in front of us. Please have just a little faith with me and together (and others) we just might get something done. I am depending on you to help me in this fight…are you up to it? I know you are tired, so am I. We just have just one more fight to fight…please help me do it..
You’re absolutely right, Street Kid. Many of us are only a heartbeat from tragedy and financial ruin. We’re out there working without a net. I’m glad you two are on our side.
Indianadem, I have not only experienced, but have also seen it to others who “never thought it could happen to them.” Sadly, some can’t handle it…
(Used to work in mental health.)
Brenda, I don’t know where you live, but in MI, nurses make mega-bucks, have excellent benefits and are still some of the biggest whiners imaginable–“I’m overworked and underpaid.” (Nope, social workers are overworked and underpaid–I used to be one.) “I’m taken for granted.” (Nice try, but teachers are taken for granted.) “I’ve had people die in my arms.” (A nurse KNEW that was a part of the job going in–which was why my best friend and I from the neighborhood we grew up in had NO interest in nursing.) “No one respects me.” (That fat paycheck IS respect.) “I’m burning out.” (Plenty of openings in case management, compliance monitoring/accreditation, insurance work at a LESSER salary, but then a nurse would lose a fat pension–very common gripe.)
Why does my mentioning that I have a tbi bother you? It is a FACT, as is all of the other information that I have written re: the needs and rights of people with disabilities. Did you know that the amount of savings a person w/a disability is allowed to have ($2000.00) under the SS regs (to continue to receive full disability benefits) has not been raised in over a decade? Almost gives me the impression that a person with a disability is supposed to hide and be content being treated as a second-class citizen, so everyone else can get their taxes cut.
Another thing, it really irritates the hell out of me when someone goes on about how they WERE poor and then throws the fact that they are NOT in another person’s face, especially a to person who IS poor. (Have seen single moms dangle their kids on their knee and cry to their workers and have everything handed to them–one even got a swingset–sorry, but that is NOT a necessity.)
Now, let’s talk about trust. After all of the people that I’ve trusted people in the past (re: Medicare D) who have been let me and others down, and my not having been adequately recognized (or compensated–striking out freelancing) for all that I have done (there is a hell of a lot that you don’t know about) can you blame me for being angry?
Again, think about it from my point of view.
My son just had an appendectomy, which didn’t go exactly as planned and turned into major abdominal surgery. To top it off it occured while he was away at college, about 150 miles from home and I camped out in his room and a local hotel for almost a week.
What was abundantly clear is that the quality of care a patient receives is completely in the hands of the nurses. They run the place. We had a couple of nurses who seemed lazy and/or overworked and they wouldn’t come when we needed them and when they did they seemed surly and it made my son feel like a big pain in the ass when he is the most polite kid on earth.
But there were many more nurses who were kind, efficient, funny, tender and caring and they were a joy to be around. One in particular just lit up the room every time she came in.
Nurses are underpaid. And underappreciated.
Me, I’m thinking about the…
insidiousness of Guinea Pigs
how little beer is actually in a six pack
rainy, foggy days are perfect for NFC Football
the smell of wet cedar
how good it would be to get the farmhouse I found for rent
electric blues guitar
and of course…chili dogs
Worried about the so-called Animal Enterprise Act due to be voted on tomorrow. Please, folks, don’t believe the hype about the so-called “eco terrorists”-it’s just another government ploy to stifle legitimate dissent.
Birthday Celebration for Me!!!!
Wesley Clark and Al Gore are good possibilities. I would happily get behind either or both of them.
Ok I need some help to settle an argument between Shirl and I. She is trying to tell me that Shumer nad Emanuel will select the candidate for president for the Dem. party. My position is that they have very little if anything to do with presidential candidate and it mostly rests in the results of the primaries. I am also pretty sure that the money of these election committees does not go to Presidential election. So can someone help us out with this.
and who do you think stuck us with Kerry if not the DC insiders?
Well according to wikipedia and my recollection he (Kerry) won the majority of state primaries….I will go along with ‘insiders’ but just not specifically Shumer and Emanuel, in our discussion she holds the position that these two specifically will decide. My position is that why, what do they have to do with Presidential elections.
Wikipedia results here
Democrats VOTED for Kerry in the primaries and caucuses. I can’t tell you how sick I got of hearing from my friends that they were going to support him because he was “electable” – you know, military service and all. I’m just hoping folks learned something from that fiasco.
Just to clarify this, you are agreeing with me then that Emanuel and Shumer will not be picking the candidate. According to wikipedia,Kerry won primaries in all but about 5 states, so then it would appear that primaries determine the candidate, not the head of the senate election committee and the head of the congressional election committee.
Yep, you’re right Diane. The role that the “insiders” play in the process (ie, folks like Schummer and Emanuael) is that they will try to take down candidates they don’t like either overtly over covertly (though media) and they can influence where people and corporations donate their money. But in the end, they just have one vote in the process like everyone else.
Thanks Lin, I wish I could get Shirl to see this, she is giving me fits….lol….and I agreed with your assessment about influencing with Shirl….her original statement to me was that she wished ‘those two men didn’t decide the candidate’ and I said “Hold on there”, and so the argument (discussion) ensued. She maintains that she has read that in at least two books and some articles. Anyway she is not budging, so I hope she will take your word for it. Ahhhh these political discussions, don’t you just love it!!!!!
The reason some people feel they don’t have a voice in the process is probably because of the order of the primaries. If you live in Iowa, NH, South Carolina (and is the new early one Nevada this year?) you have a big voice. I know by the time the process gets to MN, its usually pretty much a done deal.
Last presidental election I worked my ass off for Dean, but by the time our caucuses happened, Kerry had enough votes to win and Dean dropped out before I had the chance to vote for him. That’s why these guys spend so much time and $ in these “early primary” states – they get to decide.
But never minimize the impact those “insiders” have either. They worked real hard to take Dean down last time – and with the support of the media, they were successful in influencing way too many voters in the primaries. Remember the “scream” fiasco that was exploited to the max for these purposes.
The NC Baptist Convention is meeting this week to start their crusade against gay-tolerant churches. It’s about the saddest thing in the world.
Covered here at BlueNC.
I used to be a Baptist, but I’ve slid all the way back to agnostic at best and, truth be told, I’m probably an atheist at heart.
Ciro Rodriguez is on my mind. Will we raise funds for Ciro and his runoff in Texas 23 against Henry Bonilla? Let us support CIRO.