I May Be Needing a New Planet

Tags

Democrates, health care reform, Iowa, Massachusetts, right wing wingnuts, Scott Brown, Sen. Edward Kennedy, Steven King, tea baggers

Just a very few weeks ago, we all considered this eminently doable. The Senate passed its version of health care reform, and we were pretty much assured that the powers that be in both Houses would hammer out something.

We were all unhappy as to what would be extruded from this painful process, but at least we knew it was a beginning, much as other landmark legislation was–something to be added to over the ensuing years.

Out of the blue, a crisis has arisen, and from the most unlikely of places. In a fit of extraordinary and gut-wrenching irony, the seat held by the longest proponent of health care reform, that of Edward M. Kennedy, is in jeopardy. Yes, you heard that right.

Martha Coakley, winner of the primary, is seriously in trouble in her bid to finish the term of the late Senator Kennedy. Her opponent, Scott Brown, has garnered the support of every right wing group that can manage to crawl from the woodwork. He is posing a serious challenge as the tea baggers spew their hatred of everything Obama and Democratic. Some have suggested that  the tea bagger movement is one of the poorly educated against the educated, and perhaps that is not too far wrong.

It has not helped that pundits declare she has run a poor campaign overall. Democratic bigwigs are now scrambling to shore up the team, sending Bill Clinton, and probably the President himself in to charge up the troops. The election is next Tuesday, and I frankly don’t know how bad this is at this point.

Everybody has an opinion on that, and of course, much of it depends on which side you are on. The usual amount of outright lying is being offered by the extreme right.

This all might not mean so much if it almost certainly didn’t mean that the loss would sink the health care bill completely. It would quite possibly mean that Senator DeMint was correct in claiming that if Rethugs killed health care, they would destroy Obama’s administration. 

I cannot even begin to imagine the glee and high fiving that would go on at Fox and among the crazed Rethuglian community. I cannot imagine being able to stand it. I may give up politics entirely, figuring my country is simply crazy beyond redemption in my lifetime. I can better put my time to other uses.

I don’t know who to blame. Some suggest that Coakley is just a good solid party hack, having no luster, and is a lousy campaigner. This, in somebodies estimation, was not thought to be an impediment to what was thought to be a safe seat.

I wonder how Kennedy family types are taking this. They all turned down the opportunity to accept this seat as their own. Are they having second thoughts? I cannot think how they must feel. Teddy’s passion for health care reform being derailed by his seat being lost to the a Republican of all things.

It would be a stunning loss, one almost unimaginable. Brown has promised that he will vote against health care reform of course. He has also shown his colors as a state representative in Massachusetts where he is one of only three to vote against giving financial assistance to Red Cross workers  who volunteered to work in recovery efforts following 911. Nice compassionate guy huh?

The pattern exhibited by Repungnants is one of sober coldness in the face of tragedy. This from Iowa’s own nightmare, Representative Steven King (R-IA). The Government is naturally relaxing immigration rules as it relates to Haitians during this period of extreme crisis. You cannot get anything past the foxy Steven however. As Bleeding Heart reports, “to a hammer everything looks like a nail.”

So creepy King had this to say:

“This sounds to me like open borders advocates exercising the Rahm Emanuel axiom: ‘Never let a crisis go to waste,'” Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said in an e-mail message to ABCNews. “Illegal immigrants from Haiti have no reason to fear deportation, but if they are deported, Haiti is in great need of relief workers, and many of them could be a big help to their fellow Haitians.”

This my friends is the caliber of Republican theology going on round about the country. This is their view of how we treat and take care of each other. “Sad, sad, the state of affairs in Haiti,” whispered Master King, as he munched his watercress sandwich thoughtfully. “I shall have to contact my stock advisor and see if there is anything here I can take advantage of. But such a pity, those poor natives. . . .”

Yeah, King, you freakin’ joke. Looks like Brown would fit right in. And if so. . . . well I’m catching the first transport off world. I have no destination in mind, just any place but here.