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We need to understand that torture is not a matter of public policy. There are folk, folk who do not have our interests in heart or mind, who attempt to bend discourse otherwise. Their case is that there can be valid interpretations of reality that welcome mankind wallowing in being inhumane to other humans as a primary state of being. This requires inspiring intense and personal fear to subvert the simple fact that other humans are, in fact, also human beings. More personally: We, the People, are Americans; Fear is not our providence.
Torture is a crime. It is our own nation’s law and the law that we share with other nations through treaties. Anyone, any agency or any entity that says anything else is lying. We named torture a crime because torture always was, is and remains forever wrong.
Torture has two purposes. Neither 'Gathering information' nor 'seeking truth' are one of those purposes. Information and truth is most often gathered the quickest and most accurately through a bit of kindness and being willing to listen. Relieving pain opens the mouth; where causing pain confirms we are monsters to be resisted.
Torture is designed to tear the words the desired words by torturer from the tortured through applied horror, terror and pain. Torture is about creating lies. Torture is about getting misinformation to be misused.
The true intent of covertly communicating torture practices is to controlling one's own population through the threat of potential horror, terror and pain being inflicted against them. It takes a certain kind of fear-filled little men to use their sadism to control a nation as great as America. Hiding the truth of their fear and animosity towards their own folk only perpetuates it. The horror of torture must be revealed to stop the disease that causes it: Fear.
Torture robs our humanity and makes us inhuman. Torture proves us unworthy. Torture is wrong before all gods and all of mankind.
The only way to make torture acceptable is to make fear acceptable and through intentional application of fear to make fear desirable; to make fear preferable to retaining our humanity. FDR and Thomas Jefferson remain correct in their assertions that the fearful have no access to freedom. There are those that happily steal our freedom through manipulating fear and unchecked threats to gain temporary control of us AND there are those that happily choose to fear and forgo freedom so others can gain control.
We are Americans. There is no fear worthy of trading this away, We need to remember this.
Richard,
Re: President is not seeking bi-partisan. He is pro-corporate welfare. Healths Insurance Companies are corporations . . . Therefore require welfare.
Yes, it's becoming increasingly clear that it's US vs. THEM (the corps. - -- no matter WHO shills for them!)
U.S. heads for record overseas arms sales in 2009
The United States is close to a new peak in government-to-government arms sales, poised to top last year's record $36.4 billion, Pentagon figures showed.
With one month left in fiscal 2009, the value of such deals stood at $35.3 billion, not including any that may be wrapped up by the September 30 close of the fiscal year, the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Thursday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5895G620090910
Spreading peace, love & harmony (and Democracy) though out the world.
President is not seeking bi-partisan. He is pro-corporate welfare. Healths Insurance Companies are corporations . . . Therefore require welfare.
9/11 Coalition Has 30,000 Valid Signatures To Put Referendum For 9/11 Investigation on November Ballot
In a last minute decision, lawyers for the City of New York have conceded that the New York City Coalition for Accountability Now (NYC CAN), a group comprising 9/11 family members, first responders and survivors, indeed did submit over 30,000 valid signatures to put the referendum for a new 9/11 investigation before the voters of New York City this November.
http://world911truth.org/city-of-new-york-concedes-911-coalition-has-300...
SIDE NOTE: Governor Mark Sanford is an argument for Mental Health Parity.
H.R. 320, Section handles the “Illegal Aliens” receiving care issue. It is good to see that SENATORs Baucus and Conrad wasted the morning kowtowing to REPRESENTATIVE Joe Wilson’s insane stupidity rather than simply adopting the same provision.
DDay,
Re: your comment yesterday that maybe you should show up with a sign outside Obama's speech tomorrow. You asked whether anyone else on the blog would be there. I really wanted to volunteer for both the phone bank and the speech activities. I have gotten sicker and so won't make it. Too bad. It might have been a chance to meet...
Thom...
I asked you and Sen Sanders about state rights in heath care. You mistook me for a tenther and I want to clarify my question. Are there not reasonable republicans that are concerned over federal gov power? I know that the crazy right use this as a main sound bite for squashing any effort to national health care program. My real question is: Why doesn't congress work hard at giving the states the ability to choose for themselves so that we can work toward single payer much like Canada did? People who are against helping out their fellow citizens can move to Alabama where 90% of health insurance is controlled by one company!
Nick from Scottsdale, AZ
Re: Unfortunately, the majority of people who live in the south, then and now, are held hostage by these extremists.
...along with the rest of us.
Comedian/thoughtful commentator John Fugelsang quoted Lincoln this a.m. regarding southern conservatives. (I unsuccessfully tried to Google it, but it must be buried deeper in Lincoln's writings than that.)
To paraphrase, though, Lincoln "called out" these people. Now they have taken over the Republican party and are what Obama is fighting (along with the corp. backers, of course.)
You can get a little of the flavor of this by reading the poster these southerners put out against Lincoln at the time:
http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/CCCitizens.asp?xpicked
Unfortunately, the majority of people who live in the south, then and now, are held hostage by these extremists.
Thom and Sen. Sanders...
First of all, thank you both for your ceaseless efforts to get sanity back to this insane process.
I was listening to Ron Reagan yesterday afternoon, and heard a caller whom I believe is a classic example of how hard it will be to galvanize the millions of supporters Senator Sanders is talking about this morning.
The caller made an erroneous point in agreement with the disgraceful behavior of Joe Wilson Wednesday evening. When Ron challenged him with the facts, having his producer get a direct quote from HR3200, the caller absolutely refused to acknowledge the truth of what was actually contained in the bill. How will it be possible to convince millions of people who will not even acknowledge a true fact on it's face?
Given this widely prevalent attitude, I am not hopeful for the fate of this country.
But, PLEASE, keep trying!
Thom,
Please ask Senator Sanders some or all of the following questions regarding Congress passing regulations vs. pushing for the “Public Option”;
Dear Senator Sanders,
Since the main threat to achieving Universal Health Insurance to all Americans is whether a “Public Option” is created or not and most bills that require funding need 2/3 votes to pass, why doesn’t Congress pass a regulatory only bill? I am concerned that in order to get the “Money” to set up the Public Option many of the crucial regulatory measures will be stripped out as a compromise.
Why doesn’t Congress pass a “Regulatory Only” bill that would prohibit denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions, prohibit termination of coverage except in cases of fraud or non payment of premiums, limit co-pays and eliminate lifetime benefit limits, require basic wellness benefits, set minimum provider reimbursement standards based on a revised or upgraded Medicare fee schedule and finally implement a progressive cap on profits that any healthcare insurance provider can earn that would eventually lead to only not for profit companies being legally eligible to provide healthcare insurance.
If we placed these restrictions on insurance companies wouldn’t these companies want universal coverage that would bring all Americans, young, old, healthy & sick into the premium payment pool in order to spread risk and lower overall costs?
I think Single Payer would be the best option to provide universal coverage, but I would rather see new strict regulations put in place first that would eventually eliminate healthcare profiteering and then the marketplace will probably evolve into a Single payer system.
Wouldn’t breaking health insurance reform legislation into separate a Regulatory Bill and a Universal Coverage Bill reduce the overall “Size” for each Bill, which is one of the main criticisms of all of the current bills being debated? I am constantly amazed that Legislation passes or fails because they are perceived to be too many written pages and can’t possibly be read or comprehended in their entirety, so that “Backdoor Provisions” must be in them.
Thank you for your tireless efforts!
Not just for geeks,
Everyone needs to check out this link!
http:/ /www.ted.com/index.php/talks/juan enriquez shares mindboggling new science.html
Comment on that!
Why are we, as Americans, so in love with the smell of napalm in the morning and the smell of burning human flesh in the evening?
An Assistant School Superintendent said to me awhile back, "Once you have tasted blood, you have no desire to acquire any other taste." Yes, this is the American way!!!
How can a nation heal when the culture of violence is so deeply embedded into the American psyche?
http://wire.antiwar.com/2009/09/10/dems-support-for-afghan-war-waning/
Obama's support for his Afghan policies is fading. My support for Obama on several issues has faded away. Personally, I do not trust him. How can a nation and our world heal with endless wars started by the US of Evil?
http://wire.antiwar.com/2009/09/10/afghanistan-doubt-grows-over-another-...
A question for Bernie:
Estimates are that if we eliminated all the time-consuming bureaucratic paperwork involved with filing health insurance claims, that savings alone could pay for heathcare reform.
Has anyone proposed a single "standardized claim form" (preferably digitized) for all insurance to simplify the claims process and reduce administrative costs?
Mark,
Thank you for such clear analysis of President Obama's speech. I went on a similar journey to what you have described in your post while listening to our President give his historic health care speech and I became concerned, nearly despondent, when he began talking about the exchange. And as much as I hated what Joe Wilson did, I was mumbling b....s....myself while he was speaking about the private insurance to be offered in the exchange program, but I was in a small coffee shop. Actually, at that point, I was crying because it was such a huge disappointment.
But the speech soon became an emotional roller coaster after that, as he moved back and forth between centrist views and strongly supporting progressive views.
As he began to describe the public option which, like a magician, he cleverly embedded into the exchange program, I felt that he was brilliantly "Cracking the Code" Unfortunately, unlike FDR, President Obama does not have the support of as many Americans as he needs to be able to pass a stronger public option or single-payer health care. It appears to be true that their are more of them than us, no matter what our majority in congress is. We have blue dogs because we elected blue dogs, and their constituents have been skillfully mislead by mindbogglingly orchestrated campaign to ruin our plans for keeping Americans well and healthy.
The reason so many Americans supported President Obama's plan after his speech was that he talked to both sides of the issue very skillfully. FDR and Lyndon Johnson did not have to face the media blitz that President Obama must dodge and fend off hourly. The right wing media used "The Liar" drama yesterday to to neutralize the power of President Obama's message and avoid having to talk about specific details in his plan. I have a feeling that was the whole point. They are masters at working the press, and simply distracting the press with the circus move, took steam out of President Obama's message.
From the changes in tone in his voice during various times in his speech, it seemed to me that he does indeed support a strong public option and won't sign a bill that doesn't have it in there even though he has offered Republicans and blue dogs the chance to change his mind. I felt that he was clearly promising Americans who live without insurance today the chance to choose a public option. And more than likely a much larger population will have that choice by the time we start signing the papers.
I waited until Thom said his piece before wishing to add my impression of the president’s speech on Wednesday. Most left-wing pundits immediately afterwards seemed enthralled by the speech, and Obama certainly scored on style and passion points. He laid out the moral issues at stake forcefully, and did not shy from ridiculing the campaign of misinformation and cynicism of the opposition. Thom seemed willing to join the rapture that far, but apparently not much further.
What I heard was a president stung by the realization that Pollyanna politics doesn’t work in Washington. Obama delivered the kind of speech he should have made last spring when it became clear that the Republicans were serious only in killing health care reform for not just partisan, but personal reasons. He went on the offensive, rather than be frustratingly defensive as was the case in the past. Joe Wilson’s outburst, as ignorant as it was prejudicial, testified to the fact that Obama hit the right notes on the Republican guilt meter.
I was, however, concerned when he started talking about the insurance exchange plan, which seemed at first to suggest a backing away from a public option. Then, without being entirely clear what he was proposing—almost tentatively so—enjoined people not to fear a public option. What was he talking about? Apparently a Massachusetts-type concept of a government commissioner or commission administering a competitive bidding process that provides low-cost insurance. Yet even after making this quizzical step toward a public option, he left the door open for backing away from it.
Obama also proposed a cap on medical malpractice that may be a tough pill to swallow, but it must be considered if it is necessary to prevent “defensive medicine”—a euphemism for the unnecessary procedures that contribute to escalating costs. Obama also mentioned that under his plan people who did not purchase insurance provided by even the "public option" would be subject to involuntary fees, which also, on the face of it, is not entirely unreasonable if they can well afford it. These proposals are no doubt concessions to conservatives, but to his credit Obama did make it clear that he is uninterested in insincere or non-constructive proposals from the Republicans. If they chose to misrepresent or stonewall reform, they will be called out on it, now. The status quo will no longer be tolerated. Sounds good, anyways.
Obama attempted to shame Republicans into making the moral choice, but it was clear in their post-speech “response” that they are completely unprepared to meet him half-way. Naturally, the Republican “response” was as shallow and idiotic as Joe Wilson’s, placing the blame on individuals rather than the health care "industry." Individuals need to make “healthier” choices to avoid getting sick. Meanwhile, rather than through a public option or an insurance exchange, “competition” can be fostered by allowing the sale of insurance across state lines. That’s it? In my experience, a resident of the state of Washington can purchase cheap insurance from Texas—except that it is essentially worthless and no doctor here will accept it. The Republicans, of course, won’t level with the people about the cost of their “plan”—which means continuing escalation that will end only when the wealthiest of Americans can afford it, which may be their “plan” in the long run.
If for Obama the endgame is to be the last president who needs to take on the health care issue, he surely must realize that the public option must remain intact, because it is the closest that most Americans seem willing to accept in achieving a health care system that will cover everyone. If the public option is dropped, then we will indeed be forced to deal with the health care issue again—and by that time, it may be too late to “fix.”
The fix is in. Congress is owned. Our president has sold out to political expediency. Our nation is in its final descent into the Hall of Failed Nations.
Last month, I finally accepted these Truths and decided to leave the U.S. This is a decision made reluctantly. I have spent much of the past eight years working within our political system, trying to take back our nation from the dark forces that have taken over. Obama gave me hope, but I now see that my hope was misplaced.
If I am going to live in a third-rate country, I might as well go to a third world country where I can get health care (I have a heart condition. I've been unemployed for a year. I just filed for bankruptcy. Lost my house. ) I know that I will miss the U.S. in many ways, and I will sorely miss my family. But I can't take this nightmare anymore.
I loved President Obama's speech last night. I think he definitely hit the home run that we needed. Put the Republicans back on their heels. Thanks to Joe Wilson, the Republicans have not been able to immediately resume their scare tactics and instead have to deal with this issue now.
However... I am a bit concerned, as well, about the Presidents description of the Public Option. I agree with Thom that this option would not be available for all Americans and I think that this defeats the purpose of the option. It needs to be available to everyone. I should have the choice to choose my employer plans, as well as the Public Plan.
But, based on one of the house bills that I read, on day one all grandfathered plans would be required (within a certain time period) to adjust their plans to meet the minimum requirements that would be set forth by the United States. This means that any plan you are in must meet the minimum standards that the Public Option would provide. This could be good or bad depending on the details and minimums that are set.
So with the above understanding anyone who is forced to stay in their plan because they cannot choose the public option, that plan will have to be brought up to meet the new minimum standards. So that would imply hope for those that may have sub-par plans today that they may be forced to keep.
The other catch-22 that I can see is for those 95% of Small Businesses that will not be required to provide Health Insurance and/or be required to pay the mandate fee. Those individuals that work for those companies should be available to buy in to the public option. With Small Businesses being the primary creator of new jobs in the US, this may be a boon for the public option.
I'll let you in on two secrets about Garrison. He had his stroke on Monday and expected home from the Mayo tomorrow. He's doing well. If you want to cut out the middle man when leaving him a message, try searching out a thing called Prairie Home Productions in St. Paul, MN. That's his hangout when he's feeling good. His secretary will enjoy the extra attention and besides he owns it, his own little radio station, near his home.
Garrison is a national treasure though I'm fairly sure he wouldn't like that description. I love the man. Send him cards and emails but don't bug him. He's bashful and I think enjoys his privacy a lot.
Quark, let me share with you my one third theory. 33% are the GOP (we are talking hardcore), 33% are the Dems (we are talking the hardcore), and 33% are in the middle. The 33% in the middle are fluid in their backing of politicians and issues. As crazy as the reichwingers are, they will have 33% of their base backing them on the issues. We see it in the polls. Some polls will say 25% or so but the question may be the problem in answering it. A real good article to read is written by Ray McGovern, "Christians are largely mum on torture." Torture is one issue but there are other issues where the Christians do not follow moral principles, such as health care. There is a divide on global warming, alternative energy sources, expansion of our empire, being stewards of our environment, etc.
Quark, if 25% were only the crazies, we would have many reforms in this country beside health care, as an example. We would also be less quick to go to war.
Darn it I was experimenting with something mathboy was teaching about recently here on Thom's blog. You Know.....> and < and I ended up getting a two toned post! I was hoping for bolder type! For all I know this will be messed up too. I need a drink.