BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

Ron Reagan recaps the year in right wing buffoonery, highlghting such buffoons as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Michael Savage. Listen below: (AUDIO) - The Ron Reagan Show - Air America

In 1776, patriotism meant a lot more than waving a flag. It still does. A look at local patriots, and readers' suggestions of ways to support America's ideals. By Fiona Morgan These are the times that try men's souls," wrote Thomas Paine in The Crisis, a pamphlet that stirred the withering revolutionary army to victory in the winter of 1776. In Paine's day, support for American freedom was an act of dissent. Fearing the same excesses of centralized government that they had experienced under British rule, the newly independent Americans created a Bill of Rights. Those 10 amendments to the Constitution guaranteed that the federal government would not do things as the English had done--there would be no secret detentions, no imprisonment without a fair public trial, no unfair searches and seizures of property, and no squelching of peaceful expression. Today, patriotism often feels to some of us like an odd and uncomfortable thing to embrace. Actions that draw the outr...

by GARY L. KRUPP A recent papal decree moved Pope Pius XII, among others, closer to sainthood -- returning to the forefront the controversy over his role in World War II and the Holocaust. Growing up Jewish in Queens, I never dreamt I would be defending the man I once believed to be a Nazi sympathizer and an anti-Semite. But my work since 2002 with my wife, Meredith, and the Pave the Way Foundation has led me to this point. We founded Pave the Way to identify and eliminate nontheological obstacles between religions. Thus, despite our early prejudices, we decided to investigate the papacy of Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli), one of today's greatest sources of hurt between Jews and Catholics. After years of research in documentary evidence and eyewitness testimony, what we found shocked us. We found nothing but praise and positive news articles concerning Pius' actions from every Jewish, Israeli and political leader of the era who lived through the war. A few articles in the postwar er...

by Andy Borowitz Responding to the botched terrorism attempt on board Delta flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit, the Department of Homeland Security announced today that it was considering a new rule that would force passengers to fly naked. "They won't be able to hide any powders or liquids, and they'll speed right through security," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. "This is a win-win." Anticipating complaints from chilly travelers, she said that the Homeland Security Dept. would force the airlines to institute a " Snugglies for Purchase " plan once the aircraft doors are closed. Ms. Napolitano expressed no embarrassment at having ignored a warning from the Delta terror suspect's dad made weeks before the terror attempt: "Our official policy is that we have to be warned by both the mom and dad before taking it seriously." SOURCE

Using Sex for Political Messaging by Thia Lawson For me, this video reaches new heights in the creepy use of women’s sexuality. IF YOU ARE ON AN AGGREGATOR - CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS VIDEO Huh? Could this be any creepier? Does this remind anyone else of the recent creepy Reebok ad ? I know I keep using creepy as a descriptor, but until the hair on the back of my neck goes down, that’s the best I can do. CREEPY! This video is degrading to both women and men. The implication is that women are too stupid, lazy, or uninformed to argue issues and explain their position - better they just show their cleavage and threaten to withhold sex. In turn, Rock The Vote thinks men are so shallow and desperate for sex that they not only have no interest in what a woman has to say, but will change their most deeply held beliefs if you dazzle them with cleavage and the possibility of a little girl on girl action. Is there any place in the political debate where women aren’t either used as mindless sexua...

by Janet Conner I've been a bit of a Scrooge this year. I announced to my family and friends that I was bowing out of the whole present obligation thing. One brother said, "Tough, I'm sending you a present anyway." The other said, "Thank God, I'm not doing presents either." If it weren't for credit card miles, my son wouldn't even be getting a present. I've planned no humongous dinners, no holiday get-togethers, no eggnog, no Christmas cookies, no red and green candles. But I did do one thing: I got a tree. It killed me to drop $70, but I had to have it. I can't explain it, but I love a real Christmas tree. I love the little white lights — the more, the merrier. I love the glass icicles I carefully position in front of the lights. They remind me of the beauty of the real thing back in Wisconsin. Most of all, I love reliving the history — my history — as I take out each ornament: the hand-painted porcelain German bell my acting friend A...

ObamaCare: NO EXIT by SCOTT GOTTLIEB Perhaps the most common question I'm asked about ObamaCare is: "Will I be able to buy my way out of it?" The answer is: "Not unless you're very rich." The plan before the Senate creates a set of 50 state-based insurance "exchanges" that are established as markets for health plans. Consumers must buy policies from their employers or through the exchanges — but, either way, their choice of coverage is limited to one of four basic insurance plans that the government sanctions. Private insurers will still compete to offer policies but must model their coverage on one of these four templates. In short, the Senate bill explicitly standardizes health benefits and then establishes elaborate mechanisms (including subsidies and penalties) to pay for them. Here's the rub: While these four plans vary from low- to high-cost options, the benefits offered under them are pretty much the same. The difference between the chea...

from (major HAT TIP!) DEADENDERS: When you don’t listen to 75% of your state you know somethings fishy. Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.), the final Democratic holdout on health care, announced to his caucus Saturday morning that he would support the Senate reform bill, clearing the way for final passage by Christmas. “We’re there,” said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), as he headed into a special meeting to outline the deal. Democratic leaders spent days trying to hammer out a deal with Nelson, and worked late Friday night with him on abortion coverage language that had proved the major stumbling block. Nelson also secured other favors for his home state. Under the new abortion provisions, states can opt out of allowing plans to cover abortion in insurance exchanges the bill would set up to serve individuals who don’t have employer coverage. Plus, enrollees in plans that do cover abortion procedures would pay for the coverage with separate checks – one for abortion, one for rest of health-care service...

(I don't fully agree, but this thought-provoking article makes points I myself have thought about many times in the last 10 years) A psychologist asks: Have consumerism, suburbanization and a malevolent corporate-government partnership so beaten us down that we no longer have the will to save ourselves? Why We've Stopped Fighting Back Against the Forces of Oppression By Bruce E. Levine Can people become so broken that truths of how they are being screwed do not "set them free" but instead further demoralize them? Has such a demoralization happened in the United States? Do some totalitarians actually want us to hear how we have been screwed because they know that humiliating passivity in the face of obvious oppression will demoralize us even further? What forces have created a demoralized, passive, dis-couraged U.S. population? Can anything be done to turn this around? Can people become so broken that truths of how they are being screwed do not "set them free...

from WONKETTE: Former Republican Missouri House Speaker Beats Up, Chokes Mistress During Sex In an incident in which the perpetrator should have considered that he would become a household name on Wonkette before going through with it, former Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton is facing assault charges for allegedly beating the shit out of his mistress while having sex. His ladyfriend had not uttered the “safe word,” probably because Jetton was beating her unconscious. The Scott County court clerk confirms a felony complaint has been filed against former Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton for an incident that allegedly took place Nov. 15 in Sikeston, Mo. [...] The complaint alleges Jetton “recklessly caused serious physical injury to ——- by hitting her on the head, and choking her resulting in unconsciousness and the loss of the function of part of her body.” UPDATE, 3:50: The affidavit attached to the probably cause statement alleges Jetton went to the home of the victim No...

The older I get, the more I realize that one of the big things I have missed a lot of in my life - is love. Not just the word but the feeling . The unconditional feeling. Oh, I have given it out aplenty and been slapped in the face with it. Part of it because I am a magnet for pathological types. I was raised by one so this makes unfortunate sense. When the Beatles said "the love you make is equal to the love you take" they didn't have me in mind. According to psychologist Ilan Shrira, narcissists are more likely to have a history of short-term sexual conquests compared to people who consider commitment the most important aspect of a relationship. "Narcissists have a heightened sense of sexuality, but they tend to view sex very differently than other people do," said Shrira. "They see sexuality more in terms of power, influence and as something daring, in contrast to people with low narcissistic qualities who associated sex more with caring and love....

I hate liars. Honestly HATE them. What people who lie to me are saying is that I wasn't worth the truth. My father, of blessed memory, told me all the time that I had the "curse of being his daughter." Which meant being "unable to lie or being governed by the truth." He got that right. I can't lie even when it would be in my best interest. I was a good actor but in real life I am a terrible liar. I just can't keep things straight if I lie. So why bother? And my Nana, of blessed memory told me, "no one likes a truth teller." Right again. Judaism has a lot to say about truth and lying: ...Dishonesty and deception are serious crimes in Jewish law. The Torah explicitly demands that one should "Distance himself from a false matter." There are, however, situations in which Jewish law permits or even demands that one engage in deception... Recently, a psychology study found that the average person lies about 150 to 200 times per day. A...