Another day, another Democrat leader unveils another health care plan. What do Democrat leaders do when they’re not drafting health care plans? Aside from complaining about the sorry state of their Gulfstream that is.
Researching Pelosi’s proposal (which does not involve reading it, by the by, since we know that NOBODY reads health care plans, especially those sponsoring health care plans) I wondered how Pelosi’s spin doctors would sell the program. This led me to this rather unique press release on Pelosi’s web-site. What is unique is not that fact that it is grotesquely self-serving. “Grotesquely self-serving” is the very definition of politics. (Applause). It is rather the fact that the press release includes parentheticals indicating audience reactions. (Confused murmuring). Never really saw that in a press release before, but I suppose if you are speaking to a liberal audience, it’s important to tell them how they are supposed to react. (Laughter and applause).
Is it politically incorrect to call the White House’s press strategy retarded? Of course it is, but extreme times call for extreme measures and I know of no other word that adequately describes the futility and idiocy of the White House’s press strategy. They are not merely mentally handicapped. They are not developmentally disabled. They are well and truly retarded.
Taking on Fox was dopey enough. Going after AP, which pretty much tracks the hopey/changey party line 90% of the time? Are Axelrod and Co. idiots or what? Actually, it’s more like hubris. They believe that they can bully anyone and everyone into parroting their version of reality. And I hope that they keep believing that. The sooner this administration alienates the rest of the media, and thus render themselves even more impotent, the better.
Mark Steyn proves, once again, that he is a great thinker by echoing the theory that another great thinker – who would be ME, by the by – has been espousing for over twenty years. To wit: the environmental movement is little more than cover for a very clever, and thus far very effective, attempt to impose centralized control on society.
And finally, friend of Threedonia Christian Toto takes an unusual take on the usual Halloween movie retrospective column, looking at horror flicks in terms of their over-ratedness and under-ratedness. For the record, yours truly agrees vis-a-vie “The Changeling” and disagrees when it comes to “The Exorcist”.
If they had seen Tropic Thunder, they’d know you never go full retard.
That press release looks like a transcript of a speech… wow. When I first visited the page there was no listing of the location or reason of the speech but as I checked again, bam, there it is: “Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leaders, Committee Chairs, Members of Congress and Americans who are struggling under the current health care system held a rally on the West Front of the Capitol this morning to unveil H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. Below are the Speaker’s opening remarks.”
Still no other speech on her website uses the parentheticals. They must have let a Berkeley grad type that one.
I think the media who has covered Washington long term rallied around Fox because they were getting a sense of Obama’s administration attempts at overreaching their influence. They might be loathe to admit it, but deep down they know once it starts with Fox, the AP, NBC, the NYT… all of them would be asked to compromise what little journalistic integrity they have left.
More importantly, Skip, their egos are starting to get bruised. They aren’t going to take kindly to being played as rubes and fools, or told what to do.
Indeed.
1990 pages. It’s unbelievable but not surprising. As most of you know I work for a private insurer that is contracted with the Federal government and as such they set our rules. The rules they give us are so convuluted and confusing that we have actually had to create two entire departments to attempt to translate them; the Compliance Department and the Oversight Department. At this point we have to have more employees to translate regulations and enforce rules then we do to process claims for our near 100,000 members. This does not even take into account the 2 or 3 emails a week we get from CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) changing the existing rules, out of curiosity I just looked into my CMS folder in my email box and I have 1,647 emails over the last 3 years from them. Keep in mind each of those emails is either a new rule or a change to an existing rule so in a bit over 1,000 days we have had 1,647 changes in regulation. That ladies and gentlemen is what happens when the government runs something.
I don’t know, Rufus, seems like the media’s egos are on the line if this Prez fails in any way – which would have to include controlling any negative reports about the administration. Kind of a Catch 22.
I’ve often had fears about the objective fact that you can’t go on making laws indefinitely without eventually extinguishing all liberty.
I suppose it’s just as true that you can’t go on regulating everything indefinitely, before all business and commerce crawls to a halt.
This doesn’t mean that life stops, of course. It just means a black market culture must spring up for people to actually do stuff in.
Plus miscellaneous cultural dislocation, anarchy and blood in the streets, of course.
Lars,
I’ve thought the same, and it makes one wonder if an overthrow every couple centuries isn’t part of the process. Unless we get several Congresses that make it their job to reduce regulation and eliminate laws I don’t see how we don’t eventually get bogged down in regulation to the point of no longer being free. And eliminating laws seems to be in direct opposition with what Congress is chartered to do.
Funny,the Newark Star-Ledger,New Jersey’s largest newspaper,endorsed an independent for Governor…said the Democrats were corrupt and the GOP incompetant
Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean much. At this point in the race, a vote for Daggett (the independent) is a vote for Corzine (the Dem). The Ledger endorsing Daggett is just a way for them to claim plausible deniability (“See, we’re not a liberal paper!!”) while making sure Christie doesn’t win. There is no way in hell they even thought about endorsing Christie despite the massive corruption/tax-fest NJ has become under endless Dem leadership.
Wow! just saw this: http://hotair.com/archives/2009/10/30/video-noted-news-organization-blasts-white-house-stimulus-numbers/
(Sorry for linking to another blog)
Guess the media is starting to forget they created and foisted this Frankenstein’s monster on us. Seriously, I don’t think they’re retarded – just going through early stage Alzheimer’s.
Kenn – Never have to apologize for linking to another blog. Trackbacks are good for us too. (Cheers). Also – got your latest artwork (applause) and am saving it for the just the right post (ominous organ music). Also also – in honor of Pelosi-care (hisses and boos) I declare it Parenthetical Day here in Threedonia (horns blaring, cheers), so everyone please include appropriate parentheticals will all future comments (groans). Or else! (VERY ominous organ music).
Many thanks, Rich. (Thought the work might have been a little over the top.) Glad to hear you’re waiting for just the right post, to use it.
Oh brother (groan)!
Whose idea was it to give Rich a log-in (eye roll)?
He is a maverick named Chris Daggett….wants to take a sword to the politics as usual in the most corrupt,overtaxed state in the Union
Lars I think that is probably the most realistic fear. At some point the chains get so tight people either have to submit to their weight or cast them off, that is a large part of the political divide. Liberals see the chains and view them as a safety net or a warm blanket, Convservatives view the chains as our forefathers did which is as tyranny.
Veruckt, I’ve often said that our present state of tyranny is just as onerous as what our founders experienced. The only difference is we aren’t in danger of being hung for treason – yet.
It’s probably worse, but, to quote Pogo, “we have met the enemy and he is us.” We are the bogeyman. It’s easier to get incensed when you are a remote colony led by an in-bred, power mad King. We’ve made our own bed this time.
The local news last night did a piece on the H1N1(FKA Swine flu) shots. There were literally hundreds waiting in line for the shots. For months, government has hyped the swine flu and turned it into a pandemic. They spent countless millions (at leat)in the process. The serum is late in coming, they’ve got people waiting in long lines, and they spin it with racism because some people were complaining there were illegals waiting in line for their free shots. The lady in charge of the fiasco basically said they won’t be checking for credentials. We deal with illegals on the street every day, they can get and pass on the flu like anyone else, so deal with it.
Some clinics are getting the serum, and you can pay about 20 bucks without waiting in line, without hassle and get a vaccination if you want it.
If government can blow a simple flu vaccination and turn it into an expensive, convoluted, 3 ring circus, just what makes any thinking person believe they can handle a huge health industry?!?!?!?!?!
Oh ye, of little faith. Don’t you have the audacity to hope?
I’m hoping this will bite the administration in the butt. They created this panic (never let a good crisis go to waste), it would be lovely if it was what brought them down. (evil laugh)
By the way related to my earlier post I just came out of a two hour meeting where about 30 people who combine to probably have well over 400 years healthcare experience sat around a table (and on a conference call) scratching their head trying to figure out we can comply with the new laws. See aside from the 1647 law changes and additions I mentioned earlier the government in July of 08 also passed HR 6331 aka the MIPPA law which was close to a thousand pages of absolute jibberish that no one can understand but we have 2 weeks to figure it all out and comply or we get shut down. Good times!!
I think the next historical step in this process is widespread scofflawry, with everything organized through systematic bribery.
Lars,
You have just defined “The Chicago Way.”
Sounds like what happens in a communist country. But I guess that’s your point.
We’re from the guvmint. We’re here to help.
Conservatives: (running and screaming)