getting serious about health care, police power, and the GOP chooses prison over school...

this morning I was watching horrific morning television since my music was in the car and I have been socialized to require noise to be comfortable. for whatever reason they had some bozo on as a talking head to discuss the health care "debate" (in quotes since there is far too much intellectual dishonesty going on from both sides discussing the issue). my guess is that said bozo likely has a degree in either communications, journalism or economics...none of which provide him with any historical context of the underlying issues and apparently leave him utterly ignorant to anything but token right wing talking points and accepted universal truths that are neither universal, nor truth. well, this fool basically had only two things he could say (either because he is a fool or a liar). the first was how great american health care is because rich people come to america for treatment. the second was how this issue is "being rushed" to be concluded before august. both of these are highly dubious and misleading claims that I am getting rather sick of hearing.

first off...while some filthy rich people may be coming to america to get top notch treatment, that same treatment is largely unavailable to the majority of americans. to the contrary, many americans are actually touring abroad for medical procedures that they cannot afford here in the united states. what they are really suggesting is that if america has the best of the best for a tiny fraction of the public that could afford to get it wherever it is than that is a top notch system as a whole...regardless of how pathetic it is for the rest of us.

the second claim is one of the conservative's new favorite mantras - "this is so costly and so important we cannot rush this." the obvious implication is that a national health care system has not been considered before this month. nevermind that germany implemented the first nationalized health care system over a century ago. nevermind that there was a serious discussion and attempt at this fifteen years ago in this country. nevermind that president truman proposed a national health care system over sixty years ago. and nevermind that president roosevelt had asked for it to be included in an economic bill of rights before even that. to claim that this is being "rushed" is completely ludicruous, dishonest and just plain fucking stupid. so seriously...can we stop all the damn posturing and bullshit and actually talk about this subject legitimately. I refuse to believe that america is incapable of providing quality health care to its citizens cheaper than it does when the rest of the civilized world already does it. (and don't tell me our private system "subsidizes" the rest of the world...because our government subsidizes a hell of a lot of medical research already...it just doesn't get any of the profits back).

a white cambridge police officer arrested a highly distinguished black harvard professor at his own home. now I can understand that someone in the neighborhood called in when they thought they saw someone breaking into the home (although you have to wonder which neighbor was unaware that one of the most distinguished black scholars in history lived on their block...that fact alone raises interesting questions)...but why in gods name it was necessary to arrest a man after he had shown that he was, in fact, entering his own home is completely beyond me. and the only possible explanation comes down to two prongs...the first - police still really do not like black men. the second - police forces tend to be filled with too many people that think the badge gives them too much power. the kind of guys that get off on having authority and flaunting it whenever they can. and when you combine this with systemic racism it is a dangerous coctail that is destined to lead to absurdities such as arresting a distinguished mind because he didn't hide his eyes and say "yessa" when confronted with idiocy. which also makes me wonder...where are all the screaming right-wing talking heads on this subject? shouldn't they be appalled that the government arrested a man in his own home for nothing more than not taking shit from a cop? isn't that supposed to be the limbaugh crowd's calling card? they should have a new hero...but they'll be picking the cop who refused to apologize as their martyr. as much as I wish we could...I lament that this likely will not lead to a serious discussion about race in this country.

speaking of police fucking with black men because they can...california is finally closing its budget gap to possibly avoid bankruptcy. and since the GOP absolutely refused to raise any taxes to help it happen (good ol' historically false supply side economics) they instead slashed funding for key programs designed to help those that need it most. education was gutted...right when numbers were released that put america 10th in percentage of the population with a post-secondary education. but in the process of gutting programs designed to actually benefit people (particularly the already disadvantaged) the GOP threatened to kill the process again over cuts to the department of corrections. because while it is vital to crush any program that might assist disadvantaged groups...it is also vital to make sure that we keep them out of sight and off the streets as much as possible, particularly if they have a bit more melanin. and while the media is going to ignore this for the most part...in this one dispute the GOP has been perfectly summarized. today's republican party..."if we have to choose between educating you or imprisoning you...we'll go with imprisonment."

we are underused...