Life in a Bubble

We all, left or right, have a tendency toward being blind to facts that disagree with our opinions, the best way to avoid this is to obtain our information from a variety of competing sources. Those living in a pure partisan bubble are doomed to succumb to a distorted view of reality derived from one-sided sources of information. We all do this to a degree but the right wing has raised this to an art form. As proof, look at how almost all right wing pundits were absolutely certain of a Romney landslide. The math clearly indicated an Obama win yet these people with few exceptions said the polls were wrong because they were done by liberals and didn't match up with their “facts”. Turns out, the average of the polls were almost exactly correct, clearly those right wing “facts” were not in line with reality.

Have you noticed how someone on the right makes up an assertion against Obama and then many others take up that idea and use each other as “sources” in a kind of circular self-reinforcing storm? The original assertion may be completely untrue yet many come to believe it; A few examples: Obama wasn't born in Kenya, Obama isn't a socialist, Obama has never taken anyone's guns, Obama isn't a Muslim, the Bureau of Labor Statistics didn't make up the job numbers last month, rape does result in many pregnancies, FEMA is not building concentration camps to house right wingers after they take away their guns, evolution is real, instituting moderate re-regulation on Wall Street is not communism, there were no death panels and climate change is not a hoax.

Our country's strength is the competing marketplace of ideas, and if we can't even agree on basic facts, that marketplace ceases to function; that is what we have witnessed for the last four years. In the election, reality has just smacked the Republicans upside the head and because they swim in a soup of self created “facts”, they were the only ones who didn't see it coming. We watched them on election night on Fox News as they stumbled around completely shell-shocked. Romney was so certain, he hadn't even prepared a concession speech! Obama had a concession speech because he knew the math said he had about a 10% chance of losing. So which of those two is grounded in reality? Maybe this election will serve as a wake up call for Republicans to rejoin the real world of real facts and stop getting their “facts” only from biased sources like Fox News, talk radio and right wing blogs. America would be much better off if we can have an honest debate in a free marketplace of ideas using facts arising from reality.

Thank you, American Voters

Congratulations America, you chose....wisely.

Some on the left are disappointed in Obama because he is just a moderate but look on the bright side, we are not going to get rid of Medicare, we are not going to put more Scalias on the Supreme court, we are not going to give a 20% tax cut to millionaires and pay for it on the backs of the poor, we are not going to reinstate “Don't Ask, Don't Tell”, we are not going to enshrine discrimination in the Constitution to keep gays from marrying, we are not going to force women to get permission from their boss if they want to get birth control through their health insurance, we are not going to redefine rape, we are not going to spend an extra $2 trillion on the military that even the military says is not needed, we are not going to cut back on aid for education, we are not getting rid of universal healthcare, we are not going to get rid of the Dream Act, we are not going to self deport, we are not going to start a trade war with China, we are not going to have John Bolton as our Secretary of State, we are not going to have Dick Cheney back as foreign policy adviser, we are not going to reassemble almost the entire Bush team of neocons and financial geniuses that left this country in shambles and from which we are just now recovering.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, American voters.

Heckava Job Romney

Wow, Bush's former FEMA director, Michael (heckava job Brownie) Brown is criticizing Obama for acting too quickly in his Hurricane Sandy response. I guess he thinks Obama should sit on his hands for 3 days before responding like he did in the aftermath of Katrina. This calls to mind the consequences of putting people, who hate government and don't want it to work effectively, in charge of government. Isn't it a self fulfilling prophesy to put people in control of the government who proclaim that government is the problem? Isn't that like hiring a manager to run your business who doesn't believe in your business? Who would ever do that?

So Romney thinks we should get rid of FEMA and put it in the hands of a private for profit business. Really!? So after a disaster, with people hungry, thirsty and homeless, instead of giving those people food, water and temporary shelter so they can get back on their feet, we would have private businesses come in and exploit them for profit which would just compound their problems. The whole idea of profiting off desperate people is completely wrongheaded. George Bush taught us the painful lessons of putting someone in charge of our government who has a contempt for government and his FEMA director, Michael Brown, was a perfect example.

Pro-Life is Mostly About Sex

Watching these GOP men slipping up and getting caught expressing their true hateful views on women, abortion and rape, calls to mind a pivotal event in my life that started me toward a path away from right wing ideology. In my early-teens, I was at church and the pastor went into a spittle flecked, red faced, vein bulging rage about abortion. He wasn't concerned with the life of the fetus, he was enraged that a woman could sin and then escape God's punishment by getting an abortion. Back then the anti-choice people hadn't become skilled at playing the “I'm so concerned for the life of the fetus” game. I watched over the years as the pro-life crowd has evolved the “I'm so concerned for life” strategy. It turns out to be an effective strategy, since it is a valid position if one really does care about life. But you know, you can tell if their concern for life is real or fake by whether their concern for the fetus ends at birth and whether or not they support life in other instances. How many times do you see these GOP politicians rant and rave about the life of the fetus but when it comes to helping out young single mothers with education, child care and enriched early childhood development, they couldn't care less?
There is a tried and true method that prevents almost all abortions without infringing on the rights of women. If the GOP was truly concerned about the life of the fetus and stopping almost all abortions, they would support responsible early sex education and easy free access to birth control. This has worked everywhere it has been tried and results in an abortion rate close to zero after subtracting for those abortions that are medically necessary. For example, see the Netherlands where they have the lowest abortion and teen pregnancy rates in the world. Contrast this to abstinence only states that have the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country. The Republican opposition to sex education and easy access to birth control is telling, it comes back to the attitude of my pastor all those years ago, the real concern is not about fetuses or life, it is about women having sex and not paying the consequences. That is what gets these GOP men into such a lather.

If You Repeat a Lie Often Enough

This amazing video is composed of excerpts from one 30 minute speech before the Iraq war. A perfect illustration of the old adage, "if you repeat a lie often enough".

Anti-Americanism

A few videos detailing the new anti-Americanism that has reached an unprecedented level, spurred on by intense hatred of Barack Obama. Why so much hate for Obama? He's just a moderate, just a little to the left of Bush. Is it because he stole their ideas and enacted a largely Republican health care proposal? Or could it be something else?

This video shows a roomful of Republicans reacting with cheers and high-fives upon hearing that the U.S. has lost the bid to host the 2016 Olympics.




This is a video clip of Republican Joe Scarborough expressing dismay at the way Rush Limbaugh reacts to America's failed Olympic bid. Shows that not all Republicans are consumed by Obama Derangement Syndrome.




Are Republicans actually obstructing the economic recovery so that the bad economy will benefit them in the coming elections?

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

Here is a link showing Republican distress over recent good economic news.

Which Party Would Be Better at Protecting Medicare

Remember in 2010, those tea party Republicans prancing around with signs decrying the evils of government and the evils of “socialized medicine” and demanding that the government keep its hands off their Medicare? Someone must have tapped them on the shoulder and explained to them that their beloved Medicare is, in fact, pure government run socialized medicine because now they are all for doing away with Medicare and replacing it with another program they just happen to call Medicare.

The Republicans are using word tricks to fool people; they want to completely do away with Medicare (and by “Medicare” I mean the real government provided single payer healthcare) and replace it with a completely different program (seniors go to private insurers with a voucher and purchase their own healthcare) which they also call “Medicare”. So the Republicans can claim they are not doing away with “Medicare” because there will still be a program called “Medicare”. It's kind of like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” where the aliens take over humans and assume their outward form but inside they are really alien. So the Republicans take over Medicare and it is still called Medicare on the outside, but inside it is something completely different and alien.

This Republican Vouchercare will phase in over a number of years and completely do away with the real Medicare. When Romney claims Obama is “raiding Medicare” isn't it ironic that that is exactly what Romney wants to do? Here is Charlie Crist, former Republican governor of Florida, “The $716 billion in savings his (Obama's) opponents decry today extended the life of the program by nearly a decade and are making sure taxpayer dollars aren't wasted in excessive payments to insurance companies or fraud and abuse. His opponents (Romney/Ryan) would end the Medicare guarantee by creating a voucher that would raise seniors' costs by thousands of dollars and bankrupt the program.”

Changes are indeed going to be required in order to keep Medicare solvent as the huge bulge of boomers retire. Since Medicare is a Democratic program, Democrats are invested in the continued success of the real Medicare. On the other hand, remember the tea party signs, the Republicans are fundamentally opposed to socialized medicine as found in Medicare. Which party do you think will do the best job of protecting and preserving “the real Medicare” for the generations to come?