Current affairs

It looks like health insurance reform legislation is going to pass the House this weekend, and that the Senate will approve it. Great news -- for the 30 million Americans who will finally get insurance, for the 44,000 who have been dying each year from a lack of insurance, and for the rest of us who will no longer be screwed over in various nasty ways by profit-hungry private insurance companies.But it won't be pleasant news for Fox News, which will be deeply embarrassed (or at least, should be) by how inaccurate its reporting and prognosticating on this issue has…

It drives me crazy when people (usually right-wingers) ignore what has worked in other countries, wanting the United States to go its own dysfunctional way.Allowing gays to serve openly in the military is a great example. The first question Congress and Defense Department officials should be asking is, "what do other countries with top-notch forces do?"Just fine. Most Western military forces have now removed policies excluding sexual minority members; of the 26 countries that participate militarily in NATO, more than 20 permit open lesbians, gays, or bisexuals to serve; of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, three (United…

Ah, it's nice for my progressive and once-Catholic soul to see the head of the Catholic Health Association coming out in favor of the Senate health insurance reform bill -- the abortion language being just fine with her.Sister Carol Keehan makes a lot of sense when she says that supporting the bill is a pro-life stance.In her statement Saturday, Keehan made it clear she thinks any qualms about abortion language in the Senate version can be resolved, and in any event are not enough to justify opposition to what Catholic leaders say is a pro-life issue and a "human right"…

Talk about a no-brainer. Why shouldn't the United States save lots of money and help tens of millions of people?Today the Congressional Budget Office released an updated analysis of the Senate's health care reform bill, which will be the basis for an improved version planned to be passed through reconciliation.The bottom line is that the deficit will be reduced by $118 billion over the next ten years, which is just about the same as what the CBO projected in a previous analysis.So why are Republicans united in their opposition to a bill that markedly reduces the deficit while giving thirty…

I doubt that our senior senator here in Oregon, Ron Wyden, is losing sleep over Jim Huffman's announcement that he's seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Wyden next November.At least, I assume Huffman is running as a Republican. You can't tell from his campaign web site, which as far as I could tell doesn't mention his party affiliation at all (a wise move, given the demonstrated inability of R's to win statewide offices).His web site is rather strangely named jobsfororegonians.com, a URL that has nothing to do with either (1) Jim Huffman or (2) the race for a U.S. Senate…

I like coffee more than tea. And I like the Coffee Party movement hugely more than the Tea Party version.The Coffee Party got brewed up by Annabel Park via a status update on her Facebook page. let's start a coffee party . . . smoothie party. red bull party. anything but tea. geez. ooh how about cappuccino party? that would really piss 'em off bec it sounds elitist . . . let's get together and drink cappuccino and have real political dialogue with substance and compassion.Friends replied, and more friends replied. So last month, in her Silver Spring apartment, Park started…

It's a good thing that I have (outrageously expensive) private health insurance. Because I suffered through frequent bouts of Nauseated by Bullshit Political Posturing Syndrome while watching -- off and on -- Obama's health care summit today.Of course, if I sought care for my affliction, Blue Cross likely would find some way to deny coverage. After all, everyone knows that the main goal of health insurance companies is to provide as little health care to their subscribers as possible in order to maximize profits.This is why I have a lot of sympathy for Jack Bogdanski's take on the current Democratic…

It was infuriating to read the headlined first page story in today's Portland Oregonian: "Documents detail Campbell death." Now we know a lot more about how the Portland police killed a man who was distraught over his brother's death and was walking outside of an apartment at the behest of an officer, unarmed.Officer Frashour is the trigger-happy cop who shot Campbell in the back. Officer Campbell was communicating with Campbell through voice and text messages.Frashour was not wearing an earpiece to listen to radio communications but said he had his radio microphone on his lapel. He said he wasn't part…

An excellent article by Jane Mayer in The New Yorker, "The Trial," points to a terrific reason for trying Al Qaeda terrorists in the court system rather than military tribunals.According to Kate Martin, the director of the Center for National Security Studies, in Washington, the military can’t simply grab suspects inside the U.S. and hold them without charge or a hearing. “It violates the Constitution, which extends to everyone inside the U.S.,” she said. “You can’t be seized without probable cause. You have the right to due process, and to a trial by a jury of your peers—which a military…

Finally. A Portland (Oregon) grand jury had the guts to say what was obvious to everyone but the city's police department: officers are killing mentally disturbed people unnecessarily because their training is deficient and communication is lacking.A grand jury found Aaron M. Campbell shouldn't have died on Jan. 29, but was killed because of critical police errors, including no central command, lack of communication between officers and training that teaches officers how to shoot without key decision-making skills. The conclusions were contained in a three-page letter the jury released Thursday. "As a group, we are outraged at what happened at…

Fox News has been ridiculing Al Gore for saying that global warming is real when it's been snowing so heavily in the Washington, DC area. Stephen Colbert made fun of Fox News in return.After showing clips of Fox News correspondents explaining that the weather is burying Al Gore's "hysterical" theories, Colbert joined in on the ridiculous logic, deeming it "simple observational research: whatever just happened is the only thing that is happening."Using the same rationale as Fox News, Colbert couldn't help but point out that, due to it being nighttime, the city was covered in darkness. "Based on this latest…

Republicans talk a lot about patriotism, but the "R's" in Congress don't practice it these days -- which happen to be the 400 or so days since President Obama took the oath of office.Patriotism is putting your country before your own interests. Patriotism is doing what needs to be done to make the United States stronger economically, militarily, culturally. Patriotism is asking "how can I help to make things better?" not "what's the best way to stop Obama and the Dems from passing any significant legislation?"Fortunately, people are becoming increasingly aware of the dangerous game Republicans have been playing. As…

If I lived in Portland (Oregon), I'd be extremely wary of calling 911 if a mentally troubled person was causing a disturbance. Recently a policeman shot an unarmed man in the back. Distraught over his younger brother's death, witnesses say Aaron Campbell was complying with police orders, but still was struck by beanbag rounds.Ryan Pannell, who watched the shooting from his second-floor Sandy Terrace apartment, said it appeared that Campbell was cooperating, walking backward toward officers with his hands behind his head. He thinks police made the situation worse. "By his actions, he (Campbell) just did what anybody would have…

Like I said yesterday, President Obama put on a remarkable performance at the House Republican retreat in Baltimore. I watched the entire Q and A session. (For highlights, go here.)Together with his State of the Union address, which was similarly energized and honest, Obama has gone a long way toward soothing my anxious progressive psyche. I finally recognized the leader who was so appealing during the 2008 campaign, yet has been so blah most of the time since his inauguration. When he spoke with the House Republicans, it was crystal clear who was the adult politician in the room: Obama.…

Wow, President Obama nailed House Republicans at their retreat today in Baltimore, where he met with them in an amazing session -- which thankfully was televised in its entirety. I had a lot of trouble viewing the question and answer part of the meeting on C-SPAN. Probably its web site got overloaded. But Daily Kos TV has a nicely functioning video, plus a transcript. This is terrific political entertainment. Obama makes the House Republicans look immature, obstructionist, and incompetent.Enjoy: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Here's how the Huffington Post characterized the meeting:President Obama…

A couple of new polls suggest that Oregonians are about to raise state taxes on high income citizens and some corporations by passing Measures 66 and 67. Support for the measures may be slipping, though.I hope they pass. Oregon is a low tax state, as I noted several years ago. This recent cartoon from the Eugene Register-Guard demolishes the ridiculous anti-tax argument that people and businesses will shun Oregon if state taxes are hiked slightly.William Yaeger, an Oregon State University economist, did a fine job of pointing out the benefits to the state's economy of passing Measures 66 and 67…

I don't care. That's my core reaction to Republican Scott Brown's win over incompetent campaigner Martha Coakley yesterday.People like me should make Obama and the Democratic leadership very, very worried. I was a hugely enthusiastic Obama supporter in 2008. Gave lots of money. Responded regularly to the frequent emails that came from the slick Obama online cyberspace machine.Now, I take a glance at whatever is sent to me by the group that has inherited Obama's email address list, yawn, and press the delete button. A few times in 2009 I sent in a contribution to support health care reform efforts.…