PAT ROBERTSON IS ENVIOUS

It is clear that the Reverend Pat Robertson is afraid that some right-wing nuts are going to get ahead of him in making outrageous statements. Of course, there are some pretty good contenders for the most outrageous quote. We have Sarah Palin with almost everything she says, particularly her fear that her parents or her baby with Down Syndrome would have to stand in front of “Obama’s death panel.” Then there is Glenn Beck with his description of President Obama as a “racist” who has “hatred for white people.” We can not leave out Rush Limbaugh who said that he wanted everything that President Obama is doing “to fail.”

Robertson tried to get back in the lead of the outrageous gang by claiming that the devastation of the earthquake in Haiti was caused by the country’s “pact with the devil.” After 9/11 the Reverend Jerry Falwell (May he rest in peace) was on Robertson's television show. Falwell charged (and Robertson agreed with him) that that attack came about because God was angry. He was angry because of "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way—all of them who have tried to secularize America”

What kind of sick mind blames the victim of all that death and destruction? What kind of twisted thinking looks at all that suffering and devastation and blames it on the stricken people? Don’t people like Robertson and Falwell (may he rest in peace) have any sympathy in their hearts? Don’t they have any compassion in their minds? Don’t they have any Christian charity in their soul?

PRESIDENT TO TALK TO STUDENTS

OMG, on September 8 the President is going to talk to American students about the importance of education and the importance of staying in school! Help! Help! The sky is falling!

Even though George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan gave speeches that were broadcast over public television to a number of school districts, some Republicans believe that Barack Obama’s speech is an obvious attempt to brainwash America’s school children. According to this view, if President Obama speaks to school children, it must be some kind of liberal plot. A spokeswoman for the Florida Republican Party says the President should not be telling children what to do. Evidently that means he shouldn’t be telling them to stay in school. Why doesn’t Obama take a cue from George W. Bush, who was in school listening to children read on 9/11? After he was told about the attack on the twin towers, Bush stayed in the class for another half hour. Perhaps he just wanted to know how the story ended.

If the President is allowed to talk to America’s students, the networks ought to allow Sarah or Rush or some other right wing nut to respond. They can tell the Republican point of view: Education ain’t going to do you no good nohow.

We can understand why Republican think that way. If kids get too much education, they won’t fall for right wing bullshit anymore.

REPUBLICANS ON HEALTH CARE

Rush is screaming that the proposed health care logo looks like a Nazi symbol. What is the point of that? Does it mean that the attempt to spread health care to more Americans is somehow related to the Nazis? Others are yelling that the ideas being put forth by the Democrats are really socialized medicine. So which is it? Are the Democrats supposed to be Nazis or Socialists?

Now the Republicans are sending goons to disrupt meetings where members of Congress are trying to get ideas from the people about health care. That’s really democracy in action: disrupt exchanges of information on one of the most important issues of the day.

And Sarah—God bless her—is charging that the president’s health plan is “downright evil.” She says, "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care."

Where do these people get their ideas? How could anyone think of her as a plausible candidate for the presidency of the United States?

BOOK REVIEW

If you like to read about political idiots, Paul Slanksy’s Idiots, Hypocrites, Demagogues, and More Idiots, published by Bloombury, is the book for you. It skewers both Democrats and Republicans, although the latter, for some reason, have a lot more space devoted to their stupid comments.

Former vice president Dan Quayle is well represented among the first group:

Talking about child-care, he told one audience, “We understand the importance of having the bondage between the parent and the child.”

He told another group, “We’re going to have the best-educated American people in the world.”

He referred to members of Bush’s team who had treated him with contempt during the campaign. Now they would have to deal with him. “I’m the vice president,’ he said. “They know it, and they know that I know it.”

Congresswoman Helen Chenoweth is among the hypocrites represented in the book. After strongly denouncing Bill Clinton for his dalliance with the Lewinsky bimbo, Chenoweth was found to have had an affair with a married man in the 1980s. Her indiscretion, however, occurred, she told reporters, “when I was a private citizen and a single woman.”

Loudmouth Rush Limbaugh frequently attacked drug addicts and called for their imprisonment. In 2003 he admitted that he was addicted to OxyContin.

Dick Cheney referred to water boarding as a “dunk in the water.”

Told to put out a cigar in a restaurant because of federal regulations, Congressman Tom Delay, “I am the federal government.”

I chuckled through most of the book, though sometimes I gasped in horror to realize that these were the people running the country. Some of Nixon’s comments revealed on tape were truly horrifying.

The book costs $14.95. It’s worth every penny. Buy it for yourself. Buy it for you liberal friends for Christmas presents.

VAST RIGHT-WING CONSPIRACY?

What in the hell is going on? James Dobson, founder of the conservative Focus on Family, said “I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances.” Rush Limbaugh said, “If McCain or Huckabee gets the nomination, it will destroy the GOP.” Ann Coulter said that she would vote for Hillary Clinton rather than John McCain. Are all these right wingers suddenly in favor of Hillary, or are they unwilling to forgive McCain for some of his moderate positions on various issues?

Perhaps the strangest semi-endorsement from the right wing for Mrs. Clinton comes from Richard Mellon Scaife. When she referred to a vast right-wing conspiracy during Bill Clinton’s administration, Scaife was the chief money man behind that conspiracy. He donated $1.8 million to the conservative American Spectator magazine to dig up dirt about Bill Clinton. Now Scaife’s paper, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, invites the New York Senator to come for an interview and Scaife sits in on the interview. He came away with a favorable impression of the Democratic candidate, saying that she “exhibited an impressive command of many of today’s most pressing domestic and international issues.” Her answers, “were thoughtful, well-stated and often dead on.” The billionaire agreed with the senator that the federal government had bungled Katrina. They also saw eye to eye on the need to pull our troops out of Iraq.

What are Scaife’s motives in all of this? Does he find her position on issues closer to his own than McCain’s positions? Or is he trying to promote her candidacy because he thinks she would be easier to defeat Barack Obama in the general election?

CLINTON AND McCAIN SWITCH PARTIES!

In a stunning turnaround, Senators Clinton and McCain switched political parties! It all started last week when ultra-conservative writer Ann Coulter stated on “Hannity and Colmes” that she would support Clinton over McCain. She even said that she would campaign for the New York Senator if McCain won the Republican nomination.

Yesterday conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said, "McCain will kill conservatism as a dominant force in the Republican Party." Other conservatives got into the act. James Dobson, founder of the Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family, said, "Speaking as a private individual, I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances." Other conservatives have spoken out against the Arizona senator as well.

Conservatives say that McCain is not a true Republican. He voted against the Bush tax bill in 2001 and 2003. He also supported campaign finance reform and a immigration bill that would allow illegal aliens to become citizens.

Independents and even Democrats, on the other hand, love the Vietnam veteran. Even moderates and liberals who disagree with him on the issues, admire him as a man and think he would be a great leader. To insiders, then, it comes as no great surprise that John McCain said to Republicans, “If you don’t like me, to hell with you. I’m going to run as a Democrat.”

Where most people, even liberals, like John McCain, few people like Hillary Clinton, the person. Most Democrats admire her and respect her ability, but they don’t really like her. They don’t think she is authentic. Where McCain is known for his straight talk, Clinton is not completely trusted.

She speaks of her experience, but some people wonder if she learned the right lesson from that experience. Her biggest defeat was her healthcare plan back during her husband’s first term in office. Was she too secretive, too insular in that battle? Might the health care plan been a triumph if she had managed it better? Some Democrats are leery of her, especially now that Ann Coulter has promised her support. Can you blame Mrs. Clinton for considering a switch to the Republican party?

VOTE FOR PERRIN

If you live in one of the states that will be holding a primary tomorrow, you have a wonderful opportunity to vote for Carl Perrin, a man of the people. While Perrin’s name will not appear on the ballot in any of these states, nothing will stop you from writing his name in.

We understand that both Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh are endorsing and campaigning for Hillary Clinton. Are there any right-wing nuts who have not yet endorsed a Democratic candidate? What about Pat Robertson? He endorsed Rudy, but Rudy is out of the race now. Carl Perrin shares with Rudy Giuliani the distinction of three marriages. That should count for something. Sean Hannity? Imus? Anyone? Perrin knows he is a come-from-behind candidate, and he will welcome an endorsement from anyone.

When you go to the voting place tomorrow, you Democrats, don’t forget to write “Carl Perrin” in the space for write-ins. If you have some influence, the Perrin campaign could use the boost of an endorsement from a celebrity. (Not Britney Spears or Paris Hilton—We draw the line somewhere.) Finally, don’t forget, a vote for Perrin is a vote for cheap beer.