James Boyce post on HuffPo

[MH1]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-boyce/are-we-safer-now_b_29244.html

It's pretty long but here is enough to give you a sense of it. It's worth the trip to Huffpo to read the rest.

What appeared to America and the world as devastation and tragedy five years ago was something entirely different to the Right Wing Medusa who in our nation's despair saw only the most golden of opportunities.

As the ruins of 9/11 still smoldered, they launched a propoganda campaign of misinformation, half-truths mixed together with complete distortion that would have made Goebbels proud.

Using fear as a weapon, the Medusa has terrorized our country into its greatest crisis since the Civil War.

This is not a theory or a rant, but the opportunity to ask yourself a simple question:

Are we safer now?

Are we safer now than we were on September 10, 2001?

The answer is no.

(snip)

If you still doubt the presence of the Medusa, and its true aims, let me be frank. Just as Adolph Hitler laid out his plans for the world to see in "Mein Kampf", so too have the Medusa's goals become clear for all to see.

Eliminate the social welfare programs such as Social Security that have helped our less fortunate over the decades. Strike down Medicare and Medicaid. Let the weakest and most defenseless among us suffer and die. They even want to reduce student loans for college. Insanity.

Tear down the barrier between church and state and turn this land into a Christian country. How a Jew or a Muslim could ever vote for a Republican is absolutely beyond comprehension.

Destroy the concept of personal privacy, through wiretapping, the end of choice and more.

Make public land and assets the domain of private companies who will profit through their destruction.

Let the resistance begin.

(snip)

But where in God's name is our Winston Churchill? Who will stand up to the bully? Who will sucker punch before he is sucker punched? Who? A few have started to swing and we should salute them.

John Kerry and Russ Feingold first brought the withdrawal timetable to the country and they too were mocked, not just by the Medusa but by their own party - but both men have continued to fight. John Kerry stood up and delivered a five step plan last Saturday in Boston. Read it here. It's simple, smart and strong.

Max Cleland is rolling across this country, campaigning and fighting back - he too a victim of this pychosis that gripped the country post 9/11. A true war hero was defeated by a man named Saxby who got out of Vietnam because of a gimpy knee becase the war hero was weak on national security. And to our everlasting shame, we let them.

Jim Webb in Virginia. Here's a man who wrote the script on Iraq in 2003. Quagmire? Civil War? No way out. He called it. And yet he's running against a guy who showed courage under a horse at a dude ranch while Webb was in Vietnam and you guessed it - Allen's running on a "I support the troops" platform. Fight for Webb.

Joe Sestak. Patrick Murphy. Tammy Duckworth. Chris Carney - they lead a group of veterans who are running for Congress having served in Iraq and Afghanistan. They know the true realities. And The Patriot Project is working to defend them because no veteran will ever be destroyed like Max Cleland and John Kerry were. It must never happen again.

[blm]

1. Max and Kerry were not "destroyed" and I understand Boyce's concern

but he needs to use accurate language when discussing men who still may be future candidates.

[MH1]

2. I agree with you on that.

That was one part I didn't like about his post.

I think James needs to tighten up a couple things, but overall his posts are pretty good.

[Dr Ron]

3. Also says continued to fight

"they too were mocked, not just by the Medusa but by their own party - but both men have continued to fight."

That part sounds better than destroyed

[blm]

4. Tes - and that is why the appearance of the word destroyed in the LAST

parting thought paragraph is significant in that it is contradictory to what has already been established.

[karynnj]

6. I agree - I understand what he meant - but even "defeated"

would have been a better word to use.

[MH1]

7. Actually it isn't the last paragraph - I left off a "(snip)" at the end

But your point is important.

I like Boyce. I think his writing style needs a little seasoning, but that will come.

I winced when I saw that though.

[beachmom]

5. How does the Medicare Prescription Act figure in?

Yes, it is a boon to the pharaceutical companies, but I can tell you that my Mom likes it, and that it helps her and my Dad. Before the bill, they had no drug insurance, and now they do.

A little simplistic on killing "all" welfare. The other things like Social Security and student loans are spot on, but the drug plan kind of hinders his argument.

[Dr Ron]

8. Need to stress a better plan

The plan is better than nothing, but a much better plan could have been set up if the goa was really to provide prescription coverage as opposed to corporate welfare--for the insurance companies as well as the pharmaceutical companies.

[beachmom]

9. True -- but I'm just telling you my Mom likes it

And she despises Bush. So to not acknowledge that it is helping some seniors is not quite accurate. Agreed that it is screwing the tax payers while enriching the pharmaceuticals, but the seniors are benefitting as well (but not all, it depends on where you fall in the donut).

[MH1]

10. Won't she hit the donut hole?

And if that doesn't affect her personally, it shouldn't be too hard to find someone she knows who is getting screwed by it.

I just talked to someone who works at an assisted living facility where Joe Sestak just visited. Her report was that the folks there are livid about the Medicare prescription drug plan boondoggle.

My brother (an M.D.) is scrounging for samples to give to his patients so they won't stop taking their meds when they get slammed with the huge bill at the pharmacy when they hit the donut hole. He has people who don't tell him and they end up in the emergency room because they didn't take their meds because they couldn't pay the bill. Needless to say, he's pretty unhappy about the situation too.