Tearing down a legacy.

 Jerry Falwell, Jr. says that Donald trump has the chance to be the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln. I am not sure how he plans to achieve that feat, but apparently he thinks that the best way to do it is to tear down everything that Barack Obama built up.

"Washington (AFP) - Brick by brick, the demolition job has begun: since taking office less than a year ago, Donald Trump has launched an all-out assault on the legacy of Barack Obama.

Climate, free trade, health care, immigration, foreign policy -- the 45th US president has set about undoing just about everything done by the 44th.

All new presidents, of course, break with their predecessor once in the Oval Office, especially if they come from a rival political party.

But what is striking is how systematic the hammer blows to Obama's legacy have been.

And rather than throw his weight behind new policies or projects, Trump has shown a willful desire to unpick, shred and erase everything his predecessor accomplished.

It's worth noting that each time he buries one of the reforms of the man who sat before him at the "Resolute desk," Trump sounds more like a candidate than a president.

- 'Ridiculous trade deals' -

The Trans-Pacific Partnership? Within days of taking office, Trump signed an order pulling America out of the free trade accord, the fruit of eight years of negotiations between 12 Asia-Pacific countries, from Chile to Canada and Japan.

"We're going to stop the ridiculous trade deals that have taken everybody out of our country and taken companies out of our country, and it's going to be reversed," Trump said.

Paradoxically, in signing off on the project's demise, Trump was aligning himself more with the left wing of the Democratic party than with the Republican mainstream.

The Paris climate accord? Obama played a leading role in attaining that milestone in the effort to combat global warming.

Trump pulled out of the agreement signed by 195 countries, claiming that it "punishes the United States" and declaring: "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris."

What about Obamacare, the signature legislative achievement of Obama's first term? After trying in vain to get Congress to repeal it, Trump is now working to bring about its collapse through the regulatory process.

And the Iranian nuclear accord? The bid to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon in return for a lifting of sanctions more than any other bore came to represent Obama's approach to world affairs.

"This deal will have my name on it," the Democratic president said shortly before it was concluded. "Nobody has a bigger personal stake in making sure that it delivers on its promise."

While Trump has stopped short of tearing up the Iran deal, as he threatened on the campaign trail, on Friday he warned he could do so "at any time," raising doubts about the fate of an accord born of years of painstaking diplomacy.

- A break at any price -

How to explain the fixation on destroying Obama's legacy at all cost?

Trump has held high his determination to fulfill his campaign promises, and give form to a simple slogan: "America First."

And his team recalls, with reason, that Obama acted by decree many times when thwarted by Congress. What has been decided by the stroke of a pen can be undone by the stroke of a pen.

Historian Jeffrey Engel, however, sees no equivalent in recent decades to Trump's systematic application of the simple principle that "if the other guy liked it, it must be bad."

To Engel, the explanation is that Trump's electoral base "never accepted fully Barack Obama as their president."

"There was a move among Obama's opponents to delegitimize him and to say that this man is not really president and consequently anything that he did, Trump's base is ready to get rid of," said Engel, who heads Southern Methodist University's center for presidential history in Dallas, Texas.

A notable fact: Obama has until now remained largely silent as his legacy is demolished.

American tradition, which is generally respected, holds that a former president should remain above the fray.

But, in thinking about his place in history, Obama is also playing the patience card.

"I think that Obama understands that his legacy ultimately will be defined by how America reacts to Trump in the long term and how Trump's successors act," said Engel.

On November 7, 2016, on the eve of the US elections, Obama warned voters "it all goes out the window" if they were to send Trump to the White House.chasing

That attempt to rally Democratic voters now seems prophetic." [Source]

 

I sure hope trump knows what he is doing. He seems to be more skilled at harassing women than he is at legislating and running government. But apparently his minions believe in him. And therefore, at least for now, that's all it seems to take.

 

 

Oh what a tangled web....

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I am all for health insurance reform. I really am. And when the senate got the 60 votes over the weekend to make this bill filibuster proof I was happy for the dumbocrats. I am not one of these "uber" leftist who say give me a public option or nothing at all. I understand how the A-merry-can political system works, and I am willing to take the baby steps. Do I want a public option? Of course I do. A government run health insurance plan would drive the cost of health care down for everybody. In fact, if I were King of this A-merry-can world, we would have a single-payer health plan tomorrow. But I am not. the King of the A-merry-can world is money. And right now the insurance lobby and their fat cat friends have damn near all of it. But I digress.

So I am glad for these sixty votes, but I am not happy at how they got there. If what is being reported is true,(the wingnuts are calling it a bribe) Senator Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) cut a sweetheart deal for his home state of Nebraska. Seems they won't be paying their fair share of the contributions to Medicare for a long time to come. He is not alone. Apparently Mary Landrieu from my favorite state, Louisiana, did the same thing. She held out for a cool one hundred million.

Honestly, I have no problem with folks looking out for their home states. (Unless their name is Joe Lieberman ,who has just become a whore for the insurance industry. Wait...did I say just become? Sorry, l I take that back; he has been a whore for them for a long time.) But shouldn't these people be voting their conscience and convictions? If you think health care reform is needed, why hold out to the highest bidder for your vote? The whole thing just stinks a little too much for the kid.

Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) was on one of the Sunday talk shows, and he was talking about how unconstitutional it all was. He argues that 30% of the people he represents in his state are African American, and if Nebraska gets this deal there will be some equal amendment issues to consider. Ooooo kaaaay. Like when was the last time a GOP official cared anything about the equal rights for black folks? Still, there is something to that argument. The one that says that some citizens shouldn't get certain benefits at the expense of others just because their elected official happens to be slicker.

But, at the end of the day, it looks like his O ness might have a nice Christmas present. And he will be able to say that he got some historic legislation past. That will be something for dumbocrats to run on in what will be a tough election year in 2010.

And if what the CBO chief is saying is true; it's a bill that A-merry-cans could find themselves being able to live with in the long run.

" The bill would cost an average of $87 billion a year for the first ten years. It would expand coverage to about 30 million Americans. It is projected to reduce the deficit by $132 billion over the next ten years. Here's the summation from CBO chief Doug Elmendorf's blog:"

I am no economist, but that doesn't sound like a bad deal to me. Certainly not as bad as some of the deals that were cut to get to 60 votes.

*Pic from Jen Sorensen @ Slowpokecomics.com

Hip hop Mike at Howard.

This post is going to make some of you uncomfortable, but as is usually the case with moi, I really don't give a fuck. (No, it's not about Glenn Beck, although I will be probably be blogging about his moronic ass again tomorrow.)

This post is about republicans, and the man that is charged- as of me writing this post- to lead them. His name is Michael Steele, and once again he made a damn fool of himself on a stage of his fellow humans while on the latest leg of his hip hop tour.

There are a lot of reasons I could never become a republican, and most of it doesn't necessarily have to do with their politics. It's them, the people who make up their party. They are clueless, out of touch, and live in a parallel universe which I never hope to see. But back to Mr. Steele. Or, as I like to call him, hip hop Mike.

Mike had a little town hall get together at Howard University Tuesday night. As the RNC chair and the sanctioned HNIC of the red neck...I mean red party set, it is his job to attract blacks, once again, to the party of Lincoln.

"Steele spoke at Howard in front of roughly 150 students as part of his outreach program to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. His effort to connect with young black students got off to a rather cringe-worthy start when right before the billed "student dialogue" two dozen white members of area young Republican groups arrived to sit in the reserved first two rows of the packed room. One wondered, as students grumbled, if Steele hired John Ashcroft to be his event manager. "

Of course, we can't have those "young republicans" mixing with those black students. Hell they might be packing. But let's move on with more of Dave Zirin's account:

"..But when challenged, Steele exposed himself, and it was awful to see the Tin Man's tin ear. When the RNC chair took a written question on health care, he blasted the public option, saying that "every time the government gets involved in something it doesn't work."
Then came Amanda Duzak, and Steele's evening just got a whole lot worse.
Duzak, a 23 year old Towson University grad, stood up, against the rules and out of turn.
"My mother died of cancer 6 months ago because she could only afford three of her six prescription chemotherapy medications," she projected. "There are 50 million people in this country who could end up like my mom, suffering or dying because they do not have adequate health care. Everyone in this room and everyone in this country should have access to good health care."'

Good job Amanda. Nice to see a republican confronted about health care for once. So it wasn't a town hall meeting, but it was close. Let's see what our boy hip hop Mike did:

"The room woke up and other than those glaring from the front, the applause was wall to wall. But it's Steele's response that makes this moment both newsworthy and a terrible comment on his character. After saying that he believed in a mature, honest discussion and not in shouting, Steele said, "People are coming to these town meetings and they're like [he then shakes]." He then looked and gestured right at Ms. Duzak and said, "It makes for great TV. You'll probably make it tonight, enjoy it." He then turned his back to her, as the crowd clapped."

Wait, Dave, did you write "as the crowd clapped"? What the fuck were they clapping for? The young woman was right! I know a lot of college kids read this blog, -including some of you from Howard- and if any of you were in that auditorium with hip hop Mike as he tried to clown that young lady, you should be dusting off your tapping shoes and your head wraps right about now. But let me not jump to conclusions, let me look at the video again......yep, there was definitely some shuffling going on at old HU. I saw you Negroes grinning and "cooning" with Steele as he tried to play "I am down with you" while parroting republican talking points. The only thing worse than a house Negro is a college educated house Negro. That young white woman had more field Negro in her than all of you grinning Negroes put together. Oh field, stop it, the young lady was being disrespectful, she was interrupting Steele. Just like you claim the republicans do when the democrats hold town halls. What's the difference? You just say this now because you happen to share her point of view. That would be correct! And I will continue to share her point of view until every A-merry-can has access to affordable or free health care in this country, and until the crooked insurance companies and profit over lives HMO companies are a thing of the past.

"Think about what Steele did. He didn't only turn his back and rudely dismiss a young woman whose mother just died of cancer. He used the shameful recent behavior of the right wing town hall screamers -- his own party's base -- to try and turn the crowd against Ms. Duzak. "

Relax Dave, that's just hip hop Mike being hard core. Keeping it real to the end.

Story here.

"Marked for Death."

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If there is a dumber person in A-merry-ca than Sarah Palin I would like to meet him/her.

"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's "death panel" so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their "level of productivity in society," whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."

Yeah...riiiight. OK Sarah, "death panels"?

Well, I know one thing, if his O ness is going to be picking such a panel I would love to be considered for an appointment to it. I would have a field day. (No pun intended) Folks like Nancy Reagan, Dick Cheney, Alan Greenspan,and Robert Byrd would be put to some serious consideration. I know Dick is kind of young but he has some serious heart problems, that shit costs money, not to mention the secret service protection that I am sure he is still getting. Yep, Dick Cheney? Check!

But it's not only the old and sick I would consider. Folks like Ollie, Rush,Sean, and Bill would have a lot of sleepless nights, I can guarantee you that much, because the "death panel" would always have their asses under serious consideration.

Oh field, that is just crazy, why would you even bring up a crazy ass rant from Sarah Palin. She is not even a legitimate and serious republican candidate anymore. Yes, but Newt is, and he agrees with her.

“You are asking us to trust turning power over to the government, when there are clearly people in American who believe in establishing euthanasia, including selective standards.”

Folks like Newt and Sarah can relax. The panel won't be going after everyone. If, for instance, I am selected for the "death panel", I will not go after Trig, her Down Syndrome baby. Babies are off limits to the death panel. I agree with Sarah there: That would be "downright evil". So Trig lives. Unfortunately for Sarah, the government has decided that she cannot keep custody of the poor child; we want to give Trig a fighting chance.

*Pic by Peter Dunlop Shohl, courtesy of HuffPo.

Only some of us A-merry-cans deserve to have good health.

"Black Americans still get far fewer operations, tests, medications and other life-saving treatments than whites, despite years of efforts to erase racial disparities in health care and help African Americans live equally long and healthy lives, according to three major studies being published today.

Blacks' health care has started to catch up to whites' in some ways, but blacks remain much less likely to undergo heart bypasses, appendectomies and other common procedures. They receive fewer mammograms and basic tests and drugs for heart disease and diabetes, and they have fallen even further behind whites in controlling those two major killers, according to the first attempts to measure the last decade's efforts to improve equality of care.

Together, the research paints a discouraging picture of the nation's progress in closing the gap for one of the fundamental factors that affect well-being -- health care -- during a period when blacks have made progress in areas such as income and education.

"We have known for 20 years that we have a problem in our health care system: that blacks and whites do not receive equal care. We had hoped all the attention paid to this topic would result in some improvement. What we found is we have not made much progress," said Ashish K. Jha of the Harvard School of Public Health, who led one of the studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine. "This should be a call to action to make the changes needed to make sure people get equal care."

That was taken from a piece written by Rob Stein in the Washington Post back in 2005. Fast forward four years and the health care debate rages on in these divided states of A-merry-ca. The insurance lobby and partisan republicans are fighting with everything they have to keep the status quo, and all indications from the latest polls is that they are winning.

For me, it's rather simple: I trust the government to deliver affordable health care and to be fair in doing it, more than I do the private insurance companies. Sorry, but with them [the insurance companies] it's all about the bottom line. When I go to sites like this and read about the uphill battle poor people and people of color face in this country when it comes to health care, I have to wonder what the hell some of these black conservatives (Now there is an oxymoron for your ass. If you are black, just what the hell are you conserving?) are smoking when they jump up and jig in defense of the health care status quo in this country. Do they really think that all the money that's pumped into R&D with these drug companies is being done to deliver drugs to market to cure diseases that affect minority communities? Please!

If I was king of the world there would not even be an option. (The "public plan" option, in my never humble opinion, is bullshit. Political compromise by the usual suspects in Washington. And let's throw the "voucher plan" into that mix while we are at it.) Health coverage would be nationally run by the government and it would be a single payer system. I am not even willing to listen to the bullshit talking points from the right anymore. Rationing health care? Really? As if health care isn't already rationed. The truth is, that in these divided states of A-merry-ca, the wealthy get better health care than the poor. If you are poor health care is already rationed. Eighteen thousand people die in this country every year because they can't afford proper health care. So yea, for them, I would say that health care is pretty much out of their reach.

Oh but field, I just don't want the government running health care. The government just can't be trusted to do something so important. Another dumb ass wingnut talking point. Let me see now, the last time I checked, Medicare, Medicaid, the VA, health coverage for public employees, elected officials, and the military was all being run by the government, and that seems to be working out just fine.

But field, what about our taxes going up? Wrong again wingnut. Your taxes won't be more than you are already paying in co-pays, deductibles, self employment plans like Cobra , and your out of pocket expenses. Another myth manufactured by the right to throw the dreaded T word into the debate.

See field, I always knew you were a Socialist, you are just like that damn Obama.

"Deo volente" my friends "Deo volente."