Friends like these.

More short takes. I'm beat to a pulp this week, quite frankly. My brain is still working, though... I just don't have a lot of endurance.

Health care summit. Why bother, right? When are the republicans ever going to agree to anything that even resembles comprehensive health insurance reform? Never. Rebuild the entire thing to suit them, and they'll still vote against it purely for spite. The problem here is, of course, the democrats themselves, who can't seem to recognize when they've got something that's both popular and worth defending. I'm referring to the public option, Medicare expansion, and other measures denounced as "socialism" by the other side (and conservative dems) but which the general public is strongly in favor of. The reason why people aren't fired up about the current plan is that they stripped those measures out to please conservatives. Obama - congress - get a clue! Pass something that will make a real positive difference in people's lives quickly, and they will support you.

Seriously, these people are like that kid in school who wanted everybody to like him/her, and the more s/he tried to make that happen, the more s/he was hated. Where the GOP is concerned... stop trying!

War news. The latest Afghan campaign continues unabated. I've heard the Taliban being accused of using civilians as human shields. Just a couple of weeks ago, though, the U.S. and local Afghan government leaders were encouraging people to stay in Marjah so that there would be someone to govern when they had taken over; and there have been reports of refugees being blocked from exiting by our military. Numerous civilians have been killed in what quickly became a war zone. How is this different?

Extreme Prejudice. When it was revealed that several Mossad agents essentially stole someone else's identity and murdered a Hamas official in a hotel in Dubai, most of the major news organizations commented on how "sloppy" the operation was. This was a hit, for chrissake - an assassination, no better than the mafia whacking someone they don't like, and yet the focus is on style, not substance, and what political repercussions this may have for Israel. Are these the questions they ask when Palestinians, Lebanese, or Iranians kill someone THEY don't like?

Full of questions today. If you've got answers, share 'em.

luv u,

jp

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