Universal Insurance

So it looks as if, instead of universal health care, what we’re going to get is mandatory universal health insurance, with employers and individuals responsible for themselves, and a punishing fine if you don’t buy it. WTF?!
I should’ve been out there screaming and hollering with the crazies. Turns out they’re not so crazy after all.
The [...]

The Kopechne Situation

On Facebook someone linked up an article by Henry Rollins entitled “Where is MaryJo Kopechne’s eulogy?”
I didn’t read it; I know what it says. The title alone made me feel violated. I hope none of the Kennedys see it.
Why? After all, I myself wrote about the Kennedy family’s inhuman treatment of Rosemary, the alleged mentally [...]

A Haunted Baby Sister

I don’t know much more about Eunice Kennedy Shriver than what the general public knows, but the fact that she worked tirelessly on behalf of people with mental disabilities, and had a sister who was believed to be mentally challenged, tells me a great deal about her. In the book A Difference in the Family, [...]

Prosecute Torturers

I received this call to action from a group called The Peace Team.

Last week Attorney General Eric Holder finally allowed that he might appoint some kind of special prosecutor for the rampant torture regime of the Cheney/Bush administration. But will he actually hold the torture kingpins accountable or just scapegoat some little fish the way [...]

The Liberal Shuffle

Thank god for Frank Rich, the only guy with balls enough to confront the reality of the hypocritical, condescending Republican senators on the Judiciary Commttee for their despicable treatment of Judge Sotomayor. I can’t tell one of those conservative white guys from another, so I don’t know who precisely said what, but the worst [...]

A Sadistic Congressional Ritual

It’s painful, during the Sotomayor hearings, to watch the Republicans put her down, primarily for what they call being an “activist” judge. As far as I can tell, activism for a judge means allowing one’s feelings, opinions, and personal biases to influence one’s judicial opinions.
As a journalist I’ve heard this crap all my life—that we [...]

Ranting On…

…Relentless Republicans
…Brainless Baseball Management
…Gallivanting Gosselins
It’s a fine day for a rant, and god knows this world gives us plenty to rant about—so much, I can’t keep up. When I’m involved in work, I don’t get much time to rant, much less blog them, and a slew of events, including the murder of Dr. Tiller and [...]

Thanks to the Senators from CA

Thank you, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, plus seven colleagues who joined you, for keeping up the fight to save those two young journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, from 12 years in some godforsaken North Korean labor camp. Just when I feared everyone would drop the case–except of course for her family–my own reps [...]

Euphemism of the Year Award

I am hereby instituting an annual award for the best or most obvious or most full-of-shit Euphemism of the Year. It was inspired by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the first recipient. Speaking of whether or not to put on trial those responsible for the policy of torture at Abu Ghraib, Holder said:
“I [...]

Pre-Election Crazies

Election Day: See update following post.
Are you anxious/antsy/terrified today? Have these feelings been building over the past few weeks and days? Are you bipolar, moving back and forth from elation to despair? You are not alone.
A Saturday New York Times article addressed the angst that Democrats and liberals—and, I might add, progressives—are enduring over this [...]