Hooray!

Next to my second daughter being born a few weeks ago, the best arrival of the year is finally here. Michael Moore’s amazing documentary, “SiCKO”, was released earlier this week so I encourage you to run out and get your copy ASAP. Don’t be sorry!

Sadly It's Deja Vu All Over Again

Last Friday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued an apology for having its own employees pose as reporters during a fake news conference from three days prior regarding the wildfires in California. FEMA scheduled the briefing with approximately fifteen minutes notice. The news organizations were also provided with a telephone number in order to listen to the news conference but could not ask questions. The following is an excerpt from that phony news conference:

QUESTION: "Are you happy with FEMA's response so far?"
ANSWER: "I'm very happy with FEMA's response so far. This is a FEMA and a federal government that's leaning forward, not waiting to react. And you have to be pretty pleased to see that."

QUESTION: "What lessons learned from Katrina have been applied?"
ANSWER: "I think what you're really seeing here is the benefit of experience, the benefit of good leadership and the benefit of good partnership, none of which were present in Katrina. So I think, as a nation, people should sit up and take notice that you have the worst wildfire season in history in California and look at how well the state and local governments are performing, look at how well we're working together between state and federal partners."

Not surprisingly, the "questions" were directed at Harvey Johnson, the Deputy Administrator and COO for FEMA. In the agency's apology, Johnson states that "the real story...should not be lost because of how we tried to meet the needs of the media in distributing facts". Facts? How can you even use that particular word when your whole news conference was a sham? And what did the White House have to say about this? Press Secretary Dana Perino (who, by the way, is easily competing with Mr. Bush for the award for the Worst Public Speaker in the World) stated that "It is not a practice that we would employ here at the White House or that we — we certainly don’t condone it. We didn’t know about it beforehand. FEMA has issued an apology, saying that they had an error in judgment when they were attempting to try to get out a lot of information to reporters who were asking for answers to a variety of questions in regard to the wildfires in California. It’s not something I would have condoned. And they, I’m sure, will not do it again". When asked by a reporter as to who was responsible for the fake interview, Perino declared that "FEMA is responsible. And they have accepted that responsibility and they issued an apology today". Boy, how quickly things change in just two years. Following Hurricane Katrina, a White House reporter asked former Press Secretary Scott McClellan who was responsible for the disastrous relief efforts conducted by FEMA. McClellan's simply answered: "The President".

Proof Why the Majority of Conservatives Are Shameless

In response to Mr. Bush's weekly radio address from September 29th, the Democrats selected 12-year-old Graeme Frost to deliver the party's response to Bush's comments regarding the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Democrats and Republicans alike are working together to hopefully expand CHIP, which provides health insurance for families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid but can not afford to purchase private insurance. Here is an excerpt from Graeme's response: "Three years ago, my family was in a really bad car accident. My younger sister Gemma and I were both hurt. I was in a coma for a week and couldn't eat or stand up or even talk at first. My sister was even worse. I was in the hospital for five-and-a-half months and I needed a big surgery. For a long time after that, I had to go to physical therapy after school to get stronger...My parents work really hard and always make sure my sister and I have everything we need but the hospital bills were huge. We got the help we needed because we had health insurance for us through the CHIP program."

Considering the fact that he is only 12 year olds, you would probably think that Graeme is immune from insults by Republicans. Guess again? Politicians and pundits from the right verbally attacked Graeme and his family. Unfortunately those attacks consisted of nothing but lies. The following is just a short list of those lies, as well as the actual truth:

1. Lie: Graeme attends an exclusive private school with a tuition of $20,000 per year.
Truth: Since Graeme was awarded a scholarship, his family is only required to pay $500 per year.

2. Lie: Frost's sister, Gemma, also attends an expensive private school in the Baltimore, MD area.
Truth: The State of Maryland pays the $23,000 annual tuition in full for this school, which assists Gemma in dealing with the brain injuries she suffered during the accident.

3. Lies: The current market value of their partially remodeled house (3 stories and 3,040 square feet) is estimated at more than $400,000. A photo of the family's kitchen shows what appear to be granite counter tops and wooden cabinets with glass fronts.
Truths: The Frosts purchased their 71-year-old “lavish" home for $55,000 in 1990 and a 2006 assessment from the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation estimates the property value at only $263,140. At the same time, one online real estate service (Zillow.com) does estimate the property value at $360,633. However, by taking an overhead view, you will notice that the house is not located in one of the more luxurious areas of the city. (Conservative nutjob Michelle Malkin should know this since she supposedly drove by the Frosts' residence. Of course, Malkin describes the area differently on her blog.) The Frosts have obviously experienced what millions of other homeowners in the United States have experienced over the last few years: a previously booming housing market. (And they should not be punished for it.) In regards to the remodeling, Graeme's father, Halsey, has performed the majority of the renovations. How? Because he is a WOODWORKER! Therefore, his occupation probably provides him with the ability to perform certain tasks, such as...I don't know...install wooden kitchen cabinets! By the way, the Frosts ensure their counter tops are concrete.

4. Lie: Due to the value of their house and the fact that Graeme's father previously purchased a commercial property for $160,000, the Frosts must earn enough money on an annual basis to be ineligible for CHIP benefits.
Truth: The commercial property for Mr. Frost's company, Frostworks, was purchased in 1999 but unfortunately that business folded in 2000, partially because of the cost of health insurance. Mr. Frost has worked for various small companies since then and is presently self employed. Mrs. Frost currently works part time at a medical consulting firm. At the same time, the family only earned approximately $45,000 last year and, in the State of Maryland, a family of six earning less than $83,000 per year qualifies for CHIP benefits. FYI: Personal assets, such as property investments, are not considered in the Maryland administered version of CHIP. (Now if the Frosts have been financially irresponsible in the past, then obviously some of the blame for their health insurance troubles falls on them.)

Aside from conservative blowhards such as Malkin and Rush Limbaugh, politicians from the right were also involved with the smear campaign conducted on the Frosts. The Communications Director for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) sent an e-mail with disparaging (and false) information regarding the Frosts to reporters. As a result, numerous right wing lemmings...I mean, bloggers...repeatedly contacted the Frost residence and demanded personal family information.

One final note on this subject: Conservatives have been attacking the Frosts for not possessing family medical coverage. Due to pre-existing medical conditions, the Frosts have been rejected by various health insurance companies. Aside from those pre-existing conditions, the father is self employed and the mother is ineligible for medical coverage through her part time position. Therefore, health insurance would be extremely expensive for the Frosts, a family of six. I personally know this to be true because my father-in-law is self employed. Even though he only raised two children, my father-in-law experienced how expensive health insurance can be in that situation. As a result, until my mother-in-law returned to work as a teacher, my wife's parents only had medical coverage for their two children due to the high costs. Now if any right wing hacks decide to blow their top and attack my father-in-law for his previous decisions regarding health insurance, I welcome the opportunity to put those individuals in their place.

He Hardly Sounds Like a Fan

I wanted to make one final point regarding the criticism Columbia University and its President, Lee Bollinger, have received for extending an invitation to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at the institution's World Leaders Forum. To do so, I decided to provide a short list of excerpts from Bollinger's introduction of Ahmadinejad:

• "It is a critical premise of freedom of speech that we do not honor the dishonorable when we open the public forum to their voices."
• "Mr. President. you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator."
• "Why are you so afraid of Iranian citizens expressing their opinions for change?"
• "In a December 2005 state television broadcast, you described the Holocaust as a 'fabricated legend'. One year later, you held a two-day conference of Holocaust deniers. For the illiterate and ignorant, this is dangerous propaganda. When you come to a place like this, this makes you, quite simply, ridiculous. You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated."
• "Why do you support well documented terrorist organizations that continue to strike at peace and democracy in the Middle East, destroying lives and civil society in the region?"
• "Why have you chosen to make the people of your country vulnerable to the effects of international economic sanctions and threaten to engulf the world with nuclear annihilation?"
• "Frankly, and in all candor, Mr. President, I doubt that you will have the intellectual courage to answer these questions. But your avoiding them will in itself be meaningful to us. I do expect you to exhibit the fanatical mindset that characterizes so much of what you say and do."
• "I am only a professor, who is also a university president, and today I feel all the weight of the modern civilized world yearning to express the revulsion at what you stand for."

Baseless Argument of the Day

On yesterday's "The Oprah Winfrey Show", Michael Moore and others debated the topic of health care. One of those individuals was Karen Ignagni, the President of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). AHIP is a political lobbyist representing the approximately 1,300 member companies which provide private health insurance coverage to millions of Americans.

As he did in his movie "SiCKO", Moore emphasized the various issues with this country's health care system, including the fact that the United States is the only industrialized nation which does not provide universal health care to its citizens. Ignagni, who earned $1.24 million last year, has asserted that AHIP endorses the ultimate goal of universal health care coverage. However, you will have to excuse me when I say that I don't believe Ignagni. Why? Here are just a couple of reasons:

• 71% of AHIP's donations to candidates for federal positions were to Republicans.
• Ignagni currently serves as a board member for The Bryce Harlow Foundation, an organization which presents an annual award to the individual who has supposedly "worked to advance business-government relations". With that being said, the list of recipients of this award reads like a Who's Who of the Republican Party: Dick Cheney, Dennis Hastert, Trent Lott, Richard Lugar, Robert Dole and John Boehner. In fact, of the 28 recipients, 18 are Republican politicians and administrators.
• Prior to her employment at AHIP, Ignagni served as a professional staff member of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee and worked Department of Health & Human Services.
• The consumer group within the health care industry for senior citizens, the Coalition for Medicare Choices, was founded by AHIP in 1999. The address for the coalition is the same address for Democracy & Data Communications, a public relations counseling firm with clients such as AHIP, United HealthCare and Humana.
• Julie Goon, Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy in the National Economic Council, previously served as the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at AHIP. Oh, by the way, before her employment at AHIP, Goon served as the Director of Federal Relations at Humana, the fourth largest health insurance providers in the U.S.

Isn't It Time to Look in a Mirror for Once?

After Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently expressed interest in visiting Ground Zero in New York City during his current trip to the United States, many of the leading Republican presidential candidates immediately started to thump their chests. First and foremost, I do not support the thoughts and opinions of Ahmadinejad. With that being said:

• "Ahmadinejad's shockingly audacious request should be met with a vehement 'no'. It's inconceivable that any consideration would be given to the idea of entertaining the leader of a state sponsor of terror at Ground Zero. This would deeply offend the sensibilities of Americans from all corners of our nation. Instead of entertaining Ahmadinejad, we should be indicting him." -- Mitt Romney

Really, Mitt? You want to know what is shockingly audacious? The fact that more than six years have elapsed since the September 11th tragedy and the very first beam of the new Freedom Tower was not installed until December 19th of last year. The planning and construction of the Freedom Tower was previously described as then New York Attorney General (now Governor) Eliot Spitzer as an "Enron style debacle" due to various issues with the design, security, cronyism and fund mismanagement.

• "I think that the President of Iran should be physically restrained if necessary. I hope it doesn't come to that but we're not going to have that kind of desecration of what is sacred ground. Obviously, it is a propaganda ploy on his part and, if we allowed him to do it, it would just embolden some of his followers and give him the publicity that he seeks." -- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

How "sacred" can this area be if the Bush administration and numerous other Republicans constantly reference the phrase "9/11" on a daily basis to scare Americans and sell the Iraq War? If that isn't propaganda, then I don't know what is.

• "This is a man who has made threats against America and Israel, is harboring Bin Laden’s son and other al-Qaeda leaders, is shipping arms to Iraqi insurgents and is pursuing the development of nuclear weapons. Assisting Ahmadinejad in touring Ground Zero – hallowed ground for all Americans – is outrageous." -- Rudy Giuliani

Finally! Giuliani, our Ground Zero expert. Wait a minute! Haven't White House officials admitted that, in the days immediately after September 11th, dozens of influential Saudis (including relatives of Osama bin Laden) were evacuated from the United States even though most commercial flights were still grounded? Didn't President Ronald Reagan and his administration illegally sell arms to Iran approximately twenty years ago and then use those profits to continue funding anti-Communist rebels in Nicaragua? Can't the United States be categorized as the first country in the world to successfully develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use those weapons against another nation and a country which still maintains thousands of nuclear warheads?

It Takes One to Know One

Earlier this week on "The O'Reilly Factor" on FOX News, Bill O'Reilly criticized Columbia University's decision to invite Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at the institution's World Leaders Forum. In fact, O’Reilly described the event as "revolting" and categorized the university and its President, Lee Bollinger, as being "hypocritical beyond belief" for inviting Ahmadinejad.

However, later in the same episode, O’Reilly admitted he had also extended an invitation for Ahmadinejad to appear on the "The O'Reilly Factor". (How does the saying go, "What is good for the smug, idiotic and ignorant blowhard is not good for the gander"? Obviously the "blowhard" is O'Reilly and the "gander" is Columbia University.) Responding to a viewer e-mail, O’Reilly claimed: "We actually did invite him, sir, but he knows a no spin zone when he sees one. Ahmadinejad doesn’t answer questions; he bloviates." (By the way, Merriam-Webster defines the term "bloviate" as "to speak or write verbosely and windily". How ironic it is that O'Reilly would be familiar with this particular term.) Not surprisingly, O'Reilly is comfortable with the idea of Ahmadinejad being on his show because the appearance would benefit O'Reilly both in ratings and financially.

Announcement

For anyone who actually reads this blog, I would like to apologize for the lack of activity during the last month. My wife and I have been busy preparing for the arrival of our second child. However, I will start adding more postings in the next couple of days. I appreciate your patience and support.

Obnoxious Windbag of the Day

During last Thursday's "The O'Reilly Factor" on FOX News, O'Reilly was embroiled in a heated discussion with Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) regarding some of the content on the extremely popular liberal blog, the Daily Kos (http://www.dailykos.com/). Of course, this content is considered by O'Reilly and other individuals on the right to be highly inappropriate. In fact, O'Reilly has gone so far as to describe the Daily Kos as a "hate enterprise", comparing the web site to the Ku Klux Klan and Nazi Party. However, when Dodd confronted O'Reilly on comments he delivered during a November 8, 2005 broadcast of "The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly" after voters in San Francisco approved a measure to prohibit military recruiting at public high schools and colleges, O'Reilly screamed at Dodd: "No, you're wrong. I didn't say it here. You don't know what the hell I said."

Actually...the following is a transcript of O'Reilly's rantings from that 2005 radio broadcast:

"You know, if I'm the President of the United States, I walk right into Union Square, I set up my little presidential podium and I say, 'Listen, citizens of San Francisco, if you vote against military recruiting, you're not going to get another nickel in federal funds. Fine. You want to be your own country? Go right ahead.' And if Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we're not going to do anything about it. We're going to say, 'Look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead.'"

Why Media in the United States Absolutely Sucks

Following a July 31st interview with Vice President Dick Cheney on CNN's "Larry King Live", King spoke with a guest panel consisting of Wolf Blitzer (anchor of CNN's "The Situation Room"), Suzanne Malveau (CNN's Washington correspondent), Bob Woodward (author and managing editor of "The Washington Post") and author Stephen Hayes. During the interview, Cheney attempted to justify his recent claims that the Office of the Vice President is not part of the executive branch by stating "My paycheck actually comes from the Senate". During the post-interview discussion, Wolf declared "I didn't know that. I learned something. I didn't know that he actually gets his paycheck from the legislative branch of the government, from the U.S. Senate."

Oh, Wolf, Wolf, Wolf! Just recently (June 25th, to be exact) on his very own "The Situation Room", Blitzer was discussing the executive vs. legislative branch controversy with Ed Henry, CNN's White House Correspondent. On that show, footage of Dana Perino, Deputy White House Press Secretary, was shown:

"I think for the past two centuries the Senate has provided payment to the Vice President for his duties as a member of the government."

Are you kidding me? Am I to believe that Blitzer, an educated individual, completely forgot about an extremely important topic he discussed five weeks prior? Blitzer is only 59 years old so he should not be experiencing senility at this point. Therefore, the only excuse is that he is a card carrying member of a group of morons.