Ailing Kennedy seeks quicker Senate succession

Sen. Ted Kennedy speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in a file photo. (REUTERS/Jim Young)

Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, terminally ill with brain cancer, has asked state legislative leaders to change the law and let Gov. Deval Patrick appoint a temporary replacement upon his death.

Under current law, the seat would be empty until a special election could be held 145 to 160 days later, but the 77-year-old Democrat senator sent a letter to Patrick, State Senate President Therese Murray and State House Speaker Robert DeLeo asking the governor be allowed to appoint an interim U.S. senator, should one be needed, rather than wait up to five months for a special election.

A spokesman for Kennedy said on Thursday the letter was not related to any deterioration in his health.

Senator Kennedy has been a lifelong supporter of revamping the nation’s healthcare system, but his absence from the debate and public life in recent months has raised speculation that he will not be well enough to cast a vote when the time comes, according to New York Times, Reuters and Boston Globe reports.

Democrats need Massachusetts' two senators to muster 60 votes in the U.S. Senate, which is crucial to blocking any Republican maneuvers to stall the legislation, Reuters pointed out.

Democratic votes will be crucial to passing the healthcare legislation that is the subject of intense Congressional (and national) debate, and if Kennedy were to die before the vote, his seat would likely be vacant as per the current law.

Patrick and legislative leaders have yet to comment on the senator’s request to appoint an interim senator rather than wait for a special election.

“It’s typical of Ted Kennedy to be thinking ahead and about the people of Massachusetts, when the rest of us are thinking about him,” Patrick said in a statement.

In a joint statement, DeLeo and Murray said: "We have great respect for the Senator and what he continues to do for our Commonwealth and our nation. It is our hope that he will continue to be a voice for the people of Massachusetts as long as he is able."

Massachusetts state law allowed the governor to appoint a temporary replacement for a Senate seat until 2004, when Democrat Sen. John Kerry was running for president and the Democratic-controlled Legislature wanted to prevent then-Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, from naming a replacement if Kerry won the presidency, the NYTs reported.

In his letter, Kennedy, who has held his seat for 47 years, wrote that he supported the new law but added, “I also believe it is vital for this Commonwealth to have two voices speaking for the needs of its citizens and two votes in the Senate during the approximately five months between a vacancy and an election.”

Kennedy also asked that Mr. Patrick “obtain, as a condition of appointment of the interim Senator, an explicit personal commitment not to become a candidate in the special election."

Kennedy "wanted to ensure that whomever received that appointment did not have any head start or advantage in the special election," his spokesman said.

Although the letter was delivered Tuesday, it was dated July 9.

Kennedy was diagnosed with a virulent brain tumor in May 2008 and for most of this year has stayed away from Washington and the public eye. He has spent the summer at his home on Cape Cod and occasionally has been spotted sailing with family members, according to news reports.

He did not attend the public funeral last week of his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and didn't travel to Washington to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Obama.

Sources: New York Times, Reuters, Boston Globe
Copyright © 2009, Primetime Oracle
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Barney gets Frank at healthcare town hall meeting

Rep. Barney Frank argues with a man after a town hall meeting Tuesday night in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. (Getty Images)

It's about freaking time a legislator with balls showed up at one of this town hall melees and confronted the monomaniacs who evidently lack the knowledge, manners and intellect to engage in constructive debates.

Personally, while I believe the healthcare system must be reformed somehow, I've yet to decide how I feel about the House and Senate proposals because I've yet to process and understand the data. How can I have an educated opinion without the information? Yet, that's exactly what these radical freaks are doing at town halls across America--shouting and yelling and protesting and opposing without having the slightest idea what they're opposing.

Following is the story posted by CNN with my lovely comments.

Most Congress members conducting town hall meetings this month have chosen a noncombative posture to deal with angry participants who disrupt the proceedings. Not Rep. Barney Frank.

At a lively two-hour meeting Tuesday night in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, Frank gave as good as he got in confronting opponents of overhauling the nation's health care system.

The crowded hall had both supporters and detractors, but the opposing side was much louder and more raucous (and more irrational and immature), booing the Massachusetts Democrat from the moment he was introduced and shouting questions and challenges at him throughout.(These bigots--sorry, but the ones throwing temper tantrums and interrupting what could be a productive exchange of ideas and information are bigots--claim to be the brains of the country while behaving like genitals.)

"You want me to talk about it or do you want to yell?" he asked over and over when interrupted while trying to answer. Continued shouting brought a sterner rebuke. (Yet another example that these fanatical buffoons are more interested in making a scene and "Waterlooing" Obama than in understanding what the bills propose and obtaining answers to legitimate questions.)

"Disruption never helps your cause," he said more than once. "It just looks like you're afraid to have rational discussion." (Exactly.)



While Frank attempted to respond to all questions, he gave up when one woman compared health care proposals favored by Frank and President Obama to policies of Nazi Germany. (Good for him--she's obviously a dunce.)

"When you ask me that question, I'm going to revert to my ethnic heritage and ask you a question: On what planet do you spend most of your time?" Frank asked. (LOL!)

"You stand there with a picture of the president defaced to look like Hitler and compare the effort to increase health care to the Nazis," he said, adding such behavior demonstrated the strength of First Amendment guarantees of what he called "contemptible" free speech. (What do you think are the chances that this extremist nutcase would be holding an Obama-as-Hitler sign if she didn't have health insurance?)

"Trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table," Frank said to the woman. (ROFLMAO!) "I have no interest in doing it."

Despite the disruptions, the meeting covered many of the issues of the healthcare debate, with Frank shooting down rumors that a House health care bill would mandate free insurance coverage for illegal immigrants.

He read from the section of the bill that excludes payments for that purpose, and when another questioner referred to a different section guaranteeing nondiscrimination, Frank pointed out that the first section he read superseded that language.

Some in the crowd applauded, but others booed and shouted (ugh...just like little children--such as display is embarrassing whether you favor or oppose reform). Frank asked why the detractors shouted for him to answer, and when he did, they shouted more.

"What's the matter with you all?" he said. "I don't know if you get angrier when I answer the questions, or when you don't think I do."

It's called "monomania dementia" Frank, and there's no cure...if you ask me.

Sources: CNN, YouTube
Copyright © 2009, Primetime Oracle
All Rights Reserved

Town hall meetings are today's civil war

Left: A video from CNN affiliate KNXV shows a man carrying an assault rifle at a protest against President Obama on Monday in Phoenix, Arizona. (KNXV)







Two days ago I told a friend of mine that the heated town hall meetings on healthcare reform could be this era's version of a civil war, and that had this "battle" taken place in the 60s or 100 years ago, people would be shooting each other.

Little did I know that weapons had already made an appearance in a couple of demonstrations last week.

One Rambo-wanna-be man, for example, showed up at a protest in Phoenix--where Obama was addressing veterans--carrying an assault rifle and a handgun.

He mindfully took it with him to what he knew would be a dangerously heated encounter with "the enemy." Like a dozen others carrying weapons that day, he paraded his rifle allegedly to exercise his right to bear arms. Fine, but that was not his only motive, if you ask me.

He relied on his weapon to intimidate those on the other side of the argument, to shut them up lest they get shot. He chose to draw power from a fire arm instead of the strength of his position on the debate. How convenient, how lazy, and how lame.

He also took the rifle to the rally because he thought he might need it, because he thought he might use it.

Police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill said the group carrying weapons was "interested in exercising the right to bear arms."

"I'm exercising my rights as an American in Arizona," Rambo, who refused to give his name, told KNXV.

Um...he shows up with fire arms at a protest against the president of the U.S., claiming it's his right, walking around like a tough guy, but he hides his name? Coward. No wonder he needs guns.

I'm not questioning his right to carry arms; I believe in that right. I'm questioning his judgment.

If exercising this right was his only purpose, why not carry the guns while walking his dogs, why take them to protests bursting with people on the edge of violence?

"I come from another state where 'open carry' is legal, but no one does it, so the police don't really know about it and they harass people, arrest people falsely," Rambo said. "I think that people need to get out and do it more so that they get kind of conditioned to it."

I don't buy it.

The man added that he was unhappy with some health care reform proposals. Exactly. Here we go...

"I'm absolutely, totally against health care, health care in this way, in this manner," he said. "Stealing it from people, I don't think that's appropriate."

And that's why he's carrying the rifle.

Plus, what about the angry person likely to lose control while standing inches away from an armed person during one of these crowded meetings or protests? What if someone there feels like exercising his finger with a trigger?

Arizona law has nothing in the books regulating assault rifles, and only requires permits for carrying concealed weapons, so despite the man's proximity to the president, there were no charges or arrests to be made, CNN reported.

Last week, a man protesting outside Obama's town hall meeting in New Hampshire had a gun strapped to his thigh. That state also doesn't require a license for open carry.

Asked whether the individuals carrying weapons jeopardized the safety of the president, U.S. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said, "Of course not."

Of course not?

The individuals would never have gotten close to the president, regardless of any state laws on openly carrying weapons, Donovan said, explaining that a venue is considered a federal site when the Secret Service is protecting the president and that weapons are not allowed on a federal site. The men carrying weapons were outside the venues where Obama was speaking, Donovan said.

"We pay attention to this obviously...to someone with a firearm when they open carry even when they are within state law," he told CNN.

He's downplaying the issue because that's what he's supposed to do. We don't need to trigger yet another national debate on Second Amendment rights--not now at least.

But here's the thing: given that many opposers of healthcare reform are gun-proud Republicans, chances are more goons who evidently can't rely on their intellectual abilities to debate this issue will show up armed at town hall meetings and protests.

Someone is going to get shot.

Sources: CNN
Copyright © 2009, Primetime Oracle
All Rights Reserved

William Shatner channels Sarah Palin at Conan's

Funny man and Tonigh Show host Conan O'Brien (NBC photo)

Last night, Tonight Show host Conan O'Brien shared with us a revelation he had about the farewell "speech" (if you can call it that) former Gov. Sarah Palin delivered Sunday: it was meant to be a poem, he said. Ohhh...

In a fit of genius, he brought actor and master narrator William Shatner to illustrate the epiphany and perform a poetic interpretation of the infamous "speech."

Republicans will most likely disagree, but putting aside political views, when we look at Palin's speeches what we see is someone who can't speak coherently--regardless of topic, setting, time of day or astrological aspects.

She couldn't communicate effectively during the presidential campaign debates. She couldn't do interviews without chewing on a foot. She couldn't say much at press conferences without coming across as a bumbling asshole. Sorry friends, but she just can't speak.

After the disastrous stream-of-consciousness she vomited earlier this month when announcing she was quitting (story here), how could she be allowed near a microphone again? Didn't she and her aids watch a replay of the July 3 babble? How could there be an expectation of her delivering anything but yet another incoherent, self-indulgent, absurd "speech"?

She would've been better off stepping down quietly and with some dignity, if you ask me. But opting for doing that would require common sense, which apparently Palin and those advising her (if that's even possible) lack.

Instead, she eagerly went ahead and made a fool of herself with an impossible to follow "speech" full of disconnected tangents and ornamented language that even herself couldn't possibly understand. (Could she?) And once again the public was left wondering what the heck she was trying to say.

Her decision to not keep her mouth shut further tarnished her image, if you ask me. In yet another attempt to martyrize herself by blaming her resignation on the media and those launching ethics attacks on her (where there's smoke, there's fire...), she confirmed that pointing fingers is what she does best.

So here are Conan and Shatner doing what they do best--making us laugh instead of pulling our hair out. UPDATE: NBC just pulled the YouTube video because it wants you to see it--and the ads--on its website. I've embedded the one on NBC's website below. If it doesn't work, go here.



And here is the original text in Palin's "speech":

"And getting up here I say it is the best road trip in America soaring through nature's finest show. Denali, the great one, soaring under the midnight sun. And then the extremes. In the winter time it's the frozen road that is competing with the view of ice fogged frigid beauty, the cold though, doesn't it split the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs? And then in the summertime such extreme summertime about a hundred and fifty degrees hotter than just some months ago, than just some months from now, with fireweed blooming along the frost heaves and merciless rivers that are rushing and carving and reminding us that here, Mother Nature wins. It is as throughout all Alaska that big wild good life teeming along the road that is north to the future. That is what we get to see every day. Now what the rest of America gets to see along with us is in this last frontier there is hope and opportunity and there is country pride."

And all I have to say about that is, WTF?!

For the full 2300-word transcript, click here -- if you have the stomach for it.

Copyright © 2009, Primetime Oracle
All Rights Reserved

Delaware citizens go off the deep end on Obama American citizenship non-issue

I think this cartoon says it all.

A while back, Republicans questioned President Obama's U.S. citizenship because he was born in Hawaii to a Kenyan man.

Obama's birth certificate was pulled out, examined, scrutinized, analyzed, re-examined, re-analyzed, and guess what (big shock)--it's legit. End of story.

Well, it should be the end of the story, but desperate anti-Obamaists grasping at straws continue to make fools of themselves (if you don't believe me, watch the video) with this issue, not unlike the lady who told presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) that she didn't trust Obama because "he's an Arab."

*sigh*



Copyright © 2009, Primetime Oracle
All Rights Reserved

Healthcare reform tough without legislator reform

Health and healthcare happen to be up high in my priority list, yet, as you can see, I haven't been posting much about the reform, which no doubt is a critical issue in this country.

Why?

Because it's a clusterfuck.

It's gotten so complicated that it's not only overwhelming to try to understand but also nearly impossible to explain--and that's a bad sign, if you ask me.

Why is it such a clusterfuck?

Because of special interest groups (insurers and healthcare providers) lobbying the crap out of spineless legislators who are more interested in what they can get from these groups than in doing their jobs.

Surely there's a simpler way to approach universal healthcare--there has to be. But that would lead to reduced profits for most of this heath-caring (not!) people.

One of the most contended aspects of the reform is the $1 trillion price tag. Well, I think that's probably twice of what it would cost if these fuckers weren't out to get obscenely rich vs. seeking to make a decent living, even be wealthy.

Furthermore, how many millions (ahem, billions) of dollars to we send to other countries disguised as "aid" to advance geopolitical agendas, among other things...? Sometimes the so-called aid enables some of these foreign governments to provide basic services, such as healthcare, to their people. Charity starts at home.

In addition, it is acceptable to spend $12 billion a month of taxpayers' money to fund a pseudo-war in Iraq (launched by the Bush administration based on a series of lies) that has done absolutely nothing to improve the quality of life in this country, but it's not acceptable to allocate that kind of effort and resources on the healthcare of Americans.

I think the best system would be one without insurance companies.

You think I'm oversimplifying things? Fine, but I think it is that simple.

Clusterfucks are notoriously present when a bunch of irrationally motivated people are set on getting their way above all else, unwilling to cooperate among themselves to reach a compromise that serves everyone's needs to a certain degree vs. catering either exclusively or disproportionately to one or more groups at the expense of others.

Case in point: Last week, South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint told fellow legislators that "if we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him."

Does it sound like this distinguished (not!) member of Congress is interested in anything other than his and his party's political agenda? Nope.

While the Obama administration labors to find a way to make decent healthcare accessible to all--rich, poor and in-between--Americans, this asshole is stuck on how to "stop Obama."

"Think about that," President Obama said Monday during a visit to Children's National Medical Center in Washington in response to DeMint's remark. "This isn't about me. This isn't about politics. This is about a health care system that is breaking America's families, breaking America's businesses, and breaking America's economy. And we can't afford the politics of delay and defeat when it comes to health care. Not this time. Not now."

Here's the thing: DeMint can dedicate his precious energy and resources to this irrational cause because either he's healthy enough to do so or, when he's not, he's got a killer health plan--paid by you and me--to cover his ass.

I'd like to see what he would do if illness Waterloo-ed his life and he didn't have the so-called "Cadillac plan" he's entitled to as a congressman to get catch him when he falls.

Copyright © 2009, Primetime Oracle
All Rights Reserved

Obama taps rural Alabama M.D. for surgeon general

President Obama shakes hands with Regina Benjamin, his nominee for surgeon general, in the Rose Garden of the White House on Monday. (Charles Dharapak/AP)

Republicans must be fuming.

Just as Senate hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor kicked off today, President Obama announced his choice for Surgeon General: Dr. Regina Benjamin, a family physician from rural Alabama.

Both are women. Both belong to minority groups. Benjamin is African American, while Sotomayor is the daughter of Puerto Rican parents who moved to New York.

Need I say more?

Benjamin, 51, made headlines because of her determination to rebuild her nonprofit medical clinic in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. She's a country doctor who makes house calls and doesn't turn away patients who can't pay.

"For all the tremendous obstacles that she has overcome, Regina Benjamin also represents what's best about health care in America, doctors and nurses who give and care and sacrifice for the sake of their patients," Obama said Monday, noting her insight will help rebuild the country's healthcare system.

Her nomination for surgeon general requires Senate confirmation.

Ugh.

Listening to opening statements at the Sotomayor confirmation hearings today made me want to stick my head in an oven and set it on broil.

It proved, once again, that senators love to hear themselves talk--the more imperious and hostile the tone, the better. For three hours that's all they did. I don't know how the Capitol can accommodate so many swollen heads.

If my job required me to sit through these hearings, I would drive my car into a brick wall.

I would hope to end up comatose in a hospital room with no TV, just in case I wake up.

Sources: AP, USA Today, BNO
Copyright © 2009, Primetime Oracle
All Rights Reserved