get the u.s. out of my... foreskin?

The amazing thing about the health care debate in this country is that just when you think it couldn't possibly get any more ridiculous (see death panels, Sarah Palin), it does. Evidently, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control is considering whether to encourage universal circumcision of baby boys born in the United States. Now, on the surface, this seems like a fairly reasonable proposal to consider. After all, numerous studies have shown that circumcision reduces the risk of men contracting HIV during heterosexual intercourse by as much as 60%. The World Health Organization already recommends that male circumcision be considered as a way to reduce AIDS transmission in parts of Africa.

But--as potential benign as a public health campaign to encourage infant circumcision may seem--it is actually, according to right wing anti-health care crusaders like Rush Limbaugh, the government's attempt to institute a circumcision mandate. Limbaugh went on to warn that: "If we need to save our penises from anyone, it's Obama." So, there you have it: universal health care is really part of Obama's secret mission to wage war against American male genitalia (for that matter, this whole circumcision thing probably has to do with the fact that he's a Muslim).

And if that isn't enough to convince you that Obamacare is an Islamofascist communist scheme, the Republican party wants you to know that you may well not even be covered by this government run "health care rationing system.". That is, if you're a registered Republican. A recent RNC fund-raising survey included the following question:

It has been suggested that the government could use voter registration to determine a person's political affiliation, prompting fears that GOP voters might be discriminated against for medical treatment in a Democrat-imposed health care rationing system. Does this possibly concern you?

That's right, now the Democrats can pull the plug on Grandma not only if she's deemed an unproductive member of society but also if she voted Bush into office.

the end of an era

When Edward Kennedy succumbed to brain cancer this morning, it marked the first time in nearly 60 years that there hasn't been a Kennedy in the Senate. Ted Kennedy, as the only Kennedy brother to live past the age of 46 and, perhaps, fulfill at least some of that enigmatic dynasty's furious potential, leaves an undeniable mark on this country. He was, in many ways, the perfect liberal. Hailing from the bluest state in the Union and the most storied political family in American history, reelection was never much of a concern (his smallest margin of victory came in 1994 when he defeated Mitt Romney by a mere 58% to 41%). Tainted by the infamous Chappaquiddick incident and an ill-advised presidential primary bid in 1980, Kennedy fully abandoned any aspirations for national office. Instead, he devoted himself to progressive causes in the Senate, from raising the minimum wage to expanding federal health insurance for children to opposing the war in Iraq. He was an unabashed liberal at a time when Republicans were successfully transforming the concept into a dirty word. He carried out his battles to the bitter end, continuing to serve the people of Massachusetts and the United States as he always had: just last week, he asked the Massachusetts state legislature to change the law concerning Senator succession to allow Governor Deval Patrick to appoint a temporary replacement upon his death. Ted Kennedy was a deeply flawed man (as evidenced by what can only be generously referred to as youthful indiscretions), but he was a brilliant politician who managed to transform himself into one of the greatest and most influential Senators in American history.

At a time when the congressional Democrats (and even erstwhile champion of the progressive cause, President Obama) seem desperate to back away from anything that smacks of the slightest hint of "socialism" while destroying the best chance for health care reform in the process, it is important to recall what can and has been achieved by a single American legislator. No one can replace Ted Kennedy, but perhaps, in the wake up of his death, some Democrats in congress will be inspired by his example and attempt to carry on his mantle of liberal lion.

about those terror alerts...

Remember those terror alerts under the Bush administration? You know, that delightful color-coded warning system whose meaning seemed to run something along the lines of: "FYI: there may be an increased chance of some heinous attack somewhere in the US at some point. There's nothing you can do to protect yourself (and we're certainly not going to give you any useful details about the threat), but we think you should go about your day with a little more fear in your heart."

Evidently, this scientific approach to fear-mongering was, in fact, politically motivated (who would've thunk? well, you know, other than the busloads of liberal journalists who have been decrying the system for years). In his new book, Tom Ridge, former homeland security secretary, admits that Rumsfeld pressured him to raise the terror alert on the eve of the 2004 election in an effort to improve W.'s reelection chances. Tom Ridge (to his credit?) quit three weeks later because he "wanted to spend more time with his family." On the flip side, of course, Ridge had been vehemently denying that politics played any role in the system up until now (which, out of sheer coincidence, happens to be two weeks before the release of his book "The Test of Our Times"). So, as often happens with the secrecy-shrouded Bush administration, it remains difficult to determine exactly who is lying about what when.

so wait... now we're OUTSOURCING assassination attempts?

The CIA has a long and glorious history of flouting international law by engaging in state-sponsored assassinations. (Apparently, those crazy folks at the United Nations think that people, EVEN people the U.S. government doesn't particularly like, deserve a fair trial before being summarily executed.) So, when Leon Panetta finally told Congress that the CIA had been developing plans to assassinate senior Al Qaeda operatives since 2001, it really shouldn't have come as much of a surprise. However, news broke yesterday that the CIA had actually hired Blackwater USA (yes, that Blackwater USA) to assist with these attempts to locate and kill high-level terrorists. That's right, the CIA is now outsourcing assassinations.

Furthermore, this was all part of a "top secret" operation--so secret, in fact, that Cheney ordered that it had to be kept hidden from lawmakers (you know, like the ones on the Congressional Intelligence Committee). Yet, despite falling into the Bush administration's grossly expanded category of things that must be concealed from the legislature, the CIA, in its infinite wisdom, decided that large parts of this ultra-secret plan could not only be revealed to but also carried out by a private corporation with an (at best) contentious human rights record.