TPM Reader AB:
Just to mention something that is obvious, but hopefully not overlooked, i.e., if this country cannot pass a bill which insures that every citizen has access to medical care, which every developed country has managed to do (and got done many many years ago), there is something very fundamentally and structurally wrong with this country.
Such an event, in my mind, would confirm that we live with a completely corrupt and dysfunctional form of government. Forty nine states, each with bicameral legislative bodies, some of which have distinguished themselves recently with unabashed levels of incompetency and cluelessness. Then, graft a federal government over that, which is also bicameral, the non-representative portion of it being filled with officials who are certifiable morons and/or who are bought and sold like whores by wealthy contributors.
Talk about a Waterloo.
This is a defining moment in our history. Do we fulfill our supposed status as a “shining city on a hill” or continue our long slow decline into a second rate oligarchy?
I am not one prone to hyperbole.
I believe this to the depths of my soul.
In what has to be among Fox News’ all-time lowlights, Neil Cavuto had a segment a short while ago on whether the new surgeon general nominee, Dr. Regina M. Benjamin, is “too fat” for the post. Seriously. In support of this argument, they had on as a guest some guy wearing a “No Chubbies” T-shirt. Again, I’m serious. Watch.
Late Update: It’s not just Fox. ABC has a straight news story about Benjamin’s weight. I don’t remember C. Everett Koop being svelte. But then he wasn’t black or a woman.
Later Update: The Fox guest is quite a character. His name is Michael Karolchyk, and he runs an outfit in Denver called the Anti-Gym (NSFW), a fitness club with an emphasis on getting clients in shape for sex: “With live DJs, cage dancers, and our elite co-ed Ravish Room, Anti-Gym boasts the hottest facilities and clientele in Denver.” Read More
Chris Matthews whips out Obama’s birth certificate in interview with “Birther Bill” co-sponsor Rep. John Campbell (R-CA).
Kind of like Dorothy throwing water on the Wicked Witch.
Arlen Specter refunded $224,000 in the last quarter to donors disgruntled about his party switch. That and the day’s other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.
Ultra conservative Pat Toomey has surged into a tie with Arlen Specter in a general election matchup in the Pennsylvania Senate race, according to a new poll. Toomey also out-polls Joe Sestak, though there’s a high number of undecideds in that matchup because neither candidate has high name recognition.
Colbert took on ACORN last night in a hilarious interview w/ chief organizer Bertha Lewis, who was a great sport, but still, as everyone is, a victim of Colbert. Lewis actually previewed the segment with a blog post last night at TPMCafe.
The Fox News analyst who on Sunday wrote off the life of captured Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, saying the Taliban could do whatever they wanted with him, was back on Fox last night, ganging up with Bill O’Reilly in calling the U.S. soldier a “nut.”
Separate and apart from the Fox whackiness, the circumstance of Bergdahl’s disappearance and capture remain quite murky. We’re looking into that angle and will have more on it for you later today.
Cheney Obama refuses to release visitor logs showing which energy health care company executives visited the White House.
Late Update: It’s an especially painful continuation of Bush policies since candidate Obama promised to let CSPAN in to cover the creation of a health care bill and his campaign website still promises transparency in meetings between White House staff and outside interests.