News Roundup for 1/4/10

Union Member

-Headline of the day-
"Limbaugh's 'Dandy' Health Care Provided By Union Nurses."

Remember how talk radio blowhard Rush Limbaugh thought he was having a heart attack in Hawaii and then found out he wasn't, thus preserving a two decade run of being wrong about everything?

Seems he took his experience as a bazillionaire celebrity with what he thought was a health problem as typical of the sort of experience we all have. We could spend all day talking about what's wrong with this line of thinking, but let's not because it's so freakin' obvious, OK?

Let's instead focus on Hawaii's healthcare laws. Seems that Hawaii is everything that people like Limbaugh think is wrong with current healthcare reform plans. According to the report, "the state has previously passed a measure mandating that employers cover full-time employees, a provision that is similar to those being considered in Congress as part of comprehensive health care reform. SEIU's blog notes that some of the health care reform measures before Congress wouldn't even affect Hawaii..."

In addition to that, the anti-labor Limbaugh will be unhappy to learn that "Hawaii has one of the greatest percentages of organized workers of any state and also had the highest percentage of organized RNs."

So what did Limbaugh have to say about this anti-free market, socialist nightmare of a healthcare system? "The treatment I received here was the best that the world has to offer," he said.

There ya go. It's still unclear what actually happened to Rush, but the evidence shows it's turned him into a commie. (Think Progress)


-He picked the right network-
FOX News' Brit Hume is kind of a dick. While the network was discussing the hugely important Tiger Woods scandal, on which the fate of this very nation depends, Brit decided that Tiger has to become a Christian or people won't start liking him again.

See if you can follow this... this... Oh, what the hell, let's call it "reasoning":

Tiger Woods will recover as a golfer. Whether he can recover as a person, I think, is a very open question. And it's a tragic situation... But the Tiger Woods that emerges once the news value dies out of this scandal, the extent to which he can recover, seems to me to depend on his faith.

He's said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, "Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world."

So, Buddhism is just fine -- until you get into some sort of trouble, then you've got to switch to the Jesus-people. Because they believe in redemption... OK, so it's a different kind of redemption in an entirely different context, but let's not nitpick here. Hume thinks it's important for everyone to know that any religion but Christianity sucks.

Will Hume be forced to back down? "If this wasn't FOX News, I'd take 'Tomorrow, 2 pm' in the when-will-Hume-apologize pool," comments Media Matters' Jamison Foser. "But it is FOX, so 'the Fifth of Never' seems like a safer choice."

Good point, they've got O'Reilly, Hannity, and Beck saying crazy, offensive shit on a daily basis -- and that's just the short list. They probably figure no one will even notice the extra dose of crazy. (Politics Daily)


-Bonus HotD-
"Idaho Candidate Who Joked About Hunting Obama Now Says God Can Save Constitution."

Here's a fun quote:


To think that we can save the Constitution without God's help when the government of the United States is corrupt is absurdity. We are in America's second Revolutionary War to save our freedom, which we paid for with blood. We need God's help and I'm not ashamed to ask for it.


That's Idaho Republican gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell, who some might remember as the fuckwit "joked" about hunting President Obama.

For the record, this is one dangerously crazy and stupid man.

Just sayin'. (Talking Points Memo)