Dakota Today

*** Representative Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin "Stands Tall for South Dakotans"

Whether or not about 600,000 South Dakotans actually think Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin actually represents them or some group of rich and influential “stake holders” in the Health Insurance industry seems to be an open question.  Whatever we do think, some lobbyist group is loading SD TV with ads claiming SHS is “Standing Tall for South Dakotans”.

My perspective on her standing tall has little to do with left or right, liberal or conservative or even up or down, but with her rank opportunism.



I did not hear the same radio broadcasts that Todd Epp heard and commented on his blog  at KELOLAND Issues Blogs  because both SDPB radio and TV have been off the air in the daytime out here in the boondocks.   I did read the column Herseth-Sandlin got into the Mitchell Daily Republic and did not find it persuasive or even setting a plausible reason for opposing the plans to change health insurance.

There is one good reason to oppose it and that is not Herseth-Sandlin’s reason, but is that the current proposals are a hodge-podge of bandages on a wasteful system that sucks out something like $395 billion in insurance profits and overhead from actual health care.   George McGovern has presented the only real reform of health insurance that makes any sense.

That is "Extend Medicare to every US Citizen”.  That is not nearly 2,000 pages of ways to allow private insurers to ration health care with no regard for patients or their doctors, but with full regard for their own profits and incredible executive salaries.

"Medicare for all citizens" is the only idea that makes sense if one ignores the totally deceptive TV ads fussing about government control of health. This is not government control of health nor is it corporate control of health. It is health insurance for all something the US has needed for over 50 years. Herseth and Blue Dog Democrats of Blue Dog crap fame have not presented a real health reform package any better than the secret GOP plan (remember Nixon's secret plan to end the Vietnam War?).

Those wanting to get the government off their health-care backs are inviting continued economic gang rape by corporations.  Thomas Friedman suggests that the lack of universal health care is the result of cowardice on the part of legislators in the face of corporate contributions or well-funded attack ads.  They are not pushing for optimal government policy instead weakly push for suboptimal policies.  They make little attempt to educate and inform on the real potential of policies and instead say upfront without discussion that such options are "off the table". The lack of universal health insurance separated from employment is also killing start up of innovative small business.  He concluded today on Charlie Rose with something like, "A great nation producing sub-optimal policies will soon cease to be a great nation."

The other problem with this “reform” that Herseth-Sandlin is not mentioning is that it will be used as an excuse to not actually reform heathcare with a universal single payer system.

*** Stay tuned even if you are perfectly happy with sub-optimal politicians and policies --- Doug Wiken

**Blogging cartoon...rough sketch, but perhaps funny anyway

Now and then, I try drawing cartoons. Some are worse than others. If you frequently check blogs or author one, you might appreciate the cartoon below. Click on the cartoon for a slightly larger version.

 If fishing is more interesting than doing your own blogging, you might take a look at Kevin Woster's version of "Gone Fishing" blog at the Rapid City Journal site. Woster's "Take it Outside" Blog at RC Journal

Only fishing for today around here would be in a snow bank. Fish caught around Winner in the dam ponds, etc. all seem to taste a lot like gumbo dirt to me, but some people like them anyway apparently. Perhaps the snow runoff water will help the taste. I don't know.

**Stay tuned even if neither blogging nor fishing appeals to you in the slightest-- Doug Wiken

** Just a minute, there is serious work to be done yet..well sort of, maybe

Just a link to a cartoon that Steve Sibson and anton who posts interminable double-talk in dinosaur-speak at Mt. Blogmore might enjoy. I guess it might be something all of us who plink away on blogs and forums searching for nits in all the wrong places might think about for that matter.
 Cartoon for Bloggers of all kinds

Todd Epp has presented some interesting ideas or questions related to South Dakota blogging. I have been thinking about his ideas, but so far have nothing significant to add or subtract. Maybe later.

 George Bush should be able to find some real bargains in the departments stores around the holidays since he proclaimed that the sky is falling and consumers decided his words weren't just applicable to the Bush Administration attempts to dump billions of dollars into the hands of overpaid bankers and brokers.

 

***Stay tuned..these are interesting times-- Doug Wiken

**Big Fish Stories from Sarah Palin...image

Mrs. Sarah Palin has been caught telling some big tales. Some are already wondering why the press hasn't labeled her a serial liar since she keeps telling them and John McCain makes them even bigger and better. **Stay tuned, maybe somebody will ask Palin about John McCain's voting record on Bush economy and war and tell us what kind of "big" changes are really coming--- Doug Wiken

*** Dakota Today Cartoon -- Games Politicians Play 1

No sense in our politicians discussing serious issues like the collapse of the US economy, the inflation and deflation of the housing market and businesses, the ever escalating executive salaries even as businesses go bankrupt or collapse under the weight of over-paid incompetents, the increasingly unaffordable health care and also increasing health insurance profits, etc ad nauseum.  But never fear, Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama both have a campaign card that was barely hidden in their sleeves:

Click on image for a larger version if you have the stomach for it.  I needed more colors or none at all combined with better drawing.  Anyway, though I am not a betting man, I'd bet a nickle or so that almost every reader here gets the point.  If not, it is long past the time that our politicians pander to Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, whatever in terms of race or ethnicity.  Serious issues cut across racial and ethnic lines even if acute conservative brain blockages may obscure the clarity.

In the real world, apparently Sen. Obama does play poker.  Not sure about McCain..lately seems like he is playing spin the non-issue. 

** Stay tuned even if you really can draw cartoons--- Doug Wiken

**Serious and not so serious humor

Now and then I get a joke in e-mail that is both funny and makes a point or two..perhaps like a stick in the eye however. First the joke which reminds me of a forum poster who used as a tagline, "Don't tell me you are a Christian, Show Me."

A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in
frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection,
dropping her cell phone and makeup.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up
into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to
exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she
was searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.
After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the
door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer
was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your
car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you,
and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'What Would Jesus Do'
bumper sticker, the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'Follow Me to
Sunday-School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem
on the trunk. Naturally.....I assumed you had stolen the car."

Unfortunately I have no clue about the original source of the above or the actual
motive if any of the author. Below is a link to a cartoon that is both on target and very funny.
New Window LINK to a Glen McCoy Cartoon

Make sure you copy it, print it, and send a copy to Sen. Johnson, Rep. Herseth-Sandlin, and let Thune
know about it but it also could be drawn in multiple ways with an elephant or a headless cockroach...more on headless cockroaches in another post.

***Stay tuned for some deadly turgid serious prose....or maybe not-- Doug Wiken

**Serious news in an unserious format

"Blind Orange Julius" often posted at Mt. Blogmore before he moved out of the great state of SD to Wyoming or Colorado...he's out there somewhere. He uses his graphics talents for truly evil purposes. He points out foibles. And there just isn't any more evil thing to do by yourself.

Enough needless hyperbole. Check the site for a little topical humor graphically displayed.
LINK--BOJ NEWS SERVICE..More real than Talon News

And that dear friends may be about as close as I get to wasting pixels on Paris Hilton.

**Stay tuned even if Paris Hilton lights your fire...or stokes your ashes--- Doug Wiken

**News From Great Britain-- SDak Ad Agency Hired by Iran

Odd news from odd places rolls in now and then. Sometimes just somebody hawking a nearly unfunny overly long YouTube bit of humbug and sometimes weird business news. Finding out a South Dakota company was doing public relations was a big surprise.

Straight from the Mideast Martyrs Quick Business News comes the image below. It was sent to every mailing address in Britain on expensive folded glossy heavy weight paper. Who'd a thunk it.

I found it a bit strange that Iran was giving away "Easter" presents. I was not alone in that however.
"Blind Orange Julius" has a very funny easter bunny photoon at this blog.

LINK -- BOJ Photoon at Flckr

You can see all the current funny stuff at BOJ News Service to:

LINK BOJ NEWS SERVICE

Meanwhile in the real world, the temperature yo-yo shows colder than normal now. A week or so ago, it was comfortable much warmer than usual. Nasty wind to go with it too.

**Stay tuned and Happy Easter to all.."infidels" or not--- Doug Wiken

**The Terrorball color in Boston is Cartoon White..Keystone Kops live again

The Boston police must have come along with the fraud on the big ditch or whatever their tunnel ripoff was called. They crawled out and spotted what they decided were terrorist devices. Blow up those suckers. Shut down traffic on highways, interstates, and even boat traffic on the Charles River.

Classic screw up. Now they say these are just cartoon characters part of some guerrilla marketing strategy.
That is just a cover story.

These devices are actually route markers for coyote routes for illegal aliens. The "cartoon" explanation is just to make everybody forget a few million people have sneaked across our borders illegally. And, our government talks a lot about homeland security, but a porous border is the biggest threat and it is hiding under a huge elephant tied to union breaking and cheap labor for corporations.

Now, for a list of things the Boston police department needs to blow up whenever they see these actual terrorist tools. There are thousands of these things...none of which have cartoon figures on them..although a few of them exist too.

This device contains all kinds of electric circuits. Some have timers in them. There is often room for about 10 pounds of plastic explosive according to the US Army Terror and Torture Guide from the Bush School of Deceit. But, this is not all. Some of these TV sets can display propaganda from the Mideast. The Boston Kops better wipe out every one of these things...especially if they are remotely close to one to these things.

Blinking cell phones. Gotta blow them to smithereens on first sight. Call 911 immediately. And cleverly camouflaged as a plain old clock is an alarm clock that vibrates enough to set off a bomb trigger device according to the Bush Center for Deceit in Upper Longhorn, Tx. The information is duplicated in a cave in Lockjaw, Utah under the watchful eyes of several cousins of Orin Lee Hatch. Clocks are terrorist devices even if they don't have Mickey Mouse or Garfield on them, but those are particularly dangerous since they may attract children pretending to be Keystone Kops.

Real terrorists must be laughing their asses off at the Boston Kops. Now all they gotta do is camouflage their devices with flashing cartoon faces. You heard it hear first. Sharif el Terrazo AKA as Jose Jose has already sent the message all over the terroist network sometimes known as Faux News. but those on the inside know the truth about this...don't listen to the words..watch the images.

More seriously, I heard a discussion on NPR today on this and they were bending over backward to defend the Kops..those brave people working their fat butts off to save the country from another 9-11.
Which you may remember killed about 3000 working people. Never mind that drunken drivers, the terrorists of the highways, have killed tens of thousands of innocent drivers and passengers and done millions of dollars of damage to vehicles and real property.

Of course, NPR would not mention porous borders because that just ain't politically correct..especially if they just get done spending an hour or two discussing forbidden words that start with N, C, F, and other terroristically dangerous letters of the alphabet.

**Stay tuned, but be forewarned..look out for TV sets, Alarm clocks, Cellphones, and explosive cream substitutes (sorry no photo available). Now you know. Sleep with one eye open and be ready to call Wily Coyote at ACME company for assistance---Doug Wiken

**Something for the Democrats to work on-- Impeach AG Al Gonzales

In the early search for Democratic projects that fit with the new majorities in Congress, one of the really big mistakes can be partially undone by impeaching Al Gonzales..or at least making his life on the hill something like being waterboarded. McCamy Taylor who often posts at Salon Table Talk has a few good points at Democratic Underground:
LINK--Impeach Al G at DU by McCamy Taylor "Al G" fits pretty well..not quite as low as whale dung, but right in there with pond scum.

All sorts of Democrats are coming out of the woodwork doing their best to be the father of the Democratic "victory". In the mood of "Victory has a thousand fathers..defeat is an orphan", guess who would have been blamed if the 50 state strategy had failed. Yup, the guy who has been right all along about the war, about Bush, and about going to every state...Dr. Howard Dean...a good guy who got the shaft by the foot in mouth disease supporters of Sen John Kerry and the DLC corporate Democrat types. I like the cartoon below enough I am going to stick it in here and hope I get to leave it here. If I can't, here is a link:

LINK-- Old Slogan Recycling..Cartoon It is from the New Orleans Times Picayune.

Howard still has a lot of work to do. It would be nice if more Democrats would admit how right he was on so many things and fully recognize how he got screwed for doing what was right.

***Stay tuned..much is yet to be done---Doug Wiken