The son of former Democrat United States Senator Jim Sasser has written a screed of fear, published proudly (one supposes) by the editorial board of The Tennessean

Today, the rising cost of prescription drugs, patient’s bills and the outrage over the way President Bush is playing politics with our kids’ health insurance is reason enough to make health-care coverage a moral issue, and it is certainly cause for outrage.

Some will use the tired scare tactics of “socialized medicine.” Some will rely on their professional background in the health industry to argue that the system is working. Others will echo President Bush and say that no one goes without health insurance here in America because you can just go to an emergency room.

Being a good Democrat, he brings in the kids, and causes a pseudo-moral ruckus. Gray Sasser is apparently reading a different Constitution than the one I have access to – the one lacking the amendment confirming lifelong health care as an absolute right. In addition to a most un-enlightened view of morality, we learn medical “professionals” are to be trusted less than Democrat politicians. His perverse morality demands an exponential growth in government, misrepresents history, and cares not for its effectiveness outside of the expediency of uninformed votes.

So let’s not stop with his murky sense of morality, or his complete lack of respect and knowledge for the United States Constitution (it’s a short, easy read – come on, please). Gray confirms he has no need to counsel history to make his point. For instance

Just as previous Democratic presidents ushered in Medicare to provide health care for the elderly, the Democratic contenders offer leadership on the same moral issue 73 years later.

They are stressing that just as we should expand the SCHIP program, which provides health insurance for more middle-income children across America, expands indigent care in Tennessee and continues to build upon the innovation of the private sector, so should we continue to offer states and employers the tools they need to offer universal health-care coverage so that every citizen gets a real chance to live the American dream.

Has our history curriculum in Tennessee been this awful? Medicare is a Great Society program, proposed by Lyndon Johnson, not Franklin Roosevelt, leaving decades of Sasser’s argument unaccounted for (does The Tennessean even edit these things?). Neither does Sasser note that TennCare is already more generous than any other state’s Medicaid-hybrid system. All minor details, to be sure, but just another example of a modern-day Democrat selling accuracy to the proverbial spiritual blender in favor of cheap political points. Further, if Mr. Sasser cared a lick for private sector innovations, he would wholesale denounce universal health care as a charlatan’s proposition. The free market innovates when separated from the government, not the other way around.

Sasser’s denouement is typical class warfare tripe

Health care is a moral issue for our leaders in Congress and in the White House.

Today, a union worker in Spring Hill, a mother in Clarksville and 47 million more Americans will worry about health insurance. Tomorrow, with a Democrat in the White House, they will not.

Using some rather rudimentary math, I came to note that 253 million people are not worried about health insurance. Or dare I further note that a Democrat in the White House is either unqualified and “stinky” (Barack Obama) or is advocating a Hugo Chavez-esque nationalization of nearly 20% of the economy (Hillary Clinton). There’s nothing like a lack of competition to keep costs down.

You people must be more serious.

Keep costs down by re-connecting the provider and the consumer. Higher co-pays and less coverage for less costly services are the answer, creating the right incentives and keeping serious matters covered. Preventive care is favored. Reprehensible politicians like Sasser will continue to sell the snake oil to buy the votes, until the system collapses, and those paying for it finally opt out.

The Democrats are intent on killing the golden goose. And at times, I fear there are too few of us to stop them from doing so.

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My Terps travel to Jersey today to play Rutgers and I imagine many turtle fans will make the road trip up the turnpike to enjoy the game. (When I lived in Boston, my longest drive home to Maryland ever involved a three-hour standstill on the Jersey Turnpike due to burning tires covering the road. Gotta love it.) After all, it is likely that the turtle parents live nearby.  I had several friends who lived off Exit 7A.  It’s a fine exit.

When I attended University of Maryland, I sometimes wondered if College Park really served as a satellite campus for New Jersey’s state school. Walk through Lot 1 student parking and you would see the yellow and white license plates, or perhaps even some of the light blue plate model. Jersery certainly did represent.

So, who will win the battle of the Jersey schools today? My boys are big dogs in this game, but I really would love to quiet those nasty Rutgers fans. We shall see during nationwide TV coverage this afternoon. GO TERPS!

I have been meaning to share a moment I saw during CNN’s coverage of the Jena protests. A reporter stood among the largely-minority crowd and, in a ridiculous attempt to compare the gathering to the crowds of people left stranded in another part of Louisiana two years ago, she shared the following with the viewers (please allow my paraphrase, as I did not have a tape recorder handy):

It is hot down here in Louisiana today. And, for hours, no one came to provide water or toilets. I kept wondering,”Where is the water?”  Finally, in the middle of the afternoon, some relief arrived in the form of a truck bringing bottled water. And, I hear that Porta-Pottys have been set up. Despite these challenging conditions, those here to speak their mind kept a positive attitude.

Hello, Ms. Reporter, this is not a repeat of Hurricane Katrina. Everyone assembled around you arrived in Jena by choice.  Many of them are college students, and undoubtedly understand the need for liquids when the weather is hot.  I checked the online Yellow Pages, and there are nine gas stations and twenty drug stores in Jena.  Betcha that most, if not all, have both bathrooms and water for sale.  While people certainly have a right to gather and protest, the government does not need to call up FEMA to have cold water and lavatories at the ready. As much as you are apparently trying to create some drama, there is no great controversy here surrounding lack of government-sponsored hydration.

Bob Herbert of The New York Times props up the walking-dead canard of District of Columbia representation and sends out this jolt

Enough is enough. Last week the Republicans showed once again just how anti-black their party really is.

The G.O.P. has spent the last 40 years insulting, disenfranchising and otherwise stomping on the interests of black Americans. Last week, the residents of Washington, D.C., with its majority black population, came remarkably close to realizing a goal they have sought for decades — a voting member of Congress to represent them.

A Senatorial vote to enable voting representatives from the District of Columbia in Congress is a blatant end-run around the Constitution. To legally change the nature of the District, an amendment must be proposed and passed by the states. The District of Columbia was designed by the Founders to expressly not be a state (for more reference, read what Publius had to say in Federalist 43). Sorry to break it to you racialist sensationalists, but opposition to de facto District of Columbia statehood has absolutely nothing to do with how many black people reside there – unless, of course, you are a Democrat, then it has everything to do with how many black people reside there.

The District of Columbia is 57% black. It voted 89% for John Kerry in 2004, and 85% for Al Gore in 2000. The vote over District representation is not a racist opposition by Republicans but is very much a cheap power play for another congressional seat by Democrats. Both parties have political motives. The difference here is that the Republicans have the Constitution on their side and the Democrats do not. Can proponents of District of Columbia statehood and congressional representation not at all see the historical reason for ensuring the District is not itself a state? Or is power just that important? That’s certainly something a fifth grader could answer.

Quite frankly, I tire of a rationally held opposition to an issue being tossed aside as racist because of the holder’s political affiliation. And further, it’s more tiresome that one cannot be a pure African-American unless you subscribe to the monolithic world that demands government dependence and a Democratic voter registration. Now that is insulting.

Herbert then goes on some mindless ramble about how Clarence Thomas isn’t a real black man (if you think Clarence Thomas is a bad, just try to make sense of Thurgood Marshall’s truly incomprehensible jurisprudence – just have the Costco sized bottle of aspirin ready), bemoaning that the major Republican candidates won’t hold vigil with Tavis Smiley, and how black voters were intimidated in Florida in 2004 (I guess he meant Ohio – Herbert may have forgotten that Florida was the Democrats’ race-baiting award winner of 2000, but was only a nominee in 2004).

So, if you’re a Republican, why bother? You can’t win. If you are black and Republican you are a fake black. If you believe the Constitution forbids a certain action, you are a racist. And if you don’t go to a debate where you are certain to be scorned and ridiculed, you are also a racist. It’s the perfect trap to keep the monolith intact, and to keep the power among the liberal elite and black “leaders”.

I guess I have to accept that as a Republican I’m going to eventually be called a racist, damned be my daily actions that speak kilodecibels louder than Bob Herbert’s words.

My treadmill entertainment this afternoon was Hardball with the always-insightful Chris Matthews.  His headline story was the supposed loss of free speech that we are experiencing in this country.  Are Barbra Streisand, Rosie O’Donnell, Bill Maher, Sen. Harry Reid, Rep. Jack Murtha and countless others in jail right now for speaking out against the government?  My goodness, that is big news!!

Matthews used three recent events in an attempt to convince us that we are no longer free to disagree with the policies of the current administration.

Quick Side Note:  My favorite comment EVER during the many anti-war rallies and marches I’ve watched on C-Span was,  “We don’t even have the right to protest anymore!”.  This was spoken by a man holding a “Bush is a Nazi” sign and marching with thousands of other angry people through the streets of D.C.  Amusing.  Back to my post … 

I would like to address each of the instances that Matthews featured in his slanted and unconvincing piece:

1.The college dude who got tasered at the University of Florida.  OK, the police probably did not need to send excessive amounts of voltage through this guy.  He wasn’t about to kill anyone.  I would have opted for pepper spray.  But, my sympathy for this punk is limited.  He ranted on and on about the 2004 elections even after being told his time had expired.  He threw a childish fit when finally escorted away.  And, he physically challenged the cops who were removing him.  He came across to me as a brat with a huge sense of entitlement.  Did he deserve to be tasered?  No.  But the force was not used as a means of stifling his speech.
2. Sally Field’s acceptance speech at the Emmys.  Upon winning an Emmy for her role in Brothers and Sisters, Ms. Field proclaimed that if mothers ruled the world, there would be “no g**d***ed wars”.  (Drudge made the excellent point that Senator Hillary Clinton … a mother … voted to authorize the war in Iraq.)  The network cut her off when she reached the word that I filled with asterisks.  When has this word ever been allowed on network TV?  This is not a decision by the Bush administration to censor anti-war advocates.  It’s a continuation of the boundaries that have existed for quite some time.

3. The removal of the Code Pink ladies from the Petraus hearings.  Come on.  Are members of Congress supposed to sit patiently while disheveled women (or well-composed women, for that matter) scream nonsensically about betrayal?  These hearings are serious events and a certain level of decorum is required.  Should college students be allowed to grab a bullhorn and invite their peers to a keg party during a professor’s lecture?  Should observers be permitted to sing and dance in circles while oral arguments are being made in front of the Supreme Court?  The women were perfectly free to stand on the steps of the Capitol and air their grievances.
We certainly should be vigilant and real instances in which free speech is threatened should be challenged.  But, these events shared on Hardball hardly have me worried that I can no longer speak my mind in this country.

Let me try something …

Bush sucks!  Cheney is a Nazi pig!  This war is a disaster designed by incompetent asses who are only looking to line their own pockets.

If Chris Matthews is right, I’ll have Nathan post my prison address so that you all can write to me.

I tuned into The Steve Gill Show this morning and had the pleasure of hearing his interview with the Vanderbilt student who is featured in Playboy’s new “Girls of the SEC” issue. (I will not even look for a link to these pictures to post here.) Mr. Gill had an eager and excited tone during his conversation with this assumedly hot coed. And, while he commented (after the interview) that he would not be a happy parent if his daughter made the decision to pose nude, he was friendly to her and mentioned how smart and articulate she seemed.

This Vandy student is a consenting adult so I applaud her right to find the experience liberating and exciting (it’s not for me, not that Hugh Hefner is banging down my door). I’m in favor of legalizing most things if all parties involved are of age. However, I do not understand how someone can complain about supposed societal decay but then provide a platform for a guest whose moral decisions given a pass because they are appealing to the male eye. How is someone who is participating in pornography OK but someone who happens to be gay not? Everyone is entitled to an opinion and a worldview, I’m just looking for consistency and the attempt to treat all people fairly and with respect.

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For anyone who doubts the leftist slant of the mainstream media, let us move past voting records, and issue polls of journalists, and move directly on to in-kind contributions, in the form of discounted ad rates

The Times acknowledged to The Post on Wednesday that the going rate for such an ad would be $181,692.

But a spokesman for MoveOn told The Post that the group paid just $65,000.

Amid a firestorm of criticism yesterday, the Times seemed confused about the proper ad rate.

Earlier in the day, the paper’s spokeswoman said MoveOn had received a discount and confirmed to Reuters the normal rate was “about $181,000.” But later, the same spokeswoman told The Associated Press that the proper rate for such an ad is about $65,000.

Saying he wanted to place an advocacy group ad similar to MoveOn’s, a Post re porter who contacted the Times without identifying himself was told earlier this week that the rate was about $167,000.

“We do not distinguish the advertising rates based on the political content of the ad,” spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said, confirming that the normal rate was “around $181,000.”

Of course you don’t. That’s why MoveOn.org received somewhere between a 61% and 64% discount on its “aid and comfort to the enemy” ad attacking the commanding general in Iraq for not adopting its fabricated version of complete disaster in the Middle East.

Of course, the Times, being the upstanding bellwether of responsible and fair journalism that it is, will certainly offer the same discount rate to Freedom’s Watch. Or not. We will certainly see. There is no debate that the price for the ad that was sold to MoveOn.org was $65,000.00. The real fun will be watching the debacle when the Times explains in its answer to a certain shareholders’ derivative suit why it has cut its ad rates by 60% at a time of self-described declining circulation.

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When I was a senior at the University of Maryland, I got into a verbal altercation with one of my fellow students during a basketball game. Our seats were directly behind the bench of our opposition, Florida State. Many of the parents and younger siblings of the FSU players were gathered courtside to cheer on their family member with pride. A group of drunken idiots decided to yell taunts such as, “Your brother is a f***ing loser!” and “F*** you, FSU!” and throw ice at the heads of the guests to Cole Field House. I leaned over the guardrail and apologized to the FSU fans on the floor and let them know that I was embarrassed by the behavior of my fellow Terps. Then, I took on the ringleader of the drunken idiots. I recommended that he stick to cheering on our team and leave the family members of the opposition alone. He broke out the always effective F bomb again, followed by a word that rhymes with “witch”. It was a well-developed retort, and I have no doubt that this wizard of language was captain of the school debate team.

I read an article today that makes the bad behavior of intoxicated Terps look like verbal hugs and kisses in comparison.

Navy’s Reggie Campbell took the kickoff and ran full speed ahead up the middle with all the force his 168-pound body could generate … He got up slowly, limping off. This gutsy kid, a slotback who already spent three quarters being chased and tackled by gangs of defensive linemen and linebackers, all weighing at least 100 pounds more than him, was then given a dose of Rutgers’ student section class.

”You got f—ed up. You got f—ed up. You got f–ed-up,” they chanted.

“This is how you treat people who may die for this country?” said Bill Squires, an Annapolis graduate (Class of’75) who was on the sidelines for the Friday night game in Piscataway and was shocked by the obscene chants directed at the Navy players and fans throughout the game. “It was the most classless thing I’ve seen.”

Toward the end of the second half, Rutgers students in the new bleacher section began to serenade the adjacent section of Navy fans and uniformed Midshipmen.

”F— you, Navy. F—you, Navy. F— you, Navy.”

Absolutely disgusting. The men who take the field wearing a service academy uniform will likely be sent halfway around the world after they graduate to defend our country. I don’t care what you think of the war (well, I do … but not in the context of this story); there is no excuse for showing anything less than complete gratitude and respect for the men and women who have volunteered to defend you while you do keg stands at a frat party or act like chlidish buffoons at a football game. Kids (and they are kids based on their behavior, if not their age) who participate in this kind of activity make my stomach turn. How are you so ungrateful? It’s reprehensible. You should be ashamed.

I made the decision several weeks ago to clear some garbage out of my life. I stopped going to gossip websites (like People and PerezHilton) and I no longer allow my fingers to use the buttons on the remote to land on the E! Channel and the “music” networks. I already feel cleaner now that my mind has been scrubbed of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. I do know that Britney apparently flubbed her MTV performance last night, but that’s only because it was on the front of the Fox News website this morning. I’m glad they are covering the important stuff.

I also have started to get up in the morning before my husband and daughter for some precious quiet time. This means setting the alarm for 5:30am, but it’s worth rising before the sun to have those moments to myself (now if I could only convince myself to go to bed before midnight). I put on some classical music, prepare a hot cup of tea and settle in with my reading — a yearlong study about the women of the Bible (I’m reading about Sarah right now … you go on with your nation-building self, girl) and then The New York Times.

The first paragraphs of my tale come together with two stories that I found on the front page of The Times this morning. Above the fold, there is a heartbreaking story of people around the world who don’t have access to morphine because their governments are concerned about addiction and drug crimes. I learned about one woman whose tumor from her breast cancer has broken through the skin. She lives in constant agony. The article also relates information about children who receive no pain relief from burns and childhood diseases. How many of us can even imagine such a situation?

Below the fold, you can find a story about how the TV program Married with Children has been adapted for a Russian audience. The show is now the most popular viewing choice for that important 18-34 age group in the former (and possibly future?) Communist nation. Analysts believe that only recently has Russia become economically stable enough to be able to escape and enjoy the crude jokes about surburban discontent. One Russian critic opined,

“Today, people are becoming accustomed to not thinking about life. The television is training them to not think about which party is in Parliament, about which laws are being passed, about who will be in charge tomorrow. People have become accustomed to living like children …”

The accusation that we use entertainment to avoid interaction with reality is frighteningly true. I believe that we all need a break from work and politics and other stresses of life. Outlets such as movies and sports are great ways to find that opportunity to relax. I know that I am looking forward to the Terps’ big game against West Virginia on Thursday night. However, we have gotten to the point where celebrities and their fake world have completely supplanted our exposure to the real issues in the world. Britney Spears should NEVER be on the front page of a news website, unless she finds Osama bin Laden or cures cancer (so … never).

We should care and want to know more about the woman in Africa who is preparing to die in excruciating pain, not what Paris Hilton will write in her memoirs about her time in jail (can you write an entire book using only one- and two-syllable words?). For my part, I will continue to avoid the sickness of the celebrity culture and spend more time learning about the real people who inhabit this world.