"Ask the right questions"

I know this is the second time I'm going to be writing a blog about this, but I forgot about the true absurdity (in my opinion) about the questioning of Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s reliability if she was to serve on the Supreme Court when I stumbled upon an article from one of my favourite columnists in the Austin American Statesman, John Kelso. In the article by Kelso, “Want answers from Sotomayor? Ask the right questions”, Kelso pokes fun at the fact that the questions that were asked were similar to a dog chasing its own tail – they went nowhere and what everyone was trying to get Sotomayor to reveal wasn’t discovered. Kelso then goes on to say they should have asked questions that would “scare out some fascinating details about her”, such as asking her who her favourite Beatle is, the funniest thing she’s ever put ketchup on, or whether or not she lifts her arms up while on a roller coaster. When putting the real questioning and Kelso’s version of the questioning side by side, I see the similarities in them. Yes, I know there’s so much more to this whole situation that I don’t know or understand but if I was to explain my opinion of the government at the moment, I would use Kelso’s article as an example that is dead on and portrays everything that I would have to say. It seems to me that the government spends a good time creating unnecessary drama when that energy could easily be put spent into other things. Hey, maybe I just haven’t done all my homework and need to dive in to what the government is doing more, but it’s worrisome that someone gets the type of opinion I do just from hearing about a single event.

Take Two Aspirin and Call Me When Your Cancer is Stage 4

In the blog "TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND CALL ME WHEN YOUR CANCER IS STAGE 4" by Ann Coulter on her website, Coulter claims that the "Democrats [that] want to force us all into one gigantic national health insurance plan that will cover every real and mythical ailment" are absurd and delusional for wanting to do so.

Coulter attempts to persuade the American public by comparing the Democrats health plan and all things related to unappealing things such as "going to the DMV", "paying for everyone else's Viagra", or "being forced to share gas bills with a long-haul trucker or a restaurant bill with Michael Moore". The latter is a cheap shot at one of the most renown filmmakers, who also has a history of being a liberal political commentator.

Coulter also tries to appeal to real life scenarios where health insurance would be of hand. She uses extremes such as giving birth to multiple children who have bizarre syndromes and being a lonely hypochondriac to illuminate her disaffilliation to the health plan. All the while she is using these examples, her diction creates a very intense and bias tone such as her choice of using the words "slew", "disaster", and "capitalist paradise".

Ann Coulter's credibility is questionable. According to a 'New University' article, when Coulter appeared in the UC Irvine community, her speech was difficult in the sense of one could not tell what was criticism and what was "vicious" slander and refferred to President Barack Hussein Obama multiple times as "Barouk Hussien Obama". Also, another example of lack of humor is the personal attacking of someone whose views differ, such as the Michael Moore reference that is listed above. What one considers creativity is what someone else could consider one's death of ethos.

Costs and Benefits

In the editorial “Cost and Benefits” from the New York Times, the unknown author is intending to inform all Americans by discussing how the awaiting bills from the Democrats do an “excellent” job of providing health insurance for uninsured Americans, but also how Congress needs to address the lack of substance “to slow spiraling health care costs”.

I really don’t think anyone can not admit that health care reform is most needed, but I think that the current bill is really lacking. It doesn’t address the issue of escalating costs, as Douglas Elmendorf ("the respected head of the Congressional Budget Office") pointed out, and also relies on employer based coverage which is addressed as a problem in the article by the statement, “American businesses are struggling to provide insurance for their employees.” I believe that us, as citizens, should be able to explore new employment opportunities without having to worry about if the health care the new job supplies is of good quality or even available.

I think that the only way that that could be possible is through a single payer tax plan that covers all legal citizens/residents. Yes, I believe that it’ll be expensive and that all will have to contribute such as the big corporations, small businesses, and individual citizens (and the poor, but I’m not sure how to fit them into this yet). But, I see this as a “get what you give” kind of thing – you get the type of health care that you pay for.

Some Melting Pot Spice

In the article I chose from Newsweek, which was posted today, it discusses the conclusion of the rabid inquisition that followed Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s challenging-the-status-quo “wise Latina” comment. After answering dozens of questions about her life, such as ones about her personal history, her records, etc., Senator Lindsey Graham, who hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park in this whole thing, unexpectedly wished the best of luck to Sotomayor in the possibility of making the Supreme Court after she answered his final question: “to those who may be bothered by [the ‘wise Latino woman’ comment], what do you say?” With Sotomayor’s response came the conclusion of a four day haul of the democratic process to getting the first female Latina on the Supreme Court.