Tag: Rachel Maddow

Pappy Bush Loses It, Calls Olbermann and Maddow ‘Sick Puppies’

Yes, you heard right. It’s true. Former President George H.W. Bush actually lowered himself to take a shot at MSNBC news anchors Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow “sick puppies.” The nation’s forty-first president made these remarks in an interview with CBS radio purportedly as a means of explaining why there is a lack of civility in politics today.

"I don’t like it," Bush said. "I think the cables have a lot to do with it. I’ll take you back to when I was president we got tons of criticism but didn’t seem day in and day out quite as personal as some of these talk show people."

"And it’s not just the right," Bush 41 continued, "There’s plenty of people on the left. If you want me to name a couple of names I’ll be glad to do that for you."

"Go ahead," the CBS reporter says.

"Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow," Bush said. "I mean here are a couple of sick puppies."

"And the way they treat my son and treat anybody that’s opposed to their point of view is just horrible."

Reached by phone, Karl Rove said, "Irony is dead."

Okay, I just made up that last quote.

I now present Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann in “The Response”:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

 


Rachel Maddow: Obama Brings Another Honor to America

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Rachel Maddow does a fine job reporting on President Obama receiving the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.


GOP, Conservative Media Trying To Scare Granny to Death

The GOP and conservative media are falling all over each other trying to save the for-profit health insurance industry from having to compete with a modestly-run government health insurance program similar to Medicare.  Their efforts will no doubt become even more frantic in response to a just-released New York Times/CBS News poll:

Americans overwhelmingly support substantial changes to the health care system and are strongly behind one of the most contentious proposals Congress is considering, a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

The poll found that most Americans would be willing to pay higher taxes so everyone could have health insuranceand that they said the government could do a better job of holding down health-care costs than the private sector.

Yet the survey also revealed considerable unease about the impact of heightened government involvement, on both the economy and the quality of the respondents’ own medical care. While 85 percent of respondents said the health care system needed to be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt, 77 percent said they were very or somewhat satisfied with the quality of their own care.

That paradox was skillfully exploited by opponents of the last failed attempt at overhauling the health system, during former President Bill Clinton’s first term. Sixteen years later, it underscores the tricky task facing lawmakers andPresident Obama as they try to address the health system’s substantial problems without igniting fears that people could lose what they like.

Across a number of questions, the poll detected substantial support for a greater government role in health care, a position generally identified with the Democratic Party. When asked which party was more likely to improve health care, only 18 percent of respondents said the Republicans, compared with 57 percent who picked the Democrats. Even one of four Republicans said the Democrats would do better.

The ruling ultra-conservative wing of the GOP is doing everything possible to scare seniors to death over the proposals.

From MSNBC:

A campaign on conservative talk radio, fueled by President Obama’s calls to control exorbitant medical bills, has sparked fear among senior citizens that the health-care bill moving through Congress will lead to end-of-life “rationing” and even “euthanasia.”

The controversy stems from a proposal to pay physicians who counsel elderly or terminally ill patients about what medical interventions they would prefer near the end of life and how to prepare instructions such as living wills. Under the plan, Medicare would reimburse doctors for one session every five years to confer with a patient about his or her wishes and how to ensure those preferences are followed. The counseling sessions would be voluntary (emphasis added).

But on right-leaning radio programs, religious e-mail lists and Internet blogs, the proposal has been described as “guiding you in how to die,” “an ORDER from the Government to end your life,” promoting “death care” and, in the words of antiabortion leader Randall Terry, an attempt to “kill Granny.”

Note again, “The counseling sessions would be voluntary.”

I’m lucky, my doctor also teaches other doctors.  He loves to talk and teach.  Many physicians charge for advice.  These sessions offer simple counseling about end-of-life options that no one likes to think about in advance, but we all know it’s wise to do so.  A Living Will is a good thing.  Right now Medicare does not cover this counseling.

Why would Republicans and the conservative media want to deny Granny and Grandpa the ability to receive counseling from the professionals uniquely qualified to offer such advice? Rachel Maddow calls this malicious crowd the “deathers.”

Granny and Grandpa can relax. And change the channel: turn off FOX Noise, shut off Rush. Watch Rachel and Keith.

They might also want to call their congressman and tell them to back health care reform.  This plan is a huge step forward for all Americans.


Gail Collins on Sarah Palin’s Implosion

Once again, the best I can say is I have no idea why Sarah Palin resigned as governor of Alaska.  Why show you’re not a quitter by quitting?  Why leave the highest office you’ve ever held?

Nothing about this move makes sense.

Gail Collins shares her thoughts at the New York Times.  Collins quotes from Palin’s rambling press conference:

“And a problem in our country today is apathy,” she said on Friday as she announced that she would resign as governor of Alaska at the end of the month. “It would be apathetic to just hunker down and ‘go with the flow.’ Nah, only dead fish ‘go with the flow.’ No. Productive, fulfilled people determine where to put their efforts, choosing to wisely utilize precious time … to BUILD UP.”

Basically, the point was that Palin is quitting as governor because she’s not a quitter. Or a deceased salmon.

Sarah Barracuda made her big announcement Friday afternoon on the lawn of her home to an audience that appeared to include only Todd, the kids and the next-door neighbors. Smiling manically, she looked like a parody of the woman who knocked the Republicans dead at their convention. She babbled about her parents’ refrigerator magnet, which apparently had a lot of wise advice. And she recalled her visit with the troops in Kosovo, whose dedication and determination inspired her to … resign.

“Life is about choices!” declared the nation’s most anti-choice politician.

Is this a brilliant move (as Mary Matalin asserts)  for a rising star launching her run for the White House?  Collins comments:

So if she’s starting to run, it will be as the same reporter-avoiding, generalization-spouting underachiever that she was last time around.

Now we know she not only doesn’t have the concentration to read a policy paper, she can’t focus long enough to finish the job she was hired to do.

I want to hear George Will try to spin this one.

And you betcha I’m looking forward to commentary from Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and David Letterman.