As our nation mourns the loss of the lion of the senate, as the world grieves the end of a remarkable life, the right wing goes on bashing Senator Kenndy's legacy and even Sen. Kenney the man without shame. I have seen heartfelt statements of loss from Sen. Orrin Hatch, Republican leaders John Boehner and Mitch McConnell. But those are not the sentiments of the core activists of the right. Theirs is a message of contempt and vile lies about a man who lies in peace today. Here are some examples.

One of RedState front pagers writes:

It is traditional, upon the passing of an important and famous person - however controversial - to find some good words to say. This is not an easy task in the case of Ted Kennedy, a man whose personal life ranged from alcoholism to debauchery to sexual harrassment to (sadly, uncharged) second-degree murder, and whose public career entailed the embrace of nearly every foolish, ruinous and cruel political idea of the past five decades and whose most enduring legacy is installing the bitterly polarized modern Supreme Court confirmation process.

Yup, Tom Delay is still crazy. He's as crazy as a birther. Wait, no, he is a birther. Appearing on Hardball with Chris Matthews on MSNBC today, former House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R - TX, out of his mind) talked about dancing with stars, shoes, guns, and well, demanded to see the President's birth certificate:



Ahem, Tom? You want to see the President's birth certificate? Why didn't you just say so? Here you go!



Ok you little country mouse? Anything else I can do for you? Provide you a carbon test of Obama's age perhaps?

So Sen. Kent Conrad (D - Co-opted by his corporate insurance masters) has been whining and moaning about how the votes aren't there in the United States Senate for a public option in the health care reform legislation. After all, he goes on Fox News and says it. Can it be false? So, once again, Kent Conrad says we can't do the reform we need to and give the American people a choice because we don't have the votes for it in the United States Senate, despite the Democrats having a 60 seat majority. And therefore, he, our guardian angel, has come up with a solution, health care co-ops that, as you see in that video Gov. Howard Dean, MD reiterate, would be too small to compete with the giant insurance companies or contain cost. But hey, Kent Conrad is only having to do this because the votes aren't there for the public option in the United States Senate. He's our practical warrior who's just a little misunderstood. Poor Kent Conrad. Okay, senator. I feel your pain. And I want to ease it. So I'll tell you what. You just give us the names of the Senators who would support co-ops but oppose the public option. Once again, Senator Conrad, give us the names of the Senators who would vote to filibuster the public option and yet would vote for cloture of a bill with your co-ops. Give us the names and we will see if a few thousand phone calls to their offices and some citizen activism can't change their minds. That way, if we fail to persuade them, we'll take the fall, and if we succeed, you won't have to take all the hits for us to try to save health care reform. All I want to do, Senator, is to help you. I just want to help. Really. Won't you let us? Please? Oh, by the way, Sen. Conrad, the top two names on that list wouldn't happen to be Kent Conrad and Max Baucus, would they?

It seems that way. I don't know what took the Democratic leadership and the White House so long to realize that the Republicans in Congress and their party's current leadership have no interest whatsoever in reforming health care; all they want to do is make it fail and make it Obama's Waterloo. They say they want health care reform and yet reject every conceivable idea to do so, offering no alternative of their own. This is just like Rachel demonstrated on her show last night:

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Note to the White House: Republicans don't want pizza, even if they tell you they do!

But the battle of real health care reform is far from over. Even as the Democrats consider a go-it-alone strategy, they are not yet drawing a line in the sand for the public option - a compromise measure. Don't you think Americans ought to be able to decide whether they want a private insurance plan or a public one? But as I said, the Democrats aren't ready to throw down the gauntlet on the public option yet. "Democratic senators might feel more empowered, for example, to define the authority of the nonprofit insurance cooperatives that are emerging as an alternative to a public insurance plan." says the New York Times. Let me make this clear one more time. Co-ops are not a viable option and they will fail.

I have been following the national health care debate closely. Well, only some of it is debate. A good chunk of it seems to be angry mobs manipulated by a disinformation campaign by the right wing and its health insurance company allies, and people on Medicare yelling taking offense at government run health care. I have to be straight with myself. I have been of the mind that while I personally support a single payer health care system (or better-put, Medicare for All), it is not possible to pass such legislation in the current political climate, so we have to settle for a compromise known as the public option - one that allows any American to buy into a government-run insurance option. But I have been somewhat disillusioned. The fervor and nastiness with which the insurance companies and the political right is fighting giving Americans that choice has made me think twice. Perhaps we should have pushed for a single payer system to begin with, since the moneyed interests have no intention to compromise whatsoever. Their goal is to kill any and all health care reform legislation. Heaven forbid the average health insurance company CEO salary be less than $15 million yearly.

I strongly believe that the fight to preserve a public option is worthy, and I am personally in the thick of it - writing to my Congressperson, my Senators and the President. I have signed petitions and taken actions. I believe the Democratic leadership must deliver to the president a bill with a strong public option.  But, I now believe more than ever that through citizen action, we must eventually eliminate the health insurance companies from the process.

Friday morning, both Sen. Arlen Specter (newly D - PA), and Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA), Specter's challenger for the Democratic nomination spoke at Netroots Nation. Full disclosure: I support Joe Sestak. They spoke to us about issues ranging from the current debate in Congress about health care, Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy of the military and equality for GLBT Americans, climate change, stem cell research, Specter's recent party switch and Sestak's relative lack of political experience.

What caught my attention most in this debate was the issue of health care. Sen. Spector came out swinging for a strong public option. He pointed out that he has already held four town hall meetings - and as we know, the right wing nutjob base has been doing its best to disrupt his meetings - and committed to voting for the President's health care reform. So, what's the catch? As Joe Sestak pointed out, a mere eight weeks ago, Arlen Specter was square set against it:

At Netroots Nation, this morning, I woke up after four hours of sleep to go hear Howard Dean on health care. As he has always done, he cut through all the narrative about health care with the precision of a doctor. There were three things he focused on:

First, for all the talk of seeking compromise on health care, we cannot forget that the public option is the compromise. The compromise is between single payer health care system like most of the industrialized world and the status quo. We cannot compromise away a strong, vibrant and viable public option. Without a public option available as a choice to Americans, insurance companies will not have the incentive to reduce cost. We must let Americans choose between a public and private options and change the system at the pace that they are comfortable with. The status quo is indefensible, and Americans want a choice. Politicians and their campaign contributors should not be making the choice for ordinary Americans. Individuals should be in charge of deciding what kind of health insurance they want.

For those who would oppose a public option, the question is whether they support the people who pay their salaries or the corporations who fill their campaign coffers to buy influence. We must ensure that our elected officials work for the benefit of ordinary people. The public option is a compromise, and no health care reform will be meaningful or successful for the people of this country without a strong public option.

I have to be up in 4 short hours, but I had to write this before I go to bed. At Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh, PA, tonight was opening night, and the keynote was to be delivered by 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton. As an attendee (a DFA Netroots Nations scholar), I was psyched at both the opportunity to see President Clinton and at the growing power of my fellow activists that drew him here. But then, something unexpected happened. No, Bill Clinton didn't cancel. But as I was sitting and looking around, I could see Lt. Dan Choi, a Iraq combat veteran, a West Point graduate and an Arabic linguist who faces involuntary discharge for daring to be openly gay. His story has stirred our country, and for me as a gay man, his courage both on the field of war and here at home makes him a hero. I saw him sitting, and I approached him, thinking in my head what I'm going to say to him - how's he's a hero, how grateful I am for his presence, what an honor it is to meet him, and what an inspiration he is. Of course, I get the words "You're Dan Choi!" out of my mouth and I forget everything I was going to say. He shakes my hand and I manage to say "You're an inspiration", and he gives me a big hug. I have met some pretty high-up people: governors, senators, members of Congress, but meeting Dan Choi was unique. I was so grateful, but so nervous that I neglected to tell this hero of mine that well, that he is a hero of mine! My feet were shaking at both the excitement, respect and nervousness, although I tried to cover up that last part the best I could. Then, incredibly, he asks me what my opinion was on how to move a repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell faster in Congress. His humility stood out even apart from his valor and his courage. This meeting - meeting Dan Choi - was and will remain the best experience of this year's Netroots Nation for me. Dan, if you're reading this, please know again that you are my hero, an inspiration and a profile in courage. Thank you for standing up; your fight is my fight, our fight. Dan Choi has defended the lives and liberties of his fellow Americans and he answered the call of duty. Now it's our time to act. Contact your representative and your senators and tell them it is time to honor soldiers like Lt. Choi for the sacrifice they have made for us and let courageous Americans serve openly. And tell the president it is time to halt the implementation of this horrendous policy under his inherent Constitutional powers as Commander in Chief while Congress works on legislation.

Some of us know these stories too well. Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people are constantly facing the argument from people who are, truly, our supporters: have patience, wait a little, and your turn will come. What's the hurry? Isn't it just a difference of opinion when someone is against gay rights vs. when someone is for it? No, it's not, and here's what the hurry is about. On August 2, a gunman came into a center LGBT teenagers in Tel Aviv, Israel, and started shooting indiscriminately. Two young, vibrant, promising lives were taken away. Have we thought about the potentials of these lives? Have we put ourselves in the shoes of their families and the devastation they are experiencing? Have we taken stock that when we have global rhetoric against gay people, the frequency of these hate crimes go up? These two lives were not lost as a rare crime, by any means. Those came in the context of the well known killing of Gwen Araujo in California, of Matthew Sheppard, and multiple untold acts of violence committed against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people across the United States and the world. This comes in the context of countries like Iran that do not even recognize the existence of homosexuals. These Extremism, you explain. People who are motivated by hate cannot be stopped by simply legalizing equality. I agree. But denying legal equality to all sends a clear signal that some people are not equally human under the law. The denial of legal equality helps perpetuate the dehumanization of those of us who fall in love with someone of our own sex, or thoese of us who defy traditional gender expectations. The fact that homophobia and transphobia are rarely responded to with strong voices knocking them down helps spread those phobias. Some even celebrate this bigotry as "religious freedom" and "free speech." Hate speech is certainly free speech, but hate speech against the LGBT community seem to more often be celebrated as free speech than condemned as hate speech. Unless we have full equality, our law will continue to subsidize these behaviors. I refuse to accept the explanation that "people have a right to their own opinions" when children are dying as a victim of hate crimes. Everyone may have the right to their own opinion, but not all opinions are equally valid. We cannot continue to (at best) dismiss or (at worst) celebrate gay bashing as a form of "freedom." You want to know why we are so mad that our rights and our status as human beings are constantly under attack? Because the world we live in today is killing our children.