I know that there are some people who would disagree with the previous piece, but then these stories come along…
First, Minnesota Republican Representative and ignorant, obnoxious bitch, Michele Bachmann, taking up a story from that font of stupidity, Rush Limbaugh, suggested on Tuesday that President Obama was to blame for the swine flu crisis. She went even farther than the talk show host, implying that swine flu epidemics are a Democratic phenomenon that dates back to President Carter.
“I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter. And I’m not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it’s an interesting coincidence.” Unfortunately, Bachmann’s facts are a little off. Republican President Gerald Ford, not Carter, led the country during the last outbreak of the virus.
But this isn’t the worst of it. Glenn “Idiot” Beck and others are finding the Swine flu yet another excuse to show their outright racism. As Bonnie Fuller blogs on TheHuffingtonPost.com – despite the fact that there is no evidence to support such claims, talk radio hosts Michael Savage and Neal Boortz, Beck, and columnist Michelle Malkin are spreading the story that “illegal aliens” are to blame for the Swine flu in the U.S.
“Illegal aliens are bringing in a deadly new flue strain. Make no mistake about it,” blares Michael Savage.
“I’ve blogged for years about the spread of contagious diseases from around the world into the US as a result of uncontrolled immigration,” writes Michelle Malkin.
“What happens if there’s a rash of deaths in Mexico and if you’re a family in Mexico and people are dying and Americans are not, why wouldn’t you flood this border?” announces Glenn Beck.
Never mind of course that the Swine flu is an international outbreak, and as Ms. Fuller also points out – the first American cases of swine flu were in New York City among students who recently returned from a trip to Cancun, Mexico . The kids brought it with them. So far, the disease is coming from American tourists returning from Mexico.
But these loudmouthed morons aren’t finished. They are also shouting that Islamic terrorists have somehow been able to create a deadly new flu virus and then introduce it into the Mexican population. “What better way to sneak a virus into this country than to give it to Mexicans….then spread a rumor (that) there are construction jobs here, and there they come,” blathers Boortz.
Savage believes that radical Islamic countries planted the virus in Mexico knowing that humans make the “perfect mules for bringing the strain into America.”
Of course, the fact that most of the infected Mexicans live in Mexico City, hundreds of miles from the US border, I don’t buy that they are rushing for the border to “infect Americans” like rabid dogs in some B-level horror movie. Somewhere, George A. Romero is having quite a chuckle.
Savage, however, goes further saying that he will protect himself by having “no contact anywhere with illegal aliens and that starts with the restaurants.” He calls people who dine out “morons who eat in restaurants with illegals all over the kitchen.” (Substitute the word “vermin” for “illegals” and he sounds frighteningly reminiscent of the Nazis talking about the Jews, doesn’t he?) well, I for one hope that Savage and his ilk stay out of restaurants – there will be much more room, and food, for the rest fo us.
As Michael Moore stated in one of his earlier books, the reason that today’s Conservatives yell and are angry all of the time is that they are on the road to extinction like the dinosaurs. For one thing, as more and more young people live with, work alongside, date, people from other races, colors, religions, creeds, it becomes harder to demonize them. So, they know that their little, small minded, world is swiftly coming to an end. And they’re scared. They may not be able to get as many simpletons to follow their lead. And this makes me feel all warm and toasty inside.
Except that too many of them are armed, and who knows how many are planning against President Obama even now…

As The Indignant Wife and I sat in slow moving morning rush hour traffic this morning, I started to think about fear. The radio was talking about the Swine Flu pandemic; and people were creeping on the roads this morning because it had rained overnight and continued to drizzle despite no accidents, or other reason for traffic to be so slow.
Former Texas Senator Phil Gramm (and John McCain presidential election strategist) got blasted because he said that the United States was “a nation of weenies.” I hate to agree with a Republican, but he may have been right. Appropriately, President Obama said that the Swine flu was “a cause for concern but not a cause for alarm,” but that’s not the way the media is pushing it. Swine flu has been found as close to Chicago as Indiana, and the number of “cases” seems to rise with every passing hour. It makes me wonder whether any person currently in a hospital or under a doctor’s care with the symptoms of the Swine flu suddenly has it; whether or not they have been near pigs or have been in contact with anyone who has been in close proximity to pigs.
And that’s the story. Instead of reporting what’s happening and what has happened, almost every news program has at least one story about some disease; some scam; some error by a craftsman or product that “you” should be worried about and on the lookout for. The popularity of horror films shows that Americans love to be scared, but now, according to many of the “powers-that be,” we should be scared of everything. We shouldn’t even come out because, GASP, something bad may happen to us.
Chicago weather broadcasters try to scare the crap out of us with bad weather for ratings. The news passes on more bad news for us to be fearful of. The Republican Party has, and continues to use fear of “The Other” – blacks, Hispanics, gays, Immigrants to try and retain governmental power. Every day, we get bombarded by things to be frightened of.
What gets lost in all of this is that life is a crapshoot. Something bad could happen to any of us, at any time. But something wonderful could also happen. And many things in between happen. But to live in fear all of the time, you aren’t truly living; you’re cowering. How boring. How sad.
I have to say that there are few things that I am scared of: deep water; heights; men in alleys with weapons. But I’m not scared to drive in the rain; I’m not scared of other people; and I’m not going to barricade my house for fear of the Swine or any other flu. I hope that I can impart to The Indignant Daughters that life is to be lived, with enthusiasm and endless curiosity. As FDR said “all that we have to fear is fear itself.”

Long time readers know that I have been estranged from the sport of basketball for several years. I haven’t watched any basketball since the Michael Jordan era with the Bulls, but it’s not because I got spoiled by winning. It’s because I was bored with the two man game.
You know what I mean: instead of moving the ball around and trying to get open, the guard sends a pass to the man in the paint; if open, he shoots, if not he passes back to the guard. As these two play catch, the other three guys on the team might as well go take a nap. Add to that it appeared that the only talent today’s player has is to dunk the basketball – no outside shots, just run and dunk, and basketball had become about as exciting as curling.
But yesterday, pangs of the old love returned. After the Indignant Second Daughter’s Baptism, a group of friends and neighbors came by my house, among them my old friend John Rosales, still a big Bulls fan. He and his girlfriend commandeered my big screen TV (little fight needed, the hockey game was a blowout). We watched the entire fourth quarter and both of the overtimes in the Bulls-Celtics game 4 of the playoffs. It was exciting, back-and-forth, hard fought basketball, and even though the Bulls probably would be in more trouble if Kevin Garnett wasn’t injured, those are the breaks for the Celts. Ray Allen was dropping bombs from the outside, matched by Ben Gordon, and, to be honest, it was my first look at current NBA Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose. Boy, what a player he is already. His future is unlimited.
Before long, the party had moved to the basement and there was much yelling, screaming, hi-fives, and groans as the two teams battled. The Bulls won the game 121-118 in two overtimes, and it was the most fun I’ve had with basketball in years. Maybe I should start paying more attention.

The Stanley Cup playoffs have to rank as among the most exciting times in sport. The fighting is almost eliminated because no one wants to take a dumb penalty. Every shift, every rush, could make a difference in a game or even a series.
The first round is great because you have multiple games almost every night. This season, we’ve had dud series, and we have great series. At first, the series between two Original Six teams: the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadians, the latter celebrating its 100th anniversary, seemed like it would be a barn-burner, steeped in tradition. Not this year. The Bruins swept the Habs out in four games and it didn’t look as though they broke a sweat.
Neither did the Red Wings and Canucks in the Western Conference. Detroit swept Columbus with ease, and the Canucks had their way with St. Louis.
But the other series were and are very tight. The Penguins finally defeated the Flyers over the weekend in the battle for Pennsylvania series. My beloved Blackhawks can knock out the Calgary Flames tonight in a very tough series (but I admit to being torn since I have a ticket for a potential Game 7 Wednesday night).
But tomorrow, we have not one, but two Game 7s: the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes have played six tough games and tomorrow night it’s winner-take-all; and the Washington Capitals have been surprisingly tested by the New York Rangers. The high scoring Capitals have gotten all they can handle from the Blue Shirts, so Game 7 should be a dandy.
The only thing we haven’t had yet is a long, multiple overtime game. I’m sure its coming.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has again crawled out from under his rock for an interview to Fox Propaganda, I mean Fox News, in which he said, among other things, that the release of the Bush Administration’s memos that provided legal grounds for torture were threatening the security of the country. Actually, considering the outcry for the crafters of the policy to be tried on war crimes, the memo release is only threatening Bush, Cheney and their cronies. Hey guys, it’s the Hague calling – the International Tribunal is warming up!

Fortunately, a Federal judge today showed common sense in denying permission for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich to travel to Costa Rica to participate in a reality TV show. U.S. District Court Judge James Zagel called modifying the terms of Blagojevich’s bail on political corruption charges “a bad idea.” Prosecutors voiced fears that the indicted ex-governor might flee if allowed to go to Costa Rica, noting that he faces 25 to 30 years in prison if convicted while Blagojevich’s attorneys say that he needs the money for his legal defense.
NBC was going to have two security guards watch the Blagojevich’s lawyers had asked permission for their client to travel to Costa Rica in June to be a contestant on NBC’s “I’m a Celebrity … Get me Out of Here!” They said he could have made up to $123,250 on the 12-episode show if not voted off by viewers.
While there is no way that someone under indictment for serious crime should be allowed to play on his celebrity to make money (which also begs the question – how much does he need?), still, it might have been worth it to send the little twerp to Costa Rica: In an earlier version of the show (2003), contestants had to put insects, worms and rats in their pants, sit in a tank of leeches and wade through a swamp populated by snakes and eels.
With the eels, it would have given Blago a chance to feel what it will be like to be some convict’s “wife.”

I think that it’s funny that the right wingers are now protesting required tax increases because their President, GWB, screwed up so badly that no matter who was coming into the White House after him was facing a huge economic mess.
So, with yesterday “Tax day,” the day that taxes are due, there were numerous protests around the country by mostly white people who suddenly feel disenfranchised with a new black president. I looked at the news coverage of many of the tax protests and there were a lot of angry white people, most of whom, I would guess, did not earn enough money to take advantage of the Bush tax cuts for the rich. In fact, most of the people I saw looked like normal Joes, once again demonstrating on an agenda that actually goes against their own personal self interests.
Taxes are the one thing that almost everyone agrees upon: I don’t want to pay them. At the same time, however, the expectation for government services is at an all time high. We want the garbage picked up; we want the pot holes in the streets fixed. But no one wants to pay for it.
Historically, government waste and inefficiency has made one not to give the government any money (I have long wondered if this was a form of racism since so many minorities work for the government that people don’t want to pay them), but what has happened over time – more services are being provided by private corporations, so you, Joe Taxpayer, are still paying for it, just not directly. Often, the bottom line driven corporation has cut service or overbilled the government in order to show a big enough profit.
This week, a report was issued by the Homeland Security agency that said that war veterans could be converts to right wing extremism in a down economy. A lot of white people are feeling out-of-step with the rest of the country and since many of them believe that they are entitled to be at least better off that the African-Americans and Hispanics, these hard times are hitting them hard. And now they have a convenient “Head Negro” to blame for it.
Watch out, there are a lot of Timothy McVeighs out there – they are armed, ignorant, and pissed off. Never a good combination.

At another anti-tax” “tea party,” this time in Austin, Texas, Gov. Rick Perry again gave a speech on his stance against the federal government and for states’ rights as some in his U.S. flag-waving audience shouted, “Secede!” According to the Huffington Post, Perry told the crowd that officials in Washington have abandoned the country’s founding principles of limited government. He said the federal government is strangling Americans with taxation, spending and debt.

I only have two words to say to Texans if they want to secede: “See Ya.”