The Republican Party shall always be remembered for its greatest member, Abraham Lincoln. Things went downhill from there.We gather here today to celebrate - and learn from - our old friends of the government for the past 154 years, the Grand Old Party. Remembered most for helping elect Abraham Lincoln at the country's greatest time of need and standing up for civil rights when half the country was willing to die in order to deny them, it's a sad day indeed to see the party laid to rest. Yet, it's an important cautionary tale in order to learn what to avoid in order to stay relevant and true to the American people. Sadly, the party's own self-inflicted wounds forced the rest of the country to put it out of its misery, like a lame and beaten horse that could race no more. When the party's hate machine decided to smear a mere 12 year-old adolescent boy, the rest of the country had had enough. "This far, no further," it said, as it worked to permanently unseat those fuckers misguided fools from office for the last time...
The Spark that Unleashes the Fire
After reading about young Graeme Frost, currently being stalked and Swiftboated by the Republican sleaze machine, I've come to a sad-but-true conclusion: the only way to defeat the Republican Party is to crush Republicans. Unfortunately, the Republican Party is unwilling to do basic things like discuss policy. They won't think about pros and cons. They won't come to a table to actually sort things out. They won't compromise. And in the rare instances where Democrats are able to work with some Republicans, we can't trust the rest of their Party to not go nutzoid and destroy all the progress made in one fell swoop.
Why? The Republican Party has created a machine that, when backed into a corner, resorts to the only thing they seemingly know how to do: smear, belittle, bully and obfuscate. They can't be mature enough to avoid the perfect solution in favor of something that makes things better. See SCHIP and Immigration bills. When the going gets tough, the Republicans skip the actual debate and just gofor the jugular after the people involved, like Graeme Frost. After all, it's a whole lot easier to inflict wounds on a person than actually counter their arguments (especially when that person is 12). Well, it has to stop; I'm not willing to wait for Rush Limbaugh's attack on the toddler nearest him.
Why? The Republican Party has created a machine that, when backed into a corner, resorts to the only thing they seemingly know how to do: smear, belittle, bully and obfuscate. They can't be mature enough to avoid the perfect solution in favor of something that makes things better. See SCHIP and Immigration bills. When the going gets tough, the Republicans skip the actual debate and just go
So what do we do?
This coming election, we need to destroy the Republican Party, once and for all. We need the defeat to be so harsh that all of the damage they did over these Dark Days (King George II's Reign, 2000-2008) can be reversed by many years of Democrats in charge. Democrats have seemingly forever been the party elected to fix the Republican stink, all the way down to FDR's days, and today is no different. We need to convince the American people that Republicans can't be trusted with the big decisions - they can't even be trusted with the easy ones, like making sure children have access to medical treatment.
Sadly, the people already touched by President Bush - and in no means is that meant in a good way - can't be saved. The damage is already done, be it from his massive, unnecessary invasion, subsequent evil occupation, Katrina disaster or vetoing little children from getting basic health care. Jared Raymond and Jennifer Harris - two residents from my tiny hometown of Swampscott who died in Iraq - can never be brought back. Bush's sins will live on, but all is not lost.
After all, we'll never forget. We can remember all of the havoc the Bush Administration, Republican Party and Smear Machine wreaked on America, the American people and even the world. We can remember them by making sure it never happens again. We can remember them by making sure the party that's caused all these things to happen doesn't get the keys to Government until they learn to grow up, which means talking about things rationally instead of resorting to bullying, belittling and ignoring the key facts. It means that there's a body of people Democrats can trust if they want to work together, without worry of being undermined after months and years of hard work. We can remember by making sure the party that praises Rush Limbaugh never has that opportunity again. We can remember by making sure a party that's been horrendously corrupt since Nixon never returns to absolute power for the longevity of this generation.
We can remember them by defeating the Republican Party like a Meerkat dominant defeats an obnoxious member of its gang, forcing them into submission and rubbing their asses in the submissive's face. Scientists call it "scent-marking," I call it "making sure those twerps never do it again." After the lengths to which the Republican Party is not only willing, but eager to go to, nothing else will ever be enough.
We can't stop until individual Republicans are embarrassed and ashamed about actually being Republicans. We can't stop until the GOP dies an agonizing death and something new and better replaces it, populated by decent human beings, devoid of Michelle-Malkin type people. After all, no decent human adult would bully and stalk an adolescent boy. We can't stop until Abraham Lincoln's party is finally put out of its long misery, laid to rest, because it's been dead in the core for a very long time and sadly can't be saved - we've tried working with them for far too long, only to be Swiftboated and taken advantage of at every step of the way. After all, to them, our efforts at compromising is only a sign of weakness. After the dirty deed is done, we'll call it the Cirlce of Life, sing Kumbaya, build them a statue and be done with it. Running the American government isn't always pretty, but it's a necessary job.
Sadly, the people already touched by President Bush - and in no means is that meant in a good way - can't be saved. The damage is already done, be it from his massive, unnecessary invasion, subsequent evil occupation, Katrina disaster or vetoing little children from getting basic health care. Jared Raymond and Jennifer Harris - two residents from my tiny hometown of Swampscott who died in Iraq - can never be brought back. Bush's sins will live on, but all is not lost.
After all, we'll never forget. We can remember all of the havoc the Bush Administration, Republican Party and Smear Machine wreaked on America, the American people and even the world. We can remember them by making sure it never happens again. We can remember them by making sure the party that's caused all these things to happen doesn't get the keys to Government until they learn to grow up, which means talking about things rationally instead of resorting to bullying, belittling and ignoring the key facts. It means that there's a body of people Democrats can trust if they want to work together, without worry of being undermined after months and years of hard work. We can remember by making sure the party that praises Rush Limbaugh never has that opportunity again. We can remember by making sure a party that's been horrendously corrupt since Nixon never returns to absolute power for the longevity of this generation.
We can remember them by defeating the Republican Party like a Meerkat dominant defeats an obnoxious member of its gang, forcing them into submission and rubbing their asses in the submissive's face. Scientists call it "scent-marking," I call it "making sure those twerps never do it again." After the lengths to which the Republican Party is not only willing, but eager to go to, nothing else will ever be enough.
We can't stop until individual Republicans are embarrassed and ashamed about actually being Republicans. We can't stop until the GOP dies an agonizing death and something new and better replaces it, populated by decent human beings, devoid of Michelle-Malkin type people. After all, no decent human adult would bully and stalk an adolescent boy. We can't stop until Abraham Lincoln's party is finally put out of its long misery, laid to rest, because it's been dead in the core for a very long time and sadly can't be saved - we've tried working with them for far too long, only to be Swiftboated and taken advantage of at every step of the way. After all, to them, our efforts at compromising is only a sign of weakness. After the dirty deed is done, we'll call it the Cirlce of Life, sing Kumbaya, build them a statue and be done with it. Running the American government isn't always pretty, but it's a necessary job.
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8 comments:
Ryan, I read the article you linked to and actually gave it thought and reason. Then I read some articles that that article linked to, specifically the Malkin piece along with the Steyn work she cites...
You know, I'm not afraid to read an article and give it thought even though its on "thinkprogress" but I get the feeling you might see "nationalreview" and already have your opinion written down before hitting the author of the column.
Read Malkin, check out the first link to Steyn regarding plan costs, and tell me why I should hold the anecdote of a injured kid above the empirical evidence presented. Tell me why they can't refinance on their $400,000 house, have a GMC Suburban, a $160,000 building for a business, etc etc but can't find an affordable health insurance plan. Tell me why income should determine eligibility and not an asset analysis too.
Now, before I'm labeled as some wacky nutjob, I support s-chip, but I don't support people who take advantage of programs like this (and don't put your head in the sand, they're out there!).
I did read Malkin.
The fact of the matter is that insurance is different in other states. In Massachusetts, anyone can get it. In most other states, that's far from a reality. Because of their preexisting conditions, I doubt many insurances - if they were getting it on their own - would even cover them, or at the very least it would be significantly more expensive than the rates Malkin was talking about. Their "400,000" house, from where I've read, is actually assessed much, much lower (even Malkin said that was high). Furthermore, they bought the house years ago for 55k. So, in order to afford insurance, they should either have to sell their house or refinance to rediculously high rates (and I mean that in a few ways) to get health insurance? In effect, they're supposed to choose between their business and home vs. health insurance? Do you see how sick that is?
The state of Maryland found them eligible: who are we to judge? Isn't it intelligent to err on the side of caution, getting as many children as possible insured? In most other countries, the whole concept of health insurance is foreign - yet they spend less and generally get better coverage per capita. Now, we're fighting over whether middle/lower-middle class ought to be able to insure their children?
I repeat my mantra: Rest in Peace, the Republican party. They've completely lost their way, Joe, and I hope you open your mind and see that.
I agree that the party on the whole has lost its way, but it's by no means dead or dying.
Choosing between business and home vs health insurance? Welcome to the real world, and it's full of choices. I think that this family could have gotten private insurance. There's a lot of people out there who can't afford it, and that's why there's s-chip.
I wonder, and this is honest: is eligibility in s-chip and private insurance mutually exclusive?
s-chip is private insurance, Joe. It's just the government contributing a little to help parents afford it. And, maybe at 45k a year, they could have afforded it.. but not with 2 children with preexisting conditions, and not given the fact that 45k was a very good year for them (they made no more than 55k over the previous two years combined). Seriously, it would have been nearly impossible for them to afford decent coverage in that kind of a situation, and unlikely they could have gotten it anyway.
Finally, maybe it's the key difference between conservatives and progressives, but I don't think a choice between a home and job or health care to survive is a choice at all. That's when freedom dries up and no longer exists.
Furthermore, for the real conservative in you, we can create a universal system that's both more efficient and cheaper than what we've got right now - so these are all false choices anyway. Not everyone has to choose between a home and job versus health care, even in today's world, because of programs like SCHIP. Of course, we could bring far more people to that level of freedom - freedom from worry about what happens because of diseases and accidents no one can control - but that's not going to happen as long as the Republican Smear Machine and Party as a whole is alive, in this current form. If you want to keep it alive, you're going to have to deal with that at the grassroots level, otherwise it's inevitable that we're going to crush Republicans for years and years to come.
BTW, Joe, continuing on the 'was Graeme Frost too rich for SCHIP' meme is purely Michelle-Malkin, ingnoring-the-key-points debate tactics. I hope you'll aspire to actually debate the key points, rather than participate in the same attacks on adolescents. The key points here are "is the republican party still alive if the Party/smear machine will even go as far as to attack their own, if silly things like compromises are done." I'm sick of reaching fair, bipartisan compromises, only to watch the Party and allied Smear Machine go on the hunt after. It's only another reason why your party has to go through the entire Pheonix phase - complete destruction - before it can be reborn into something better. The smear machine - and the Party establishment that props them up - need to go.
I'm glad we live in the Democratically control nirvana they call Massachusetts. Everything is so wonderful here.
Ryan - the Federal Kennedy-Kassebaum Act disallowed refusing to cover people based on pre-existing conditions years ago. You can be rated higher, just like if you were a smoker, but you cannot be denied coverage.
That may be why the state found them eligible, because the premium costs were so high. But can you grant that this was a DUMB example to use - if an example was even needed?
The Frost family is a GOOD example to use to support S-CHIP.
Lots of families in America don't have financial security. Healthcare costs are a leading cause of bankruptcies--but it should not be that way. They should not have to give up homeownership just because of a bad carwreck.
We're all in this together--and it doesn't cost that much to make sure all our kids are provided for.
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