Our alleged local newspaper, the Waycross Journal Herald (suggested slogan: "Too rough for toilet paper") recently published a letter to the alleged editor written by an alleged sane person, one Harrison D. Watts. This is one of those letters. I was going to just give a synopsis and quote some of the odder bits out of context. Then I decided that this is a feast best savored in its entirety.
Editor, Journal Herald:
While the local pinko/socialist apologistas are gloating over the victory (?) of Barak Hussein Obama and telling the conquered peons to "suck it up" there are still some unanswered questions about the real authority of the current leader of the Democratic machine. Answer are out there. The truth will be exposed someday.
Questions like these have NOT been answered. All we have gotten is hot air gloating.
1) Is there any proof that B. Hussein Obama is NOT a secret Mohammedan? (His aunt certainly is. She's in Boston fighting deportation back to Kenya.)
2) Is the any PROOF of B. Hussein Obama's actual birthplace? B. Hussein Obama has SEALED any birth records relating to him. He has said that he was born at TWO different Hawaiian hospitals. And his grandmother says she was present at Obama's birth, neglecting to say how she got to Hawaii from Kenya. Very suspicious, methinks. And the recent resurfacing of Obama's BROTHER raises more questions than ever.
3) Has anyone ever thought to point out that EVERY socialist regime ever imposed on free people has FAILED?
4) Why has no one realized that once you "spread the wealth" thw way Obama wants to, there is no more wealth to be created after that?
5) Why stop with taking over the healthcare insurance industry? Wouldn't a total takeover of ALL insurance make more sense? Every citizen could, in theory, get all needed insurance from the government - car, accident, marine, home, fire, burial - you name it. Why not have life insurance paid for by the government with the government as beneficiary?
6)Who pays for Nancy Pelosi's daily hair plastering and facial shellac jobs?
7) Why are Congresstwerps Rangel, Murtha and Dingell so all-fired anxious to hide their own personal millions while trying to impose Obama socialism on everybody else? Very curious!
8) And one last question that has every serious minded thinker simply beside him/herself? Once Levi Johnson has stripped down and waved a middle finger to Sarah Palin from some center-fold or other, who do you think will call him first: The cast of Bridezillas or one of the guyliner/hair goop losers from American Idol? (Sorry, that is too tough a question; maybe it shouldn't be answered!
(signed) Harrison D. Watts
Sunday, November 15, 2009
My Reply
The Editor:
I am happy to see that the Waycross Journal Herald has dropped all pretense at journalism and has embraced its role as a humor publication. Lord knows this town could use a good laugh.
I refer of course to the proliferation of jocundity set forth by one Harrison D. Watts in his letter of November 14th, 2009. I will confess to being slow to get the joke. Such is the subtlety of the man that I assumed, naively perhaps, that Mr. Watts is mentally ill and that you, Mr. Editor, were cruelly exploiting his delusions for your own aggrandizement. I apologize for my error. It is now clear to me, upon reading Mr. Watt’s most recent screed, that Mr. Watts is a sublime humorist and that you, Mr. Editor, are a supreme judge of applied wit. Imagine my chagrin.
Nonetheless, I feel compelled to respond to the hilarious points that Mr. Watts made. Let us begin with the spelling of Barak (sic) Hussein Obama’s name. I can only surmise that either Mr. Watts thinks that misspelling someone’s name is funny and that you, Mr. Editor, agree or that someone (oops!) failed to use that pesky spell-check.
Let us, for the sake of brevity (alas, not one of Mr. Watts virtues), ignore the logical inconsistencies of the first two paragraphs. Let us also, in the spirit of Mr. Watts, feel free to USE CAPITAL LETTERS for EMPHASIS!!! (I threw in the exclamation points for free). I will address these points numerically, just as Mr. Watts has done.
1) Is there any proof that B. Hussein Obama is NOT a secret Mohammedan?
YES! It’s called OBJECTIVE REALITY. Claiming that one’s crazy aunt’s assertion to the contrary is proof is NOT proof. Who doesn’t have a crazy aunt or two?
2) Is there any PROOF (again with the caps) of B. Hussein Obama’s actual birthplace? Yes. Again, it’s called OBJECTIVE REALITY. Ho hum. More loopy relatives. Who ain’t got a barn full of those?
3) NON SEQUITOR!
5) Once again, v-e-r-y slowly…NON SEQUITOR…
6) Huh?
7) Congresstwerps Rangel, Murtha and Dingell? That just sounds FUNNY! Ha! Ha!
8) As to Levi Johnson’s ‘stripped down, middle fingered centerfold salute to Sarah Palin’? While I can’t address your admittedly hot synopsis (I am fanning myself as I type this), when Mr. Watts’s medications wear off and his galloping senility has been conquered and your own TENUOUS SENSE OF REALITY has returned, please, please, please, let me know just what the good gentleman was TALKING ABOUT.
Lamar Deal
Waycross, Georgia
I am happy to see that the Waycross Journal Herald has dropped all pretense at journalism and has embraced its role as a humor publication. Lord knows this town could use a good laugh.
I refer of course to the proliferation of jocundity set forth by one Harrison D. Watts in his letter of November 14th, 2009. I will confess to being slow to get the joke. Such is the subtlety of the man that I assumed, naively perhaps, that Mr. Watts is mentally ill and that you, Mr. Editor, were cruelly exploiting his delusions for your own aggrandizement. I apologize for my error. It is now clear to me, upon reading Mr. Watt’s most recent screed, that Mr. Watts is a sublime humorist and that you, Mr. Editor, are a supreme judge of applied wit. Imagine my chagrin.
Nonetheless, I feel compelled to respond to the hilarious points that Mr. Watts made. Let us begin with the spelling of Barak (sic) Hussein Obama’s name. I can only surmise that either Mr. Watts thinks that misspelling someone’s name is funny and that you, Mr. Editor, agree or that someone (oops!) failed to use that pesky spell-check.
Let us, for the sake of brevity (alas, not one of Mr. Watts virtues), ignore the logical inconsistencies of the first two paragraphs. Let us also, in the spirit of Mr. Watts, feel free to USE CAPITAL LETTERS for EMPHASIS!!! (I threw in the exclamation points for free). I will address these points numerically, just as Mr. Watts has done.
1) Is there any proof that B. Hussein Obama is NOT a secret Mohammedan?
YES! It’s called OBJECTIVE REALITY. Claiming that one’s crazy aunt’s assertion to the contrary is proof is NOT proof. Who doesn’t have a crazy aunt or two?
2) Is there any PROOF (again with the caps) of B. Hussein Obama’s actual birthplace? Yes. Again, it’s called OBJECTIVE REALITY. Ho hum. More loopy relatives. Who ain’t got a barn full of those?
3) NON SEQUITOR!
5) Once again, v-e-r-y slowly…NON SEQUITOR…
6) Huh?
7) Congresstwerps Rangel, Murtha and Dingell? That just sounds FUNNY! Ha! Ha!
8) As to Levi Johnson’s ‘stripped down, middle fingered centerfold salute to Sarah Palin’? While I can’t address your admittedly hot synopsis (I am fanning myself as I type this), when Mr. Watts’s medications wear off and his galloping senility has been conquered and your own TENUOUS SENSE OF REALITY has returned, please, please, please, let me know just what the good gentleman was TALKING ABOUT.
Lamar Deal
Waycross, Georgia
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Enough
That’s it. I’ve had it. Enough. Stop it. No more B.S.
Let’s get this straight. Barack Hussein (yes, damn it, that’s his middle name) Obama is the legally elected President of the United States of America. Yes, he was born in Hawaii, which was a state in that Union when he was born. The Certificate of Live Birth on file with the State of Hawaii and the various public announcements in any and all newspapers of record are valid proof of that birth and not the result of any time traveling conspiracies to ensconce a Negro Usurper into the Office of the President of the United States of America.
And no, Barack Hussein Obama is not a Muslim, despite any number of protests by any number of idiots (and if you feel that I’m talking about you, then apparently I am) who somehow fail to understand the fact that Mr. Obama is a Christian.
And no, ACORN is not a criminal enterprise dedicated to taking over America in league with Americorps in order to transport underage prostitutes into Federal housing projects, no matter how much Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, et al and their panting fans wish it were so.
And no, repeating phrases such as “drinking the Kool-Aid” and “throwing (insert name here) under the bus” and “ditto” are not valid arguments, or even reasonably good metaphors.
Putting aside all ideology, putting aside all conspiracy theories, putting aside all politics…the Constitution of these United States of America mandates that we “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty, etc, etc…”
So please, just stop it. Stop babbling nonsense and pretending it is sense. Stop listening to those who would lie to you and have you fight against your own best interests so that they might continue to profit by taking advantage of your good nature.
For your own sake and for the sake of those you love, stop listening to these radio, television and yes, print media fools. Anyone who believes that health care in America doesn’t need drastic reform has never had a sick child, a sick parent or loved one or has a great big pile of cash or an incredibly good insurance plan.
Health care is a basic human right. Period.
There is much more that I might address on these subjects, but frankly, I am tired unto death of defending simple common sense and objective reality right now.
Thank you for your indulgence,
Lamar Deal
Let’s get this straight. Barack Hussein (yes, damn it, that’s his middle name) Obama is the legally elected President of the United States of America. Yes, he was born in Hawaii, which was a state in that Union when he was born. The Certificate of Live Birth on file with the State of Hawaii and the various public announcements in any and all newspapers of record are valid proof of that birth and not the result of any time traveling conspiracies to ensconce a Negro Usurper into the Office of the President of the United States of America.
And no, Barack Hussein Obama is not a Muslim, despite any number of protests by any number of idiots (and if you feel that I’m talking about you, then apparently I am) who somehow fail to understand the fact that Mr. Obama is a Christian.
And no, ACORN is not a criminal enterprise dedicated to taking over America in league with Americorps in order to transport underage prostitutes into Federal housing projects, no matter how much Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, et al and their panting fans wish it were so.
And no, repeating phrases such as “drinking the Kool-Aid” and “throwing (insert name here) under the bus” and “ditto” are not valid arguments, or even reasonably good metaphors.
Putting aside all ideology, putting aside all conspiracy theories, putting aside all politics…the Constitution of these United States of America mandates that we “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty, etc, etc…”
So please, just stop it. Stop babbling nonsense and pretending it is sense. Stop listening to those who would lie to you and have you fight against your own best interests so that they might continue to profit by taking advantage of your good nature.
For your own sake and for the sake of those you love, stop listening to these radio, television and yes, print media fools. Anyone who believes that health care in America doesn’t need drastic reform has never had a sick child, a sick parent or loved one or has a great big pile of cash or an incredibly good insurance plan.
Health care is a basic human right. Period.
There is much more that I might address on these subjects, but frankly, I am tired unto death of defending simple common sense and objective reality right now.
Thank you for your indulgence,
Lamar Deal
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Long time Passing
Where have all the flowers gone
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone
Long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone
They’ve gone to graveyards every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
If you’re under, oh, let’s say, forty years old you probably won’t recognize the song. It’s Pete Seeger’s “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”, an anti-war song made popular by the combined efforts of Peter, Paul and Mary and the Vietnam War.
I first heard this song as a second or third grader in the early sixties. I went to a small school in Byron, Georgia, which before Interstate 75 blew through was a very small town. There were about 300 students in the school; grades one through twelve, and the teachers would round us up in the auditorium for a sing-along about once a month or so. (It just occurred to me that younger folks may not know what a sing along was. More’s the pity.)
Mostly the songs were old patriotic standards such as Dixie and The Battle Hymn of the Republic with a few Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly songs thrown in. Other songs were anti-war and anti-segregation protest songs written by beatniks and what in a few years would be called hippies. Of course I didn’t know that at the time. I just knew it was fun and a little thrilling for everyone to be singing together.
The lyrics were handed out on mimeographed paper. Mimeography was a primitive method of making blurry purple copies using smell and ink. The smell of mimeograph ink is as close to a time machine as humans have achieved so far. I guarantee that if you are about my age one whiff of that ink will carry you right back to elementary school. Nothing smells quite like it and more than a few kids were sort of addicted to sniffing the stuff. So I hear.
Our teachers were Daughters of the Confederacy. I don’t mean that they necessarily belonged to that organization, although they may have. I mean they were that old. Their grandfathers and fathers and uncles had fought in the Civil War or as they called it “the War of Northern Aggression”.
So these relics of the Old South would lead us in songs such as “We Shall Overcome” and “Blowin’ in the Wind” and ”The Times They are A-changin’”. I can’t help but think, here in the present day, that those dropped “g”s must have really worked their English teaching nerves.
As I came to hear those songs in later years and in wildly different circumstances I came to wonder why those old ladies sang those songs in particular. In my adolescent arrogance (which in my case is just now starting to wear off) I thought they were just clueless. I got many a chortle over the years by just thinking on it.
Now that I’m older and, one hopes, wiser, I think maybe they weren’t so clueless. I’ve learned that old soldiers sometimes need to tell their stories and that children sometimes listen to them. Those old biddies had long memories and they remember those stories told by the fire on cold antebellum nights.
They might have asked, “Granddaddy, how’d you come to lose that leg?” And Granddaddy might have told them of Pickett’s Charge and Antetiem and Bull Run and of the fetid field hospitals where the only anesthetic was a rag clenched between the teeth and where the doctors were as likely to kill you as a Yankee minie ball and the stinking, ever mounting masses of the bodies of boys who would never be men fighting for a cause that would never be right…
Maybe that’s why they chose those songs. When will we ever learn?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone
Long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone
They’ve gone to graveyards every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
If you’re under, oh, let’s say, forty years old you probably won’t recognize the song. It’s Pete Seeger’s “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”, an anti-war song made popular by the combined efforts of Peter, Paul and Mary and the Vietnam War.
I first heard this song as a second or third grader in the early sixties. I went to a small school in Byron, Georgia, which before Interstate 75 blew through was a very small town. There were about 300 students in the school; grades one through twelve, and the teachers would round us up in the auditorium for a sing-along about once a month or so. (It just occurred to me that younger folks may not know what a sing along was. More’s the pity.)
Mostly the songs were old patriotic standards such as Dixie and The Battle Hymn of the Republic with a few Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly songs thrown in. Other songs were anti-war and anti-segregation protest songs written by beatniks and what in a few years would be called hippies. Of course I didn’t know that at the time. I just knew it was fun and a little thrilling for everyone to be singing together.
The lyrics were handed out on mimeographed paper. Mimeography was a primitive method of making blurry purple copies using smell and ink. The smell of mimeograph ink is as close to a time machine as humans have achieved so far. I guarantee that if you are about my age one whiff of that ink will carry you right back to elementary school. Nothing smells quite like it and more than a few kids were sort of addicted to sniffing the stuff. So I hear.
Our teachers were Daughters of the Confederacy. I don’t mean that they necessarily belonged to that organization, although they may have. I mean they were that old. Their grandfathers and fathers and uncles had fought in the Civil War or as they called it “the War of Northern Aggression”.
So these relics of the Old South would lead us in songs such as “We Shall Overcome” and “Blowin’ in the Wind” and ”The Times They are A-changin’”. I can’t help but think, here in the present day, that those dropped “g”s must have really worked their English teaching nerves.
As I came to hear those songs in later years and in wildly different circumstances I came to wonder why those old ladies sang those songs in particular. In my adolescent arrogance (which in my case is just now starting to wear off) I thought they were just clueless. I got many a chortle over the years by just thinking on it.
Now that I’m older and, one hopes, wiser, I think maybe they weren’t so clueless. I’ve learned that old soldiers sometimes need to tell their stories and that children sometimes listen to them. Those old biddies had long memories and they remember those stories told by the fire on cold antebellum nights.
They might have asked, “Granddaddy, how’d you come to lose that leg?” And Granddaddy might have told them of Pickett’s Charge and Antetiem and Bull Run and of the fetid field hospitals where the only anesthetic was a rag clenched between the teeth and where the doctors were as likely to kill you as a Yankee minie ball and the stinking, ever mounting masses of the bodies of boys who would never be men fighting for a cause that would never be right…
Maybe that’s why they chose those songs. When will we ever learn?
Monday, August 10, 2009
Down the Rabbit Hole
Among all the other nutjobbery being foisted on the less, shall we say…sophisticated among us is this new boogieman: Labor unions*. Apparently the Service Employees (and Thugs) International Union is infiltrating Town Hall Healthcare meetings to wreak havoc.
These miscreants are difficult for the average person to detect because they look just like Real Americans. But they have a secret method of identifying themselves to their evil cohorts: T-shirts with a 12”x24” SEIU logo.
They are doing their wreaking on an unsuspecting citizenry composed entirely of innocent, nonpartisan, unarmed (wink, wink), upstanding free speech advocates, who advocate free speech with baboonlike screeching.
This whole row centers around a “SEIU beatdown” in St. Louis. Just go to YouTube.com and search SEIU St. Louis and prepare to be pissed off. If you are a Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or (insert truth impaired Fox Newsmonkey of choice here) fan, you will be sickened, sickened, I say!, by the extremely graphic violence perpetrated by the Barack Hussein “Born in Kenya” Obama Chicago Community Organizer Beatdown Thugocracy and Crack House.
If you’re sane, you’ll be sickened by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or (insert truth impaired Newsmonkey of choice here). And being sane you will be excused for asking yourself, “Wha…?” If what I saw on the You Tube video of the incident is any indication, the “victim” in this case had better stay away from any angry Kindergarten kids. Seriously.
(To be continued…)
* Labor unions never flourished in the American South because they were called “Labor Unions”. Had they been called “Labor Confederacies” it is probable they would have been much more successful.
These miscreants are difficult for the average person to detect because they look just like Real Americans. But they have a secret method of identifying themselves to their evil cohorts: T-shirts with a 12”x24” SEIU logo.
They are doing their wreaking on an unsuspecting citizenry composed entirely of innocent, nonpartisan, unarmed (wink, wink), upstanding free speech advocates, who advocate free speech with baboonlike screeching.
This whole row centers around a “SEIU beatdown” in St. Louis. Just go to YouTube.com and search SEIU St. Louis and prepare to be pissed off. If you are a Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or (insert truth impaired Fox Newsmonkey of choice here) fan, you will be sickened, sickened, I say!, by the extremely graphic violence perpetrated by the Barack Hussein “Born in Kenya” Obama Chicago Community Organizer Beatdown Thugocracy and Crack House.
If you’re sane, you’ll be sickened by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or (insert truth impaired Newsmonkey of choice here). And being sane you will be excused for asking yourself, “Wha…?” If what I saw on the You Tube video of the incident is any indication, the “victim” in this case had better stay away from any angry Kindergarten kids. Seriously.
(To be continued…)
* Labor unions never flourished in the American South because they were called “Labor Unions”. Had they been called “Labor Confederacies” it is probable they would have been much more successful.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Soldiers
By Lamar Deal
All your patriotic music
And all your fifes and drums
Will not bring my dead child back to me
When all the killing’s done
All you politicians
With no children in the fray
You do not care what harm you do
To my child in harm’s way
(Chorus)
They say old soldiers never die
And I suppose that’s true
Old soldiers never die
But, God how the young ones do
All you who make a profit
Upon my child’s death
I pray that God will curse you
With that child’s dying breath
All you who would willingly
Give my child as sacrifice
Would you give your own child
Would you pay that awful price
(Chorus)
All your patriotic music
And all your fifes and drums
Will not bring my dead child back to me
When all the killing’s done
All you politicians
With no children in the fray
You do not care what harm you do
To my child in harm’s way
(Chorus)
They say old soldiers never die
And I suppose that’s true
Old soldiers never die
But, God how the young ones do
All you who make a profit
Upon my child’s death
I pray that God will curse you
With that child’s dying breath
All you who would willingly
Give my child as sacrifice
Would you give your own child
Would you pay that awful price
(Chorus)
Friday, August 7, 2009
Letter to the Waycross Journal Herald
To the Editor:
I was in attendance at the Town Hall meeting that took place on August 5. I have several comments on that subject.
First of all, although I did identify myself as a member of the Ware County Democratic Party Executive Committee, I did not intend to imply that I was representing the Party or the Executive Committee. I was merely trying to state my position vis-à-vis the healthcare legislation in question. I apologize to my fellow Democrats for appearing to speak on their behalf.
As to my question concerning an actual debate, I would like to point out that a lot of misinformation is being bandied about on this very important issue. Fox News is about as “Fair and Balanced” as a carnival roulette wheel. I think that a public debate would help clear the air on just what is and is not true. Rep. Kingston’s reply that Nancy Pelosi would not allow amendments to the bill on the floor of the House was completely beside the point.
My final question was in reference to a humorous comment that Rep. Kingston had made in his earlier comments. Speaking of insurance payments he had stated, with apparent sarcasm, “I just love paying my insurance bill. Don’t you just love paying that insurance bill?” My exact quote when I asked the question was, “…If I may? I liked what you said about loving to pay your insurance. That was good…but, and correct me if I’m wrong… Don’t we (I gestured at this point, indicating inclusion of all the taxpayers present)…pay for your insurance?”
That was a joke. But it was joke with a point. That point is, unlike millions of Americans, Rep. Kingston has insurance and has had it for some years and we’re paying for it.
How does this former insurance agent, who has been in office for nine terms (after winning his first election on a strict term limits platform) have any credibility at all on this issue?
Lamar Deal
Private Citizen
4550 Oak View Rd.
Waycross, GA 31503
912-614-5787
I was in attendance at the Town Hall meeting that took place on August 5. I have several comments on that subject.
First of all, although I did identify myself as a member of the Ware County Democratic Party Executive Committee, I did not intend to imply that I was representing the Party or the Executive Committee. I was merely trying to state my position vis-à-vis the healthcare legislation in question. I apologize to my fellow Democrats for appearing to speak on their behalf.
As to my question concerning an actual debate, I would like to point out that a lot of misinformation is being bandied about on this very important issue. Fox News is about as “Fair and Balanced” as a carnival roulette wheel. I think that a public debate would help clear the air on just what is and is not true. Rep. Kingston’s reply that Nancy Pelosi would not allow amendments to the bill on the floor of the House was completely beside the point.
My final question was in reference to a humorous comment that Rep. Kingston had made in his earlier comments. Speaking of insurance payments he had stated, with apparent sarcasm, “I just love paying my insurance bill. Don’t you just love paying that insurance bill?” My exact quote when I asked the question was, “…If I may? I liked what you said about loving to pay your insurance. That was good…but, and correct me if I’m wrong… Don’t we (I gestured at this point, indicating inclusion of all the taxpayers present)…pay for your insurance?”
That was a joke. But it was joke with a point. That point is, unlike millions of Americans, Rep. Kingston has insurance and has had it for some years and we’re paying for it.
How does this former insurance agent, who has been in office for nine terms (after winning his first election on a strict term limits platform) have any credibility at all on this issue?
Lamar Deal
Private Citizen
4550 Oak View Rd.
Waycross, GA 31503
912-614-5787
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The Other Side
This is a letter from Barbara Griffin to the editor of the Waycross Journal Herald in Waycross, Georgia, sent on August 1, 2009. Since the letter probably won't be published, we present it here in a feature which we call "The Other Side"
To the Editor:
It is with continual amazement that I read all the columns and editorials denouncing a health care reform plan that has not yet been created. All of these writers, including you Mr. Editor, are predicting doom and gloom without even knowing what plans will eventually be agreed upon. I have a small measure of faith that the legislators and those from whom they are getting their information are more informed and judicious in their opinions and planning than the op-ed writers in this publication, as well as the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity and Beck.
The primary objection raised by conservative talk show pundits and right wing writers is that government intrusion, or “creeping socialism” will destroy our health care system and possibly our way of life. To those great thinkers I would like to point out that the most efficient health care insurance we have now is a government plan, Medicare. Imperfect though it may be, it is a lifeline for both the older population and the disabled. No matter how hard we work or well-insured we are during our working years, once we retire most of us have no other options. As far as the government dictating to doctors what type of care we may have, managed care and HMO policies are already doing that.
The other main argument is that the cost of overhauling the healthcare system as well as instituting a public option will destroy our economy. Our President’s main point all along has been that a) our economy has been on a destructive course for the past 8 years and b) if the healthcare system is not dramatically changed, it can only worsen the economy. Many proposals for improving the cost effectiveness of healthcare are being considered during the legislative planning sessions. A recent paper by the Urban Institute, a non-partisan economic and social policy research organization provides an overview of many of the measures being reviewed (www.urban.org).
There is no one plan that can please everyone. The vested interests of high premium insurance companies are certainly at stake, as well as possibly the incomes of medical professionals. The primary benefit will accrue to the uninsured and the underinsured. However, it will also benefit those institutions that presently have a percentage of their patients with little or no coverage and therefore must lose payments for many of the services provided. With a public option, the onus of small businesses having to provide health insurance can be eliminated.
As a professional within the health care system, I deal with unsolvable problems on a daily basis. It is my job to translate complicated health and drug insurance options and then explain why certain services or medications are not available to people who have just enough to get by. Many studies have shown that our country’s health care ranks significantly lower than all other industrialized countries (#37 according to the World Health Organization), and costs considerably more as well (Commonwealth Fund National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, 2008). In a country with our power, wealth and knowledge that is inexcusable. It’s time we offer our citizens the quality of healthcare they deserve.
Barbara Griffin, Waycross
Here is the Editorial Rejoinder:
EDITOR'S NOTE: It's interesting that you cite Medicare as a "lifeline" to older Americans. It's my understanding that ObamaCare will dismantle the Medicare program and place its participants in line for health care services.
Surprisingly, the WJH did publish the letter. Here are some comments.
All I can say about the editor's response is that he must have attended (not graduated from) the Sean Hannity School of Journalism.
Your letter was well-written and reasoned, and it is sad that something that you obviously put time and effort into was brushed aside with such a weak retort.
It is the close-minded thinking of people like our esteemed editor, Mr. Williams, that has this country scared and turning on itself with regards to the economy. The same conservatives that took great advantage of the economy while it was booming under the half-closed eyes of W and his crew, are crying foul and screaming for change, while denouncing the very people who are trying to bring about the needed changes.
It is with unfortunate fear that I read or listen to the news reports now, because I know that what I will hear will be, at best, a partial truth, on average, a great misrepresentation of facts, and at worst, outright lies.
No one questions that our economy is currently in great peril. What is questioned, and rightly so, is the proper way to improve it. One reason I am very thankful that Obama is our president is that he has been very upfront and honest about his lack of certainty of the "right way to go". What he has said repeatedly is more to the effect of "get the people who know this system and its flaws to come up with something better for everyone". One key to being a great leader (and we should all hope that Obama will be one) is not necessarily having the right answers, but having the wisdom to find the people who do, and listen to them. From every speech I have heard Obama give, I have gleaned nothing if not that he is very much relying on "experts" to come up with the best plan, and Congress to pass it into law. How is that Socialism? How is that worsening the economy?
Anyway, that's my rant, for what it's worth. I have to watch the Daily Show and the Colbert Report to unwind after hearing all the negativity I deal with every day.
Your loving son,
Joshua
To the Editor:
It is with continual amazement that I read all the columns and editorials denouncing a health care reform plan that has not yet been created. All of these writers, including you Mr. Editor, are predicting doom and gloom without even knowing what plans will eventually be agreed upon. I have a small measure of faith that the legislators and those from whom they are getting their information are more informed and judicious in their opinions and planning than the op-ed writers in this publication, as well as the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity and Beck.
The primary objection raised by conservative talk show pundits and right wing writers is that government intrusion, or “creeping socialism” will destroy our health care system and possibly our way of life. To those great thinkers I would like to point out that the most efficient health care insurance we have now is a government plan, Medicare. Imperfect though it may be, it is a lifeline for both the older population and the disabled. No matter how hard we work or well-insured we are during our working years, once we retire most of us have no other options. As far as the government dictating to doctors what type of care we may have, managed care and HMO policies are already doing that.
The other main argument is that the cost of overhauling the healthcare system as well as instituting a public option will destroy our economy. Our President’s main point all along has been that a) our economy has been on a destructive course for the past 8 years and b) if the healthcare system is not dramatically changed, it can only worsen the economy. Many proposals for improving the cost effectiveness of healthcare are being considered during the legislative planning sessions. A recent paper by the Urban Institute, a non-partisan economic and social policy research organization provides an overview of many of the measures being reviewed (www.urban.org).
There is no one plan that can please everyone. The vested interests of high premium insurance companies are certainly at stake, as well as possibly the incomes of medical professionals. The primary benefit will accrue to the uninsured and the underinsured. However, it will also benefit those institutions that presently have a percentage of their patients with little or no coverage and therefore must lose payments for many of the services provided. With a public option, the onus of small businesses having to provide health insurance can be eliminated.
As a professional within the health care system, I deal with unsolvable problems on a daily basis. It is my job to translate complicated health and drug insurance options and then explain why certain services or medications are not available to people who have just enough to get by. Many studies have shown that our country’s health care ranks significantly lower than all other industrialized countries (#37 according to the World Health Organization), and costs considerably more as well (Commonwealth Fund National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, 2008). In a country with our power, wealth and knowledge that is inexcusable. It’s time we offer our citizens the quality of healthcare they deserve.
Barbara Griffin, Waycross
Here is the Editorial Rejoinder:
EDITOR'S NOTE: It's interesting that you cite Medicare as a "lifeline" to older Americans. It's my understanding that ObamaCare will dismantle the Medicare program and place its participants in line for health care services.
Surprisingly, the WJH did publish the letter. Here are some comments.
All I can say about the editor's response is that he must have attended (not graduated from) the Sean Hannity School of Journalism.
Your letter was well-written and reasoned, and it is sad that something that you obviously put time and effort into was brushed aside with such a weak retort.
It is the close-minded thinking of people like our esteemed editor, Mr. Williams, that has this country scared and turning on itself with regards to the economy. The same conservatives that took great advantage of the economy while it was booming under the half-closed eyes of W and his crew, are crying foul and screaming for change, while denouncing the very people who are trying to bring about the needed changes.
It is with unfortunate fear that I read or listen to the news reports now, because I know that what I will hear will be, at best, a partial truth, on average, a great misrepresentation of facts, and at worst, outright lies.
No one questions that our economy is currently in great peril. What is questioned, and rightly so, is the proper way to improve it. One reason I am very thankful that Obama is our president is that he has been very upfront and honest about his lack of certainty of the "right way to go". What he has said repeatedly is more to the effect of "get the people who know this system and its flaws to come up with something better for everyone". One key to being a great leader (and we should all hope that Obama will be one) is not necessarily having the right answers, but having the wisdom to find the people who do, and listen to them. From every speech I have heard Obama give, I have gleaned nothing if not that he is very much relying on "experts" to come up with the best plan, and Congress to pass it into law. How is that Socialism? How is that worsening the economy?
Anyway, that's my rant, for what it's worth. I have to watch the Daily Show and the Colbert Report to unwind after hearing all the negativity I deal with every day.
Your loving son,
Joshua
Monday, July 27, 2009
Nelson Greene Follies!
Hey, check out these short clips of our last show!
Go to: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nelson+greene+follies&search_type=&aq=f
Go to: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nelson+greene+follies&search_type=&aq=f
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Radio Dream
I want my very own radio show
Before radio is absolutely obsolete
So I can inflict my tastes
Upon an unsuspecting world
I can’t play an instrument
Hell I can barely play a radio
But I know what I like
And I know where I want to go
I’ll be happy to share
The occasional joke
Or a hempen toke of holy smoke
With like minded folk
For old time’s sake
And a profound observation or two
At two or three in the caffeine break of dawn
Stay tuned
We’ll be right back after a word from our sponsor
Before radio is absolutely obsolete
So I can inflict my tastes
Upon an unsuspecting world
I can’t play an instrument
Hell I can barely play a radio
But I know what I like
And I know where I want to go
I’ll be happy to share
The occasional joke
Or a hempen toke of holy smoke
With like minded folk
For old time’s sake
And a profound observation or two
At two or three in the caffeine break of dawn
Stay tuned
We’ll be right back after a word from our sponsor
The Meaning of Life
To sit in the almost dark of an Interstate motel room
With a bottle of whiskey and a Camel cigarette
Lit with the matches the underpaid maid
Left in the room with the clean towels and the change of linen
That will never see innocence again
And marvel at the perfect architecture of her hip
This is the meaning of life
The seven o’clock continental breakfast
Cold stale cereal and hot stale coffee
Made beige with the ersatz half and half
Brought to the breakfast bar by the underpaid lackey
Who will never see any continent other than the one in which he is currently stuck
By sorry circumstance
Probably somewhere in Texas
Load up the car
Rub the grainy sleep out of red tired eyes
Just like in the commercials
We got about a hundred million miles yet to go
To do whatever it is that we do
To pay whatever bills we owe
This is the meaning of life
With a bottle of whiskey and a Camel cigarette
Lit with the matches the underpaid maid
Left in the room with the clean towels and the change of linen
That will never see innocence again
And marvel at the perfect architecture of her hip
This is the meaning of life
The seven o’clock continental breakfast
Cold stale cereal and hot stale coffee
Made beige with the ersatz half and half
Brought to the breakfast bar by the underpaid lackey
Who will never see any continent other than the one in which he is currently stuck
By sorry circumstance
Probably somewhere in Texas
Load up the car
Rub the grainy sleep out of red tired eyes
Just like in the commercials
We got about a hundred million miles yet to go
To do whatever it is that we do
To pay whatever bills we owe
This is the meaning of life
Friday, July 3, 2009
Jane
Lamar Deal
Jane wakes up
She takes a spike
She drives it in her arm
Her eyes roll back
Her jaw goes slack
Prepares to buy the farm
If Jane should die before she wakes
That’s just a chance that Janie takes
And every day is a brand new day for Jane
Jane goes to bed
She rests her head
Prepares to go to sleep
She says a prayer
Into the air
The Lord her soul to keep
If Jane should wake before she dies
You’ll see the pain in Janie’s eyes
And every day is a brand new day for Jane
Every day
And every minute
And everything that’s in it
Every day is a brand new day for Jane
The pain in Jane
Lies mainly in her brain
And every day’s
A brand new day for Jane
Sunday, June 14, 2009
First Amendment Blues
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Politicians, lawyers and philosophers have argued about what these words mean for more than two centuries and vast libraries have been filled with books trying to explain and interpret these 46 words. The fact is the First Amendment is as vague and ambiguous as a lover’s promise. That’s why they’ve been arguing about it all these years.
The 46 words of the First Amendment can be broken down into six basic parts. Let’s have a look at each of them in turn.
1. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion …” That seems at first glance to be fairly straightforward, yet many laws respecting the establishment of religion have been passed and subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court. Tax exempt status, anti-polygamy laws, child abuse prohibitions and much more; it’s a lengthy list. Religious fundamentalists of every stripe have used this amendment to justify all manner of evil. Generally this is taken to mean that you should be required by law to believe whatever interpretation of whatever revealed truth that this or that religion thinks you should believe. What this phrase really means is that there can be no mandated
2. “…or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” “It’s freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.” That’s the mantra. Freedom of religion means nothing unless it leaves one the option of not believing. Let me believe whatever I believe, but don’t inflict your beliefs on me. I’ll happily do the same for you. I’ll even grant the possibility that you may be right, if you’ll extend me the same courtesy.
3. “…or abridging the freedom of speech…”. What these words mean is: I can tell you what I think they mean. Although it is often argued that freedom of speech refers only to political speech a valid argument can be made that at some level all speech is political. That does not mean that anyone is obliged to agree. Feel free to argue. Any idea worth having is worth defending. That being said, you do not have the right to slander anyone (to slander means to knowingly speak an untruth). Nor do you have the right to yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater, unless there actually is a fire in that crowded theater. Then it’s your duty to yell “Fire!”. Does “freedom of speech” mean that students in a public school can be compelled to pray or that religious dogma can be taught in lieu of science? No, but it isn’t really spelled out very clearly. This is the Catch 22 that keeps Constitutional scholars and lawyers so busy year after year.
4. “…or of the press…” No one is obliged to print or broadcast on radio, television or Internet or otherwise disseminate any opinion of mine, yours or anyone else’s. What that means is that if you do have an outlet for whatever jackass brayings you may want to throw out there, you can say pretty much what you want to, so long as it’s not libelous (to libel is to knowingly publish or broadcast an untruth; it’s the written, printed or broadcast equivalent of slander). Some folks, lawyers for weaselly corporate types for instance, insist that free speech goes too far if it causes material harm. The whole point of freedom of speech and of the press is to expose the malefactors of society, be they businesspersons, agents of government, clergy or whomever. This is not to say that there won’t be consequences. There may well be. Free speech tends to piss people off. You could lose your job or be denied academic tenure or be socially ostracized or threatened or beaten up by some disgruntled individual or any number of other unpleasant events. All the Constitution guarantees is that the government cannot legally bar you from saying your piece.
5. “…or of the right of the people to peaceably assemble…” Nothing is more frightening to a tyranny than an unruly mob except a quiet and deliberate mob. It was just such a mob that gathered in
6. “…and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” You can petition the government all you want and then some, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get redressed. Basically this means that you won’t get punished by the government for asking. Any other consequences that may ensue are a whole different matter.
Freedom ain’t for wimps. It’s hard work and study and discipline; all those things that kept me from making the Honor Roll year after year.
All this is only my opinion, of course. I’m not a lawyer or a scholar or even particularly educated, but I have mulled the whole thing over at some length. That, again, in my opinion, is a worthwhile exercise in itself.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Sick and Tired
We are sick of hearing Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity spout lies and nonsense, quoting each other and stirring up the proverbial s---. These and their ilk decry President Obama as “elitist” even as they rake in the millions. They pretend to speak for the average Joe as they shill for Wall Street. They claim to be the last bastion of free speech as they shout down or hang up on those who challenge their chicanery. They screen their calls and allow only the least articulate of their critics to speak.
And we are tired of hearing otherwise sane and decent people regurgitating the vile spewings of these spinmeisters. Every day several emails are forwarded to me with what I am sure the senders regard as patriotic but which reek of racism.
Let us make ourselves perfectly clear. On September 11, 2001 we were as shocked and disgusted as anyone in
But that does not mean that all 1.2 billion Muslims are terrorists, any more than Timothy McVeigh’s terrorist crime means that all Christians are terrorists.
That does not make the Quran an evil book. That does not make torture okay, nor does calling torture “enhanced interrogation techniques” make the practice any less vile. That does not make the epithet “raghead” any less racist than “nigger”, “kike”, “dago”; ad nauseum. The vile things being said about Muslims have been said about Jews and African-Americans and the Irish et al. History teaches us that this is the root of genocide.
And that does not mean that our saying or writing these words make us any less patriotic than anyone else.
Lamar Deal
Barbara Griffin
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Dear Cousin Barack,
You may not recall me right off hand but I am your Cousin several times removed sometimes forcibly like that time I got throwed out of the Obama reunion that one time for being drunked up and all. I really was not all that drunk it was probably the weed that made it look like I was. Drunk that is. Anyway I am from the White side of the family but I don’t hold anything against any body no matter what their Color as long as you are not a Mexican. Or a Arab but only if you was to go all jihad on me. That would not be good for no one. But I digress.
How are you and the missus and the girls doing? I hope you are doing well. We are fine. Well almost. The wife (my wife not yours. Ha! Ha!) come down with a bad case of the flu on account of she did not get a flu shot like I told her a million times to get it, but does she listen to me? Heck no, but she could not because she has to work 2 jobs just to afford the gas to get to her third job and so she is a little pressed for time. I offered to go and get the shot for her but she said it don’t work that way. I myself went to the Doctor the other day and he said that I am as healthy as a Horse and he should know because he is a veterinarian or a vegetarian I get them two mixed up.
Speaking of jobs I hear that you have a new job in Washington, D.C. the Nation’s Capital not the State which as I am sure you know is a whole different bag of Potatoes. I hear that it is a government Job that you got which is good because it is near to impossible to get fired from one of those. Watch out for them politicians they are a slick bunch and will skin you quicker than I can skin a rabbit which is pretty dang quick as it has reached the point in these parts where you had better know how to skin something or there wont be no meat on the table.
Anyway, this job of yours. Are they looking to put any body else on the payroll or are all the good jobs taken? I am in the Market for something in a new line of work for me, which would pretty much be any work at all. The old Ball and Chain that I am Married to might get off my back about her working all them jobs if I got a job too. But probably not. Once she gets a thing on her mind you cant pry it loose with a Crow Bar and she has got it in her Mind that I ought to be the Breadwinner in this house hold. I ast her has she ever heard of Equal Rights for Women and she said she would be happy if I was to Equal things up around here by getting up off my lazy Butt and getting a job forgive my French. Some nerve huh.
Well that is all I have to say for now. I hope to see you at the next Reunion if they will lift the Restraining Order. Write back and let me know if there is some job or another available up your way. Maybe you could pull a few strings Ha! Ha! as if any member of the Obama family will ever amount to much. That was a good one I got more just as good so if you meet any body up there in Washington who needs a Speech Writer you just let me know.
Your Cousin Lamar
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