Photo credit: New York magazine
On Monday night, in what may be the longest special comment yet given by MSNBC host Keith Olbermann, the liberal anchor blasted members of Congress for taking insurers' campaign contributions by the millions, then turning around and lying about President Obama's proposed reforms.
Olbermann begins:
Finally tonight, as promised, a special comment on health care reform in this country, and in particular the public insurance option. In March of 1911, after a wave of minor factory fires in New York City, the city's fire commissioner issued emergency rules about fire prevention, protection, escape, sprinklers. The city's manufacturers association in turn called an emergency meeting to attack the fire commissioner and his interference with commerce. The new rules were delayed.
Just days later, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. The door to the fire escape had been bolted shut to keep the employees from leaving prematurely. 150 of those employees died, many by jumping from the seventh floor windows to avoid the flames. Firefighters setting up their ladders literally had to dodge the falling, often burning, bodies of women.
This was the spirit of the American corporation then. This is the spirit of the American corporation now. It is what the corporation when it is left alone for weak. You know the drill - we all know the drill. You get something done at a doctor's, at a dentist, at an emergency room and the bill is in your hands before the pain medication wears off. And if you are one of the lucky ones and you have insurance, you submit the endless paperwork, and no matter whether it is insurance through your company or your union or your non-profit or on your own dime, you then get your turn at the roulette wheel.
How much of it is the insurance company going to pay this time? How much of it is the insurance company... how much is this giant corporation going to give you back...?
You know the answer.
At the end of his lengthy tirade, Keith Stomps the Terra with a fiery warning to all the so-called "Blue Dog" Democrats who oppose a not-for-profit, government-run, public healthcare option: You oppose it at your own hazard.
Olbermann explains:
I warn you all.
You were not elected to create a Democratic majority.
You were elected to restore this country.
You were not elected to serve the corporations and the trusts who the government has enabled for the last eight years.
You were elected to serve the people.
And if you fail to pass or support this legislation, the full wrath of the progressive and the moderate movements in this country will come down on your heads.
Explain yourselves not to me, but to them.
They elected you, and in the blink of an eye, they will replace you.
If you will behave as if you are Republicans - as if you are the prostitutes of our system - you will be judged as such.
And you will lose not merely our respect. You will lose your jobs!
Every poll, every analysis, every vote, every region of this country supports health care reform, and the essential great leveling agent of a government-funded alternative to the unchecked duopoly of profiteering private insurance corporations.
Watch:
(Part 1)
(Part 2)
In a mostly unrelated announcement, Olbermann claimed on his Kos diary earlier on Monday that there was no "deal" between General Electric and Fox News to keep him from countering disinformation spread by Fox editorialist Bill O'Reilly.
Reports had circulated late last week that GE and Fox executives had moved to end the long-running feud between the two hosts by making other networks' content out of bounds. Olbermann flatly denied this and said it was just another part of a years-old Fox campaign to get Countdown canceled, adding that his "news jujitsu" was simply too strong for those tactics.
-- Stephen C. Webster
I just caught this on TV. Spot on. Finally, someone spewing some real numbers. Keep saying this every night. Thank you K.O. And F Y Repubs, Dogs, and their scum sucking lobbyists.
Mega-Dittos Keith!!!! Over 20 large industrial nations take care of their people through some form of Universal Health care. Ever hear about any of those country's revolting and/or demanding the American form of Healthcare. Didn't think so.......
Poor Keith. He talks as if there were a third party, as if progressive democrats had some legislative alternative besides the Democrats and Republicans. If this were the case, we would not be in Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead, we have Bush-lite, Obama, steppin-fetchit to the Man. The progressives who went for the man from Hope in the 90s, and the audacity of hope in 2008, rather than a third party of any sort, are now eating from the feculent steaming pile the Dems have prepared for them. And poor Keith is talking as if there were another game in town.
Now that 's how you handle Republicans and other forms of conservative. Take their actions (metaphorically), roll into a bat shape and hit them with it repeatedly until they lie broken and bloody on the floor
That's what they understand
They understand better the handcuffs and their Miranda rights, which is what the scumbags really deserve, but this will do for the moment
Every Progressive; every Moderate (Democrat, Republican, Independent and any other type) - every American who still cares - must go to the House of Representatives website (http://www.house.gov) & jot down the fax- and phone numbers of the Blue Dog leadership: Democratic Reps. Bart Gordon (Tenn.), Baron Hill (Ind.), Mike Ross (Ark.) and Zack Space (Ohio) [AP/Washington Times, 7/29].
Call and fax these Republican wanna-be's to inform them that millions of their constituents...and tens-of-millions of other citizens who are being held hostage by their actions to undermine a robust Public Health Care option...will hold them personally responsible if the Public Health option is further weakened. That since these prideful "Blue Dogs" feel it is their right to damage the health of citizens across the country, that we national citizens will exercise OUR right to contribute- and organize to defeat them in the next election cycle.
No more lies. No more delays. Health care reform NOW.
Indeed. If you deliver a bag of shit to the American people and call it health care reform, you will be handed your asses.
Bback to back commercials vilifying a national health care approach.
Who's paying for those? You can be sure its not the 45 million uninsured nor is it the 90 million or so who are unhappy with their insurance.
We all need to back the administration and ourselves. Let our elected representatives know who they work for and what we want. We each only have to contact 3 people. Please join me and get started to day.
http://www.healthcarenowusa.info
Thank you, Mr. Oberman.
Now, will you please tell the nation the truth behind the political/media propaganda relating to the Massachusetts insurance mandate?
This 'experiment' has been touted as a huge success and a model for the rest of the country. In reality, it too is a gift to the insurance companies and the rest of the medical-industrial complex. It is bleeding the state dry and punishing those who can not afford insurance through the tax system, thereby rendering them criminals.
Please see http:/www.masshealthlawtruth.org for a look at what is in store for the nation.
Excellent commentary, can't wait till the next election cycle.
As usual, Olberman is once again full of kaka. He makes big noises until it's time to start pimping the latest crop of corporate-owned democrats to his koswhack fans. What are you gonna do, Keith? Vote Republican? Bullshit. "Primary" sellout politicians? 95% incumbant re-election rate, dumbass.
Stop pretending, Keith. Like all "progressives" you're just another spineless bloviating jellyfish. No one is buying your DNC flavored crap anymore.
If there is a god, may she bless Keith Olbermann!!!!!!
there is hope for america yet,
that there is still keith olbermann.
and he is still on television
speaking the truth.
if they all kill off a guy like keith,
there will be another expression
of the truth,
and it will be in gunfire and bombs,
and body counts.
america's gone to the thieves and bastards.
it is in doubt it can be pulled back from the hell
republicans have stricken it to.
god bless keith for trying.
welcome to the united snakes -
land of the slaves,
home of the thieves.
The situation now, with congress going into August recess without a health care deal is exactly what The Repugs wanted. Now, with the help of their think tank liers for hire they are going to spin and distort the issue and whip up their "useful idiots" (read here: dittoheads) to such a degree that by the time vacation's over people will be frothing at the mouth against any reform at all and could even be calling for a "bailout of the health industry" - someway to force the poor people to give the gouging health and health insurance industry even MORE of their dwindling dollars.
What we have being practiced here by the Repugs is class warfare of the lowest kind. In their mind they are determined that they will NEVER give one dime of their tax dollars to help out dirty 'brown people' - that's actually how they see it. The Republican's actions are unconsionable and only go to show what they really think of the poor.
People need to fight back and hard or as with the Clinton health care initiative this one will also go down in flames with a smirking Republicans laughing that even with a Democratic President and majority they STILL were able to so confuse the issue to such a degree as to insure that the status quo remains.
No wimpy "reform". we need SINGLE PAYER NOW!
Single payer
Premium free
Medicare for all
Zero insurance profit
No deductible & no co-pay
DNC & RNC have BOTH sold out the country in order to enrich themselves.
Independents agree on more than we disagree.
Beware the divide and conquer.
(intellectual prostitution)
It was refreshing to see & here Olbermann back on his program. Without mincing words Keith effectually voiced a Blinded Glimpse of the Obvious: THERE ARE THREE PARTIES.
It has been that way in one form or another since WWII. The third party, part of the Democratic party, is galvanized against racial equality. It was once limited to the DixieCrats. Times change. The DixieCrats didn't have the the guts to start their own independent party. They just changed parties & became knee jerk GOP. The Blue Dog Democrats should start their own party & get it over with.
Please pardon Typos & Grammer
Olberman has to get real tonite. Here is why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On Richard Wolffe-------But his biography on Public Strategies’ website touts both his relationship with MSNBC, which recently used him as a guest host for “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” and alludes to his familiarity with President Obama’s inner circle, which were solidified while covering the 2008 presidential campaign as a Newsweek reporter and later writing a book about the campaign.
Liberal Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald recently summed up the situation thusly: “Wolffe's role in life is to advance the P.R. interests of the corporations that pay him, including corporations with substantial interests in virtually every political issue that MSNBC and Countdown cover.” That, Greenwald asserted, “is a conflict so severe that it's incurable by disclosure: who wouldn't realize that you can't present paid corporate hacks as objective political commentators?”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/25760.html#ixzz0NEDPpScy
Hundreds of thousands of people are saying all over the country to the Democrat Party reps, "Just say no, just say no, just say no, just say no."
The liberal media is already taking note even if the far left won't listen. People are upset and refuse to march towards socialism like in Venezuela or China or Cuba.
By the time August is over, there won't no more than a dozen Democrat reps who'll support socialized Death Care, just watch. No more taxes, no more socialism, no more bailouts, no more trashing our beautiful country before the eyes of the world.
Choose freedom, America. Just say no!
If you want better option when you go to the polls, than you need to be pushing hard to get Instant Runoff Voting established in the US. Until we get that we are doomed to third rate choices on election day.
http://instantrunoff.com/
How it works.
http://www.chrisgates.net/irv/
Unfortunately this will require a change to the constitution to implement.
I saw it last night. Truly it was a thing of beauty. And so very true. These legislators that were elected by us, forget it after they are in office for awhile. They begin to listen to the corporate voice of their new masters. They begin to think of re-election. And instead of voting for campaign finance reform, they opt instead to take the money and run. They run away from the oath they took. They run away from the promises they made to the rest of us.
Where do they run to? To become K Street lobbyists. To build up their rollodex for the future in corporate boards in which they will sit. The majority of their time in office is making contacts for their future not ours. They feed at the public trough for so long, they begin to think they own a lifetime job. And they spend the rest of their time striving for one thing. That one thing is not to offend the hand that feeds their coffers. The hand of future employment IF THEY DO THE JOB THEY ARE TOLD TO DO. Any legislator that claims the money they get from special interests does not mean they are affected are LIARS. When someone pays you, you listen. Otherwise they would not pay you, would they?
We have the best Senate and Congress that money can buy. There are not more then a handful that are not owned. Whores. And if we do not insist on campaign finance reform that stops the corporations from owning the people we elect, then nothing will change. All we have left are the shreds of a Democracy.
"The liberal media is already taking note even if the far left won't listen. "
You can't take note if you live in an echo chamber. The leftist "intellectual", never met an opposing view they never....actually they just never met an opposing view.
Reduce costs and make health care more efficient? How could giving billlions to the Federal Government not accomplish this? F-ing idiots.
I see an unrelenting effort by rawstory to continue to spread the grand myth of the 'blue dogs' and their adventures.
There are no blue dogs, only corporate Democrats.
The party is run by neocons for neocons.
When Obama needed his stimulus money and many Democrats refused to vote for it, he called out all his attack dogs to get the votes. Rewards, threats, favors, bribes were all on the table to secure the votes. He did it!
Obama did not have one single Repuke vote for his budget. He again used leadership, backroom deal making, threats and rewards to get his budget passed, and had to do the same again in Congress. He did it!
War funding was the same dynamic, though Republicans were on board. But still, he and his right hand man Rahm went out and pounded dissenters into submission.
But on Health care??? The script reads like this.....
"Ohhhhh my! The big bad blue dogs are ruining the messiahs efforts to give free health care to every American. Obama, such a nice guy, getting abused by those evil blue dogs who he just can't control...boohoohoo, no health care for America again, don't forget to vote Democrat in 2012 and keep those donations coming"
Too bad the entire 'blue dog' pack is ruled by Rahm Emanuel. Rahm set most of these swine up to defeat real honest progressive Democrats in primaries with full backing from party brass, Obama included. He runs them, they owe him.
And we are supposed to believe the insider closest to Obama, his right hand man Rahm, can not deliver the votes from these greasy fascists?
I guess you can't blame most Americans for buying into the grand lie of blue do autonomy killing health care. After all, they hear if from every corporate media mouthpiece. Sadly, they get it here too.
I was so happy that Keith was finally back from his well deserved vacation....and in fine form....his beat down on the greed in OUR House and Senate brought tears to my eyes...It was wonderful to have some one voice my thoughts so elequently....its time that we the people throw all the evil "money changers" (lobbyists) out of OUR House (and our Senate)
The conservatives (Rahm Emanuel's centrist recruits) who think they can hide and be re-elected just because they have burrowed into the Democratic party, using the Democratic "platform" as their cover and then voting for the corporations interests, against the people will be routed out..even as we finish off the Republican party conservatives....the country has moved to the left and if they are in the way they will get run over.....and thrown to the curb...
It's amazing to me how brain dead and mentally retard republicans and conservatives really are. They are vouching for privatized health insurance. They are convincing themselves and others that these multi-billion dollar private health insurance companies are working in their interest and genuinely care about their well being.
You know, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck could to go on their shows tomorrow and tell the American people corporations are losing money because the lazy socialist liberal Americans only like to work for 8 hours a day, expecting pay and a half extra for anything more. Do you know how many mouth breathers would eat that crap up? You would actually have people begin to work an extra 2, 3, 4 hours on top of the 8 hours for free.
I'm will to say the majority of the American populace is composed of shiftless and gullible morons.
Watching these poor fools demand to keep our THIRD WORLD health care program all for the sake of avoiding the word Socialism. They refuse to acknowledge SOCIALIZATION (government PROJECTS) as the Interstate Highway System, Medicare, The electrical grid, Tap water, Natural Gas, Social Security & simple realities like a hospital CANNOT turn away a citizen.
GO AHEAD AMERICA ....
CHOOSE IGNORANCE & STUPIDITY
KEEP THE HEALTH MONOPOLY
Yo "republican", why don't you go take a dive ya corporate creep.
Republicans hate people.
You tell us, the man who is GE's "lap dog" for "liberals. We know jusy how far your "leash" extends out before "the man" yanks you back and clobbers you with a stick.
Basically what the Blue Dog Crap and the Repuglickins are saying is,"Let them eat cake". I have felt for a while, since 2000, that it is time to bring out the Guilotines. If Single payer goes down I will be activly for it. If we have town hall meetings here I will be standing in the back of the room with a club up my sleve to keep the Brown Shirts in line.
Really, if they are going to give us war and debt instead of health care, what do we need a government for? Lynching a few corporate types in front of their headquarters would go a long way. I'll buy the rope.
When the four lobbyists meet with any GOP Senator, that's FIVE lobbyists.
When the four lobbyists meet with SOME of the DEM Senators, same thing.
SUPPORT PROGRESSIVES; they care about this country, while these lobbyists, their media, and fools/tools DO NOT.
We're glad to see that SOMEBODY is talking about the
CORPORATE HEALTH INSURANCE-PROFITEER SCAM.
Americans are led BY THEIR NOSES by advertisers working for
the NANNY STATE FOR THE RICH & CORPORATE WELFARE QUEENS.
Americans SHOULD LEARN THAT believing the PROPAGANDA of CORPORATE INSURANCE THIEVES will screw them again, and again.
I get contacted to donate money "to elect Democrats to Congress". i never send a dime. I won't give any money that might help elect a Dirty Blue Dog to Congress. I donate to elect progressive Dems.
this is all Kabuki Theatre and hasn't got one iota of reality in it, the legislation that the Obomb-ya-ton is pushing down everyone's throats without them reading it first, is so much an 'insult' to anyone with a higher tan two digit I.Q, that I actually think the DINOCRAT ASSHOLES KNOW IT and hence HAVE TO BLAME SOMEONE FOR IT'S FAILURE TO WIN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF AN AWAKENED ELECTORATE.
listen, Keith, you were once pretty good at smelling a fart, but right now, you're really breathing your own methane gas. The blue dogs as evil and diabolical as they are, aren't the problem.
THE SHITTY BILL THIS FUCKED UP ASSHOLE PUPPET WANTS TO PASS, IS THE FUCKING PROBLEM!!!
it's a bunch of shit. SINGLE PAYER OR NO FUCKING DICE!!!!! GOT IT!!! NO FUCKING DICE!!!!!
Thank you Keith!
We won't allow them to do this, or take what they 'decide' is best (for whom?); we will make clear what we want --for as long as it takes-- and back it up by working for other candidates and against those who are working to stop real health care reform & a government, single payer option.
We'll flood their offices with emails, faxes and calls all this month - & for as long as it takes - to make it clear that this will be their last term in office, if they do not do right by the American people. If they support the corporations and the health insurance industry, over the taxpayers who elected them, we'll do everything in our power to ensure that they will not be reelected.