(our very own Elizabeth the Great… – promoted by pfiore8)

Elizabeth Edwards knows who the real enemy is and what is at stake in this election.  While there are differences betweeen Obama’s and Clinton’s health care plan, both are far, far better than what John McCain has in store for us.

Last weekend, Elizabeth Edwards took on McCain:

Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former Democratic presidential contender John Edwards, said she and John McCain have one thing in common: “Neither one of us would be covered by his health policy.”

LA Times

McCain’s chief advisor attacked, and today Elizabeth smacked them both down at Think Progress

More, after the fold.  

(also in orange: http://www.dailykos.com/story/…  

Nyceve had a great diary on this yesterday:

As the corporate owned media sleeps, and sleeps with John McBush, great and fearless Americans like Elizabeth Edwards are left to do their work.

Elizabeth Edwards lacerates cancer survivor John McHypocrite

Well worth reading if you missed it.

Elizabeth minced no words in taking on McCain’s bad plan:

Elizabeth Edwards told some 500 health journalists the other day that John McCain’s health care plan was like “painting lipstick on a pig,” an expression from her neck of the woods that in this case means lofty-sounding words that pretty up some ideas that could hurt ordinary people who don’t understand what’s going on; that is, unless journalists tell them. The language of his plan sounds good, she argued, making it “hard to understand what’s wrong with it. “Someone has to translate for the public.” Edwards challenged reporters to do just that.

Columbia Journalism Review

Elizabeth showed that John McCain could be denied coverage under John McCain’s healthcare plan.

Under the McCain proposal, health insurers “wouldn’t have to cover pre-existing conditions like melanoma and breast cancer,” Elizabeth Edwards said at the annual meeting of the Association of Health Care Journalists in Arlington, Va. Elizabeth Edwards, who has breast cancer that has spread to her bones, said that, under the McCain proposal, health insurers could deny coverage to both her and McCain, who has received treatment for melanoma. Democratic candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) both have announced health care proposals that would require health insurers to accept all applicants, regardless of pre-existing medical conditions.

In addition, according to Elizabeth Edwards, a provision in the McCain proposal that would allow residents to purchase health insurance across state lines would allow companies to shift operations to states with weaker consumer protection laws. McCain has said that the provision would increase competition among health insurers and reduce costs. However, Elizabeth Edwards said, “Hard-fought state-by-state protections would be lost” under the provision. She added, “They mask this proposal as a cost-saving technique. This is giving insurance companies a pass.”

medical news today

Stung by this criticism, McCain’s senior policy advisor suggested that Elizabeth did not understand the market driven approach of McCain’s plan:

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, senior policy advisor to McCain, said Saturday that Edwards’ comments were disappointing and that they revealed she did not understand the comprehensive nature of the senator’s proposal.

Holtz-Eakin said McCain’s policy would harness “the power of competition to produce greater coverage for Americans.” Because McCain’s plan would lower the cost of healthcare through competition, Holtz-Eakin said, it would reduce costs for consumers with or without preexisting conditions.

LA Times

Well today, Elizabeth fired back on Think Progress as a guest blogger:

Our guest blogger is Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Presidential candidate John Edwards.

Apparently Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a senior policy advisor to McCain, thinks I do “not understand the comprehensive nature of the senator’s proposal.” The problem, Douglas, is that, despite fuzzy language and feel-good lines in the Senator’s proposal, I do understand exactly how devastating it will be to people who have the health conditions with which the Senator and I are confronted (melanoma for him, breast cancer for me) but do not have the financial resources we have. In very unconfusing language: they are left outside the clinic doors.

Senator McCain likes to start speeches with a litany of questions that, presumedly, less plain-spoken politicians would refuse to answer. Well, here are some questions he does not ask but, as that plain-spoken politician, he might want to answer:

Go Here to read Elizabeth Edwards Questions for McCain on Think Progress

I am not confused about your reputation: you are the straight-talker, you like to say. This is about health care, Senator McCain. Doesn’t the American voter deserve some straight answers to these questions? As one of those with a pre-existing condition, I sure would like some straight talk.

Think Progress

Elizabeth Edwards has her priorities right: we need universal health care.  

Just maybe all the energy spent in this primary attacking either Senaor Obama or Senator Clinton would be better spent criticizing the vision of American that McCain is pushing.  We don’t need 4 more years of failed Republican rule.

We need universal health care, and only a Democratic president will refrain from vetoing a real plan.  Whatever the differences among Clinton and Obama, I think neither would veto a real universal health care plan.

For more on universal health care, in its single payer version, go here:

Physicians for a National Health Program

For Clinton’s plan, go here: Hillary’s American Health Choices Plan

For Obama’s plan, go here:

Plan for a Healthy America

And for those who remember, here is The Edwards Plan , a plan very similar to Clinton’s plan.  

Whatever criticisms one has about one plan or the other, it is clear that both Clinton’s and Obama’s plans are much, much better than what McCain has in store for us.

Go see Elizabeth’s questions to McCain.  Think he can answer them?  

Quoting from my favorite Tarot site Aeclectic Tarot

The fool in colorful motley clothes, pack tied to a staff, a small dog, a cliff.

The Rider-Waite card.

Basic Tarot Story

With all his worldly possessions in one small pack, the Fool travels he knows not where. So filled with visions and daydreams is he, that he doesn’t see the cliff he is likely to fall over. At his heel, a small dog harries him (or tries to warn him of a possible mis-step).

Basic Tarot Meaning

At #0, the Fool is the card of infinite possibilities. The bag on the staff indicates that he has all he need to do or be anything he wants, he has only to stop and unpack. He is on his way to a brand new beginning. But the card carries a little bark of warning as well. Stop daydreaming and fantasising and watch your step, lest you fall and end up looking the fool.

With thousands of years of practical and spiritual knowledge contained within it, talking in all but the most general terms in a blog post about the Tarot is impossible. But if we zero in on The Fool for a minute, we can try to get a sense for this card…on its day….and through that a general discussion, perhaps, on the Tarot. Here is a nice little history lesson, though of course the origins of Tarot are unknown. And since the origins are unknown, there is very little dogma attached to the Tarot, even the “experts” are just giving their own interpretations. The Tarot is INFINTELY parsable. I have heard at least ten different interpretations of what, for instance, the little dog on the fool card represents. And….all of them are correct!

The Tarot can be seen as the Journey of The Fool through life, and since we are all Fools…on our ow Journey. On of the reasons I like the site linked above is that relates the cards of the deck to the different aspects that The Fool passes through on his Journey through life. Politically speaking, The Fool is very much a Liberal or Progressive, imo. He wanders through life optimistic, open to new ideas, and as he progresses through his cycle uses his knowledge to try to help others.

The Fool can also be seen as the pure “Life Force” come into this world ad the Tarot as a parable of how humans choose to use it…or twist it, lol, to their own selfish ends. The Tarot also asks, and points us toward wisdom on, what these ends are and why they exist.

Like the I Ching, which has 64 different aspects of life that we all pass through at certain points on our Journey, the Tarot is fascinating for the fact alone that is has been able to categorize and encapsulate all of the major phases and states of life into a system that is worthwhile to study, even if you don’t believe in or use it for divination or that sort of poppycock! It is very much a collection of ancient learning and a valuable way to look at the world and learn about the strange creatures (us!) that inhabit it!

Becoming wise, while still not loosing the optimism, innocence, and wide eyed wonder at the world that The Fool possesses is not a bad way to look at the Journey of life!

The Osho(zen) interpretation:

Moment to moment, and with every step, the Fool leaves the past behind. He carries nothing more than his purity, innocence and trust, symbolized by the white rose in his hand. The pattern on his waistcoat contains the colors of all four elements of the tarot, indicating that he is in harmony with all that surrounds him. His intuition is functioning at its peak. At this moment the Fool has the support of the universe to make this jump into the unknown. Adventures await him in the river of life.

The card indicates that if you trust your intuition right now, your feeling of the ‘rightness’ of things, you cannot go wrong. Your actions may appear ‘foolish’ to others, or even to yoursef, if you try to analyze them with the rational mind. But the ‘zero’ place occipied by the Fool is the numberless number where trust and innocence are the guides, not skepticism and past experience.

A FOOL IS ONE who goes on trusting; a fool is one who goes on trusting against all his experience. You deceive him, and he trusts you; and you deceive him again, and he trusts you; and you deceive him again, and he trusts you. Then you will say that he is a fool, he does not learn. His trust is tremendous; his trust is so pure that nobody can corrupt it.

Be a fool in the Taoist sense, in the Zen sense. Don’t try to create a wall of knowledge around you. Whatsoever experience comes to you, let it happen, and then go on dropping it. Go on cleaning your mind continuously; go on dying to the past so you remain in the present, here-now, as if just born, just a babe.

In the beginning it is going to be very difficult. The world will start taking advantage of you…let them. They are poor fellows. Even if you are cheated and deceived and robbed, let it happen, because that which is really yours cannot be robbed from you, that which is really yours nobody can steal from you. And each time you don’t allow situations to corrupt you, that opportunity will become an integration inside. Your soul will become more crystallized.

Another traditional interpretation:

As Card 0, the Fool lies at the beginning of the major arcana, but also somewhat apart from the other cards. In medieval courts, the court jester was someone who was not expected to follow the same rules as others. He could observe and then poke fun. This makes the Fool unpredictable and full of surprises. He reminds us of the unlimited potential and spontaneity inherent in every moment. There is a sense with this card that anything goes – nothing is certain or regular. The Fool adds the new and unfamiliar to a situation.

The Fool also represents the complete faith that life is good and worthy of trust. Some might call the Fool too innocent, but his innocence sustains him and brings him joy. In readings, the Fool can signal a new beginning or change of direction – one that will guide you onto a path of adventure, wonder and personal growth. He also reminds you to keep your faith and trust your natural responses. If you are facing a decision or moment of doubt, the Fool tells you to believe in yourself and follow your heart no matter how crazy or foolish your impulses may seem.

You can get a free one or three card reading here. On that same page are links for longer free readings….or you can e-mail me if you want a more in depth (non-free! :} ) reading. I know there are other folks here who use Tarot…I also know it is not a commonplace subject for ‘reality based’ political blogs! Some might even say I am a Fool for bringing it up!

I very much invite skeptics and n00bs to the Tarot to jump in and challenge or ask questions…see ya in the comments!

Latest articles from THE ENVIRONMENTALIST (see articles for video, links and resources):

Congress grills Big Oil on prices

The top five oil companies, testifying before Representative Edward Markey’s (D-MA) Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, insisted that their 125 billion dollar profit last was “in line with other industries.”

Representative Markey’s take on the profits:  “On April Fool’s Day, the biggest joke of all is being played on American families by Big Oil, while using every trick in the book to keep billions in federal tax subsidies even as they rake in record profits,” said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.

April’s Protectors of Children

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time to show support for abused children (every month should be that) and to raise awareness about the groups working to save their lives…

Kyoto II climate meeting opens in Thailand

Talks by the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to negotiate a replacement to the Kyoto Accord began in Bangkok today with a plea by the Secretary General for unity and a common purpose toward the remediation of climate change.

More at THE ENVIRONMENTALIST (we’ve been busy).

Ta!

I see Magnifico caught this story in Four at Four, but tossing this post out there for depth’s sake.

We have to break the law in order to save it.

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration will use its authority to bypass more than 30 laws and regulations in an effort to finish building 670 miles of fence along the southwest U.S. border by the end of this year, federal officials said Tuesday.

Invoking the two legal waivers – which Congress authorized – will cut through bureaucratic red tape and sidestep environmental laws that currently stand in the way of the Homeland Security Department building 267 miles of fencing in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, according to officials familiar with the plan. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly about it.

More below the fold…

This all stems from the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which called for deadlines with regard to completion, therefore putting it on a collision course with laws and regulations pertaining to environmental and private property issues:

NOTE: Deadline.>> In General.–Not later than 18 months after

the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland

Security shall take all actions the Secretary determines necessary and

appropriate to achieve and maintain operational control over the entire

international land and maritime borders of the United States, to include

the following–

           (1) systematic surveillance of the international land and

       maritime borders of the United States through more effective use

       of personnel and technology, such as unmanned aerial vehicles,

       ground-based sensors, satellites, radar coverage, and cameras;

       and

           (2) physical infrastructure enhancements to prevent unlawful

       entry by aliens into the United States and facilitate access to

       the international land and maritime borders by United States

       Customs and Border Protection, such as additional checkpoints,

       all weather access roads, and vehicle barriers.

Another article I came across, this one in the Austin American-Statesman describing a specific example of the environmental protections they’re gutting bypassing:

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told U.S. Customs and Border Protection – a division of the Homeland Security Department – that its plan to combine Rio Grande flood levees with the border fence in Hidalgo County was a no-go because it would split critical habitat in its Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

The new design was created to mollify local officials who had been asking the federal government for years to help pay for levee improvements.

The March 3 letter from Deputy Fish and Wildlife Director Kenneth Stansell to Greg Giddens, executive director of the Secure Border Initiative, said “we were very concerned that after months of consultations on a proposed project design and reaching consensus on a way forward that satisfies the needs of both wildlife and a secure border, (Customs and Border Protection) would unilaterally propose a completely new design and request an immediate response from the (Fish and Wildlife) Service.”

The new design, which replaced the original “‘wildlife friendly’ fence design with an impermeable 16 to 18 foot high wall built into a flood control levee,” was not compatible with the refuge’s mission, the letter said, concluding that Homeland Security would have to waive the 42-year-old National Wildlife Refuge Administration Act to proceed with the design.

Apparently building an impenetrable concrete wall will make it hard for wildlife to access the Rio Grande, especially during migration. But hey, the people who want The Fence obviously hate Mexicans more than they need nature, so whatever.

Chertoff has a priceless statement tucked into each of the articles I found:

“Criminal activity at the border does not stop for endless debate or protracted litigation,” Chertoff said in a statement issued Tuesday.

He’s right. Criminal activity does not stop at the border, it goes on all the way to the halls of Washington, where heroes like him will continue to plow through laws until we’re all safe and white and shopping cheerfully as God intended. Bless you, Mikey Chertoff. You are a beautiful person! I am so glad you are in a position of authority in the United States government!

/bleh

Statement from Roger Schlickeisen, President of Defenders of Wildlife:

“Thanks to this action by the Bush administration, the border is in a sense more lawless now than when Americans first started moving west.

“Laws ensuring clean water for us and our children-dismissed. Laws protecting wildlife, land, rivers, streams and places of cultural significance-just a bother to the Bush administration. Laws giving American citizens a voice in the process-gone. Clearly this is out of control.

“It is this kind of absolute disregard for the well-being and concerns of border communities and the welfare of our wildlife and untamed borderlands that has forced Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club to take a stand and say ‘No more!’

“Just a few weeks ago we filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to fight the unconstitutional authority the Bush administration has seized to waive any and all laws it views as inconvenient in its rush to build an unpopular, ineffective border wall. Today’s egregious abuse of power is more proof that this cannot be allowed to continue.”

In a stunning development, both Obama and Clinton have decided to drop out of the race for President. Word from both camps is that Hillary and Obama had a private meeting last night over cocktails. According to an anonymous source, both Clinton and Obama had been nervous about their poll numbers against John McCain. They were sick of fighting with each other, and they wanted the election to be about the issues again. The anonymous source said that both candidates agreed that conceding the election to John Edwards was the right thing to do. We should be expecting a press conference announcing their withdrawals from the race later this afternoon.

more below the fold…..

I was thrilled to hear about the developments. No more bickering between campaigns. No more negative attacks. No more attacks by way of their surrogates. Both Obama and Hillary have decided to take the high road and hand over the nomination to Edwards. The press has been trying to reach the Edwards Campaign all morning, but their spokesman said they were not available for comment.

If things couldn’t get any stranger, when Karl Rove heard the news today that Edwards was going to be the nominee, he fled the country. Rove’s spokesman said that there was no place for him in America if Edwards was President. There have also been reports of Cheney bashing his head into the bathroom wall in the Capitol Building. No one is sure if it’s because Edwards is the nominee, or if another puppy peed on his leg. Apparently, it happens to him regularly.

Update

It’s being reported that Barack Obama had a vodka tonic with a twist and Hillary Clinton had a scotch and soda. More soon…

Update 2

It’s now being confirmed that a puppy did pee on Cheney’s leg. Out of sheer anger, Dick Cheney kicked the puppy numerous times. The Humane Society was called to the scene by an anonymous source and they’ve been searching the Capitol building for Dick. More soon……