July 10, 2009 05:30 AM
Dennis Kucinich Pummels Right Wing Dr. On Canadian Healthcare System
(Video courtesy of Hillbilly Report)
Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich absolutely tore it up today on Capitol Hill. In this video he is questioning Dr. David Gratzer of the Manhattan Institute. One need only read the title of Gratzer's new book, "The Cure: How Capitalism Can Save American Healthcare" (complete with forward written by Milton Friedman) to know what side of the debate he was on.
Gratzer was there to spew lies and right wing talking points about the Canadian health care system, but Kucinich wasn't having any of it. As always, my hat goes off to Dennis! You can watch the entire CSPAN video here.
I loves me some Kucinich!
If he runs next time, he's gonna get my vote, I don't care how well Obama's doin!
Kucinich simply kicks much more ass than Obama...
aaaaand FOIST!
Just freakin wow... this smarmy little freak just had his ass handed to him... hard. Go Dennis!
is the perfect description!
Man, I just wanted to reach thru the screen and smack the arrogant smirk off of his over-entitled face!!
And wasn't he "pulling a Palin"? Remember when Gibson asked Palin about the Bush Doctrine, and she so obviously had no idea what he was talking about but would never admit it, so she got all defensive and tried to deflect? This ass had NO idea about the facts either, but, like Palin, he was chock full of opinions - and shit.
I bet if you could run this segment against that part of Palin's interview, you'd see the same expression on their faces as they realize they won't be allowed to just spew talking points.
Like cornered rats looking for a chance to attack and escape.
Actually, I favor another analogy.
When they're cornered, if they had a little door in the back of their head you could peek in and see Scooby-Doo going "Ruh-roh!"
Democratic Party progressive, Vietnam veteran and proud Union member for 41 years
Gratzer's bio from Wiki.
He has a history of misstating and misusing statistics in his rightwing arguments against single-payer health care systems, and was an advisor to Rudy Guiliani during his presidential campaign. Maybe nothing else needs to be said.
A rightwinger who lies and spreads propaganda... how very unlike them. He must be some kinda maverick...
he's Canadian?! That's it... I'm revoking his citizenship... we don't want (or like for that matter) smarmy, arrogant, ignorant, scum-sucking weasels like this! He definitely belongs in jail for contempt. Rude asshole as well... too bad he got that psychiatry degree to bolster his effed up ideas and beliefs.
Look at Charlie Rangel's questioning of "the smarmy little freak" and how Gratzer goes on and on. Rangel's questioning style is quite different than Kucinich's, paying homage to Gratzer's "contributions", etc. It's sickening, and Gratzer makes it worse, preening and sucking it up, believing he's making a good case, saying that doctors themselves should set prices for their services so they can earn a living. What an arrogant jerk...
However, I must admit, I like Rangel. He genuinely seems like a decent fellow, respectful and nice. That being said, the dems seem to have a habit of letting these clowns run roughshod over them. I, for one, am quite tired of giving these aholes ANY respect at all. We have 'em on the ropes, time to finish 'em off... without mercy. Eh, wishful thinking, I suppose.
Thank you for that clip of Charlie Rangel vs. "smarmy little freak", it was most illuminating! Why does this not make the main stream media? Because it's the MSM's dirty little secret.
Essentially, Rangel got him to admit that the healthcare insurance companies wanted NO price controls on healthcare and that the medical industry, not the government should regulate prices. "To give doctors a fair wage" is I think what "Dr Mengele" here is saying. They are in collusion.
In other words, to quote from the movie "1776", "They'd be willing - for the shilling."
Democratic Party progressive, Vietnam veteran and proud Union member for 41 years
I see we all had the same reaction to this smarmy little freak. Arrogant prick.
far left loon >.<
I campaigned for him in the last election, and if DADT is not reversed in 2012, I will do the same.
Way to go Dennis. You should be President.
Just think how much better off we'd be with Kucinich as president. What a shame we couldn't make it happen. LOVE HIM!
Too bad our corporate-owned, mainstream media picks our candidates for us, eh? They made sure to run the story about how crazy Dennis is because he claimed to see a UFO (as if half of us haven't at some point in our lives). Remember, they even made sure to ask him that AT THE DEBATES! Mind-blowing. Unless we can reform our corporate-owned MSM, we can't get the candidates that truly represent the people, like Kucinich.
Mainstream America buys what the ccmsm tells 'em.
that interview they had with him and his wife and that lady kept asking about the Mrs.' tongue ring. Journalism, I love it :-(
NOBODY 2012
Kucinich has always fought for truth and the American citizens. It's a shame that we allow the media to pick our candidates for us. Every progressive in the country should got to Iowa in 2012 and work to get this man elected President. The media will never give him his due unless we the people force them too. Thank you Dennis for continuing to try to serve us so courageously.
God bless Dennis Kucinich!
GodProgress Bless Kucinich!When I get depressed I watch this!
Did you know that during the campaign, there was a "candidate matching" system somewhere online. I sent it to a bunch of folks I know and their candidate (based on the platforms and things they suppported) all ended up Dennis Kucinich.
Yep, Kucinich was my match as well. Obama wasn't even close...
but there are others like him out there, including people reading this blog.....we need more like him so let's find them and convince them to run for national office!
Just a minor technical point about this. It was awesome, but it happened a few weeks ago. (Just so nobody goes around talking about Kucinich pummelling Gratzer TODAY. :)
too bad more folks didn't.
change, v2.0!
Jesus, was that guy a prick or what? And he's a doctor? I can't imagine his bedside manner. Good for Dennis for showing the guy for what he is and coming to the knife fight with a gun loaded with knowledge.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Or a spork loaded with lard.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
for some unfathomable reason...that make me crack the hell up!
Thanks!!!
I didn't have enough for breakfast
Story of my life
Never getting enough.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
OK...off topic...but I posted some awesome vids on the LNMC thread...
Check it!
http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/contempt_of...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
you certainly have a way with words.
Well, Charles Krauthammer was a psychiatrist. Those must have been fun on-the-couch sessions...
For too long Drs., priests, and political types have expected deference that they shouldn't automatically get. If you're a jerk you're a jerk, and having Dr., Rev. or Rep. in front of your name doesn't mean you get automatic credibility. Go Dennis you've earned our respect and your credibility!
ljmel
See "Sanjay Gupta" in Webster's Biographical Dictionary.
No one gets automatic respect from me. I will be deferential, until they show their colours. Then I give 'em what they deserve, good or bad.
far left loon >.<
Being a Doctor isn't a sign of anything other than a medical degree. Tom Coburn is a Doctor, there are two Doctors in the Republican delegation from Georgia in the House....all three of these Doctors also happen to be Fundamentalists, so maybe that accounts for their wierdness. Oh well. There's even a handful of biologists who are in the Flat Earth Society.
my cousin is a detroit ER doctor who has left his position in the US in order to drive across the border to work in Windsor the CHS. Docs there apparently get to spend more time on patient care and less time on paperwork.
It will take courageous members like Rep. Kucinich to tamp down the propaganda against national health care or national insurance.
Land of my youth.....until I could get out.
My brother was a homocide detective in Detroit. I know he saw things that changed him - I can't even begin to imagine what an ER Dr. would have to deal with there.
Watch Sicko. Mike Moores relatives from Canada side of Detroit border wouldnt dream of setting foot in the USA for 2 minutes without out of country health insurance. Not even to shop in Deadtroit. A Canucks worst nightmare is to be held hostage in a hospital by the greedy assed US non system. Nice to see folks waking up to the bullshit .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67IIRN9FfH4
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
...the story because he knew that he was cornered with so many lies. That was fun.
And how very Palin of him - he's just a poor victim too,
Funny how all these well-to-do Republicans are all such poor victims. We're sooooooo mean. If we would only just let them have their way, everything would be fine - for them - and isn't that what really matters?
Frankly I am disappointed that none of the perennial concern trolls have tried the whole shame on Kucinich for not letting the poor conservative fella "speak"
Where's xyzzy anyway?
Again the right shows they have NO answer when presented with the facts or when what they said in statements and claims is used against them.
Thay don't need no stinking facts!
I wish that clip would be shown on all three of the major evening news shows and on shows like Hardball, Ed, Keith, and yes even on the republican morning show known as Morning Joe.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
We love you Dennis!
Keep up the good fight
Pummels?
Sounds like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOPYTuNdpfI
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
There really isn't a health care "debate." The left has lots of compelling arguments to support universal health care. The right's only reply is "you're a socialist!" That's all they've got.
I'm Canadian and let me tell you, I pay a premium every single month for my medical and health coverage. Regardless of whether or not I need it, the medical system is there whenever I do. And if my premium pays for others who need it more, well I guess that's socialist... I think of it as compassionate, kind, and helping those less fortunate.
Another poster mentioned that Canadians won't leave our country without travel insurance, even when just crossing the border. Man! That's the frickin' truth!! We don't think we need to be bankrupted to have medical care.
I can't wait until my friends and family in the U.S. have access to the same excellent care we do. And those waits you hear about... depends on where you are and how immediate your need is... there have been times I wait for a few weeks or two months, but I've also gotten in immediately for an MRI. Go figure!
Your health insurers don't want to lose all the money they've been taking from you, the people... no sir. It's all about the money!
Jesus was a socialist.
"When are we going to stop trying to tell elected officials what to do. Our job is to spend the taxpayers' money the best way we can." -- Tommy Watkins, Justice of the Peace, Crawford County, Arkansas
but those in your country who want all the goodies for themselves and call themselves xtians... they're not Jesus' peeps, are they? I always think he'd be so appalled as what these fucktards do in his name, he'd have to smite 'em all! Or simply turn the other cheek and hope to hell they got it one day!
are being exploited by those that know they're mere sheep. Why else would the politicians keep fucking up or just fucking. Then they tell the congregation that they're sorry, beg for forgiveness. The Christian politician posers then continue to tell the congregation to vote against their own best interest.
It's a great exploit to the game. Politicians on the right know that congregations are trained not to think for themselves and believe what ever you tell them.
It could also explain the success of FOX News among the same groups of people.
"When are we going to stop trying to tell elected officials what to do. Our job is to spend the taxpayers' money the best way we can." -- Tommy Watkins, Justice of the Peace, Crawford County, Arkansas
I totally agree with you on this. It's a sad truth that in their desire to practice Christian ideology, the "real" Christians are being led to the slaughter by the xtians (who I refer to as the crooks and liars of the evangelical entertainment industry).
a DFH.
An MRI SHOULD be considered urgent. As I posted below, if my sister had received that consideration, due to a lump on her throat, she would be alive today......she died April of this year, the healthcare system fast-tracked the entrie process. The stress of putting thousands on her credit card, and of dealing with the fuc*ed up system, played a huge role in her untimely death.
that's terrible! I was given one immediately because of the symptoms I was experiencing and the fact that my sister died years ago from inoperable brain cancer. I was having similar symptoms to hers... and got immediate action.
That people have to decide whether they can afford healthcare leaves me speechless and totally bereft. I can't for the life of me understand that. It's the frickin' health system, man! It's supposed to be in place for the people who need it, not making money hand-over-fist for the greedy ba$tards in the healthcare "industry" or the insurance "industry"... there shouldn't be any industry involved!
Its always about the cash in the USA. There are breakaway pockets of compassion strewn about the land but the almighty buck usually rules the day. How about that guy that was crushed in the NY Ferry incident a few years back. They "heroically" saved his life then stuck the poor bastard with a bill for nearly three hundred grand.
Only in the USA are you likely to hear someone screaming " NO NO NO... NOT THE HOSPITAL !!! TAKE ME HOME" from the back of an ambulance. Add getting sick to the long list of things to fear in US.
I fear neither death or disease.. I got God and OHIP on my side.
Nothing gets my goat faster then some right wing asshole lying with impunity about Canada though. Way to go Dennis K .
U$A. Says it all.
far left loon >.<
If ever there was an argument for reopening the jail under the capitol if for no other reason than to hold witnesses in contempt, this was it.
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
I agree and a good ass kicking wouldn't hurt either. I don't think I have ever seen anyone testifying before congress be such an obnoxious jerk.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
David Addington
...a good point POP.
Dennis - kudos to you for exposing the weasel for what he is.
If gratzer is a medical doctor, heaven help his patients. Wonder if he is an ordained xtianist pastor and has an MBA too, sponsored by Goldman, of course...
...for showing how it's done. Yay.
And the media tries to portray Kucinich as some kind of nut.
is intended to be a factual statement
The media was responsible for the Dean scream that did him in just as they were responsible for the Dennis UFO story which did him in.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
And they will continue to do it until We-The-People start ignoring them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjVKUap1HgU
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
vote with your stones and not your wallet .
Go Dennis , attack , attack , attack dont let up ever ! .
every time you throw a little mud , you lose a little ground .
It amazes me how disrespectful and downright contemptuous this guy was before the Congressional Panel. He should have been put in jail until he could answer Kucinich's questions with respect.
Louisville Lawyer
enriching themselves. I don't think that slimey character is likely to ever be associated with Doctors Without Borders.
Oh, but we CAN'T believe Kusinich! He believes in UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS, ya know. (How stupid must one be to NOT think there are UNIDENTIFIED flying objects?)
The media (yes, leftist ones, too) MUST stop this stupid shit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRUOTDFCfBg&fe...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I haven't heard Nina Hagen since high school. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
If i may... The USA is one of a very few countries left on the planet that denies the possibility of UFOs as official government policy.
"You cant handle the truth"
could be aliens. That would make a good Dean Koontz novel.
I ws flippin through the channels last night and caught a gem from the 1980's starring Roddy Piper called "They Live". This was pretty much the plot of the story. They did not call them Republicans but they emphasized that they were "free-marketers"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Live
To hear a congress-critter properly grill an "expert" witnesss instead of bloviating mind-numbing talking points. It happens so rarely...Gratzer encapsulates all that the rightwing represents: smug, dismissive, angry and disrepectful.
you forgot ignorant.
arrogant, with an undeserved sense of entitlement.
Just like Palin, who seems to think it should all just be handed to her.
Today's GOP - Greedy Obstructive Palinites.
.
stinky poo-poo dookey head.
Language! I'm a flower.
I'm just superstitious enough to hedge my bets.
... a stinky poo-poo I could probably handle it; but I draw the line at being a dookey head!
Boy I wish I had Kucinichs' temperment. I would not have been able to stop myself from leaping over that desk and smacking the shit out of that smug little prick.
Now see, I love stringing guys like that smarmy little freak along and the zeroing in for the kill. It's sport with me.
far left loon >.<
Where are the rest of the Democrats? This is the type of questioning we need from the Democrats and the idiots in the Media. There are no problems with the health care in Canada. If there were problems, do you think they would keep the system? I know some Canadians and like everything else, some are happy some are not. But not one tells me they want to go back to what we have in the USA.
The picture of US healthcare.
My sister-in-law is a nurse from Canada.
She says the main reason people come down to the US isn't for major surgery or operations, but impatiences for what may be essentially cosemetic or optional surgery.
It's like, "I'm rich, how dare you tell me I have to wait two months for a face lift!"
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Bernie Sanders was on Hartmann's radio program this morning. He put it succinctly. Republicans always say, "We have the best medical care, facilities and doctors in the world." Yes, we have very good instances of medical care in the U.S., but those who advance that fact are missing the point.
People come to the U.S. from other countries for elective or experimental procedures *if they are wealthy enough to afford them.*
BUT...American citizens who are not wealthy are increasingly leaving the country for *routine procedures* whether they are insured or not--not because the procedures can't be performed, but because the cost of those procedures (and prescriptions) here will bankrupt them.
Bernie Sanders is another guy I'd trust not to let this little free-market weasel get away with his distortion of reality.
Korea is one of those countries poised to go for that market. They're building hospitals for Americans that don't want to go bankrupt back home.
Tons of Europeans get dental care in Thailand because it is good (I was told) and cheap. The savings pay for the trip there.
far left loon >.<
Some people are 'fraidy cats and hypochondriacs. They worry about everything and over-insure everything. It's true, some people feel over-entitled and are not willing to wait two months for something elecive. They want it now, damnit.
far left loon >.<
is sitting in the BG.
I hope we can make this video go viral. I'm sending it to Rachel Maddow right now. I just sent it to lots of doctors and nurses etc.
If Dennis runs again I'll work my a$$ off for him!!!
(BTW...lots of people have had UFO sightings like President Jimmy Carter....and mwa. Check out a book I worked on as a publicist entitled, "Above Top Secret: The World-wide UFO Cover-up" by Timothy Goode).
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
I just sent it to a few nurses whom I know too.
I loved it when Gratzer kind of fell back in his chair and pouted -- what adolescent, sulky body language!
And I saw a "UFO" back in 1979 or so, tried to call the newspapers but couldn't get through because it was on a Sunday evening, then saw the story in the next day's paper that quoted two people about 400 miles away who saw the same thing just 20 minutes after I did. (It irritates me that so many people think that "UFO" = "alien spaceship.")
I really like Kucinich even though I don't agree with everything he says, but someone else said it right - the UFO thing got pulled out by the media and it screwed his chances of ever getting elected to the office of the President.
Dr. Gratzer seems upset that he can't just pass off whatever "facts" he collected through some partisan "think tank" as evidence he's right. Capitalism is exactly what is destroying the medical system. Which doctor would you rather go to for yourself or a loved one - the guy that's in it for profit or the guy that's there because he wants to help people? Now I'm not saying the second doctor shouldn't be making money, because they should, but if you're trying to cut corners to save your company money in ways that might hurt the health care you provide to your patient... well that's a problem. It's one that can be resolved through a lawsuit if it results in something bad for the patient, but the Republicans (probably this doctor included) want to work towards ending lawsuits.
As I have said in other posts I've made and to many others - pure capitalism, like communism, can never work in practice. Why? Because people are f-ing greedy - be it for money or power or both, they are. That is why everyone and everything should be kept in check by something else... or, if possible, several something elses.
is that the people who made the biggest deal of Kucinich and the UFO's are the right-wingers who believe in a religion in which the earth is only 6000 yrs old and a talking snake is behind all our problems.
I'll be laughing about that one all day
You rawk!
that is so friggin true!
Exactly. Aliens are way more plausible than the whole "God" myth. Who's to say there isn't life on other planets? It's a vast fucking universe out there. I'm not saying I've seen anything to make me believe, but I think it's better to keep an open mind on the subject.
re: "but if you're trying to cut corners to save your company money in ways that might hurt the health care you provide to your patient... well that's a problem."
I see it as being directly opposed to that Hypocratic Oath that doctors take to do all they can for the benefit of the patient... or did Grazer take the Hypocritic Oath?
Check out the guy in the background who keeps covering his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. I have two versions of this saved in my YouTube favorites - this one and another from a different camera angle and it shows that a few people sitting behind this arrogant a$$hole have a hard time trying to contain their laughter as Kucinich chews him a new one.
Dennis was actually my first choice in the primaries, but it became clear to me that both the MSM and the Democratic party itself would NEVER allow someone so outspoken, scrupulously honest and principled to gain the nomination.
OMG I watched it again and it looks like that guy is about to fall out of his chair laughing. Too funny. Nice way to start the day.
"You keep'n interruptin' me!"
"OK, fine. Answer the question."
[long, sustained, awkward silence]
"You have no answer, do you?"
"SEE? SEE? Right there! Interrupting me! Wahhhhhh!"
Bloody conservatives. Eat it.
Update:
Ugh! Watched it again. What a smarmy, squirming little worm! He reminds me of so many liars who act put upon and attacked (boo-hoo. Typical of bullies), appealing to the audience for sympathy, when they are called on their lies and bullshit. Remember Condi Rice vs. Senator Boxer? "Please don't impugn my integrity". Hey: don't change the fucking subject, twit.
I'm just superstitious enough to hedge my bets.
They really have total disrespect, not only for the role of govcernment, but for the role of knowledge and facts.
Maybe, along with evolution, they also don't believe in Newtonian physics - you know, like cause and effect. Because they seem to believe that they can say anything, tell any lie, ignore any facts they don't like, without ramifications.
And they are breathtakingly contemptuous of everything besides themselves.
This jerk will now hit the right-wing myth machine, and nothing of what we have seen here will be shown. It will all be about the Dr's victimization by the socialists
Awesome. These right wing tools are so fucking arrogant and full of shit. They have no plain answers for why they oppose the health care and welfare of their fellow citizens. Fuck idolization of money and profit. Fuck material concerns. Fuck petty political partisanship. Isn't our most valuable resource... us? We can do this. The universal coverage of all citizens. Eliminate the health insurance mafia. We will eventually see a massive savings in health care costs.
...not everybody loves you, babe.
Clearly this punk has made his creds stroking the "right" people.
This arrogant, self serving, Reslug is even more clueless and stupid than possible. Did this moron think congress was just going to let him ramble only Reslug lies and distortions that he memorized??
Yes, he really did.
It's part of that arrogant sense of entitlement. The little people are not supposed to challenge their betters when they are dispensing wisdom, don'tcha know.
The Bush Years.
I'm just superstitious enough to hedge my bets.
And Yet...........
Dennis Kucinich was berated and ridiculed mercilessly by our beloved Korporate propaganda machine (the MSM) and laughed out of the primaries with help from the Democratic party. WTF?
Show me any other candidate that speaks truth to power like DK.
He actually represents the people who elected him.... What a novel idea!
He was also the one who tried to bring the thirty five articles of impeachment against the war criminals in the Bush administration. He was mocked and ignored again by the Korporate MSM and even the sellout members of his own party. This should tell Americans to whom these people are really pledged to represent.
Wake up people! We can get our country back from corporate America, but we need to start electing candidates like DK. Candidates that understand they are supposed to represent the will of their constituents and not the whims of Korporations and their lobbyists.
Show me any other candidate that speaks truth to power like DK.
Ralph Nader.
While I would agree that Nader does talk the talk I don't see anything else beyond that. You can't appear on the scene for a presidential election and then disappear for two or three years after you lose.
Nader should think about running for congress or senate first. Once elected he might have a chance to show people that he really does have some teeth behind that bark. It could help legitimize him as a viable candidate.
Seriously? Ralph Nader has a long history of consumer advocacy. It's just that no one pays any attention to him because he is not a corporate shill like every other politician.
Ralph Nader is truly a man that is for the "people".
There are a whole generation or maybe two who don't know who Nader is because they hear his name only for a short while every four years of so. If he wants to run next time he should be out there now introducing himself whenever possible and reminding people of his accomplishments.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
I still say DK has a better chance than Nader to get elected.
As you say, No one pays attention to Nader so no matter how good he is he just seems to come out of nowhere every election cycle. He should certainly have a position in a DK administration along with others like Bernie Sanders and Howard Dean. Until we stop electing corporate Democrats like Emanuel, Baucus, Reid, Pelosi and on and on......We are going to continue to be under a Corporatocracy.
he is 75 years old now. He deserves some peace for all he's done for us. Screw the presidency. He's too good for it.
Nader doesn't talk the talk, he walks the walk. The man is a truly phenomenal American hero. I have never seen anyone with his level of commitment to not just speak truth to power, but to force power to listen to the truth. It's a shame that truth doesn't usually come in cute sound bites. Ralph Nader is not taken seriously because he expects people to THINK and ACT. His expectations are just too high, and it makes people uncomfortable. Period.
Amen Bruce. It's a damn dirty shame that he doesn't get more attention. You are right his expectations are too high and that sucks.
He is a hero.
.
That and Ralph Nader isn't as liberal as he'd like us to believe. He's consistently crushed attempts by his employees to unionize. Ralph Nader reminds me of how Joseph Cotton described Orson Welles' character in "Citizen Kane"; that Kane loved to be known as dispensing goodwill as his gift to the people but hated the common man demanding better conditions as his right.
"A toast, Jedediah, to love on my terms. Those are the only terms anybody ever knows - his own."
:)
me-oww!
...until he had to drop out.
[sigh]
I really "liked" voting for Obama, did it without any real quams, especially considering the alternative (which I never considered for a moment), but had it been a three person race, I would have voted for Kuchy in a heartbeat.
I'm just superstitious enough to hedge my bets.
...easier to be Kucinich than Obama. And I am not at all trying to denegrate the congressman from Ohio, but he does have much less responsibility and there's fewer repercussions from his political decisions.
But just remember when Obama was a Senator, he voted for telecom immunity after promising to vote against it, so even in the same position as Kucinich, he was a wimp.
I agree. But I also agree with L&L. I think we are all seeing, assuming (leaping for faith) that Obama is half the man we hope he is, that being president is not like being a dictator; not if the person in that position is at all honest. Checks and balances, my peeps: the same ones Bush tried with every fiber in his being to ignore, with a compliant SCOTUS and Congress throwing rose petals in front of him. All things being equal, it is SUPPOSED to be this way; while I loves me some Kucinich, my guess is that he would "break" (for lack of a better word) some campaign promises as well. Because a campaign promise, imho, is really more of a "I will try to" than a guarantee.
I'm just superstitious enough to hedge my bets.
This is most certainly true, since a lot of issues must be decided by Congress, not dictated by the President.
My concern about Obama these days is that he doesn't seem to be "trying" to further the campaign promises he made to change the Bush agenda -- ie, the latest is his decision to keep detainees in prison even if a trial finds them innocent of any wrongdoing. That's the Bush-doctrine regarding all those people who've been imprisoned and tortured for years.
He could banish DADT with a simple executive order. There's MUCH he could do for America that he hasn't done, choosing instead to support corporatist, Bush's, and rightwing positions. If he were just middle-of-the-road, progressives wouldn't be so angry or feel so betrayed. But if he has taken positions he intended all along, he should NEVER have promised a change from the Bush administration governing. That isn't "trying" to fulfill his campaign promises.
Well, we have 3.5 more years to try and get some common good done. Here's to hoping (and doing the ground work with phone calls and letters and just plain informing the people we know about what is going on) that we can get some good things done over the next 3.5 years with our current POTUS.
I'm just superstitious enough to hedge my bets.
...serve as the petri dish for future elections. As Kucinich continues his progressive agenda in a state where Obama's numbers have dropped like a rock, it will be interesting to see if it's Dennis' message that gets accepted, or will they return to the neocons for salvation?
Too many so-called 'progressives' felt that Mr. K was (ahem) 'unelectable'. So they elected themselves someone who's trying to maintain the Bush legacy...or did they elect him?
It's said that you are known by the company you keep. But perhaps, it should be, "You are known by which companies keep you". Mr. K isn't in anyone's pocket; can the same be said of many supposed Dems, when they are practically the water boys of the health care industries?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv0smG7ptcM
(***Note: The Democratic National Committee made sure he was on in the early afternoon so as few people as possible would hear what he had to say).
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
I turned off that idiot box a year ago. I REFUSE to be (even in a small way) lackeys for these blathering idiots.
Awwww!!! The poor little arrogant prick!!
Dennis is fearless -- a *real* leader!
...jack ass. If this is the best argument the repugs can put up against universal health care, why the hell aren't we getting it?
What an ass-bag.
Nice job Dennis. Run as an independent in 2012 and you have my vote.
This video should be mandatory viewing for every Democrat in Congress and in the White House on how to handle these moronic liars and crass manipulators. Time to shit can the Mr. Nice Polite guy conciliatory stuff and get in their face. Consensus my ass, what a waste of time. That's the only language they understand.
Brilliant job, Dennis!
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
I wish this forum had a 'Recommend' option ... eh.
The Right wingers always frame the debate as a choice between our current “system” or, the systems of either Canada or England, two countries that, while providing universal health care, because of their parsimony, have performed in international health care outcomes research almost as badly as does the United States! It seems genuinely ludicrous (but convenient for generating insecurity among the under-informed) to set as the benchmark for improving our health care system two countries who only do a bit better than we do. I have yet to see an opinion piece from a conservative decrying the inferior care and long wait times in France or Germany, the top performing countries in the world. That's because they provide excellent care to all of their citizens, have no longer waiting times than our own, have much more satisfied physicians and patients and do it all at a sizeable discount to ours.
So, I loves me some Canada and Kucinich, and I am a PNHP member, but if we keep letting them frame our debate around Canada and England, we do ourselves a great disservice.
Here's a quick summary of Germany's system:
http://cmhmd.blogspot.com/2008/11/germany-oec...
Cheers,
Oh my god, the health service in France is just so many multitudes better than the US system it's actually embarrassing. Don't even try and explain how utterly superior in every god damn way it is to the right-wing plebeians, they'd rather wallow in shit and then die from it.
As far as England's crazy and inefficient national health service is concerned, I'll say this:
If England had the same health system as the US, I would not currently have a father.
It's that fucking simple.
Country that has single-payer/socialist health care? That list would speak for itself, so they act like Canada and England are the only ones.
I'm glad Dennis is still in the House. We need him there to keep doing what he did with this arrogant little ass.
Way to go, Dennis! It isn't often you get to see someone's balls handed to them on a platter.
My Gawd, could that Doctor get any more smary or condescending? Sanctimonious prick, definitely needs serious bitch-slapping.
Is that Congressman John Conyers looking on from behind the doctor?
Democratic Party progressive, Vietnam veteran and proud Union member for 41 years
I don't think Dr. Gratzer actually practices medicine. I think he writes articles, lectures at conferences, sits on boards and otherwise shills for the insurance industry.
people's minds. Well, he tries, anyway.
Oh yes! The Elf bitch slaps The Simpering Little Prick!
Generally speaking I don't trust anyone making over 150K a year.
CSPAN did their best to bury this hearing with livestream rather than live TV.
Our latest healthcare video staring Mitch McConnell.
Jim
"Never before have so few with so much promised to take away so much from so many and then laugh their asses off as the so many with so little vote for the so few with so much." A James Pence Quote
I watched the whole thing and at the end when all the Dr.'s got up they all started chatting to others and turned their backs on him and was was just looking around on his lonesome.
In your face douchebag.
Pitchforks
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