Oath Keepers: Stealing and Reinterpreting the Constitution. Justifying the Lunatic Fringe.

The armed militia known as the Oath keepers describe themselves in this way: "Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of currently serving military, reserves, National Guard, peace officers, fire-fighters, and veterans who swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic … and meant it. We won’t “just follow orders.”

Without listing their "list," you can watch the over dramatic scary music video at the bottom, this anti-American-patriotic American fringe group says they will wage war while not waging war. Somewhere in all the mud and mirrors message is a ready and waiting gun nuts dream of a governmental coup. This is their promise:

"Below is our declaration of orders we will NOT obey because we will consider them unconstitutional (and thus unlawful) and immoral violations of the natural rights of the people. Such orders would be acts of war against the American people by their own government, and thus acts of treason. We will not make war against our own people. We will not commit treason. We will defend the Republic."

Another words, instead of the normal legal process involving the three branches of government, the Oath Keepers alone can make decisions for all of us when executing their agenda.

Here is just one "hot" issue gleaned from the Oath Keepers skewed constitutional reading.

Richard Mack, former Sheriff of Graham County, Arizona, explains how county sheriffs across the country can stop forced or mandatory vaccinations. Sheriffs’ power supercedes federal regulatory programs, as Sheriffs are NOT agents of the federal government. Oath Keeper Sheriff Richard Mack presents his book "The County Sheriff America’s Last Hope."

Mack’s book covers decades of research to prove once and for all that the sheriffs in this country are indeed the ultimate law authority in their respective jurisdictions. The sheriff absolutely has the power and responsibility to defend his citizens against all enemies, including those from our own Federal Government. History, case law, common law and common sense all show clear evidence that the sheriff is the people’s protector in all issues of injustice and is responsible for keeping the peace in all matters. He is the last line of defense for his constituents; he is America’s last hope to regain our forgotten freedom.

With just the right amount of scary, threatening music, here's the Oath Keepers sacred declarations (warning, its long and boring):

The U.S. Panicked, while Europe Dealt with Vaccines like Grownups.

Here's what happened in the U.S.: Drug makers over sold the ability to provide enough vaccines for H1N1 so they could get a government contract; Republicans immediately blamed the administration for the problem, proving the case government can't do anything right i.e. health care; Republicans demanded government rationing, not Democrats, because moms and kids weren't getting their shots while more undeserving people were; Republicans also warned H1N1 is dangerous and shouldn't be forced on anyone. It's that crazy health care system in America.

In contrast, the rest of the world with their "universal health care" systems and Hitler like leaders handled it differently, rationally. AP:

In Britain, there are no long lines of people seeking swine flu vaccine. Doctor's offices aren't swamped with desperate calls. And there are no cries of injustice that the vaccine is going to wealthy corporations or healthy people who don't really need it ... Across most of Europe, vaccine to protect against the pandemic flu is mostly given by invitation only to those at highest risk for flu complications. "That is one of the great advantages of the British health system," said Dr. Steve Field, president of the Royal College of General Physicians. "We have a list of all the names of patients who qualify to be vaccinated." Instead of advertising that the vaccine had arrived and waiting for the lines to form, Britains socialized health care system allows the country to target people who need to be vaccinated quickly: "It's not like the U.S., where it's the survival of the fittest and the richest."

Americans learned that Wall Street giants Goldman Sachs and Citigroup got swine flu vaccine, even as many doctor's offices and community clinics still had none. The companies obtained the vaccine through standard procedures, and it was targeted to employees who met criteria for vaccination. But the perception of unfairness set off an outcry.

In Germany, doctors have also been contacting high-priority patients to come in for their swine flu shot, though other people who have asked for one have not been turned away.

In Sweden, Denmark and Finland, some local governments are sending invitations to people in high-risk groups or posting information about vaccine availability on their Web sites. So far, France is only vaccinating health care workers. Its health minister said 6 million people in priority groups would start getting invitations to be vaccinated next week.

In North America, swine flu vaccination has largely been a free-for-all, although some U.S. states have recently beefed up their screening process to ensure pregnant women, children and people with health problems get shots before healthy older people.

In Canada, which has a form of socialized medicine, health officials began an investigation this week after professional hockey and basketball players got the vaccine ahead of thousands of children.

In the U.S., the federal government is paying for the vaccine and rationing supplies to each state.

Sick Protesters Get Government Help, Republican Patriot Act Votes Missing

Irony is always lost on the Republican Party. So why shouldn't Keith Olbermann show them at their most destructive missing an important to vote on the Patriot Act so they could attend Michele Bachmann's "press" conference.

Keith also points out the help GOVERNMENT doctors provided for distressed, sick protesters, at a rally demanding that government get out of our lives...or deaths as it might apply.

Tom Tancredo Walks off MSNBC' Ed Show. Can't Take the Truth.

Daily Koz's Markos Moulitsas takes the gloves off and causes past presidential candidate and chicken hawk Tom Tancredo to walk of David Shuster's interview on the Ed Show in a huff because he couldn't handle the truth and bare knuckled sparring.

Two Contrasting Health Care Ads Tell the Real Story of Money.

This heart wrenching ad from Stable Quality Care sadly conveys the current state of health care in this country. This is hard stuff to watch, much less go through.



On the other side of the health care debate, the following ad blames the administration for the current vaccine shortage, when in fact, the drug makers over promised and lied about their ability to manufacture what they said they could. Anything for a government contract.

Beat Poet Shatner on Levi Johnston Tweets...

William Shatner played the beat poet again with Conan O'Brien. This time the subject matter set to music, Levi Johnston's Tweets.

GOP Strategist Ron Christie: "Well if you don't have a job, you don't have to worry about health care!"

If you wanted to know just how "out of mind" health care is to the Republicans, check out what Republican strategist Ron Christie said off the cuff, and no one noticed.

David Shuster got the scoop...



UPDATE: Here's the same crazy twisted logic from Republican strategist Brad Blakeman:

I'm Staying Home, Afraid of People With Guns. No Place is Safe Anymore

GOP Health Care Plan Fails. CBO Exposed as Not Grasping Plan Costs.

It took hours to uncover any details of the first CBO look at the Republicans vision of reform. Here's a quick snapshot.

The CBO also says the Republican plan would leave 52 million people uninsured in 2019, more than the 46 million uninsured today (the percentage of Americans without insurance, about 17 percent, would remain basically unchanged, CBO says.)

The plan will essentially keep the total percentage of insured individuals at around the current percentage of 83% (The Democrat’s main selling point on their version is that it will insure 96% of the population - including illegal immigrants).

CBO says the GOP provisions would cut the deficit by $68 billion over ten years, less than the Democratic bill, which cuts the deficit $104 billion over the same time frame.

Cutting to the chase: The CBO considered Health Savings Account a place where people can save. They're wrong. Premiums increase $1300 a year, deductibles increase from $5000 to $12000 as an incentive to keep monthly premiums down and if you get sick you will go broke. HSAs are an insurance con.

The other two issues: Tort reform may save doctors money, but it hasn't brought down premiums in states that enacted liability reform. The CBO recently over estimated the savings consumers would see from penalizing the victims of malpractice by limiting compensation. Sad.

Buying across state lines with little or no basic plan will lower premiums, but you will end up getting what you paid for…kind of. The small print will leave most people paying most or all of their care.

In the overall CBO estimate, everything above will lower premiums in the GOP plan, supposedly. But think about it. Giving insurers fewer regulations, dumping high risk individuals into government taxpayer high cost pools and allowing for pre-existing conditions will only result in sky rocketing costs. The CBO ignores the past behavior of insurers at our peril.

Another perspective:

Washington Independent: Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx’s claim:
Rep. Foxx claimed the Democratic plan “does not include coverage for 29 million of the 30 million people that Pelosi and President Obama say need health insurance.” She added, “take up the Republican alternative, which covers everyone.”

Next, the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the Democrats’ proposal:
By 2019, CBO and JCT estimate, the number of nonelderly people who are uninsured would be reduced by about 36 million, leaving about 18 million nonelderly residents uninsured (about one-third of whom would be unauthorized immigrants). Under H.R. 3962 (Democrats plan), the share of legal nonelderly residents with insurance coverage would rise from about 83 percent currently to about 96 percent.

And here’s the CBO yesterday on the Republicans’ bill:
CBO and JCT estimate that those provisions would increase federal budget deficits by about $8 billion over the 2010-2019 period, reducing the number of nonelderly people without health insurance by about 3 million in 2019 and leaving about 52 million nonelderly residents uninsured. The share of legal nonelderly residents with insurance coverage in 2019—83 percent—would be roughly in line with the current share.

Math is tough, but it doesn’t take Pythagoras to recognize that 36 million is quite a bit more than 3 million — regardless what Virginia Foxx says.

So Far, Republicans are the Only Ones Proposing Health Care Rationing

I've already written about Wisconsin's own state Rep. Brett Davis demanding vaccine rationing for pregnant women in prison because they're criminals and don't deserve it.

Now Congressman Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., has stepped forward demanding withholding, RATIONING, the H1N1 vaccine for Gitmo detainees. Never mind the danger of an epidemic hitting our American guards and troops.

AP-Minnesota U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen. Paulsen, a Republican, sent a letter today to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Secretary of the U.S. Army John McHugh expressing opposition to reports that detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay naval base will soon be offered H1N1 vaccinations. "It is entirely unacceptable to make this vaccine available to detainees while millions of law-abiding Americans are forced to wait in line," he wrote.

Army Maj. James Crabtree, a spokesman for the U.S. jail facility in southeast Cuba, told the Associated Press that the doses should start arriving this month, with guards and then (215) inmates scheduled for inoculations. He acknowledged there may be an "emotional response" from critics, but he said U.S. military officials are "responsible for the health and care of the detainee population."

GOP to Obama; Just give up your liberal agenda, then we'll talk.

Stephen Colbert simply states the Republican argument for a bipartisan solution to everything.

It's a Natural Gas!

I loved this new approach to old energy, natural gas. The marketing genius' who put this together not only found a "green" reason to love natural gas, but had a sense of humor naming it America's "New Natural Gas." The whole idea is still funny to me.

After 10 Months, Rep. Eric Cantor Calls it Obama's Recession

Hardball's Chris Matthews will not let Republicans get away with blaming the recession or the lack of jobs on Obama, as demonstrated by this clip of Rep. Eric Cantor pushing the latest GOP talking point.

TABOR Anti-Tax Loser for Conservatives Because it's Ludicrous

I found this short but to the point story of TABOR's big loss among Maine voters, a refreshing sign of intelligence and enlightenment, about how off track conservatives are when it comes to the need for government.

Maine Public Broadcasting: Maine voters turned back a couple of initiatives aimed at government belt-tightening.

The so-called TABOR 2 proposal, which would have tied government spending to the rate of inflation and population growth, was rejected, along with a measure that would have slashed auto excise taxes. Both measures were proposed by the conservative think tank known as the Maine Heritage Policy Center. TABOR Supporters had maintained that government spending is out of control and needs to be reined in.

TABOR was defeated by a vote of about 60 to 40. The excise tax proposal lost by an even wider margin, around 74 to 26.

It looks like Maine citizens have had enough of this crazy talk, recognizing just how ideologically wrong these "fiscal conservatives" are.

TABOR opponents said the measure would hurt municipalities and force them to cut funds for roads, schools and police and fire departments, and shift the tax burden onto property owners.

Fringe Party's Star, Hoffman, Loses! Where's all the Big Talk Now?

It was a big story, about a movement to purge moderate Republicans, and replace them with true conservative anti-government believers. Dick Armey suddenly looked like he would be the next leader of the "new' conservativism, promising to take his purging formula nationwide.

The Daily Beast's Max Blumenthal wrote this summation regarding Tuesday night's biggest conservative defeat, the one the major media suddenly stopped covering.

"Sarah Palin and the Tea Party crowd drove the moderate from the race, but Doug Hoffman still lost the New York House seat.

On a night when conservatives expected a landmark victory in New York’s 23rd congressional district, the movement’s anointed candidate, Doug Hoffman, instead went down in a startling defeat to Democrat Bill Owens. The official Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, had dropped out days before and thrown her support to Owens after the conservative movement backed Hoffman in a campaign to destroy her, attacking her as a closet socialist with a cynical, hidden agenda—the same terms they have used to demonize President Barack Obama.

Hoffman’s rejection by rank-and-file voters in a solidly Republican district dampened the conservatives’ mood on an otherwise upbeat night and raised serious questions about the movement’s attempt to purge moderates from party ranks. Now, many of Hoffman’s right-wing cheerleaders are struggling to explain their dubious gambit, while others fear repercussions for their zealotry.

As Hoffman surged in the polls, right-wing bloggers worked themselves into an ecstatic lather. Jonah Goldberg wrote in the National Review that Hoffman’s victory, together with gubernatorial victories in New Jersey and Virginia, would prove that those who urged restoring the big tent philosophy of the GOP were “incandescently wrong.”

By imposing themselves on a parochial-minded electorate, however, the outside conservative who seemed to have lifted Hoffman’s chances had in fact set the stage for his demise. When the Watertown Daily-Times endorsed Owens, its editors predicted that “Northern New York will suffer” if Hoffman fulfilled his anti-government campaign promises.

Thus the right-wing teabaggers pouring into New York’s 23rd were perceived as carpetbaggers."

GOP Big Thinkers Flake and Pence: Price More Important than Universal Health Care; Say No to Electric Cars.

So, you want to give the government back to the Republicans after only a year out of office? Is it because they left over a trillion dollar deficit? Is it because they're forward thinkers? Frame these brain drainers for future reference, they're stunningly dumb:

On the price of health care, not its availability:

NY Times: Representative Mike Pence of Indiana, the No. 3 Republican in the House, said the Democrats’ goal was to achieve universal coverage. By contrast, he said: “Republicans believe the real issue here is cost. When I’m back home in Indiana, people are not stopping me on the street clamoring for universal coverage.”

Providing government assistance for advancing new technologies, just like most other industrialized countries:

USA Today: U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a frequent critic of what he calls excessive government spending, says it would be better to let the marketplace decide whether technologies such as electric cars will prevail.

"I don't think the federal government does a very good job of picking winners and losers," he said, referring to the government's effort to fund various renewable energy programs.

U.S. Infant Mortality, the Real Numbers.

World rankings in health care have free market insurance profiteers spinning the data in a way that discredits the actual numbers. It's all smoke and mirrors, but it does what it's supposed to do, muddy the waters. But no more:

AP: "Premature births, often due to poor care of low-income pregnant women, are the main reason the U.S. infant mortality rate is higher than in most European countries, a government report said Tuesday. About 1 in 8 U.S. births are premature. Early births are much less common most of Europe; for example, only 1 in 18 babies are premature in Ireland and Finland.

Poor access to prenatal care, maternal obesity and smoking, too-early cesarean sections and induced labor and fertility treatments are among the reasons for preterm births, experts said. Premature births are the chief reason the U.S. ranks 30th in the world in infant mortality, with a rate more than twice as high as infant mortality rates in Sweden, Japan, Finland, Norway and the Czech Republic.

If U.S. infants were as mature as Sweden's are at birth, nearly 8,000 infant deaths could be avoided and the U.S. infant mortality rate would be about one-third lower than it is, according to a calculation at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

The report also found the United States saw ... survival rates for infants at that gestational age were as good or better than most European countries. "

So, once the baby is born too early, we do a good job of saving it. What we have trouble with is preventing the preterm birth in the first place."

Howard Dean's Warning: Do Health Care Reform NOW!

The simple message to Democrats from Howard Dean is this: Don't wait on health care reform, pass it and start it immediately. The elections depend on it.

Voter Fraud Oddly Missing in Action When Republicans Expected to WIn Elections

I'm just asking why?

Isn't it strange in elections where the GOP is expected to win a close race, no one is watching registration or the ballot box.

Size Matters! Paul Ryan Complains Health Care Bill Too Heavy, too Big in Size for all 300 Million Americans.

If Republicans don't like the size and weight of the reform bill in Congress, then so away with the insurance companies and remove all legislation having to deal with their involvement. That would make the bill a 20 page document.

After watching the video news clip below, the health care ad pictured at the right, came up as a sponsor. Gee, I wonder what side Fox-TV took on the size of the House bill Ryan opposed.

It amazes me that intelligent grownups are complaining about doing their job, like writing and reading legislation, and serving the people they are supposed to represent. If they don't have the time or "smarts" to do this difficult task, then maybe we need to replace these ideologues.

Media Matters writes: Following the release of the House Democrats' health care reform bill, the leaders of the House Republican caucus repeatedly stressed the length and size of the bill during an October 29 press conference. Numerous media figures and outlets have followed in lockstep, with the Politico's Jonathan Allen asserting that the bill "comes out to about $2.24 million per word," and Sean Hannity claiming that "if you can't put this down in 30 pages or less, it proves that this is a complicated, you know, bunch of bureaucratic garbage."

WITI-TV Fox 6 reports the spin as "fact," and let's you decide: WITI-TV, FRANKLIN - Congressman Paul Ryan used a green grocery tote to carry the Democrat's entire health care reform bill into the Franklin Public LIbrary Friday. He told a crowd gathered there, now is the time to organize support against the nearly 2,000 page bill -- before next Saturday's up or down vote in Congress.

Rep. Ryan Defends Wasteful Privatized Medicare Advantage

Kelly Gallaher of Community for Change wrote this detailed examination of Medicare Advantage, the flawed Rep. Ryan idea of private free market insurers left to their own devices. Keep in mind, Medicare Advantage replaces Medicare with private care, it's not a supplement. The Journal Times:

On Oct. 11, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., authored a commentary claiming that "drastic cuts to Medicare Advantage plans would devastate seniors enrolled in these plans."

As recently as April, four-fifths of House Republicans - including Ryan - voted to end the Medicare program as we know it for Americans 55 and younger. According to the National Journal: "They cast that vote on April 2 in support of a GOP alternative budget plan that would have converted Medicare from a program that guarantees seniors all necessary access to care into a voucher system that provides future retirees only a fixed sum of money to purchase private health insurance." In Rep. Ryan's proposal " ... new retirees would not even have the option of buying into traditional fee-for-service Medicare once the voucher system is implemented."

AARP called the Ryan plan "a very dangerous idea."

It is also ironic that Ryan and his Republican colleagues have chosen Medicare Advantage as a rallying point. In 2003, Republicans create Medicare Advantage allowing private insurers to compete with government plans for seniors. Prices shot up and Republicans funneled in more money to increase reimbursement rates. Today, Medicare Advantage pays private plans 114 percent of the cost Medicare would have paid, with cost projections continuing to rise.

Overpayments resulted in $3.36 billion in profits for private insurers in 2006 alone, according to the Congressional Budget Office. This free market experiment has not yielded the innovations promised and the only "advantage" has been for private insurance companies and not the American people.

Current health care legislation which Rep. Ryan opposes is designed to cut the waste and overpayments in Medicare Advantage, but not benefits. Any argument against such action is really an argument in favor of waste and abuse. The current system is unsustainable and he helped create it.

In speaking about his failure to act on health care just last week, Ryan said "We should have fixed this under our watch and I'm frustrated we didn't." Ryan had years to fix our broken system; he failed. Democrats will protect the promise they made to American seniors with Medicare 40 years ago and pass real health care reform.

Post Racial Crime Exploited By Dumb White Guys

Why are right wing criminal elements always trying to blame someone else for their problems? You gotta love the picture.

AP- Police had no trouble identifying two men accused of trying to break into a Carroll apartment ... officers found two men with their faces blackened with permanent marker. Police said the caller described two men with painted faces attempting to break into an apartment.

The Media's Disservice to the Truth

I thought this best described my own thoughts about the failure of the press to ask relevant follow-up questions in this age where everything is relative. From the Economist:

"From 2004 to 2009 Dan Froomkin wrote a popular column/blog for the online version of the Washington Post. Mr Froomkin was let go by the Post earlier this year. He has since been picked up by the Huffington Post."

Mr Froomkin: Journalists should strive for accuracy, and fairness. Objectivity is impossible, and is too often confused with balance.

And the problem with balance is that we are not living in a balanced time. For instance, is it patently obvious that at this point in our history, the leading luminaries on one side of the American political spectrum are considerably less tethered to reality than those on the other side. Madly trying to split the difference, as so many of my mainstream-media colleagues feel impelled to do, does a disservice to the concept of the truth.

All Male Coaches Board Sickened by Teen Girls Licking Phallic Lollipop. Really?

The following horrific story, a 21st Century version of the Scarlet Letter, is another example of how far conservative right wing "family values" zealots will go, even as they claim they are protecting our "freedoms," whatever that means.

AP- The American Civil Liberties Union (representing) two sophomore girls have sued their school district after they were punished for posting sexually suggestive photos on MySpace during their summer vacation. (The ACLU says) Churubusco High School violated the girls' free speech rights when it banned them from extracurricular activities for a joke that didn't involve the school ... the district humiliated the girls by requiring them to apologize to an all-male coaches' board and undergo counseling.

That's right, they had to apologize to "men" and submit to counseling. Why?

The girls took the photos during a sleepover with friends before school started this summer and posted them on their MySpace pages, setting the privacy controls so only those designated as friends could view them. None of the photos made any reference to the school. In the photos, the girls wore lingerie and pretended to lick a penis-shaped lollipop.

Imagine those male coaches, having seen the photos of teen girls licking a penis shaped lollipop, sitting there feigning outrage and subjecting these girls to an unforgettably embarrassing situation. It's as if oral sex is a sickness requiring help? Especially to a bunch of guy jocks.

The ACLU argues the photos were a joke intended to be shared only with friends. And the line is drawn as things that disrupt the
school. And outside of that, the school has no say," "Imagine if everything teens texted back and forth to friends became fodder for school discipline."

Even if "the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that students can be disciplined for activities that happen outside of school ... (if they could) prove the activities were disruptive or posed a danger ... to campus," this is a reach and certainly something that could have been taken care of privately. Now everyone knows. Sick.