On my way through Southern Orange County today I was listening to Randi Rhodes on KTLK AM 1150 Progressive Talk, a station I can just hardly get in my new neighborhood in North San Diego County and she was talking about how last night in the middle of the night the Republicans in the Senate decided to attempt to filibuster the military spending bill so they could bring the legislative body to a standstill and thus hold up the health care bill.
(Yes, I have problems with that bill as it reads currently, a lot of problems, but that's neither here nor there for this discussion.)
Washington Post:
Part of that effort played out on the $626 billion spending bill for the Defense Department. If the filibuster on the defense bill succeeded, Democrats would have to scramble to find a way to fund the military operations because a stopgap funding measure expires at midnight Friday. Such an effort might have distracted from the health-care legislation for a day or two, disrupting the very tight time line on health care.
"I don't want health care," Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) said in explaining his support of a filibuster. He is a member of the Appropriations Committee, which crafted the Pentagon funding bill.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Richard C. Shelby (Ala.) and Christopher "Kit" Bond (Mo.) admitted they support the spending bill but acknowledged they were considering opposing it because of the health-care debate.
Democrats were furious. They believed they had a deal with Sen. Thad Cochran (Miss.), the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, to support the bill, but by Thursday night Cochran was saying he was unsure how he would vote.
Cochran, even after getting all his earmarks, still voted against the appropriations bill, without which our soldiers literally wouldn't have gotten their next paychecks. Def. Sec'y Gates had to spank them in letter form entered into the public record it was so evil.
McCain tried to say it was the earmarks that he opposed. $44 million of those earmarks were expressly for Cochran's congressional district.
Republicans -- using your fighting men and women as pawns in their twisted desire to prevent you from getting affordable health care and to save all those campaign contributions they get from the insurance companies and Big Pharma.
Right Joe Lieberman (above left)? Douche.
Anyhow I started to think about Republicans and how what they do is obstruct and prevent and block discussion and an accurate dispersal of the facts and ignore science and invoke conspiracy theories as valid debate points.
I flashed on a face, the face here to the left, Glee's Sue Sylvester. How she is driven to make sure Mr. Shue fails and Glee Club dies so she can get the budget dollars back to her Cheerios cheer squad, which already gets so much cash in alumni donations it doesn't even matter.
And I thought about how Sue opposes anything that has to do with Glee, leaks their set list for Sectionals to the opposition, forces Figgins (above right) to follow every technicality when supervising Shue's kids but look the other way when Sue's cheer squad accepts free swag and even sold their Cedar Point tix on eBay and kept the cash!
She's consistently breaking the rules while breaking Glee's ass over a stack of mattresses of marginal quality that they didn't even ask for or technically accept ... she battles reasoned debate with name calling and vitriol, gets in Shue's face, uses intimidation and fear to control Figgins.
She's the Republican Party.
I knew I really hated Sue for a reason. Usually when someone I love as much as Jane Lynch plays a baddie I can find a way to like the character a bit. I can't with Sue, I just can't stand Sue Sylvester.
And now I know why.
Honestly, there was one moment so far in the series that I've liked Sue, and of course it's when she visits her developmentally disabled big sister Jane who lives in a care facility.
I found a different analogue there. Regarding the question of gay people coming out, the argument's always been (and I agree) that coming out is critical to mass acceptance because when straight people once biased against gay people in their own lives who get to know them most often find those biases fall away.
Sue accepted Becky Jackson onto the squad because she loves her sister with Down's Syndrome.
Dick Cheney doesn't take an ultra-conservative stand on same-sex marriage because he loves his daughter Mary and his granddaughter who has two mommies (just like Heather).
If you're out at work and you're a good person and a productive team player, the people you work with will consider the positive interaction with the gay person at work when considering supporting legislation like equal marriage rights for all.
And like that.
That Ryan Murphy, bringing us song AND a subtext. Thank you, Ryan. Looking forward to Idina's first episode, soon.