I'm not really sure if I'm more incensed at this caller or Limbaugh. After all, I expect Rush to be a big-mouthed toad with mush where his brains should be. But the caller leads this off with the usual "f-ck you, I've got mine" attitude when he says this:

LIMBAUGH: If you believe the majority of stories we get about the elderly in this country, that they are, for the most part, just a couple steps away from poverty.

CALLER: Hi, no, I don't believe that, and I hate to say this, but if they are a step away from poverty that is their responsibility because they did not save for their future. It is not my responsibility that you spent all of your money and did not save for your future.

Let's just stop right there. This caller is so arrogant and nasty I'd like to wrap Wall Street around his pencil-necked body. Let's just say for the sake of argument that some seniors actually had investments, and actually had saved for their futures. And let's also say for the sake of argument that they invested those funds in a fairly conservative portfolio of stocks and bonds. And let's go one step further and say that when the market started to tank, they yanked their money out of the market at exactly the wrong time, leaving them with cash earning nearly zero interest, and a balance equal to about 60% of what it was worth a year earlier.

Whose responsibility would that be? Would it be theirs, or the sharks on Wall Street who played fast and loose with other people's money? Oh, and we can go even one step farther and say that those seniors who own their homes outright saw their balance sheets fall even faster. If they were unfortunate enough to have a reverse mortgage on their home, well, they and their heirs might just be out of luck now. But yeah, of course that's their fault.

Ok, leaping ahead to about 1:51, we have Rush saying this:

LIMBAUGH: Young people are moving back in with them. Their moms and dads! And some of these people moving back in are 35 and 40. How old are their moms and dads? 60 and 70, try. But they're 60 and 70 and if they can afford their worthless offspring moving back in with them, just how poverty-stricken are they?

Gosh, I guess Rush missed the part where people lost their homes, jobs and livelihoods, thanks to the Wall Street marauders.

Not everyone can be a right-wing idiotic blowhard like Rush Limbaugh that advertisers are willing to fatten up with big ads because a zillion fools listen to his blowhardiness like it's Jesus preaching the gospel. Some people have to work for a living, and the longer they are out of work, the harder it is for them to get a job. So really, I'm now raising a middle finger to Rush Limbaugh, and suggest you do too.

While you're at it, aim at the caller, too, because obviously yesterday's news is something he doesn't have the brains to remember from one minute to the next. When I hear people like this, I'm ashamed to admit that I truly hope they discover what it feels like to lose it all through no fault of their own, so they can hear white entitled dudes tell them how stupid they were.

[h/t Media Matters]

FEAR AND LOATHING IN WEST PALM BEACH-part I

Police are in riot gears. Protestors are being restrained. Lines are stetched for hours.

Mark tells us that "the problem with the electronic voting machines is that you have to mark the ballot perfectly like a palm pilot, or it will default to a Bush-Cheney vote!"

This should effect the elderly or poorly sighted. A pollster has to come and recalibrate the vote. It's crazy down there. More to come...

Perhaps Sarah Palin made that ridiculous statement about "Obama Death Panels" because she knew this story was going to break -- it was happening in her own state, right under her nose:

State programs intended to help disabled and elderly Alaskans with daily life -- taking a bath, eating dinner, getting to the bathroom -- are so poorly managed, the state cannot assure the health and well-being of the people they are supposed to serve, a new federal review found.

The situation is so bad the federal government has forbidden the state to sign up new people until the state makes necessary improvements. No other state in the nation is under such a moratorium, according to a spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

In the meantime, frail and vulnerable Alaskans who desperately need the help are struggling. One elderly woman is stuck in a nursing home, for lack of care at home. Another woman, suffering from chronic pain and fatigue, said she's so weak, she often can't even pop dinner into the microwave.

This is the GOP's alternative to a public or universal option. Sarah wants to talk about evil socialist plans that will kill people, but I betcha she doesn't want to talk about the hundreds of Alaskans who died waiting for these services.

A particularly alarming finding concerns deaths of adults in the programs. In one 2 1/2 year stretch, 227 adults already getting services died while waiting for a nurse to reassess their needs. Another 27 died waiting for their initial assessment, to see if they qualified for help. Read on...

In honor of the people of Alaska who died on her watch, Sarah Palin needs to stop makin' stuff up about health care reform, and apologize for screwing things up and then running away when the going got tough.

I know putting together a convention of this magnitude is no small task.

There have been many glitches and complaints, which is par for the course and I know the DNC have tried to do the best they could with parking and credentials and whatnot. But I have asked the DNC for weeks and weeks how they could help me get around during the convention because I have a handicap placard in California due to a real problem walking distances from my nerve damage. I got no response.

I didn't see this link on their website. I wish it was more prominently placed. Obviously, there is a tremendous amount of security and many checkpoints, but there is no assistance available for those that are elderly or not in the best of health, who would not be able to walk miles and stand in the blistering heat waiting to proceed to the Pepsi Center. It's hot and the high altitudes have many people flustered. How many of them knew that Denver would be so hard to maneuver in? I certainly didn't.

When I finally got to the first check point, I asked if there were any carts to take the elderly and handicapped to the next stop. I was told that they were only there to get water for the Secret Service. Hey, they did an amazing job and needed the help too, but what about all the elderly people that came here, dressed to the nines and high heels, because this is an important event to them and they had to travel miles and stand for hour long check points to even see the Pepsi Center? I saw some almost passing out.

I made many calls, not asking for special treatment, but for decent treatment of a handicapped person. When I called ten times on Tuesday, I got voice mails and then was told I would be called back. Nothing happened. I left an angry message yesterday telling them I'd write about it and now suddenly I find out that there is help available. Really? Well, it's too late now. I'm already devastated. I'm pretty good at putting on a happy face when I'm being interviewed and never want to make it much of an issue to my readers, but I just couldn't handle the pain of trying to go out any more.

I have to take some of the blame too. I had people helping me and they came up short too in finding out all that could have been done. I'm writing this to voice a complaint so that the next time an organization puts on a huge event, they seriously take into consideration what all handicapped and elderly folks have to go through to even show up to support or cover that event. I promise to do a better job in finding out how to help those in need of assistance for future events. And I don't think this is only a DNC problem. They are being very kind now and said they misunderstood my situation. I believe them, but I think it's a systemic problem that needs more attention. Telling someone that you are handicapped is not always understood and I get that that's why my calls were misinterpreted. I hope to help those in need in the future because this is a serious issue for many people.

The Convention still has been a blast and I think it's been a valuable experience.

American Nonsense: FISA Fight: Hoyer, Blue Dogs, and Compromise (h/t Swimgirl)

The Brad Blog: How to cast a ballot in Indiana if you don't have a state-issued ID. Disenfranchishing the poor, minorities, and the elderly makes wingmutts happy. But it's not really a big deal to some of our trivia-obsessed journamalists.

Justice League: The lawyer for vice-president Dick Cheney claimed that the Congress lacks any authority to examine his behavior on the job.

Intel Dump: In his first public comments about the Iraq war since stepping down as the No. 2 official at the Pentagon, Paul Wolfowitz decided to open with a variant of the classic "mistakes were made" Washington mea culpa.

Poverty News Blog: Yesterday, while Bubble Boy was conducting the most fatuous press conference in human history, he refused to discuss Afghanistan, where war and narcotics have contributed to surging prices on diminished food supplies.

Blue Gal: Getting to know your neighbors...

ACLU:

“Freedom to Vote: Protecting the Ballot” examines new voter ID initiatives that could disenfranchise millions, and shows how ordinary people and their elected representatives are trying to preserve the constitutionally guaranteed right to vote. The program focuses on legislative efforts in Georgia and Texas to require all prospective voters to present government-issued photo identification, though such rules would create barriers for low-income, elderly and disabled people. Nationwide, 16% of the nation’s elderly voters and 25% of African Americans do not have current government-issued IDs. While supporters of photo IDs say the goal is to eliminate voter impersonation, such fraud is extremely rare, and many believe the initiatives are aimed at diluting Democratic votes."

Read more...

UPDATE: John Amato:

I've been writing about this issue for months now and have been in talks with the ACLU also. You can hear me with Rachel Maddow discussing this important Indiana case here...

Addressing California's 14 billion dollar deficit, Ahnold is a one-trick nightmare.

For everyone living in CA like myself, Governor Schwarzenegger's State of the State earlier this year was reprehensible. You can see it here.

We now have no way out except to face our budget demons. It does not raise taxes, it cuts the increase in spending and it cuts that spending across the board. As governor, I of course see first hand that the consequences of cuts are not just dollars but people. I recently brought leaders and advocates of various communities into my office to tell them about what we face financially. I had to look them in their eyes and tell them. I mean talking about fiscal responsibility sounds so cold when you have a representative for AIDS patients or poor children or the elderly sitting across from you. It's one of the worst things about being governor---yet, fiscal responsibility like compassion is a virtue because it allows the necessary programs in the first place.

Steve Lopez of the LA Times wrote a great piece about the Governor and said that we're basically in the same situation that California was in when the Davis recall was instituted.

Only a year ago, Gov. Schwarzenegger was telling us we were in good shape financially, with no need for a rainy day fund. Now he says the wolf is at the door. He's planning to lock the gates at 48 California state parks and beaches. And give get-out-of-jail-free cards to tens of thousands of prisoners statewide. And slash school budgets.

These and many other draconian horrors have been proposed by the governor who rose to power on three main recall promises: No more gaping budget holes. No more reckless borrowing. No more out-of-control fundraising and caving in to special interests. Is it time for Total Recall: The Sequel?

The Orstrahyun: Not making this up...The Australian government proposes allowing the gambling industry to build elder "care" facilities adjacent to casinos. Win-win for everyone but the elderly. Next up: poker machines that take Social Security checks.

Politits: But don't CEO's deserve 400 times the average workers' pay? They're worth it, right?

CJSD: Why was Bush greeted so enthusiastically by the Albanians?

YouTube of the day: What the hell are neocon groups like Project for the New American Century and The Heritage Foundation doing funding something called "Institute for Religion and Democracy"? Hint: it has to do with reversing any dividend from churches doing peace stuff. More here.

Smith Magazine: Amazing online webcomic of Katrina and its aftermath.

Guest round-up by Blue Gal.

Apparently, health warnings must be applied to watching this video.

Guardian UK: (h/t Gregory)

Yesterday they were mocking it. Today, the Sun and Mail triumphantly report that the juddering fluorescent London 2012 Olympics logo is not only bizarrely inadequate to the task of promoting the capital - it can trigger epileptic fits. "Within hours of it being launched we received 12 reports of people suffering seizures," a spokeswoman for Epilepsy Action tells the Sun.

The accompanying Talking Heads-meets-cover of-Smash Hits video has been hastily re-edited. Yesterday the multicoloured shapes were seen fizzling through swimmers' diving bodies, down motorways and up Tate Modern. Now we have footage of a cyclist being overtaken by a woman in an electronic wheelchair and elderly Britons practising their karate chops.

Wisconsin's SeniorCare saves $65 million from negotiating drug prices. So naturally, the feds want seniors on Part D, which doesn't negotiate drug prices. They say they're concerned that the program may not be "cost-neutral."

Wisconsin State Journal:

Gov. Jim Doyle's administration is reviewing how best to maintain prescription drug services to the elderly after the federal government rejected the state's request to extend the popular SeniorCare program, the governor said Wednesday.
Regardless, Doyle said at a news conference that the decision likely kills the program, forcing the 104,000 people on SeniorCare to use the Medicare Part D drug plan.[..]

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