Nazis Next Door, Gruber, and More USA Secrets (video)

Description:

Because of a legal loophole, some Nazis who came to America after World War II and were kicked out of the country years ago are still receiving government benefits today. Eric Lichtblau, author of “The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler’s Men” joins to discuss.

This is rather appalling. The United States of America protected and hid Nazis, and Nazis here and now get government handouts. I mean, bona fide white people who also entered the country outside of legal immigration channels and who committed abominable crimes are out there getting free government money. They're out there living off the taxes paid by hard-working Americans! Hmm. Do they vote, too?

Well, I am not surprised. The U.S. government has rarely been transparent in its doings, which is why I think the conservatives who are going on and on about Jonathan Gruber's "stupidity of the American voters" video, one of several, shows that many of them don't seem to get that sleight of hand is not a new thing in Washington D.C. They seem to think it's something the current administration invented under President Obama.

But here's an article at The Upshot that explains why there's nothing shocking about Gruber's video. Nothing at all. Furthermore, given that Gruber's talking about the Affordable Care Act's language cloaking a tax increase, I think the "stupidity of the American voter" is a reference to moderates who don't understand how the ACA works, not those clearly on the Left who wanted a single payer, universal healthcare system. People on the Left are not anti-tax increase. That's a Right wing thing.

And all those objections the Republicans voiced during the crafting of the ACA? That was posturing, red meat to appease the base. Disguising a tax increase is always about appeasing the Right. People who were paying attention, though, understood what was happening, recognized the trade-off. I did at least.

Implicit racism in Ebola tragedy? Read Wright and think

Nowai Korkoya, mother of Ebola patient
Thomas Eric Duncan with Rev. Jackson

I have been processing information regarding the medical care of Thomas Eric Duncan. Duncan, the first patient in the United States diagnosed with Ebola, died at a Dallas, Texas, Presbyterian hospital on October 8. I am ruminating what I know of his case and contemplating how subconscious racism or racial bias may have played a role in his treatment.

Is it probable or merely possible that the hospital failed to diagnose the Liberian correctly because he was Black and uninsured?

Other activists, bloggers, and journalists sensitive to the effects of racism on America and the world have already scrutinized his treatment as well as how various media companies have reported on the Ebola crisis and concluded that more than likely both racial bias and medical capitalism played a negative role in how the hospital treated Duncan and how America has approached the Ebola crisis.

Early in Duncan's case, the hospital asserted it was treating Duncan as best its staff could and attributed possible missteps to flaws in the electronic health records system. Duncan's family, however, felt otherwise. Speaking out, they said they believed the hospital might have been treating Duncan differently because he was African.

Since his death, the family's released his medical records that show Duncan definitely told hospital staff he had recently arrived from Liberia, and staff documented that he had a 103 degree fever, but the hospital sent him home anyway. Since the records release, the hospital has said it will review its procedures.

I'm aware of studies showing that "racial bias skews medical diagnoses of African-American patients." Nonetheless, when I learned, prior to Duncan's death, that the family had called in Rev. Jesse Jackson, fearing Duncan would not receive the treatment he needed, I thought maybe they were paranoid. My logic was surely medical professionals of any racial background would understand an Ebola epidemic in the U.S.A. would be disastrous for everyone and that medical professionals would know to be cautious with sick patients coming from Ebola-stricken countries.

I think carefully before I call an action or policy "racist," but when I discovered that Duncan, once diagnosed, had not immediately been given the experimental drug credited with curing a White doctor who contracted Ebola in Africa and was flown to the U.S. for treatment, I began to think perhaps the family was not overreacting.

Now that I've read "The Implicit Racism in Ebola Tragedy," an opinion piece by Robin Wright at CNN, I'm beginning to think calling out racism on the handling of Ebola is not as crazy as it sounds. Citing examples from African children in Dallas who have no connection to Duncan being called "Ebola kids" to how the media is resurrecting old tropes of Africa as "dark continent," Wright's essay should give us all pause. Eventually, the U.S.A. will have to deal with some kind of communicable disease and neglecting to treat people adequately because they are Black or Brown and poor will only worsen the situation.

So, I highly recommend you read what Wright has to say. If you're the kind of person who believes racism no longer exists at the instituional level, I hope you can set aside that assumption and really give what she's saying deep thought.

The YouToons Get Ready for Obamacare (Video)

The Kaiser Family Foundation's produced this video that clearly explains the Affordable Care Act also dubbed Obamacare.

Tea Party Leader Attacks My Church, the UMC

Just when I thought some Tea Party leaders could sink no lower, I learn that one of its most prominent leaders, according to the Huffington Post, is calling for the United Methodist Church to be disbanded. I take this personally since I grew up in the UMC.

My grandfather and great-grandfather were UMC ministers and many of my family members are still on its rolls. In fact, I've been thinking about returning to the UMC. I guess my roots are calling me.

I drifted away thinking I needed a denomination that embraced a pentecostal tradition more and had clearly defined guidelines for living. Ironically, many such churches ostracize members that don't get with their political agenda to force a conservative Christian doctrine onto the nation, and I don't think that's what the Apostles advocated.

HuffPo reports that Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation and someone who claims to be a former member of the UMC, calls the denomination the "religious arm of socialism" and "the first Church of Karl Marx."

TPM Muckraker says that after seeing a sign at a UMC building in Washington D.C. for the Dream Act (The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, which failed to pass in Congress), Phillips wrote at his blog that he said "I have a DREAM. That is, no more United Methodist Church."

It seems that he divined from this sign that the UMC is "pro-illegal immigration," but he also maligns the UMC because it supports health care reform and helping the poor. He probably holds similar animosities toward the Christians who support the views of Sojourner's Magazine. Apparently in Phillips's mind, Jesus of Nazareth would have objected to helping the poor or being willing to pay more in taxes so your fellow citizens could have access to health care. (Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly also imagines that Jesus believed in locking people out rather than loving people in.) So, Phillips wants "no more" UMC.

Naturally, Phillips tosses around the word "freedom" a lot as though only he knows what the word means. I continue to be amazed at how often people who proclaim themselves "patriots" and "freedom-loving Americans" seek to diminish the rights of others. Speaking of the Methodist church, Phillips writes:

"They want amnesty, they want "economic justice", they opposed "global climate change" (earth to the Methodists, man isn't doing it), fighting global poverty (here is another hint, most poverty is caused by a lack of freedom and lack of a free enterprise system). Not shockingly, the Methodists side with the Islamists against Israel, and of course oppose America in Iraq."

So, there you go. Another Tea Party leader is showing his true colors as anti-freedom of religion. So much for the Constitution of the United States of America they claim to love so much. Perhaps this tendency to want to control other people's religious beliefs is why so many Tea Party members love Sarah "Dominion Theologist" Palin.

You can read Phillips's blog to verify his statements; however, you will have to subscribe. Can you stomach that?

At LoveRadically, writing about Phillips's attack on the UMC after he supposedly saw a Dream Act sign , the blogger says:

I am not going engage Mr.Phillips on his ignorance of the United Methodist Church or his blatant over-generalization of all the members of the UMC as people who hate American. As an aside, I dare you sir to step into my church on Sunday morning and tell our veterans they hate America. Nor will I debate Mr. Phillips's stance on the DREAM Act or any other legislation. I will only ask Mr. Phillips why HE hates America and democracy? I only make that assumption because Mr. Phillips seems to dislike the way a democratic government works, that is debating and discussing the issues of the day instead of condemning an entire denomination because of one sign outside one building.

Yep. But I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that Phillips knows the history of the church and its founders, Charles and John Wesley, and thinks that he, Phillips, a Tea Party leader, somehow has greater wisdom.

From what I've read of his rhetoric elsewhere, the man misunderstands "separation of church and state." He denounces the UMC for sending emails to its members about church leaders' positions on political issues. So, he doesn't seem to get that separation of church and state does not mean people of faith lose freedom of speech.

Earth to Mr. Phillips: The evangelical Christian right has been politically active for a long time! Maybe you should read some history books (not those from Texas, however). Also, again, see Sarah Palin.

Dear Ms. Kathryn Jean Lopez, You are Right, But ...

A friend passed on Howard Kurtz's opinion piece in the Washington Post, "Media's health-care exhaustion," noting that research data from David Frum's staff suggested that the Tea Party people don't understand taxes. It's worth a read to see how confused the Tea Party crowd appears to be this subject that it's taken to its bosom, and also to digest what Health Care Reform may mean to the Obama presidency. In addition, Kurtz gives an intelligent assessment of how the media handled the Health Care Reform story.

However, it was the following quote from a conservative writer that caught my attention for other reasons.

From the right, Kathryn Jean Lopez in National Review:

"Congratulations, Democrats. Beginning now, you own the health-care system in America. Every hiccup. Every complaint. Every long line. All yours." (from Kurtz's WaPo column)

The pessimism of the statement, its pettiness, stood out to me. And so I'm asking Lopez to be more positive about the nation's future.

Dear Ms. Lopez:

You are correct that Democrats will be blamed for every flaw in the new health care system. My question is will you and others on the right also give them kudos when due?

If what you say is correct, then it is equally true that Republicans may not lay claim to any successes from the new system. Beginning now, the Democrats own the health-care system in America. Every joyful tear. Every smile. Every life saved. All theirs.

Sincerely,
Verite Parlant aka Nordette

How Will Heath Care Reform Changes Impact You?

In addition to the CNN video about changes in health care premiums, I also came across this New York Times article that I mentioned in last night's post on the passage of the Health Care Reform bill in the House of Representatives. The NYT piece is entitled "For Consumers, Clarity on Health Care Changes." Another blogger passed on to me this online resource guide about health care reform compiled by a teacher.

Health Care Reform Passes: Republicans Try to Send Back to Committee, Stupak Called Baby Killer

Questions about the health care bill and how it impacts you? Read this NYT article.

No Republicans voted for the Health Care Reform bill that passed tonight in the House of Representatives, and neither did 34 Democrats vote for the bill. The final vote was 219 voting yes to 212 voting no. More drama, the Republicans are trying to get the bill sent back to committee for a review of abortion funding, in effect killing the bill.

Democrats are worried about holding their members together on a GOP motion that could kill the healthcare bill.

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said House leaders are specifically concerned about a Republican motion to recommit that would contain only language on abortion that Stupak originally had wanted to include in the Senate bill.

The concern is based on the fear of GOP attack ads painting Democrats who vote against a motion to recommit that includes Stupak’s favored language on abortion as “flip-floppers” on the issue. (The Hill)

The Democrats need 216 No votes to stop the bill from going back to committee.

The evening also had a breach of decorum, sources report, that some Republican member of congress yelled "Baby killer!" while Stupak was speaking.

Here are some places to read more on this story:

• House approves Senate health-care bill, Washington Post
• The New York Times
• CNN: House Passes Legislation
• ABC News
• MSNBC: Fixes Still Require House, Senate action
• Fox News on Health Care Reform
• Huffington Post: Change Has Come

Health Care Reform Coverage in Two Minutes: Do You Agree or Disagree with CNN's Wrap-up? The video was posted before Health Care Reform bill passed in the House tonight.



CNN posted this two-minute summary of news on the upcoming Health Care Reform vote. Do you get anything from it?

Republican leaders call protesters' yelling racial slurs 'isolated incidents'

" ... let's not let a few isolated incidents get in the way of the fact that millions of Americans are scared to death, and millions of Americans want no part of this growing size of government." -- House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio

Well at least he didn't claim as some conservatives did on Twitter that there was no proof it ever happened.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Yesterday on Twitter, I tried to stay away from the storm over the slurs yelled during yesterday's conservative protest as much as I could because, let's face it, if you let yourself get worked up every time a conservative says something blatantly racist or homophobic/hetero-supremacist or plainly insane, you'll stay in a funk. So, I wrote a poem instead under "The Poetry ObamaCare Writes." One person called it "Zen on today's ugliness."

The ruckus stemmed from the health care reform battle and the news that conservative protesters yelled racial slurs at members of congress, called one leader a faggot, and apparently spat on another. On Twitter, @QueenofSpain stayed in the fray, debating a certain young conservative who calls herself Christian and yet can never bring herself to admit blatant racism when it reveals its head among Republicans and conservatives. She won't even concede Rush Limbaugh, for instance, makes racially-charged statements.

I think her defense of yesterday's racist and homophobic harassment was that she needs proof. You know what that's about. They claim they can only believe something true if Fox News says it's true, or that they must see it with their own eyes and hear it with their own ears, but since they've shown they don't know a racial slur when it comes from one of their own mouths, what do they say when they do see and hear them? Either they say it was not a racial slur or that the person who said it was an Obama plant. You know the drill.

This morning CNN reports that "House Republicans denounce racial slurs hurled at Democrats." They called the actions of those protesters "isolated incidents."

Three Democratic African-American lawmakers - including civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis of Georgia - said demonstrators against the health care bill yelled racist epithets at them as they walked past. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri said a protester spit at him. Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, an openly gay Democrat, said protesters yelled anti-gay comments at him.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, called the incidents "reprehensible" but said on NBC's Meet the Press "let's not let a few isolated incidents get in the way of the fact that millions of Americans are scared to death, and millions of Americans want no part of this growing size of government."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, appearing on NBC, said, "I think the tone of the this entire debate has been denigrated, has been brought down, frankly, by the rhetoric on government takeover, socialism, things that are not accurate."

As said in the CNN report, the talk took place on NBC's Meet the Press.

I agree that not all Republicans would shout racist, homophobic slurs and spit on representatives nor condone the behavior. However, I also think that if they would stand up to people like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and stop kowtowing to the part of their base that loves the Limbaugh-Beck type rhetoric, then those Republican "denunciations" would sound more sincere.

Bye, Bye Rush Limbaugh? Take Guardian Poll

I heard about this yesterday on Twitter, that conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh says that if universal health care passes in America, he'll move to Costa Rica.



The irony of his comment, as Gawker notes, is that Costa Rica has government-run health care, but as Gawker points out, it also has a cocaine industry.

The U.K. Guardian is running a poll asking, "Should Rush Limbaugh leave the country if the healthcare bill is passed?" The answer choices are:

1. Yes. Another good reason to pass healthcare.
2. No. What's Costa Rica ever done to the US?

Apparently even people across the pond are aware of Rush's bad reputation. However, the poll is at Comment is Free America.

When I took it, choice number one had 85.3% of the votes. Take the poll here.

At the actual U.K. Guardian website, Richard Adams writes "What has Costa Rica done to deserve this? It's the second most beautiful country on earth, after all." And then he quotes a commenter from CIF America who said:

This does not make sense at all: Costa Rica has the best socialized medical safety net of all central American countries, if not Latin American countries. Infinitely much better then the US system. In addition there is the government run "extra" medical insurance for people who want to be treated faster in private hospitals and clinic. (Read more)

Adams also says Costa Rica's president is a woman who wants to clean up the environment.

What's scary about all this is that so many Americans think Limbaugh actually knows what he's talking about on any topic at all. They ask his advice and follow it as well, something made clear during the presidential campaign. Under "Operation Chaos," he told his listeners in Ohio to go and switch their party affiliation from Republican to Democratic so they could swing the Democratic Primary in that state toward Hillary Clinton.

He didn't say that because he respects Hillary but because he thought all the confusion he might create would make it easier for a Republican to win the presidency. He likes to flex his muscle to move the conservative base around like puppets, and then claims he's not a leader of the RNC as he yanks its official leaders' chains. Michael Steele, the figurehead, fears him, and so does Sarah Palin. Any time a conservative leader offends Limbaugh and he takes notice, an apology follows.

I have said often that Rush Limbaugh has a mental disorder. People think his egomania is an act, but I think he is actually has Narcissistic Personality Disorder and an extra dose of genuine mania.

Had to update this post with the following Stephen Colbert clip.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c>
The Word - Define & Conquer
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Skate Expectations

Health Care Reform: Is Health Care a Right or Privilege

An American without access to health care is an American deprived of the pursuit of happiness. When people become ill and are denied health care, their dreams are not deferred but smothered. (Nordette Adams's 2 cents as she signed a health care reform petition)

I'm sick, possibly not worthy of a doctor visit kind of sick, but I am home with a bad head cold. My daughter's had it and so has my son. Naturally, the first thought was is it swine flu? Since no one had a fever and each is recovering well, I think we can scratch H1N1 off the list.

However, in the bed I've been thinking about the reasons I haven't had a mammogram and why I haven't reported to take another test my doctor strongly suggested. The reason is I fear a big bill that would be shoved on me despite my paying more than $500 per month for health insurance. Why should I have this fear? Well, in the spring I had routine blood work which included a hormone check. Not an unreasonable test for a woman pushing 50.

My health insurance company bombarded me with paper work. Its underwriters are on the hunt for a pre-existing condition that would allow them to not pay the testing bill. I suspect what they're really after is a way to kick me off the insurance, even though I've made few claims.

Last year I went through this with another insurance company. They got a $6,000 hospital bill, denied paying it, didn't follow-up to see if I had a pre-existing condition, but still sent letters to doctors saying they refused to pay for that reason. I should have gone to the Louisiana State insurance board and complained. Perhaps I should have sued them for fraud, but my mother was ill and she died during that period. My mind was not on those sons of bitches at the health insurance company.

Given my life experience, when I saw GottaLaff's tweet to sign a petition with the title Health Care is a Right Not a Privilege, I clicked the link. The question of whether health care is a right has crept into my mind often lately, and I wrote my thoughts into the blank of the petition. I've been thinking that conservatives confuse the right to health care with the promise of a cure.

No, we are not all guaranteed health and no one may be guaranteed a healing, at least not from the spiritual standpoint of fate, but it seems basic health care--cholesterol checks, flu shots, tests to ensure we don't have a problem that could be cured if we caught it in time, preventive health measures advice. How can anyone achieve the American dream without basic health care?

An American without access to health care is an American deprived of the pursuit of happiness. When people become ill and are denied health care, their dreams are not deferred but smothered. (Nordette Adams's 2 cents as she signed a health care reform petition)

And I mean that.

Barney Frank Asks Woman for Her Planet of Residence

I'll bet that there is someone out there in the blogosphere who is completely ignoring the point Barney Frank made while addressing a woman holding a picture of President Barack Obama as Hitler and is instead harping on something like, "Frank was disrespectful." Frank challenged the woman's thought processes at at a town hall meeting on health care reform in Dartmouth, Mass. I'm so sure someone is focused on his lack of tact rather than his honesty that I won't even bother to Google it.

The Massachusetts congressman was right, however, arguing with that simple-minded woman would be "like arguing with a dining room table." This exactly the kind of response I'd like to give sometimes to people spouting nonsense and myths about health care reform and other poltical topics on which they comment but are clearly misguided.

I try to be nice and not come out and say the person's delusional, but God knows that some people don't even realize you refuse to engage them because you think they're insane. I had a man here at my blog like that a while back. He thought I didn't answer him because I couldn't answer him, that he was some kind of genius in his logic. The truth was I thought he was a nut and didn't want to waste my time.


As reported by CNN:

While Frank attempted to respond to all questions, he gave up when one woman compared health care proposals favored by Frank and President Obama to policies of Nazi Germany.

"When you ask me that question, I'm going to revert to my ethnic heritage and ask you a question: On what planet do you spend most of your time?" Frank asked.

"You stand there with a picture of the president defaced to look like Hitler and compare the effort to increase health care to the Nazis," he said, adding such behavior demonstrated the strength of First Amendment guarantees of what he called "contemptible" free speech.

"Trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table," Frank said to the woman. "I have no interest in doing it."

Despite the disruptions, the meeting covered many of the issues of the health care debate, with Frank shooting down rumors that a House health care bill would mandate free insurance coverage for illegal immigrants. (CNN)

In other health care reform news that reflects American ignorance or insanity: 1.) Think Progress reports that 39% of Americans want the government to "stay out of Medicare." I talked about this form of idiocy on my in-fear-mation post. 2.) The NRA gun-toting crazies test American freedom's boundaries by carrying automatic weapons to heatlh care reform meetings with President Barack Obama. If you skim the Huffington Post's comment section, you'll see what I mean by crazies.

Really, I despise people who only drop by posts to push an ideology rather that to honestly engage. They're like sleazy political operatives. I especially abhor those who don't even bother to read the post's content and who make matters worse by making statements that show they didn't read the post and their only goal is to blast political opponents or spam. It's disrespectful to the blogger/writer and shows they think they are the center of the universe.

Health Insurance Companies' Dirty Tricks

I had this in the queue to post a few days back, but am just getting to publishing it. It's a video from CNN of Wendell Potter, a former excecutive with Cigna Health Insurance, talking about the dirty tricks of the health insurance industry.

Are you getting tired of the lies and political spin on the matter of Health Care Reform? CNN's started a fact checker service for this important debate called
Truth Squad.

FactCheck.org, the same service of the Annenberg Public Policy Center that monitors lies in political races, is also covering health care spin. In addition, as I said in my post on health care in-fear-mation, the Kaiser Foundation has a site that lets you compare proposed health care bills side-by-side.

President Barack Obama is currently battling accusations on the left that he's going soft and on the right that he's a socialist for attempting to improve the health care system at all. The left seems to want no compromise while the right is pulling out the stops to make this his make or break issue, and from what I can see some conservatives are far more concerned about getting him out of the White House than they are about what's best for the average American citizen. The fear campaign Republicans have waged to stop health care reform is despicable, and the Blue Dog Dems who back them for expediency's sake deserve to lose their seats.

I fault no one who knows the facts and has questions, but for goodness sake offer an alternative solution to what is undeniably a real problem. Don't just nay-say. Based on what I've observed from protesters, however, the only people who know the facts and have legitimate question are those who want the money explained. The rest are just grabbing at buzz words and being duped by fear tactics. And some of them clearly have no grasp of the facts, just a continuing issue with having a black president period. Have you heard the lie that health care reform is Obama's way to pay reparations to black people?

Want to See Rage? Let's Talk Healthcare

True confession #1: Today I visited BlogHer.com, read a post by one of its political conservative contributing editors and went into full-scale rant. I seethed, cursing at least twice. Here is the beginning of my relatively tame opening before I said what I really thought:

Deaf ear to this one:
I'll admit that I didn't even bother to contemplate your conservative objections, and anyone who comes along and wants to wag a finger at me for my stubbornness and lack of openness on this one, wag your finger until you die. I'll dance at your funeral. (Read the rest but you've been warned. I removed the original comment from BlogHer b/c I hurt somebody's feelings, but I stand by every word I said.)

True confession #2: I am totally unrepentant. I said what I think and nothing's changed. However, I did see an interesting article at CNN about negotiating your healthcare with a hospital or doctors if you don't have insurance. Some of the advice comes from a plastic surgeon, Dr. John Di Saia, who found himself in the embarrassing position of not having health insurance when he busted his elbow.

In addition, here's video on the same topic of health advocacy.


The rising number of layoffs which are resulting in more people not having healthcare insurance seems to have prompted these healthcare stories. (Link to CNN article, "No Health Insurance? Get Help Here.) CNN also has tips from the "empowered patient."