Hope in a Time of Sorrow 
There seems to be a constant series of examples in history that reflect what we are living through this week: from Psistratus in Athens to Caesar in Rome to the Duke of Lancaster in 15th-century England to Napoleon to Lenin and Hitler and now to Karl Rove, a multitude of fellows have harnessed populist outrage to their own carriage in order to seize power. That outrage, changing the metaphor, flows into the furious stream into which Boehner and McConnell and Palin launched their boats last night.
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Through the Looking Glass, Darkly
I’ve been thinking. Which in and of itself points up unequivocally that I am, in fact, a Democrat. I actually use the brain I was given at birth, which came factory-equipped with a kind of "filter," guaranteed to purify with conscience, common sense and logic each and every thought processed through it. Yes, I am a Democrat. If further proof is required, I offer, as well, that I am a lifelong Dodgers fan, a team which sports the purest and bluest blue of all the MLB teams.
Please note that I say this about myself with the utmost humility. That I have the capacity to use the brain I was given, I consider a gift. Therefore, I cannot in good conscience disparage those who, through no fault of their own, were born without the filter, and consequently lack the aforementioned qualities.
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, for example, who is currently touting the idea that we need to wean Americans off Medicare, do away with it altogether, as well as with social security. On "Fox Business," she went so far as to say that social security was a "tremendous fraud."
Wait... There's more! (704 words in story)
Through the Looking Glass, Darkly
I’ve been thinking. Which in and of itself points up unequivocally that I am, in fact, a Democrat. I actually use the brain I was given at birth, which came factory-equipped with a kind of "filter," guaranteed to purify with conscience, common sense and logic each and every thought processed through it. Yes, I am a Democrat. If further proof is required, I offer, as well, that I am a lifelong Dodgers fan, a team which sports the purest and bluest blue of all the MLB teams.
Please note that I say this about myself with the utmost humility. That I have the capacity to use the brain I was given, I consider a gift. Therefore, I cannot in good conscience disparage those who, through no fault of their own, were born without the filter, and consequently lack the aforementioned qualities.
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, for example, who is currently touting the idea that we need to wean Americans off Medicare, do away with it altogether, as well as with social security. On "Fox Business," she went so far as to say that social security was a "tremendous fraud."
Wait... There's more! (703 words in story)
Health Care Crisis from the Fox guarding the henhouse perspective.
This diary really should be on a health reform blog, but since any reform will be a political act by necessity, I suppose it fits here. At least it will help inform folks about how complex health care system reform can really be. I hope folks will concentrate on this diary, as I believe it gives some important, often overlooked perspective to the health care crisis and system in America! Anyway, I have worked as a dental public health professional at the Federal and state levels for over 25 years, so I have some expertise in public health in general and dental public health specifically. In my experience, dentistry in America provides a nice window into the effects of unfair, supposed market forces, as well as organized dentistry's control (what I will call the fox guarding the henhouse), over access and cost in healthcare. This is so because less people care about dental care access for the poor, so dentistry can get away with more social negatives than the perceived more important medical field. However, with the growing crisis in our health care system and the big push by conservatives for market solutions, I think I have a story to tell for those who care to look at this from a somewhat different perspective.
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