i'll take the accolades too

There is really no way to describe the Republican reaction to Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize other than abject insanity. Granted, given the fact that Obama has been in office for a mere 9 months, the choice was certainly political (and does make one wonder whether the Committee either has absolutely no comprehension of American politics or harbors a wish for Obama's demise). Regardless, I had no idea what an overwhelming threat international approval posed for the United States.

In typical fashion, Limbaugh goes after Obama, "the Nobel people" and the rest of the world by boiling the entire process down to its core: it is an attempt to, essentially, cut off the United States' balls. He accused Obama of "basically emasculating this country" and the Nobel committee of attempting "to neuter the United States of America. They've done it by rewarding the pacifist." (No, not that! That might be even worse than l-word!) He also, in a shout-out to the Birther movement, referred to Obama as "the second Kenyan to win." Glenn Beck on the other hand took the opportunity to bizarrely suggest that the Nobel Peace Prize "should be given to the Tea Party goers and the 9-12 Project." My favorite Republican response, however, may have to be that of Senator Inhofe who said:

This just reemphasizes how this president has moved the United States from a foreign policy of strong national defense to one based on multinational cooperation. That is the kind of change that the Nobel committee believes in.

The Nobel committee believes in a foreign policy based on multinational cooperation?? It does not get much worse than that, folks.

In the midst of this absurdity, however, hats off to PJ Crawley of the State Department for summing up an appropriate response to the Republican charges:

Certainly from our standpoint, this gives us a sense of momentum — when the United States has accolades tossed its way, rather than shoes.

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.