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On the old OLV Site there was a rather popular (and somewhat polarizing) feature entitled “Moron of the Moment” where we highlighted some of the idiocy of the day. Most often this was political in nature, but there were always the occasional exceptions for sheer acts of stupidity at large. This eventually was complemented by an accompanying hero.
With the new site format comes a new approach to this, called The Worthy and the Wicked. No doubt this will still be primarily political in nature. But instead of individually highlighting each individual and action with the actual “award”, we will glean through the various acts worthy of mention, and settle on one winner whenever the piece is done. The plan is to do this weekly, but the best laid plans…
… and yes, this piece will still be polarizing.
THE WICKED
Let’s take a quick look at the honorable mentions:
1. Former Half-Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin
Is Sarah trying to capitalize on anti-health care anger? Sure is. Is she trying to capitalize on redneck, gun-wielding anger in particular? Sure is. Why else would she indicate Democrats to “target” in mid-term elections, referring to those Democrats with rifle sites on a national map. I wonder if it occurs to her that she might be subtly inciting violence, or if she just really is that stupid. Stay classy, Sarah.
Oh, and the half-governor remark has nothing to do with her husband. Rather, it is a commentary on someone who quits a job when they realize that it actually entails hard work.
2. Rep. Bart Stupak
Stupak is as Stupak does. Mr. Stupak was priceless this past week, leveraging the abortion funding issue into a political deal that, in actuality, offers nothing. An executive order on the Hyde Amendment as applied to the health care bill is meaningless, and did manage to get Stupak into trouble his anti-choice supporters at home. But it got Mr. Stupak a much bigger prize… threatening the passage of health care gave Stupak the perception of importance and his face plastered on every tv in the country that was tuned in to news. In essence, he got to make this bill all about himself.
I hope he finds that prize a consolation when he loses his next election.
3. Sen. John McCain
Let’s face it America… we were dangerously close to electing an insane man to be president. It’s not bad enough to sing “Bomb Iran” during a campaign or to manufacture a campaign crisis by claiming to be attending to a financial crisis that he had zero role in resolving (not to mention pissing off David Letterman). But now that health care reform has passed and he is facing a significant primary battle at home, Mr. McCain has decided that his best argument for being Senator is to do nothing. That’s right, McCain pledged on Arizona radio to no longer cooperate with Democrats as they move forward with legislation for the rest of the year.
So let me get this right, Senator… your best argument for being elected to return to Washington is that you won’t do the job you have been elected to do. And moreover, you are now threatening not to cooperate with the Democrats or the Obama administration, when in fact you haven’t cooperated with either since Mr. Obama’s inauguration?
Are you even listening to the words coming out of your own mouth anymore?
4. Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas)
It’s not every day that someone shouts out something from the floor of Congress on national television that is worse than the “you lie” comment proffered by Rep. Joe Wilson during president Obama’s State of the Union address.
As everyone knows by now, Rep. Neugebauer yelled out “Baby Killer” during remarks by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Michigan). He later apologized to Stupak and tried to minimize remarks by saying he was referring to the bill and not to Stupak. Yet this didn’t stop this piece of shit from immediately trying to turn around and raise campaign funds on the basis of his “championing” the cause of the Pro-Life movement.
But our winner?
Mike Vanderboegh, a self-styled wingnut revolutionary from Alabama.
Mr. Vanderboegh’s claim to infamy? He is calling on wingnut readers to break windows at Democratic headquarters across the country as a show of opposition to health care reform. This is a guy who endorses the idea that a bloody conservative revolution is coming to America, and that people are cleaning their muskets in preparation. His blog contains the paranoid ramblings of the right-wing fringe in this nation, complete with implicit death threats for those who don’t believe in the wingnut way of life.
This is going to get interesting. In my view the right-wing nut job war or words is going to continue to evolve with brick throwing, and we are a short step away to open violence. At what point will Mr. Vanderboegh cross the line into open incitement, which is not protected speech? Ultimately, Mr. Vanderboegh may have plenty of time to record his anti-government ramblings from the comfort of a prison cell. But congratulations to Mike on grabbing the first nod for wickedness and for representing his constituency so well.
UPDATE: And yes… predictably… this sack of crap lives off of government disability checks. I’d pretend to be surprised, but we all know better.
THE WORTHY
As for the worthy, this week there is one person who simply has to receive this acknowledgement, and no other. There is one man who has succeeded where many others have previously failed, including Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. And while health care reform was certainly not a one-man achievement, the fact of the matter is that it was the resolve and tactical thinking of one man – President Barack Obama – that resulted in health care being signed into law.
Yes, it is a flawed bill that will need to be fixed on an annual basis. Yes, those of us who are progressive in thought find the bill to be far short of our goals. And yes, no one can accuse President Obama of being a progressive. But he got the job done. And there is not enough credit that can be bestowed upon this man for this accomplishment. This landmark legislation will grant rights to Americans that should have rights all along, and ultimately there will be very few people (say, three percent) who will ever want to voluntarily give up the rights won by this president.
If you read the old OLV, you know that I was very supportive of Mr. Obama once he won the nomination. That support was born of two things – first, my unrealistic hope that he would develop an ability to govern towards the left. Of course, he has not. The health care legislation signed into law is actually socially less progressive than what President Nixon tried to achieve in his own first term. While applying some accountability to health insurance companies, it is still pro-insurance industry, which I have a huge problem with.
My second cause for supporting Mr. Obama was his competition. In many ways the election came down to hiring either a left-centrist or a right-centrist politician to serve as our head of state. This was truly the lesser of two evils, but it was much lesser. And while I would love to see a more progressive leader in office, the fact is that it takes a centrist to move progress forward, and to attempt to nudge our nation – which has drifted so far to the right over the past three decades – back to a true center.
The jury is still out as to whether or not President Obama can accomplish this cultural shift. But I do know that this week served as one hell of a jump start in that direction. Thus, my congratulations and thanks to our president.
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