That Other Political Blog

No, I'm not talking about a kidney stone. Today the House passed the Senate version of health care reform, plus a bill to amend it. I'm pretty sure a kidney stone would have been easier to pass. Now it's time to start providing some political support to Democrats in tough districts (like the one I live in) who voted in favor of the bill, and to find primary challengers for the 34 who voted against it. It's not perfect. It might not even be good. But it's a far cry better than nothing at all.

I saw someone prove Godwin's law the other day. We were talking about how undocumented residents are people, too. The poster then said it is irrelevant that illegals are "people" (yes, she used the scare quotes and the word "illegals") and that so is (sic) Charles Manson, Adolf Hitler, etc. The post was ugly, made me sad and wasn't worth debating. So I said so. Apparently that indicated that I, too, can "relate to Hitler" and that I "support terrorism participators." Is there any place one can go today for civil political discourse? I want someone on the right to argue with who's sharp, quick-witted, keeps me on my toes, and can still be civil and realize that it is possible for people of good conscience to disagree. Instead, I'm surrounded by tea partiers ("Why do you think Obama is a fascist?" "Because he IS!"), rabid partisans, and those who think Sarah Palin might actually have something, there. They...

Rachel Maddow had a segment about C Street on her show . When politics and religion overlap, there is trouble.

Today I called my representative about the health care reform bill. It's not perfect. In some ways, it's not even good. But once it is passed, health insurance companies won't be able to take your money for years and then dump you as soon as you actually get sick, or pretend that the acne you had when you were 14 is a "pre-existing condition" that makes you uninsurable when you get cervical cancer 40 years later. I don't see how passing this can be, on balance, a bad thing. Then I went to said representative's Facebook page, and was appalled. For the last few days, the majority of posts were certainly in support of a yes vote (which would be a change, since this Congress-critter voted "no" in the last round). But those who didn't support it were impassioned, angry, terrified, and horribly misinformed. I've argued politics regularly with some of the same people for about a decade. The recent rhetoric is the least grounded in fact an...

I am annoyed, and that's all there is to it. Every day I hear about another piece of absolute nonsense from the loony right, and I'm tired of it. Does anyone really believe the stuff they're spouting? Are we that gullible? Or are we just that disaffected as a society? Every day I hear about another failure of the party in power to accomplish anything worthwhile. Mandate? Squandered. Constituents? Ignored. Achievements? Minor. Opportunities? Missed. I don't remember Democrats completely managing to obstruct the Republican agenda for the 8 Bush years, even when they had a much smaller majority than Democrats do today. When did the simple majority in the Senate disappear completely? Let's all pray the Democrats discover the beauty of the reconciliation process.

This morning, I heard a story on NPR about the C Street Center, a place where some of the most notoriously "bad boy" fundamentalist Christians in congress live when they're in Washington. The Center's tax status is in question, because it doesn't actually perform any of the functions of a church, but claims to be a church for tax purposes. C Street is or was home to folks like South Carolina governor Mark Sanford of "Hiking the Appalachian Trail" infamy, Chip Pickering from Mississippi whose wife has filed an alienation of affection lawsuit against his mistress, and John Ensign who had an affair with a staffer. These three men are part of a growing number of fundamentalist Christian men who are better known for their philandering than their accomplishments. They range from these politicians to religious figures like Ted Haggard and even Jerry Falwell. What's up with this? Even if you're not bothered by the affairs, you have to be astounded at ...

Well, it's time. I've had this blog's name saved for many moons, while I decided whether I should take the leap and create a political blog. You see, I'm not a politician. I don't have a degree in economics, or political science, or foreign affairs. There is nothing in my background that qualifies me to pontificate on political topics with the gravitas of a William F. Buckley or the humor of a Molly Ivins. I'm not a lawyer or a Constitutional scholar. So why bother? Because I have something to say. I have opinions based on years of being an involved citizen, keeping up with current affairs, and being a political junkie. I am a policy wonk wannabe. I've always said I don't want to be a politician, but I wouldn't mind owning a couple. (Insert tongue-in-cheek HTML tag here.) I think I am representative of thoughtful, reasonably well-educated citizens who take an interest in government and participate in the political process. You probably won...