Month: July 2009

FOR PROFIT HEALTH “CARE”

July 27, 2009: J. Rosencrantz


The basic problem with the U.S. healthcare system is as clear as can be: Private insurance companies are corporations motivated exclusively by profits for their shareholders, not by concern for the well being of their “customers”.

And while the basic facts of this broken U.S. system are impossible to hide – 43.6 million citizens are uninsured, those with insurance are routinely denied care, when insurers deign to pay for treatment, they interfere with doctor expertise – mainstream corporate media and insurance company bitches in Congress have done what they can to silence advocates of the most appropriate solution to these problems: A Universal, Single Payer system.

ABC, for example, went as far as to dis-invite Obama’s longtime former doctor David Scheiner from it’s prime-time forum. (You can hear Dr. Scheiner rail against his former patient in this spirited interview.)

Obama’s former doctor may not get to ask him questions anymore, but executives from private insurance companies get to have long private discussions with him. In another instance of CONTINUITY, the Obama White House has refused to release a FOIA request for a list of health industry executives who have been visiting the President to advise him on health reform. As a candidate, Obama promised transparency and said that he would invite C-SPAN cameras in to document the healthcare reform process. Now, he invokes Bush arguments and practices opacity.

Candidate Obama was a proponent of Single Payer, but now Mr. Yes We Can thinks it is politically impossible – despite the fact that polls suggest a majority of U.S. Americans are open to the idea.

Last Tuesday, Obama admitted that Single Payer would be the only way to cover everybody, but healthcare reform is now in the hands of Congress, where they work out the details of a “public option” that is toothless enough to protect private insurers from their overdue demise…

Here is a discussion about healthcare reform on Bill Moyers’ most recent Journal.

And here is the actor Ronald Reagan on the subject:

HIJAB MARTYR

July 19, 2009: J. Rosencrantz

This woman, Marwa Al-Sherbini, was stabbed to death in a German courtroom in front of her 3 year old son. She was about to testify against her attacker, who she had accused of calling her a “terrorist” and a “whore” because she was wearing her hijab in a German park.

When Sherbini’s husband tried to stop the attack, the police shot him. She was three months pregnant.

She is now mourned in Egypt as the “hijab martyr”, and in Egypt her death has become a rallying point for resentment of the west.

The story is also covered here, here, here, and there is a heartfelt video here.

WAR CRIMINALS LIVE LONG AND PROSPER

July 10, 2009: J. Rosencrantz


Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, a key architect of the Vietnam War, has died at the ripe old age of 93.

McNamara was a world class war criminal. During his life, he helped to kill literally millions of people – Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian and American.

Alexander Cockburn reviews his career here, and notes that McNamara was also instrumental in motivating the Cold War nuclear arms race, green-lighting the Six Day War, and running the World Bank, by means of which dictators were supported, forests cut down, people displaced and nations indebted.

I highly recommend listening to this conversation between historians and journalists regarding McNamara’s life and legacy. Especially interesting is the lessons they take from McNamara’s tempered expressions of regret, as expressed in his book In Retrospect and in Errol Morris’ doc, Fog of War. And here is Chomsky’s take on McNamara’s apology.

And this reporter takes pleasure in reading McNamara’s obituary, and relates an amusing story about a “hippie artist” that was so enraged upon seeing McNamara enjoying his impunity on a Martha’s Vinyard ferry that he tried to throw him overboard.

CONTINUITIES 4 (OF JULY)

July 4, 2009: J. Rosencrantz

To commemorate the 4th of July, here is another update on some of the many ways Obama has proven continuous with Bush:

Civil Liberties
Foreign Policy
Environment
Transparency
Sense of Humor
Gay Rights

And for the fuck of it, here is Howard Zinn questioning the necessity and value of the U.S. War of Independence.

(And btw – the Bush/Obama digital mash-up face is not mine. I just jacked it and placed it in the 4th of July context. I would credit, but I can’t find the original artist. And here is another good image on the same topic.)

GOLPISTAS EN HONDURAS

July 1, 2009: J. Rosencrantz

On Sunday, in another instance of the conflict between neo-liberals and Bolivarians in South and Central Ameica, democratically elected Honduran President Manuel Zelaya (above right, in white shirt) was arrested and sent into exile in a military coup.

The Obama Administration has joined the European Union and the Organization of American States in condemning the coup, but, as the NYT points out:

The United States has a history of backing rival political factions and instigating coups in the region, and administration officials have found themselves on the defensive in recent days, dismissing repeated allegations by President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela that the C.I.A. may have had a hand in the president’s removal.
…
The United States has long had strong ties to the Honduras military and helps train Honduran military forces. Those close ties have put the Obama administration in a difficult position, opening it up to accusations that it may have turned a blind eye to the pending coup. Administration officials strongly deny the charges, and Mr. Obama’s quick response to the Honduran president’s removal has differed sharply from the actions of the Bush administration, which in 2002 offered a rapid, tacit endorsement of a short-lived coup against Mr. Chávez.

Coup leaders General Romeo Vasquez and General Luis Javier Prince Suazo (above left) have both studied at the infamous U.S. based School of the Americas, now re-branded Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.

Moreover, the U.S. has a significant military presence in Honduras. Rebel Reports points out that Joint Task Force Bravo is stationed at Soto Cano Air Force Base, Honduras (pictured above left). The U.S. is also a top trading partner for Honduras.

Despite condemning the coup, according to DN, the Obama Administration “is refusing to apply any tangible pressure on Honduras. After Obama spoke, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US isn’t ready to formally declare the ouster a military coup, which would force a cut off of millions of dollars in aid. Clinton also refused to explicitly commit to seeking the democratically elected Zelaya’s return, saying only the US wants to restore what she called “full democratic and constitutional order.”

Ostensibly, the coup was a reaction by the military, the legislative and the judicial branches of the Honduran government against Zelaya’s attempt to carry out a non-binding referendum to extend his term of office.

Here is an essay that gets into the legalese and argues that things are not so simple. Counterpunch has an excellent essay by Nikolas Kozloff placing the coup in the larger context of Zelaya’s move to the left as well as his criticisms of U.S. foriegn policy. Today’s broadcast of Democracy Now focuses on the coup in Honduras, and includes an interview with Kozloff.

Golpistas en Honduras have until this weekend to restore deposed president Zelaya to power, or face suspension from the Organization of American States, and Chavez has threatened military action if his envoy to Honduras is kidnapped or killed.

Look at raw photos of the clashes here and here and here.