Finding my Personal Pony with Ahmadinejad and Health Reform,

Robert Reich
Marc Ambinder

"This presidential election in Iran and having a 'president' is a buffer for the mullahs.  It is to create an image to the world that there is some sort of freedom of choice in terms of the leadership in Iran, when we know there is not." - Rush Limbaugh


Every so often I need a good kick in the pants when my view of the world gets too idealistic. I'm often reminded of the old joke about what makes an eternal optimist. A young boy was always looking at the bright side of life, and so his family decided to teach him a lesson. On his irthday he was presented the key to a door in his house. Opening the door he found a room full of horse manure. Laughing and shouting with glee, the boy jumped right into the room and began digging away.

Appalled at his behavior, his uncle asked him why he was so happy digging in a room full of horse s**t.The boy replied, "There must be a pony in here somewhere!."

Iran must have been my pony, I was actually believing the hype that there would be honest elections giving the people a choice, and not the predetermined selection that happens in every other Middle Eastern country. Conspiracy theorists apply the same logic to Western elections too; that heads of state are chosen, never elected... I wonder if the population of Iran will sink back down into cynicism and sullen despair, or if they will continue to look for ponies of their own... Joe Klein e-mailed this to time magazine, on the difficulty of the Iranian ballots: "The candidates are listed by name and by number...and also by code. You vote by writing down the candidate's name and then his...what? Number...or code? No one is quite sure. The leading reformer, Mir-Hussein Moussavi, has the number 4 and the code 777. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has the number 1 and the code 444. So the question arises: If you vote for Moussavi and list his number as 4...have you actually voted for Ahmadinejad? And why on earth have they devised such a complicated ballot in the first place?

A representative of the Guardian's Council, which is monitoring the polling stations, told me at the Hossein Ershad Mosque in North Tehran that none of this mattered. "Only the name on the ballot matters," she said.

Let's hope so."

The next big thing on Obama's agenda is health care reform. I guess you've been reading up on it, there are a couple of good summaries on the links provided above this post. There is so much being written that it's difficult to tell if the author is actually doing their homework or is a bought and paid for shill by some part of the insurance industry. There are 30 members of Congress involved in the committees that need to recuse themselves, but they are not. If you read or hear a public statement from any of these people, included on this link to the Washington Post, then be aware of the investments they have and possibly have been bribed to make their statement... The list includes John Kerry, Jane Harmon, Orrin Hatch, Eric Cantor, John Kyle, and John Boehner.

From the Christian ScienceMonitor is a good article on just what Obama wants in health care: "President Obama has launched an aggressive public effort for reform, laying out in broad terms what he would like in legislation – but no ultimatums on specifics. He has framed the debate as reform versus no reform, with a goal of lowered costs and a reduction in the ranks of the uninsured, now at 46 million Americans. Indeed, Mr. Obama’s only requirement, say senators from both parties, is that Congress pass something.

In a town hall meeting in Green Bay, Wis., Thursday, Obama promoted creation of a new public insurance plan, designed to compete with private insurers and bring down costs. But that “public option” is on the ropes. Republicans object vehemently to the idea, arguing it could drive private insurers out of business and lead to a government-run health insurance system. The powerful American Medical Association, which Obama addresses on Monday in Chicago, also opposes the public insurance option." So, of the hundreds of critical articles already written, they are just spinning their wheels trying to get us in a negative state of mind to automatically oppose whatever plan is developed... Letting the Republican Party live up to being the party that just says no.

The truly strangest spin I have ever read ocurred by Rush Limbaugh and others, saying that the Holocaust Denier, Nazi Sympathizer, 88 year old white guy who shot and killed a guard at Washington's Holocaust Museum was actually a crazy liberal because he had the address of a local FoxNews station on a hit list found in his car. The man is not a right wing mentally ill person after all... This is the thinnest stretch of logic I have ever seen, and we have no reason why Fox News was included. I surmise that it was because he expected to have his views validated every time he watched Fox, since they tend to foment right wing theory. Because he was way out on the fringe, not even Fox could validate his claims and he got increasingly agitated over it as his finances got worse.Or, maybe he was planning on showing up after he gunned down the Jews at the Museum, to go on the air and be welcomed as a hero by Fox and friends. We may never know, buttrying to make him into a liberal is a sick,twisted attempt at a joke, and the other mentally ill right wingers need to start accepting how crazy their ideas on social policies really are, stop denying the truth and try to get some therapy before this keeps on building towards a racial war.

late night jokes: we begin with David Letterman, who may not be on the air much longer, ifsarah Palin gets her way

"Well, it's been a busy week here on the late show. Earlier in the week, I made some jokes that upset Sarah Palin. And I was telling jokes about her family and stuff. She got really upset. And I think everything's fine now. I think everything's going to be great because she called today and offered to take me hunting." --David Letterman

"Here's big news from the world of TV. And I don't know if you guys are ready for this or not. If you have an old TV, tomorrow, it won't work unless you digitalize it. You've got to get a converter thing and a lot of people are confused about this. For example, earlier today, John McCain wanted to know after the conversion, will his TV dinner still work." --David Letterman

"You folks been following the Iranian elections? Well this guy, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he's running for re-election. Have you seen this guy? This guy looks like the kind of guy that tries to get to you buy a cell phone you don't need. You know what I mean?" --David Letterman

"He looks like one of those guys that would be wearing a Members Only jacket." --David Letterman

"He looks like one of those guys they drag away every week on 'Dateline', you know what I mean?" --David Letterman

"Boy, here's a story that won't go away. Miss California - remember Miss California? Got herself in a lot of trouble, shooting her mouth off. Gee, I wonder what that's like." --David Letterman

"Well, now, Miss California's been fired. Don't worry. President Obama said he will announce a replacement within a week, so that will be good." --David Letterman

"Fiat, which took over Chrysler this week, says it plans to build its cars with American, not Italian workers. Fiat says they got the idea from the Olive Garden." --Conan O'Brien

"A top Republican is angry that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor belongs to an elite private group. The top Republican's angry, and so is everyone at his country club." --Conan O'Brien

"Yesterday, the controversial Miss California, Carrie Prejean, who famously opposed gay marriage, was stripped of her title. Not only that, her chances of becoming Miss San Francisco are really looking slim." --Conan O'Brien

"Now, everyone is going to be fine, I want to stress that. But earlier today, the NBC medical director sent out an e-mail saying several NBC employees have been diagnosed with the swine flu. Unfortunately, none of those employees have anything to do with 'I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here.'" --Conan O'Brien

"Some controversy today surrounding Miss California, Carrie Prejean. She's the one who said she was against same-sex marriage. Some wanted her to be stripped of her title because of it, but Donald Trump, who owns the pageant, said no, she's entitled to her opinion and she'll remain Miss California. Well, today he fired her, which is what he does, I guess. My money says she's a Fox News anchor by the ... by now. By right now." --Jimmy Kimmel

"Karl Rove called Maureen Dowd of The New York Times a 'bitter, twisted, deranged columnist' and a 'dour, downbeat liberal' and - more - a 'nasty, snarky person.' Hey, get a room." --Jimmy Fallon

"Congress is considering a bill that would force advertisers to lower the volume of their TV commercials. OK, how did my mother get in Congress? When did that happen?" --Jimmy Fallon

"Venezuela has banned the sale of Coke Zero, because of unspecified health risks. Still not banned in Venezuela: actual coke." --Jimmy Fallon

"This is interesting. Researchers have found that people who drive drunk are more dangerous on the road than drivers who are high on marijuana. Don't get too excited. It's mostly because the drivers using marijuana are just sitting in the Taco Bell drive-through." --Jimmy Fallon

"Big science news. A new element will be added to the periodic table. It's the heaviest element in the table. It's called ununbium, which is Latin for 'thigh of Rush Limbaugh.'" --Jimmy Fallon

"Iran is bracing itself for their upcoming presidential election. President Ahmadinejad is behind in the polls. I think it's because of his campaign slogan, 'Vote for me, and I won't cut off your hand.'" --Craig Ferguson

"Politics is very similar over there as here. Ahmadinejad says if he's elected, he'll bail out the camel industry." --Craig Ferguson