Omnibus

*Now that the Republicans have demonstrated time and again (I am thinking here of the stimulus and EFCA just off the top of my head) that they have no intention whatsoever of cooperating with the Obama administration, can we please dispense with the notion that Obama can't order an investigation of the Bush torture regime because it would harm his chances of getting bipartisan support for his social agenda?

*I don't know if all of you had the pleasure of reading this hilarious piece from Krauthammer, but it gets triple thumbs up from me. For those too busy shaping the future of this crazy world, it goes something like this:

1. Obama has stated that he intends to nationalize health care. [Would that it were true.]
2. The only way to pay for this and other programs is SS and Medicare "reform," but Obama has shown no interest in entitlement reform.
3. Obama has a secret plan to pay for nationalized health care, a plan about which he has provided only one tiny hint, which Krathammer alone was wise enough to pick up on. I quote here, because this level of crazy is unparaphrasable:

When asked in his March 24 news conference about the huge debt he's incurring, Obama spoke vaguely of "additional adjustments" that will be unfolding in future budgets.

Rarely have two more anodyne words carried such import. "Additional adjustments" equals major cuts in Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid.

Boom! I know it has been said before, but let's all say it again, thank God for Charles Krauthammer.
4. The only way to save money on Medicare is through rationing. [Note that Krauthammer does not suggest that privatization or reducing waste are options, as Medicare is one of the most efficient health care programs around.]
5. Rationing is bad. You will not be able to get your hip replaced and will probably die of a heart attack.
6. [The part that caused my to spit coffee in bed.]

The more acute thinkers on the left can see rationing coming, provoking Slate blogger Mickey Kaus to warn of the political danger. "Isn't it an epic mistake to try to sell Democratic health care reform on this basis? Possible sales pitch: 'Our plan will deny you unnecessary treatments!' ... Is that really why the middle class will sign on to a revolutionary multitrillion-dollar shift in spending -- so the government can decide their life or health 'is not worth the price'?"

Charles "Mothercanucking" Krauthammer just called Mickey "Donkey Fiend" Kaus one of the more acute thinkers on the left. That is a lot to try to wrap your brain around.

*Asked and answered on the issue of calling torture "harsh interrogation methods" or some other goddamn euphemism, but it's really chapping my hide. I can only imagine that the Bush administration official who first thought that one up is laughing his ass off right now. Getting the right to buy into the frame was one thing, getting the nations entire press corp to do it is stunning.

*Trivia or hockey tonight? I do like playing trivia, but my difficulty being a team player, instead of a controlling arsehole, has been an issue, and the Ducks-Sharks series has been a cracker. Decisions, decisions.