Brass Tacks

So, I’m watching the rerun of President Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress and thinking to myself, this guy must go home at night and wonder when he woke up to a country full of morons. Over the past eight years we managed to figure out what noo-que-ler weapons were, who the decider was, how difficult it was to put food on our families, how often we misunderestimated certain people, and that too many OB-GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across this country. Yet somehow, millions of Americans can’t seem to understand healthcare reform in plain English.

It’s time to start calling a spade a spade. After tonight, anyone who claims he/she does not understand what the President wants in terms of healthcare reform because he hasn’t explained it to them, is either lying or lying. Every Republican who could find a television camera after the speech stumbled over themselves to declare that Republicans want reform as well. Those Republicans are liars. Republicans have never cared about healthcare reform. The healthcare debate has been raging in this country for almost 100 YEARS, and no Republican president during that period (and there have been ten of them) has cared enough to make it a priority. The only aspect of reform Republicans care about is defeating it. As late as this afternoon, Sarah Palin was penning op-eds in national newspapers claiming the throughly discredited “death panels” really are hidden somewhere in the President’s bill. Sarah Palin is an idiot. Sometimes the truth hurts, but it is what it is. I’m not sure what that says about the people who see her as the “great white hope,” but we’d all be better off if they were as prone to quitting as their mentor. At the beginning of the summer, the President gave Congress the very valuable, very delicate ball to run with, and they dropped it, plain and simple. Tonight he picked up the pieces, glued them back together and handed it back to them. Now cut the BS and get back to work. Quit debating things that aren’t going to happen. There are no “death panels,” there will be no single payer system, and doing nothing is not an option. If the Republicans want to get on the bus, welcome aboard, if not, get out of the road. We’ve all heard the joke about Democrats and herding cats, but the Democratic Party has a 70 seat majority in the House and a filibuster-proof 60 vote majority in the Senate. Failure is not an option. Get busy and do what we pay you to do.

During the afore mentioned speech, while President Obama was debunking the myth that healthcare reform will provide coverage to illegal immigrants, South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson, apparently unaware of all the cameras and recording equipment in the chamber, shouted, “You lie!” in response. Sigh. What is it about South Carolina politicians? Immediately after the speech, Wilson contacted the White House and apologized to the Chief of Staff, and issued a written statement claiming that although he disagreed with the President’s statement, he was sorry for the outburst. Well good for you Joe. You are sorry - at least you weren’t lying about that. You can disagree with the statement all you want Joe, but the fact is, none of the bills floating around Capitol Hill provide coverage for illegal immigrants, funding for abortions or “pull the plug on grandma.” Disagreeing with the facts doesn’t make you bold, it just makes you disagreeable.

This past Tuesday President Obama stood before a group of high school kids in Washington D.C. and told them to take charge of their education and their future. Apparently, that is the definition of communism. For about a week leading up to the speech, some conservatives insisted the President was trying to indoctrinate children in the ways of socialism by telling them to stay in school and do their homework. Well, actually, they accused him of socialist indoctrination without actually knowing what he was going to say. The mere fact that the President had a message for students was enough to send the ideologues into a tizzy. Most of them were strangely silent following the address, but that is the inherent problem with opposing something before one knows what one is opposing, isn’t it. One runs the risk of making an ass of one’s self after the fact. Note to pundits. Know what you’re lying about before you lie about it.

Not content with ruining his marriage, spending state funds on his mistress and discussing his illicit affair in great detail in press conference after press conference, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford seems intent on adding impeachment to his impressive list of personal and professional failures. Earlier this week, the Republican Speaker of the House joined the Lieutenant Governor’s call for Sanford’s resignation. Believing himself to be some sort of modern day King David, Sanford refused, claiming he is doing God’s work and will continue to do so. He may have to continue the Lord’s work as a private citizen, as due to his refusal, the Republican-controlled House is now seriously considering impeaching their own Republican Governor and former presidential hopeful. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Late last week investment bank Goldman Sachs reported that federal stimulus spending boosted U.S. economic growth by 3.3%. Shortly after, the Federal Reserve issued a statement indicating the recession ended in August. The markets are up, home prices are beginning to rebound, factory orders are increasing and the number of job losses per month has been cut by 70%. Yet in a CNN poll taken earlier this week, nine out of ten Americans surveyed believe the country is still in recession. What do Americans have against evidence? Why is it so difficult for this country to accept facts? Recession has a specific definition - two or more consecutive quarters of economic decline. It’s not some vague, nebulous emotion everyone experiences differently. If after two or more consecutive quarters of economic decline the economy ceases to decline or experiences growth, it is no longer in recession. It’s pretty simple. Yet so many people find the evidence so easy to ignore. Why? How much better off would we be as a nation if we stopped substituting our “feelings” for actual fact?

Wednesday morning in Afghanistan, a New York Times reporter kidnapped by the Taliban was rescued by British commandos in a pre-dawn raid during which one of the commandos, another journalist, a woman and her child were also killed. Prior to the incident, the Times had kept the story of what happened to the reporter a secret, fearing that, “...media attention would raise the temperature and increase the risk to the captives.” This isn’t the first time the New York Times has declined to publish a story and asked other media outlets to refrain from publishing a story because one of their reporters was involved. While I appreciate the sentiments of the editor, I can’t help but wonder whether or not the Times would have extended the same courtesy if the captive had not been one of their own. If someone else’s life was on the line, would the public’s right to know still be trumped by discretion for the sake of safety? And if so, what does that say about the state of journalism?

Finally, the 2009 NFL season begins about 18 hours from now. Overshadowing a potential playoff run for the San Diego Chargers is the news that star linebacker Shawne Merriman was was arrested over the weekend for allegedly battering and imprisoning his girlfriend, reality TV star Tia Tequila. I don’t know what happened between Merriman and Tequila, and frankly, I don’t care. If he abused her, he should be punished for it, if she made up the allegations, she should be punished. My point is as follows. Shawne Merriman is returning to the final year of his rookie contract from an entire year away from football, and the last thing he needs is a distraction. He should have known better than to get involved with someone who’s claims to fame include the trumped-up drama of “A Shot at Love with Tia Tequila,” and the mind-numbing stupidity of “Pants-Off Dance-Off.” He was just begging for trouble. And when you beg for trouble, the universe often rewards you with more trouble than you can handle. Oh, and it screws up my fantasy football team this weekend. Thanks a lot, dumbass.