Harry Reid and Trent Lott: Not Seeing the Difference is Part of the Problem

Today Senator John McCain joined the Republican chorus, led by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, decrying the Democratic Party’s double standard on “racially insensitive remarks,” which has led them to stand behind Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid instead of calling for his ouster as they did in 2002 when then Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott made remarks that the Republicans view as equivalent. While the Republican outrage is intended to show their racial sensitivity, their apparent inability to see the difference between the remarks reveals these Republican Senators to, at best, be cynical partisan opportunists attempting to exploit this country’s racial issues for partisan gain.

The nature and impact of the remarks made by Harry Reid and Trent Lott are as different as using the words niggard (essentially a synonym for miser with no etymological relation to the other word) and the racial slur that starts with “N.”

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The Pro-Suffering (Republican) Party's Healthcare Plan: Die Quickly. Their Greatest Fear: Turnabout is Fair Play

The Republicans have one great advantage over the Democrats. They are not afraid of incorrect over-simplifications, and they use this advantage to re-label and reframe the argument. Thus the inheritance tax becomes the "Death Tax," provisions to pay doctors to discuss living wills and other kinds of end-of-life planning with their patients becomes "Death Panels" and "pulling the plug on grandma, and a plan to create a publicly owned insurance company to compete with big for-profit insurance companies becomes "socialized medicine." The list goes on.

Now along comes Democratic Representative Alan Grayson,

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Healthcare reform: A Letter to Republican Senators

To my readers: tonight I was working on one of my short witty posts, but I was uncomfortable. If the final healthcare reform bill resembles the current Baucus Bill in the finance committee, then we progressive will have to demand that it be killed in congress or vetoed by the president. Wont that be both ironic and tragic?

I was thinking about what is needed to pass a bill that will actually alleviate the suffering of Americans caused by our current system and wondering what kind of person could build their own careers by turning their backs on so much human suffering. Then I had the thought that out there somewhere, unknown to me, there has to be at least one or two Republican Senators whose hearts have not been hardened to suffering.

Hoping to reach one or more of my readers, whose Republican Senator(s) may actually care about reducing the misery of other Americans, I wrote the following letter. Use this link, http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm to find your Senator and e-mail him/her the following letter or something like it. It can't hurt. 

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Healthcare Reform: Open Letter to My Senators

[Below you will find the text of my e-mails to my senators. I am fortunate in that my senators are both Democrats, so there is some chance that my opinion will count for something with them. My representative is a Republican, and those of you with Republican senators may wish to read my open letter to my Republican representative before writing your senators.]

Dear Senator Boxer/Feinstein:

I urge you to support passage of healthcare reform legislation with a strong public option using whatever parliamentary tactics (the reconciliation process, or the so-called "nuclear option" if necessary.) I further urge you to use your influence to persuade all other Democratic Senators to support the reform legislation as well.

Do not be afraid of the reactionary forces we saw at the town hall meetings and the 9-12 march on Washington.

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Healthcare Reform: Open Letter to My Republican Representative

[Below is the text of my letter to my representative. Unfortunately my representative is Republican Wally Herger—the guy who called a self-proclaimed right-wing terrorist a great American—so I can count on his ignoring my wishes. However, in honor of the notion of representative democracy, I will write and let him know how I feel. It can't hurt]

Dear Weasel,

Since you are a Republican, I know writing you is about as useful as trying to teach a pig to pole-vault,

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