Hat-tip Claimsman of DelphForums for the heads-up to the video above.

There's a television show called Are you smarter than a fifth-grader which is meant to be fun and entertaining, but in truth it's a rather interesting contrast: do we, as we get older and more experienced, become stupid? Do we incorporate so many facts and figures among our experiences that they turn to mush, taking along with them any sense or sensibility, while the constant screeching of morality and politics from vested interests keep us from taking time out to save our minds?

And yes, that's a leading question, on purpose.

"Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future"

            -- John F. Kennedy

Our children learn from our examples. We are the guardians of our future; they are the future guardians of our planet. They are a major part of our legacy. But are we taking our responsibility toward the future and as stewards of the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of humanity, as well as the planet and all its resources, seriously?

"I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside."

            -- Whitney Houston

Here's another outstanding child who also saves her mother by calling 911:

I'd like to think that, for the most part, we're doing a great job for our children: ensuring they have adequate health care and a good education, proper guidance for what is right and wrong, a tolerance and understanding of different people, cultures and religions...but then I look at the world today, and see war, waste, corruption and destruction. I see politics dictating poor policies out of political expedience and sound bytes, leading to cutting children's health care and education or favoring only the children of the wealthy. I see...well, hell -- I see this:

1. 1/3/2007 "Bless the beastly little children of a lesser god than mine." by GreyHawk
2. 11/29/2007 And A Little Child Shall Lead Them by GreyHawk
3. 12/16/2007 Got Kids, Meet Their Future by jimstaro
4. 11/10/2008 Children Go Where I Send Thee: Die. by rba
5. 1/26/2009 Children of a Lesser Allah by Jeff Huber
6. 9/25/2009 Too stupid to be parents by GreyHawk
7. 11/17/2009 Hier, les enfants dansaient by ConnecticutMan1
8. 11/29/2009 Project Omelas - Finding a cause by Unenergy

What kind of a world are we making for our children? What kind of a job are we teaching them about waste, abuse, greed, war, kindness, wisdom and sustainable behaviors? What have we taught them about Justice?

It's a question worthy not only of discussion, but -- ideally -- one that should initiate action(s) toward rectifying any problems with have with the answers.

This is an Open Thread.

Michael Collins

Also published here and here.

After passage of the Senate health care reform bill today, Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO echos Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) with in his statement of the need for more work in order to align its key measures with those retained in the House bill.  Full quote, as per FDL's David Dayen. is quoted in full:

Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, a Democrat, represents the 28th Congressional District of New York.

I agree with Congresswoman Slaughter and she says it pretty simply so I just want you to see her editorial, at CNN.

A Democrat's view from the House: Senate bill isn't health reform:

Michael Collins

The myth that the Democratic plans for health reform will produce anything by the target date of 2014 is only exceeded in absurdity by the myth that the world will end on December 21, 2012.

"New media" pundit Eric Alterman is down on his knees, genuflecting before the graven idol of Democratic Party interests. He wrote a full fledged justification supporting the current idol with feet of clay, the Democratic health care reform effort ongoing in the United States Senate. The article looks like talking points hot off the press from the White House Office of Disinformation since he's giving the president credit for all the good things which have materialized as if by magic in the latest Senate's efforts.

To begin with, he failed to note these very real issues in the health care debate: the immediate need by tens of millions for adequate health care and financial relief from exorbitant prices; the preservation of insurance companies at the center of public health care, companies with no interest in or obligation for the public welfare; and, the gross hypocrisy of the president demanding that health reform not add one penny to the deficit while he spends hundreds of billions for the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq - pure deficit operations with no discernible benefit to citizens.

Alterman starts out with this catchy header:

Yesterday Dailykos diarist, 'the girl', hit the recommended diary list with her post of the powerful impact one person may produce in the simple act of shining bright light into the dark space created by deception.

The inherent power over an adversary that is achieved by lying is particularly odious in application to public affairs.  Large sums of money are invested by private concerns to intentionally distort public understanding of matters of great importance, like the current policy debates on health care or climate change, for example. 

Big Tobacco and Big Oil have spent enough money in recent decades to create and sustain whole industries designed for the single purpose of misleading citizens and the decisions of our policy-makers in public affairs.

Because fairness is not part of the organization charter, corporate concerns have only the bottomline at stake which ultimately requires directors --NOT to equitable policy debates but-- to maximize shareholder value.  And, so, we documented the secret memo series through which Big Tobacco bought the GOP half of American party politics to deceptively achieve protection from legal liability beginning in 1994.

So, the big money behind the teabaggers has been trained on the biggest lies for decades already.

When 'the girl' found them also infringing the Energizer Bunny trademark (the prohibited, unfair use of a registered corporate icon) with its use in attacks on public health care policy plans, her notification of the trademark owners at Eveready was enough to move them to consider legal action. 

Parts I and II of Brad Friedman's report from the christening of the second wave of teabagging that has striked stricken struck set out across the country from this departure in Southern California.

Brad allows teabaggers to make their point (which is his point) in a very effective way: repeated invitations to enunciate, for example, the list of freedoms taken away under the Obama Administration, left embarrassing voids or the trailing ellipsis. 

Absurdity upon Absurdity

Michael Collins

The health care debate and general political climate compound absurdity upon absurdity.

First we're told that our health care is only worth the time and
effort if the remedy has no negative impact on the budget.  No deficits
allowed.  The deficit risk defines your chances for health and
longevity.

 Netting $2.5 billion in profits last year wasn't enough for WellPoint, the nation's largest insurance company.

Now, WellPoint's affiliate, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, is suing the state of Maine for refusing to guarantee it a profit margin in the midst of a painful recession. 

Forward this video to a friend in Maine!

http://sickforprofit.com

Better give me what I want or prepare to suffer the consequences.  It is insurance, after all, but does this sound like a protection racket to anyone else?

Stumbled across this interview with Gore Vidal.  Gore Vidal: ‘We’ll have a dictatorship soon in the US’ from the Times Online.

It is a great article ... will post a couple of snippets here, but please discuss!

Last year he famously switched allegiance from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama
during the Democratic nomination process for president. Now, he reveals, he
regrets his change of heart.  [...]

 How does he score the administration on Health Care?

Another notable Obama mis-step has been on healthcare reform. “He f***ed it
up. I don’t know how because the country wanted it. We’ll never see it
happen.”

Brutally honest ... just part of his charm.

This is an open thread ...

Promoted by TheFatLadySings

THURSDAY NIGHT IS HEALTH CARE CHANGE NIGHT, a weekly Health Care Series (cross-posted at ePluribus Media and Tikkun Daily).

My doctor walked in to the examining room and just looked at me.

"We need to talk" she said.

"OK, about what?"

"I am concerned about

Immigration, health care and minimum wage / living wage, 'teh gays' and Christians vs. Muslims in America.

All hot-button issues. All issues that the rabid right are woefully uninformed about.

And all issues that can be explored through a little bit of work...or the right sources.

I found a source that I'd forgotten about, one that may help educate some folks -- particularly those folks who are prone to falling for the fear-mongering bogeyman-like attack ads popping up with the intent of inciting and fomenting people against things they have been intentionally under-informed on: the cable series 30 Days by Morgan Spurlock, whose initial big claim to fame came from hit "Super-Size Me."

Check out some of the episode titles below the fold, and also the two video episodes that I've included. If you have any questions, criticisms or suggestions for additional informative stuff, please leave 'em in comments.

Thank you.

Hat-tip Muzikal of DailyKos.

This is an Open Thread.

Promoted. -- GH

Based on the amendments which Senate Finance Committee members have proposed for the Baucus health reform bill, three Democratic Senators are just not going to support the current Baucus bill. Rockefeller wants the House version of the public option, while Schumer and Cantwell want the HELP committee version of the public option.

Meanwhile Menendez and Stabenow want to lower premiums; Wyden wants to expand eligibility for subsidies and for the exchanges – they could possibly sign off on an amended Baucus bill, but only if Baucus is willing to move the bill back to the left and ignore the GOP complaints (and Snowe’s rejection of the bill).

The Republican amendments, meanwhile, are either idiotic or deliberately obstructive or both: amendments about killing both the public option and coops, about sexual abstinence, about abortion, about blocking a non-existent government takeover, about aliens, about czars, about ACORN. Morons.

With Rocky, Schumer and Cantwell supporting the public option (and Kerry possibly following suit), Baucus no longer has the votes to pass his current bill in committee. Some Democrats are undoubtedly pressuring Rocky and the gang to let Baucus pass his bill and then hope that it gets fixed on the Senate floor or in the conference report, but I believe (and hope) that Rocky would rather kill the Baucus plan now, dead dead dead, than trust people outside their control to do it for them later on.

Promoted. Originally posted 2009-09-19 00:30:51 -0400. -- GH

Right now the Democrats are letting the Baucus train wreck happen. If he actually manages to turn it into a real bill with the help of some grownup Democrats, great, they go for the 60 votes. If not, they do the public option with 50 votes through reconciliation.

But those Democrats are going to be hard to sell. Already Democrats in the Finance Committee are “letting loose” on Baucus for tuning them out and selling out to the Republicans: Baucus spent all summer giving the Republicans one concession after another, and he is extremely unlikely to make the same sorts of concessions to the Democrats. The Democrats could quite easily be just as obstructionist as Grassley has been, and with much better reason. Rockefeller already rejected the Baucus bill, and another committee member, Cantwell, has come out and rejected it too.

With those two defections, Baucus only has a 12-11 score in the committee, counting Snowe who still hasn’t endorsed the bill. So to get the bill out of committee, let alone the Senate, Baucus needs to win over Snowe, without alienating more Democrats. If Rocky persuades Kerry and Schumer to reject the bill also, it’s dead even if Baucus does get Snowe.