I certainly don’t want to steal Nancy’s thunder… and I don’t know if she’ll publish this, but I’m about to go underground again and I thought this must be aired so all know that all is not well…..
You can see her words here… It is pulled from a comment section of this blog, and it gives her account of her ride down to Washington DC.
But I wanted to point out the involvement of one Jennifer Hill, the new face in town, and a very pretty face I might add. I encourage more people to use this performance as a model when dealing with this human being who WAS ELECTED TO REPRESENT OUR INTERESTS… without further ado…..
“Sorry, I am in a better head space today. Yesterday I was on the ACORN bus to the DC health care rally.
We went to chat with Sen. Kaufman’s aide first. Ted is fully on board with an affordable, universal access plan for the health and security of the American people. Carper..not so much.
Traveling down the hall, I strode right up to newest DEM Sen. Spector and took his hand in greeting. ” Hi there DEM Senator! Nancy Willling from Delaware here”. He gave me a huge grin in response.
And later, after meeting with Tom Carper’s staffers….(Carper ducked in the door to lecture us..his secretary interrupting after a few minutes..”your next appointment is here”
Carper “I’ll be right there” and continues to blab when Jennifer Hill, SEIU spokesperson, interrupted Carper and boy, then he jumped down her throat saying please don’t interrupt me.
She shot right back saying that since he was evidently going to leave without hearing a single direct word from any of the two dozen Delawareans crammed into his conference room that she wanted to be sure that we were able to say a few words to him directly.
And he did let her get a few sentences in.
After that meeting concluded (and the presentation from the DE coalition was submitted) we gathered in the atrium hallway in front of his office doors. An organizer from Health Care For America Now was telling us some good future actions would be to keep the pressure on Carper and that Jay Rockefeller had just presented A REALLY GOOD bill to focus on and promote.
Right then, Jay himself, on crutches with a knee brace and an entourage of interns squeezed around our crowd and we all hailed him with cheers!!!!
So, while the interview with Carper was VERY disappointing, the rally was great and the coalition intends to move ahead.
(of note: Carper’s staffers were polite but firm that the bill had to be bipartisan and when Jennifer said that we only would need 51 they fell out. A sore point. They said nooooooooooooo that most of the items under consideration would not be appropriate under the reconciliation rules.
Once again, Jennifer didn’t hesitate to say that the most important piece was the financial piece which certainly did fit under reconciliation rules. The staffers were none too pleased.”
Republicans have been slammed lately.
Nothing is going right for them. You say the name of their party and the room you’re in erupts with laughter.
They have become the butt of all jokes.
“Say, did you hear about the Republican who had a case of diarrhea?” ” No?” “He got sick after drinking the twelfth bottle….”
Remember that guy who held up the entire class because he was so stupid, and it pissed you off so much you just wanted to slam his face into a wall?
Well, that is the Republican party today…
Every one who calls himself a Republican should bend over and prepare to get kicked unmercifully.
But guess what?
There is someone worse… and they actually call themselves Democrats.
Mr. Pam Scott, president of New Castle County and District 3 Councilman George Smiley, both guilty of selling out their constituents to developers, are far worse.
Read Down With Absolutes factual account of Tuesday’s Council Meeting, and join me in wishing to slam some Councilpersons faces into the New Castle County Chambers wall.
1) This was stupid.
2) Impeachment options must now be explored (a lawsuit would be as effective).
3) When you need help in Delaware against corruption in its most virulent form, you turn for help, to blogs. Everyone else is bought out.
Any Republican wishing to run against these two idiots who continue to consume a case of diarrhea just because they don’t know better, has my support. At the very moment when Republicans looked like they had no shot in hell, a light shines down from above..
If you are not absolutely disgusted with the behavior of the New Castle Democratic County Council leadership, you need to move overseas to New Jersey. Right Now.
If the following statement is true,
“Choose your enemies carefully, for they will define you”
then no matter how much I protest: I am defined by Thurman Adams.
Often those who fought against the will of the one passing, are banned from that person’s parting rites, as well they should be. However, it is those very ones who are one’s adversary, who like two snipers dueling across no-mans land, probably know best how the other person thinks…
Thurman did provided us OOGA people an attractive lighting rod because of his opposition of open government. His use of his desk drawer to table legislation that would have otherwise passed, made him the stuff from which legends are spawned. He provided us both the symbol and the actual visual of someone stuffing bills into a drawer and never pulling them out again. …. a visual which I used over and over again unmercifully against him. He got clobbered with it, excessively.
But I have learned over time that one must separate the man himself, … from what he does. As is common, amateurs tend to get angry at each other… High school kids on opposite benches fill the playing fields with arms flailing when tensions get too high..
However professionals know that their opponents like themselves, also have a duty to their owners. They have the duty to fight for their team’s side just as hard as you would fight for your team’s side…. Real seasoned professionals understand that the teams can change their players, but the actual person playing inside the suit, will always, always remain the same. And that … when the game is finally over, it’s best to shake hands, drop the game face, and give each other sporty man-hugs.
Thurman Adams was actually an amazing man. Even In this democracy he was able to assemble out of a crowd of legislators who were too chicken to challenge him, .. a block of votes that would kill legislation of which he did not approve… Very little could be passed without his blessing. And to be honest, sometimes on the most frustrating of days, I too wish I had that much power at my disposal….
If you think what he did is easy to accomplish: try it. I have and even though I’m a young jedi, I sit in awe of how easy Thurman made it look…..
But what I want to comment most is his resolve and deep seated beliefs on homosexuality. I respect his view point. To be clear it is different from mine, and I spared no bullets in bringing that to light everywhere in our state’s public opinion…. But also a little like me, Thurman felt he was fighting God’s war and that he, as one of God’s soldiers, had to pull all stops to minimize the spread of something his deep set beliefs told him was very wrong…
At one point in my life I would have honored him as a hero for doing so… but events showed that similar to Governor George Wallace of Alabama, Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Ernest Hollins from South Carolina, Trent Lott from Mississippi all of which came to realize that some of their views were morally antithetical to the constitutional principles they were sworn to uphold… i too was given insight into realizing that certain people should not be disrespected for things they cannot change….
Adams apparently didn’t see that billboard alongside of the political highway.
And his steadfast refusal to open the desk drawer and put the open government bill on the table, was primarily rooted out of his distaste for homosexual unions. For if all sessions were open, this bill would be voted into law simply because not enough votes would be be willing to stand up against it and say no….
But one part of the Adams legend is worth hearing again. And that is his propensity for keeping his word… I can’t even do that. I hope one day to learn…. lol
But Adams accomplished one of the most difficult pieces of human engineering. He “almost” always kept his word…
It is sad but fitting that his passing marks the end of an era. I can still remember the blogger’s comment deriding Adams for not being present when one of the important votes were taken. Someone said he called in sick.. We now know it was true. He was sick, very much so.
It is interesting that these two events happened at the same time. Those positions languishing as bills in the drawer for years, finally slipped out and became law…
The symbolism is not lost upon us that once escaped, the old man felt hanging on was no longer necessary…
So I wish the family of Thurman Adams well, I pray for their loss for it has bothered me considerably as well… The world, my world, is quite empty without him…. Now I have to struggle to find a center, a core upon which to focus…
I have heard comments that so very few people are saying much good about Thurman Adams and some are interpreting that to mean he had few friends.
Well, I am one of those who will praise him.. Studying him in order to anticipate his counter strikes, has made him into someone I most deeply respect. He was able to surprised me multiple times (which is hard to do) and each of those times of being caught off guard, impressed me with his ability to scramble.
His tactics became my tactics.
In a sense, he was very little different from myself… Very little. His only sin was relatively minor: he just was on the other side.
So Thurman Adams, may you rest in peace. May the state and area you loved so much, always come to honor you..
Sleep well, my former foe. Sleep well.
There is little argument.
We need someone who has experience, but is far enough removed from the old way of doing things that they will not be trapped by the inertia from their own past…
“We’ve always done it that way” are the worst words ever uttered. The environment we live in today is one fraught with new challenges. The old school of how things went down during the Carper years, of Cordroy, Sharp, Minner, Roy, George, DeLuca have shot their wad… Now all we are left with, is their mess.
“How can we maximise this opportunity” are the best words ever uttered. Following Karen Peterson’s fight for open government over the years has shown us that she utilises her opponents for her advantage.
We need a Senate Leader like that. It’s time for her supporters to come out of the woodwork of General Assembly and begin to demand that change, the change we must have if we are to remain economically viable against our neighbours, begins today.
If you don’t say it, we’re stuck with DeLuca… His argument for continuity will have no antithesis. The counter argument must begin today. It must start with “now”..
Lobbyists, as much as we bash them here sometimes, … serve a valuable purpose… Anyone in either chamber can inform you of that…. But, they don’t elect… Real Live people do…
So to continue to put the wishes of lobbyists over real live people, can be argued as being un democratic, un Constitutional, and un American.
And the very last thing Delaware needs, is an undemocratic, unconstitutional, and un-American in charge of the Senate.
Apparently.
And it starts…
Sometime around midnight
Or at least that’s when
You lose yourself
For a minute or two
As you stand…
Under the barlights
And the band plays some song
About forgetting yourself for a while
And the piano’s this melancholy soundcheck
To her smile
And that white dress she’s wearing
You haven’t seen her
For a while
But you know…
That she’s watching
She’s laughing, she’s turning
She’s holding her tonic like a crux
The room suddenly spinning
She walks up and asks how you are
So you can smell her perfume
You can see her lying naked in your arms
And so there’s a change…
In your emotions
And all of these memories come rushing
Like feral waves to your mind
Of the curl of your bodies
Like two perfect circles entwined
And you feel hopeless, and homeless
And lost in the haze
Of the wine
And she leaves…
With someone you don’t know
But she makes sure you saw her
She looks right at you and bolts
As she walks out the door
Your blood boiling
Your stomach in ropes
And when your friends say what is it
You look like you’ve seen a ghost
And you walk…
Under the streetlights
And you’re too drunk to notice
That everyone is staring at you
And you so care what you look like
The world is falling
Around you
You just have to see her
You just have to see her
You just have to see her
You just have to see her
You just have to see her
And you know that she’ll break you
In two
Courtesy of ATE
Courtesy of Paul Eric
darkness comes before the storm
ice cold comes before its warm uh hum
sadness borders dark despair
tragedy stares down its glare… uh hum
oh…. how…. it…. all…. piles… on……
oh…. how…..it…..all…. piles….on……
Remember on my birthday when we went outside
And walked… in… the … rain….
With water running down your face, you pressed your lips into mine
And nothing then ….would remain….. the same….
Memories of so long ago,
How quick they come to pass,
In the instant that a recollection takes,
The feelings flash back fast……
The feelings flash back fast…..
Bad news doesn’t stop at threes
It keeps coming till I’m on my knees, ..uh..hum…
Sadness tries to crack my back,
Emptiness won’t let me attack,…uh..hum…
oh…. how…. it…. all…. piles… on……
oh…. how…..it…..all…. piles….on……
Remember on my birthday when we went outside
And walked… in… the … rain….
With water running down your face, you pressed your lips up into mine
And nothing ….could ever be….. the same….
Memories of so long ago,
How quick they come to pass,
In the instant that a recollection takes,
The feelings flash back fast……
The feelings flash back fast……
I just need one breath of air
Enough to stop this suffocating snare…uh..hum..
My vision seems to fail me now,
All light is gone I don’t know how…uh.. hum…
But you! you used to make me cry…..
For you! you I would have died….
Cause you! you used to love me so
Cause of you! you, now its time to go…..
Remember on my birthday when we went outside
And walked… in… the … rain….
With water running down your face, you pressed your lips up into mine
And nothing …will now ever be….. the same….
“Sometimes I block everything else out and go after the moment when everything, everything is put on the table …. in those moments there is no end… there is no limit to how far I’ll go… or so I’ve been told… Lol.”
Today’s News Journal was giving some flack back at Obama’s health care plan. Apparently Ted Kaufman, the only one of our national representatives who does not need corporate money to get elected, is the only one who has signed on to helping us with our health costs…
Mike Castle is against helping people get health care. Tom Carper is on the fence, but is leaning towards being against people getting health care. Why? They both need health care’s dollars and cannot afford a lot of medical professionals advising all to vote for their opponents… even if their opponents are more wrong than either of these two Delawareans.
Libertarians are up in arms over governmental involvement. Republicans are up in arms over governmental involvement. The profit motivated media is up in arms over governmental involvement. Even the most liberal minded people are worried they will be stranded out on a limb that may be cut off behind them and are shimming down branches of governmental involvement, they themselves proposed during election season. But you know? None of these know dick.
NONE OF THESE GROUPS KNOW DICK!
Dick receives a paycheck from the Brandywine School District. Dick is one of those responsible for making sure that every child in that school district gets to school on time and gets back home. Dick gets up at 4:30 am, every morning that school is in session. Dick handles all the problems of missed kids stranded on the side of the street because of some missed turn by some part-time driver…. Dick is the one who handles all transportation break downs, and sends drivers out out rescue those sitting in beat up buses on the side of the road. Dick is the one in charge of hiring and firing all personnel. Dick has worked for the Brandywine School District for 15 years. Dick worked his way up from secretary, administrative assistant, to administrator, and now, with the current hiring freeze, to being an administrator with NO secretary or administrative assistant… Dick is one of those getting his pay cut next year, while covering three positions to make sure our children get to school and back… Because of Dick, we can drive to work drinking coffee, and listen to WDEL in the morning…. Dick is one of our unsung heroes.. who still has to work 3 nights late into the evening at another job, just to keep up with his financial obligations……
Today Dick called me and asked for help. Dick’s daughter is going into surgery tomorrow. Dick’s daughter had just called to tell him that Delaware’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan, who had fully approved tomorrow’s surgery one and a half months ago, who had pre-approved this surgery 6 months ago….. had just called up and said they were not covering tomorrow morning’s operation..
BLUE CROSS/ BLUE SHIELD CALLED TODAY TO SAY THEY ARE NOT COVERING TOMORROW MORNING’S SCHEDULED OPERATION!
So all the bullshit about private companies offering more choices, about private health-care being more customer friendly, about private insurers better able to serve America than can our government, is dick….
They take our money and give us nothing back.. Question: how much money has Blue Cross been given by each insured and the state of Delaware, say going back 15 years?
And they change their mind at the last minute?
Obviously they will acquiesce tomorrow and allow the surgery to go through; we know this, it’s just a hardball negotiation strategy. But….. several items approved of before, will not be on the list of payment tomorrow. “I’m sorry” Dick will be told: “we will cover the surgery only if we can NOT pay for these items”… “If YOU agree to pick up their cost, we will pay for the rest”… And Dick will think… we’ll, we’re ready to go, we’ve planned this for months, and we can’t put it off any longer….. so….. “ok”
And Dick just got screwed.
So anyone worth their salt who knows Dick…. knows that private insurers are the last people in hell (or on earth) that we can trust with our well being…
Private insurers are the absolute last people who care one tiny bit about our welfare… Those Hannity- Limbaugh assholes who complain about big government? Well here you go… This scenario is exactly what their vision shits out.
That is why every single person who goes to a hospital, who goes to a doctors office, who buy prescriptions from Rite Aid (boycott Happy Harry’s), who waits a whole day on the phone for pre-approval from a private insurance, who gets a call from their private insurer that says, sorry we aren’t paying for your scheduled surgery tomorrow, needs to stand up and yell, right now, and shout at the top of their lungs at their monitor screen: I’m sick and tired of playing these fucking games!
Then get your phone, dial this number (302) 573-6291…. when the automated voice says Senator Carpers office, shout into to the phone… “I’m sick and tired of playing these fucking games:
Then dial this number (302) 428-1902…. when the recorder comes on after Congressman Castle’s office, vent into the phone…. “I’m sick and tired of playing these fucking games”
Their staff reads this. So they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about…
Even better, open your front door, quickly step outside and vent all that rage that has built up inside of you ever since the Health care Industry was “allowed” to start robbing you blind…. At the top of your lungs, make yourself a nuisance to all your neighbors whose eardrums still work: “I’m sick and tired of playing these fucking games!“
Because of every American’s intense hatred towards private insurers, the possibility exists that it could become a movement. As everyone finds out exactly what the yelling is all about, they too will want to join, perhaps even you… Their voices too can echo the iconic phrase: “I’m sick and tired of playing these fucking games..” Just think of what 1 million voices would do.. 5 million, 20 million, 100 million, possibly 200 million voices shouting at the top of their lungs…”I’m sick and tired of playing these fucking games.”
The possibilities grow with your imagination! Call up your insurer: vent: “I’m sick and tired of playing these fucking games..” Talk to you employer’s Human Resource Director: tell them: “I’m sick and tired of playing these fucking games.”
In fact, it wouldn’t be a bad idea, since we know how all America hates private health-care insurers, who have treated us like dirt ever since Dick Cheney ushered George W. Bush into to office, to pick a time, like Wednesday at noon, July 1st, when everyone can pause at that time on mid day, add their voices together, and we can hear a million people within hearing range, crying at the top of their lungs:
“I’m sick and tired of playing these fucking games.”
And anytime someone, anyone mentions private insurers: Just shut them down… Tell them flat out you’re sick and tired of playing their fucking games!”
