Firing Up

I'm loving that President Obama (writing that never gets old) is back in closer mode, just as he would do in the Democratic primaries and campaign when everyone thought he had somehow blown it. Pass that health care bill, D.C.!

And I love how Markos Moulitsas calls out self-righteous Dennis Kucinich for "making common cause" with the GOP in stating that he's voting against reform. Sure, it isn't pure enough. Sure, there's a mandate that will help insurance companies deal with having to take in the unhealthy as well. But he'll deserve to be primaried by Kos Nation.

I'll say it one last time, if there's no start, then there's no eventual reform of the reform, no building on the legislative landmark as with Social Security (which only covered like a third of Americans at the start), or my personal favorite, the Emancipation Proclamation, in which Lincoln freed the slaves "in the states in rebellion," i.e. The Confederacy where he wasn't currently in control, rather than the Union. However, it both set a benchmark to move up from, and also told the slaves that they would never be prosecuted in the North for checking out of the plantation without their sadistic master's permission.

And I'm LOVING White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs firing back at smug, whiny-ass Chief Justice John Roberts, the least distinguished Chief Justice in history, just taking dictation from The Federalist Society of corporatist Conservative ideologues in squeaking out asshole decisions like giving corporations the same rights as citizens, i.e. the right to use their untold billions to buy candidates. Roberts is one of the most dangerous men in America, a robot installed to lead our top court.

Ideally he's forced to step down in the middle of President Obama's second term.

And back to Barack (hey, that sounds like an album title!), he's clearly feeling it on the stump. I mean, he's got to be so fired up he's gotta be making shit up now on the stump. How else to explain his sudden embrace of the populist notion (although this is the first I've heard of it -- manufactured?) of having "high-tech bounty hunters" solve the healthcare fraud problem:

The White House released details of the anti-fraud plan hours after a fresh challenge to the administration from major business groups that unveiled a multimillion-dollar ad campaign arguing that under Obama's plan "health care costs will go even higher, making a bad economy worse."

The ad buy, costing between $4 million and $10 million, will start Wednesday on national cable TV outlets. Later in the week, the campaign shifts to 17 states home to moderate and conservative Democrats. Their votes are critical to Obama's endgame for passing legislation to expand coverage to millions who now lack it and revamp the health insurance system...

...The bounty hunters in this case would be private auditors armed with sophisticated computer programs to scan Medicare and Medicaid billing data for patterns of bogus claims. The auditors would get to keep part of any funds they recover for the government. The White House said a pilot program run by Medicare in California, New York and Texas recouped $900 million for taxpayers from 2005-2008.

Oh, yeah. America loves when Barack goes cowboy.

He's the Robert Downey President.

Impeachalypse Now?

A "target-rich environment" of crimes. Impossible to walk very far and not "trip over crimes." So says Constitutional Law expert Jonathan Turley of George Washington University regarding the Articles of Impeachment introduced into the House yesterday by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). Destruction of evidence, illegal surveillance, unlawful torture. Turley says:

And what's amazing is that the President is hiding in plain view. He hasn't really denied the elements of these offenses. So all that is lacking is political will.

The long-awaited/GOP-suppressed Phase II of the Senate Intelligence Committee's Report on Prewar Iraq Intelligence came out this week and the only surprising thing is that there is absolutely nothing surprising in it. The gang in the White House these past eight years were exactly as bad as expected all along. And bald-faced about it.

There's co-sponsor support for the 35 articles from Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) as well, and some arguments that it would be good for Republicans to vote for them, although admittedly far-fetched. It's far-fetched to think the articles will even come up for a vote or, if they do, any of them ever pass.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has long kept impeachment off the table, if only as a political tool so as not to let the steam out of the kettle before November 4th when we'll really need to throw them out.

The uses of impeachment include just threat value, per John Nichols a way to stop Presidents before they do something worse. Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) gets it, having threatened impeachment should President CheneyBush attack Iran in any way without direct Congressional authorization.

The core question is whether we believe that we should let George Bush get away with breaking the law or not. There are a zillion reasons why not, but all of them are ultimately strategic. In some sense, the core reasoning deal seems to be, "Don't do anything else big and stupid before January 20th, and we'll let you run out the clock."

On the other hand, the Iraq War, based on their willful lies and manipulation of intelligence for opportunistic purposes, is now in its sixth year.

What about justice for them?

Just Do It

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has very shrewdly introduced a motion to commence impeachment hearings against Vice President Richard Bruce Cheney.

What's smart of this is that if the Democratic leadership grows maybe just one additional testicle and ovary and at least permits it to go forward, it immediately puts pressure on the Vice President's Office to prepare a defense, which historically how impeachment hearings have been used to hamper Presidencies.

What's also smart is that after the Clinton impeachment debacle, and with Bush's much more rigorous plausible denial mechanics and puppet-like reputation, no one series expects he could be impeached, and no one wants to waste the Electorate's goodwill by going there.

On the other hand, everybody but a core uninformed, alcoholic, obstinate and wingnut constituency actually fears and despises Cheney, and there would be no tears in making him go. We Americans want him out, and we feel the world will be much safer without him in power.

There's a pretty brilliant clip here of Kucinich by live feed up against Tucker Carlson on that blowhard's show. Kucinich handles Carlson deftly, with the once bow-tied one slipping misleading throwaways like calling impeachment proceedings "overthrow", and Kucinich catching and correcting him on it.

The ambush-style interview actually turns out to make me think that impeachment hearings against Cheney are possible, that due to a public buzz and call for the hearings, the Democratic leadership might ease its docking of the bill.

Some are optimistic, but I can't get there yet. The establishment Dems against it are looking for a clean path to Tuesday 11/04/08, enough of an agenda passed to run on, constant veto-doomed votes to withdraw from Iraq to make their base think that they're at least trying, more GOP implosion and maybe even a Ron Paul 3rd Party run.

What I do imagine is that if there's any public airing of Cheney's actual deeds and those of his Libby-like subordinates, things could snowball fast. Imagine how excited the Democratic electorate would be, and a lion's share of independents. Maybe even Ron Paul?

How fast could things start happening?

All I know is that in his role as Vice President, Cheney has a pit-bottom 23% approval rating, and a punishing 60% disapproval rating. Those have to be record numbers for an American Vice President.

Just do it.

Moron

Wondering about the quality of the news you're receiving, maybe even the news with which you start your day?

Think it might be o.k.?

Then tell me how a so-called professional anchor woman, Hannah Storm can focus her interview with the wife of a major party Presidential nomination candidate on the "get" of getting his wife to stick out her tongue?

Meanwhile there's wild repression by our supposed #1 ally in the so-called "War on Terror", a conviction in a huge Congressional Republican corruption case linked to the Department of Defense, and our nation facing “the worst potential financial crisis since the Depression.”

Party on, Hannah. And show us your piercings.