Let me see now...it's Franken's fault for introducing an amendment that 10 Republican Senators opposed because they didn't realize he was tricking them into voting stupidly. Uh-huh. Nothing like a public admission that you're dumber than a bag of hammers -- and an insensitive clod, to boot -- to prove the point.

By all means, Republicans, STAND FIRM against health care reform! Pay no attention to that rope dangling overhead or the trapdoor in that rickety scaffolding you built with your own hands. Signed: D. Quixote

Brownlaw is clearly one who knows not and knows not he knows not. Russia bypassed socialism and went directly from communism to private enterprise Want to see pure, unadulterated capitalism at work? Go to Russia--where everything is for sale. Want to hold public office? Buy it. Want police protection? Buy it. Want the road paved in front of your residence? Buy it. Hungry? Homeless?No rubles? Too bad. The idea that Russia wants to cause the downfall of the U.S. is ludicrous in the extreme. We are one of their most promising markets for trade and profit--a capitalist's dream.

When you subscribe to a belief system which depends entirely on "Faith," it is easy to become untethered from reality and any sense of humanity.

Since 2000, I have passed through the 7 stages of grief over the actions and inactions of our government: denial, pain, anger,depression, adjustment, reconstruction,and hope. But the fairlure to enact meaningful health care reform has finally pushed my rage button. From here on, I refuse to sit on the sidelines while the politicos do the bdding of those who bought them.

What Jacob said.

Armbinder thinks he is making a significant, telling point (about something); however, I think he has written meaningless twaddle. Using the man's own line of reasoning here, this means there's a good chance that I'm right.

I have often wondered what on earth Palin supporters hear when she speaks? To the rest of us it sounds like word salad but now I realize that her tortured and garbled sentences are her greatest strength. They allow the wingers to fill in the blanks to suit themselves. And also, too, it's all about tribal politics, which is not elitiest, unless--but some don't realize this also. Too.

But to do that, you'd have to actually care about governing. The contemporary Republican party plainly does not. I agree with you there, Roger. Why take governing seriously when you think it ought to be small enough to drown in a bathtub?

Palin's resignation speech was pure word salad. I watched that damned video over and over again, trying to make sense of it--and I never could. To me this spells someone in pure panic mode or someone with a serious disconnection from reality. Either Palin has found herself trapped in a tunnel of her own making, and sees the train heading her way, or she is so dumb she hasn't a clue that she's shot herself in both feet and severely crippled her political and/or monetary chances for advancement. Either way, she's toast.

That Palin's speech was rambling and, at times, incoherent seems to indicate a hasty decision on her part. Could be she woke up yesterday and said, "To hell with it," but could also be that she was trying to beat the clock on something ugly, and didn't have time to come up with a rational reason for resigning. Either way, it doesn't bode well for her.

Was amazed to find the same thing in China, where I was told fluency in English was the best way to get a good job.

Good point, Aimai. The hate machine cannot shift blame for right wing hate crimes to liberals without losing their creds with their base. Thanks for pointing this out.

While Whelen's petty behavior negates whatever point he was trying to make, in outing Publius (who turns out to have some fine creds in the subject), Whelen unintentionally gave added weight to Publius's criticisms. Whoa, talk about shooting yourself in the foot. What we have in Welen is a man who doesn't know when to settle out of court.

Some things I'm having trouble wrapping my head around: If, as projected, by this summer 50 million Americans will have no medical insurance; if 62% of all bankruptsies are caused by medical bills; if the high cost of employee health insurance is crippling small businesses; if insurance companies are allowed to refuse to accept people with pre-existing conditions; if the cost of private insurance has risen beyond the means of increasing numbers of Americans; if hospitals, in order to continue to operate, must either refuse treatment for those who cannot pay or attempt to recoup their losses by passing the costs on to those of us who have adequate coverage, thereby increasing our own insurance costs; and if those with no insurance, of necessity often do not seek medical care until a costly medical problem has arisen, then my question is: Wouldn't it be more humane and less costly to have socialized medicine? What I'm having trouble understanding--aside from protestations from the insurance industry--is why this would be such a bad thing.