Okay, it's official: Ron Paul kind of DID let someone die because they didn't have health insurance

Now I know you were shocked by my little attempt at emulating Jonathan Swift, "Here's to more dead Republicans (a modest proposal)," which I published a few days ago - but consider this latest, my hyper-sensitive hublings! Gawker has reported that Ron Paul's former campaign manager, Kent Snyder, died of complications from pneumonia in 2008. He had actually brought in $19.5 million to the Paul campaign, according to the Wall Street Journal - but he didn't have health insurance. A sister has explained that a pre-existing condition made insurance "too expensive" for him - but as a result, by the time of his death, he had run up $400,000 in hospital bills (no, the emergency room didn't turn him away), a bill which his family was then saddled with.

The ironies here are just too devastating, frankly.  You really can't make this stuff up.  I suppose no one will know whether Snyder put off treatment because he lacked insurance - but it seems probable, doesn't it?  I mean - not many 49-year-olds die of pneumonia without some sort of complicating factor.  And honestly - he was running a $35 million campaign, but the people working for it didn't have health insurance?

And more importantly, Ron Paul could watch the man who put him on the political map die without insurance, and still the obvious message couldn't get through his thick skull?  I mean, sometimes life's ironies and sad coincidences almost make you think that God is, indeed, some sort of sick satirist . . .

Here's to more dead Republicans (a modest proposal)

The clip above from the recent Republican debate has been getting a lot of play on the Intertubes - and it is, indeed, pretty creepy; the Republican Party is now, you could credibly argue, the party of death. (A round of applause also greeted the announcement that Governor Rick Perry had executed 234 people - one or two of whom most people are convinced were innocent.)

But I ask you - is that such a bad thing?  I mean, as long as it's the Republicans who end up dead?

Because I admit I found the above exchange refreshing; I just didn't think it went far enough.

For a key hypocrisy in the Republican/Tea Party opposition to Obama's healthcare reform is buried in that exchange between Wolf Blitzer and Ron Paul.

What's the hypocrisy? In short: if you feel that a requirement to join a healthcare plan is an infringement of your constitutional rights, then you should also be prepared to forswear your right to emergency room care.

Right?  Of course right.  In fact, far right.

Because let's talk a minute about the form of "socialized medicine" that the Tea Partiers are all unconsciously depending on: the emergency room. They seem to think that it's un-American to require folks to buy health insurance - but that somehow it's not un-American to show up at the ER with a broken bone, and get it fixed, whether or not you can pay the bill.

They seem to think it's fine that the rest of us - the ones with insurance - should pay for that treatment!

And that's socialism, my friends. Texas socialism, I should say.


Because just as a reminder: there's no guarantee of emergency room care in the U.S. Constitution. (Not even in the Second Amendment!)

So let's call a spade a spade, shall we? Ron Paul, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry - when it comes to the emergency room, they're all big fat commies. They never tell their supporters that if they really do oppose "Obamacare," then they simply have no right to show up at the ER without cash in hand.

Okay, at least Ron Paul is willing to face this contradiction, in a way - although later in the exchange, he backpedalled.  But he and Blitzer never took the next step into public policy. For Republican opposition to "Obamacare" should, on libertarian and Tea Party principle, simply melt away if one small change were made to its implementation.

What's that change?  It's the following: if, on our IRS forms, we were able to check off a box saying that we were refusing the government insurance mandate, but as a result we were also perforce waiving the right to emergency room care - and if this database were made available to American hospitals - who could disagree with the new law?

Anyone?  Anyone?

So that's my modest proposal. Give people the option on Obamacare - either sign up for it, or don't hit the ER. After all, it's a matter of personal responsibility, isn't it.  Tell that to your cracked femur.

And as an added benefit, I think such an innovation could lead to more dead Republicans. Not more dead rich Republicans - the Koch brothers can afford health insurance, I'm pretty sure - but perhaps more dead members of the lunatic white-trash fringe stirring up all this ridiculous trouble. I really don't think any poverty-stricken Democrats are dumb enough to pledge to never use the emergency room - they'll just pay the tax surcharge and show up as needed. No, I think only the Tea Partiers are really that stupid.

So think about it. Healthcare reform at last.

And more dead Republicans.

I can dream, can't I?

(Next up: can we force Texas to secede?)

(P.S. - Andrew Sullivan seconds my point here.)

Just for laughs. The Republican candidate flow chart.

Sometimes you have to just laugh at the GOP circus as it rolls into town.

Of course later there will be those huge piles of elephant shit that somebody needs to shovel off of the streets, but for right now we can just enjoy the show.

Rick Perry shows what a man he is by bullying 76 year old Ron Paul!

These are pictures taken during a commercial break in the Republican debate.

Notice that he has grabbed hold of Paul's wrist.

What do you think he needed to lean in so close to say? I doubt it was reasonable.

Jon Huntsman decides to step in between them to protect Ron Paul.

I fucking hate bullies!  And though I am not sure what was said here, I can certainly tell from Perry's body language that he was trying to intimidate Ron Paul, who might be a nut, but he is a harmless nut, and does NOT deserve to be disrespected in this manner!

(Big Hat tip to Market Ticker Forum.)

Update: I have no idea if this means I have slipped into an alternate universe or just eaten a batch of bad mushrooms, but somehow I found myself in agreement with the Sea O'Pee on Rick Perry and his bullying techniques.  I will try to make sure that NEVER happens again.

I mean talk about "jumping the shark!"

While discussing the top GOP candidates, Jack Cafferty wants to know "Why does America seem allergic to brains?"

Okay I am having some real difficulty buying into Cafferty's assertion that Ron Paul is "talking sense," but other than that his assessment of the frontrunners is dead on.

(H/T to Mediaite.)

New Hampshire Straw Poll puts things back into perspective.

Courtesy of Hampton-North Hampton Patch:

Ron Paul got a great birthday present Saturday, as the 76-year-old defeated 11 other Republicans in Saturday's New Hampshire Young Republicans Straw Poll. 

Paul, a congressman from Texas, won a commanding 45 percent of the vote and bested runner-up Mitt Romney by 35 percent despite not attending the event, which was held in New Castle and also included a lobster bake. 

There were 302 ballots cast Saturday, and the full vote results are as follows, in the order the candidates were listed on the ballot: 

Jon Huntsman - 3 percent ; 
Herman Cain - 5 percent; 
Rick Perry - 8 percent; 
Fred Karger - 0 percent ; 
Paul - 45 percent; 
Mitt Romney - 10 percent; 
Thaddeus McCotter - 8 percent; 
Rick Santorum - 3 percent; 
Michele Bachmann - 5 percent; 
Buddy Roemer - 3 percent; 
Gary Johnson - 6 percent; 
and Newt Gingrich - 1 percent.

It appears that as we go farther east, Dominionism does not have quite the same cachet as it did in Iowa.

As you can see Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Rick Santorum barely caused a ripple.

Of course as we well know NONE of these straw polls really mean a damn thing. However I think it is worth noting whose name received too few votes to even deserve mention in BOTH contests.

It seems like the whole country is pretty much over Snowdrift Snooki, with the exception of those poor souls trapped on that rocky outcropping in the middle of the Sea O'Pee.

T-Paw pulls the plug on campaign.

Courtesy of the AP:

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination on Sunday, hours after finishing a disappointing third in the Iowa straw poll. 

"I wish it would have been different, but obviously the pathway forward for me doesn't exist so we are going to end the campaign," Pawlenty said on ABC's "This Week" from Iowa. 

The low-key Midwesterner, who had struggled to gain traction in a state he had said he must win, had told supporters on a conference call shortly before the broadcast interview that he was ending his White House bid. 

"I thought I would have made a great president, but obviously that pathway isn't there," Pawlenty said. "I do believe we're going to have a very good candidate who is going to beat Barack Obama."

Those last remarks still indicate that Pawlenty is delusional, but apparently not delusional enough to stay in this race. Still I am surprised that of all the GOP wannabes in this contest that he is the first to recognize that his chances are non-existent.

After all third place was not bad at all in the "nobody gives two shits about you but the media" Ames Straw Poll. I mean the only two to beat him were Michele Bachmann (I believe purely based on her corndog eating skills by the way), and Ron Paul who seems to ALWAYS place high in the early polling of the most wingnutty members of the GOP right before the more sober minds realize he might actually become their candidate and yank him of stage with a giant hook.

Hell he beat the eventual nominee, Mitt Romney, by FOUR places, you would think that might give him a boost of confidence going forward, but I guess losing to two of the most batshit crazy candidates in the field put the overall impact of this Iowa poll on the final nomination process into perspective for ole T-Paw.

I have to say that for me personally it is a shame, because right up until this morning I had a hell of a time differentiating between Pawlenty and Santorum. But as of right now I know that Pawlenty is NOT the guy who believes that a woman who has been raped should carry her rapist's child to term. 

Okay folks time to get out your crystal balls and let's see who YOU think will be the next potential loser to Obama in 2012 to come to their senses.

Here are the Iowa Straw Poll results. Try to act excited.

Courtesy of the LA Times:

1. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (4823, 28.55%) 

2. Congressman Ron Paul (4671, 27.65%) 

3. Governor Tim Pawlenty (2293, 13.57%) 

4. Senator Rick Santorum (1657, 9.81%) 

5. Herman Cain (1456, 8.62%) 

6. Governor Rick Perry (718, 3.62%) write-in 

7. Governor Mitt Romney (567, 3.36%) 

8. Speaker Newt Gingrich (385, 2.28%) 

9. Governor Jon Huntsman (69, 0.41%) 

10. Congressman Thad McCotter (35, 0.21%) 

Well Michele Bachmann won which should come as no surprise to ANYONE. She is the flavor of the moment and she is a fellow Iowan, which gives her an advantage.

And that was BEFORE everybody watched her eat her corndog.

I have to say that I am somewhat surprised that Tim Pawlenty and Rick Santorum (Or as I call them Dweedle dipshit and Dweedle Dumbass), came in third and fourth, right after Ron Paul's second place showing.

I find it amazing that the press gives this stupid poll so much attention when the top five winners don't even have a snowball's chance in hell of getting the nomination.  

What I think might be somewhat newsworthy is that Rick Perry, who was not an official name on the poll and only declared his candidacy this morning, was able to win a sixth place position as a WRITE IN. That should really cause the eventual nominee Mitt Romney some sleepless nights.

All of this media attention these candidates are getting must be driving Palin CRAZY, I wonder what she could possibly do to get them to look in her direction?  

 
Of course, what was I thinking?

Talking Points Memo has a MUST SEE highlight reel of the Republican debate from last night.

Just in case you thought I exaggerated with my earlier post.

By the way I just have to say I that I think Bachmann won the debate when she reminded the panel that SHE introduced the "Lightbulb Freedom of Choice Act."  I mean seriously, which one of THEM has done anything even remotely as important?

(I know a lot of you have asked me to post the bit from the Daily Show about this Ames poll, and I will later, but I really thought that this video was actually funnier and more entertaining. Which is especially humorous because this bunch of nincompoops actually thought they were convincing Americans that they could be President.)

"I'm the worst possible choice for this country! No, I am! I hate this country! I hate it more!" Last night's GOP debate in a nutshell.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I was only able to watch a little of this three ring circus, because I have a doctor's note that excuses me from watching too much Fox news since it dramatically impairs my ability to engage in rational thought.

However what I did see was MORE than enough to convince me that we need to work our little progressive asses off to make sure that President Obama gets reelected, and that not ONE of this simple minded douchebags should be allowed anywhere near the White House!

Seriously I don't care HOW disappointed you are in this President, or how frustrated you are that he did not wave his magic negro wand and solve all of the nation's problems like you convinced yourself he would, from what I saw last night he is this country's only hope of not ending up looking like a real life version of a "Mad Max" movie.

These are the scariest bunch of lunatics I have seen gathered on one stage since I watched patients at the Alaska Psychiatric Institute put on their version of a "Midsummer Night's Dream." (Not bad really.  I especially enjoyed the part where the actor playing Puck forgot his lines and kept asking if anybody in the audience had a copy of Shakespeare with them.)

Hearing these slack jawed candy asses claim that they would NOT raise taxes even if they were promised ten spending cuts for each tax hike made my frontal lobe scream for mercy.

I know these people are smarter than that (except for Michele Bachmann who is only about six brain cells away from having to have a cork stuck to the end of her fork) and yet they refuse to stand up to Grover Norquist and the Teabaggers, and tell the voters the truth about what it will take to fix this nation's economy.  That was a shameful display.

There were a FEW glimmers of intelligence, such as Jon Huntsman saying that he would repeal NCLB, but for the most part this appeared to a contest to see who could act like the most ignorant man on the stage.

In fact these wannabe leaders of the free world had dumbed themselves down to such a degree that having Sarah "all you need is common sense" Palin and Rick "I can't figure it out so let's pray for a solution"Perry join them onstage might actually have RAISED the combined Intelligence Quotient.

Yeah, it was THAT bad! 

Now if you will excuse me I have to write a check to the Barack Obama reelection campaign.

Palin-bot sues Nevada DMV for not allowing him to display his ignorance on his license plates.

From the Daily Mail:

A Nevada man has filed suit against the state's Department of Motor Vehicles after multiple requests for personalised licence plates supporting Republican Sarah Palin were rejected.

James Linlor, of Douglas County, claims his rights were violated when the state refused to issue a series of license plates supporting the former Alaska governor, branding them 'inappropriate' in nature.

According to the claim, 'GOPALIN' was among several requests rejected, while the agency approved others including 'GO OBAMA' and 'DMOCRAT'.

According to court documents filed on Friday in U.S. District Court, Mr Linlor filed for the personalised licence plate 'GOPALIN' in 2009 and 2010. Both, he says, were rejected, reports the Las Vegas Sun.
In June, 2010, his requests for 'PALIN,' 'PALIN12' and 'PALIN16' were denied.

The DMV’s Special Plates Committee, which reviews applications, stated the applications were 'vulgar or obscene or expressing superiority of political affiliation.'

Well at this point I have to side with the Nevada DMV, I mean clearly this vanity plate choice would fall into the "vulgar or obscene" category. I guess the reason could be that last one, but nah.

After all it is not like there is a clear demonstration of bias on the part of the Nevada DMV.

I'm sorry, WHICH license plate submissions did they okay?

Mr Linlor says he later discovered the DMV had issued other politicly-motivated license plates, including 'GOGREEN,' 'DMOCRAT,' 'AL GORE,' 'KERRY,' 'EDWARDS,' 'DEAN,' 'HILLARY' and 'RONPAUL,' while requests for 'REPBLCN' and 'BUSH,' were rejected.

Testing the system, Mr Linlor said he applied for a 'GO OBAMA' plate, which was approved. 

Oh.  They actually issued an "EDWARDS" and a "RONPAUL?"

Well that sort of changes things now doesn't it?


As much as it pains me to say, I do believe this gentleman has a very definite legal point and he should in fact be allowed to put "IMBCIL," I'm sorry I mean "GOPALIN" on his license plate. As ridiculous, and ill informed as that decision might be, it does appear to be unfair to reject HIS request while allowing other Nevada residents to put THEIR political idols on the license plates which adorn their vehicles.


After all, his decision could have been much, much worse.