That weak shell of a person standing in a mostly empty Senate chamber crying as he announced his future departure, reviewing some of his history through selective memory, and acting as if anyone with even a modicum of integrity would feel even one tiny bit of regret at his announcement was a nauseating moment. He is a despicable elected whose "legacy" is one of deep, long-lasting harm to our nation, one of hateful racism in his treatment of President Obama, and one of a craven, cruel perspective on governance beyond his own self-interest, power and self-enrichment.
The happiness that his departure will engender can only be exceeded by the happiness on the day that trump and his criminal organization are in prison.
And after his speech as Mitch & colleagues milled about &/or gave congrats....Chuck Schumer the lapdog strolls up and shakes his hand. Mitch is the creature that Biden admires & refers to as 'an honorable man who I consider a friend' š¬....our elderly leadership is in grips of Stockhom Syndrome & its deflating & heartbreaking.
The problem is that the Senate is a club, a country club, the ruling ethos is comity, bipartisanship, my friend across the aisle.
This is the ethos, that dominates among the old farts, McConnel, Schumer and Biden (yes Biden's hearrt is still in the Senate, he spent 34 years there learning and being conditioned towards comity, compromise, brotherhood with other senators.
The Senate is no different than say the Marines and other "special units", you've heard it,"Once a Marine always a Marine". I don't buy it, but hundreds of thousands do.
Walk into any VFW or AmLegion, and you can sidle up to the bar, and join people who have served anywhere from months to 30 years, and that is their identity because it is the only thing of significance in their entire life.
And Don't rag me. I'm a retired Mustang and special operator.. A Mustang is enlisted to officer., none of that is my identity and that is not how I roll.
Anyway the Senate is one big club. Right wingers and left wingers frolicked and party together as they did on Joe Manchins, houseboat/yacht Almost Heaven
Please don't compare the Senate to the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps has an untarnished 250-year history of honor earned with the lives and blood of thousands of patriots. There is NO comparison to be made. NONE!
I get that Bombguy. My Dad was the adjutant for the 1st JASCO in the Pacific, and was seriously wounded in Korea, retired after 20 years in the Corps. I retired after 26 years in spec ops
But the point about comity and comradeship in the Corps is valid for the Senate as well, and for all "special" groups.
And I, respectfully, do to. But I have never considered my service as a Marine EOD tech as part of a club. I've had the honor of serving with dedicated service members from all the services, including special operators, and I simply choose not to consider the Senate in the same regard. As a body, they simply have not earned that comparison.
Surely you're not naive enough to believe that our elected representatives (at least, the ones who last...) never swallow their pride and suck up to Deplorables as needed to get business done. It's the reason the very words "politics" and "politicians" instantly bring to mind a negative reaction in so many people.
Amazon Prime subscribers might want to check out the 3-season dark comedy "Alpha House" about 4 Republican congressmen who share a house in D.C. during the Obama administration. It was conceived by Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury) and has excellent writing, acting, and editing. I just started watching this and am wishing there were an updated version to get us through our current anguish. Still -- not surprising -- many of the topics are still relevant: immigration, abortion, fair labor practices, etc. etc.
I'm guessing it didn't last more than 3 seasons because its humor is based on current events and politics. Still, if you pay attention, there are plenty of generic gems to delight. Last night, I watched as the one Democratic senator invited to a Republican prayer breakfast at the Alpha House rolled her eyes as all the White Republicans tried to clap along to the music. They couldn't find the beat! If you blink, you might miss it -- but it was golden.
If they ever are. With the supreme court actively aiding and abetting his delay tactics to keep his trial(s) until after the election it's looking unlikely that we'll see any meaningful action in that direction this year. And if he manages to steal this election like he did 2016, there's no way in hell he'll ever face consequences.
And if the Democrats manage to beat out all the voters suppression, gerrymandering, and whatever other heinous garbage the Republicans are cooking up, the illegitimate fascists on the court will just declare him immune anyway.
Hell, if he appeals the election results all the way up and they get a chance to do a repeat of Bush v Gore, they'll hand the election to him in a heartbeat, giggling the whole time.
Agree with everything you say here, Lucius, except your accusation that TFG stole the 2016 election. It's a sad fact that, due to the antiquated structure of the electoral college, the orange one won as fairly as the other candidates who've carried the electoral college despite losing the popular vote (four, including JQA and GWB, although if not for SCOTUS, GWB wouldn't have won the EC, but that's another post). I think it's important to make the distinction, because Dems shouldn't use any of the MAGA language.
Also, 2016 was Hillary's election to lose, and she ran a horrible, tone-deaf campaign, not even bothering with large sections of the country. She GAVE TFG the election.
True. But let's not forget the assistance Putin rendered to his useful idiot -- including introducing the red herring of Hillary's emails. That went a long way to tipping the results in the wrong direction.
Yes. The hype about "her emails" including Comey's last minute reveal about another probe that ended up nothing while he neglected address Russia links to Trump campaign were a big factor in 46% of registered voters who stayed home. That was the deciding factor in key swing states that gave TFG the elecoral vote despite Clinton's overall popular vote lead.
Well....I have to admit that I've never believed Russia influenced that election to any significant extent. I don't think the email scandal was a big deal outside the Beltway, for the simple reason that most voters aren't news junkies (and the emails
were kind of a complex, arcane issue, anyway). They vote more by emotion than critical assessment. I studied Hillary and her policies, and the woman scared me. Not as much as the orange manbaby did, of course. But she was just not a viscerally appealing candidate, like Obama was, for instance. I think the majority of voters react instead of analyze.
Agree...most voters are not news junkies. But they DO absorb twitter memes and bumper-sticker battle cries. And so, many who could not (or, more accurately, would not expended the effort to) process Hillary's explanations about her policy positions and ideas clung instead to the outrage of something-something about emails -- even if they didn't understand what was alleged or that she did not violate any policies regarding handling of information.
Perceptive point, Dalatias. Bet you're spot on there.
I still think, however, that if Hillary had been a more appealing candidate, and not so openly contemptuous of so many demographic groups (including on the Dem side), she'd have carried the day. But she stuck by Slick Willy, making no attempt to distance herself from, say, NAFTA, that had tanked so many U.S. jobs, she came across as an elite Establishment snob (which, essentially, I think she is). Totally wrong optics when battling a "man of the people," as TFG [totally falsely] proclaimed himself to be. Her husband had the gift of seeming to relate to everybody, while she didn't even bother with the pretense of doing so.
Hillary thought she was entitled by divine right as the former Queen Consort. And that iteration of the DNC was as crooked as the day is long. (Not sure theyāve improved much.)
IMO, they're at least as bad now, if not worse. Right at the trough with the RNC. Main difference is that the DNC isn't trying for an out-and-out autocracy.
Yes we do have a totally slime ball Catholic Supreme Court. I wouldn't be surprised if they started the American Inquisition. In fact things are starting to line up exactly the way they did in Spain and the 1400s just before the Spanish Inquisition. Yes, these are Sick Puppies. Come on them with the dominionist who don't seem to pervade the Republican Party and you have got an atomic bomb of your own
I remember watching him in the senate on Jan6 prior to the vote to validate Biden's election, and thinking something was wrong. He seemed emotionally more engaged than I expected. I couldn't figure out why, was he sad drumpf was leaving? We knew he didn't like him. What was going on?
I think he knew what the MAGgots had planned, and he was sorrowful about there. Kind of like watching Andy Card come up to W reading My Pet Goat when the towers were attacked. It was an "oh my god they did it " look.
Oh phew! I thought I was the only one who remembered the Gop shrieking "RED TIDE!!!" in 2022 before they "won." A "red tide" is a deadly algae bloom, so it fits perfectly!
Get out the BLUE vote or try to survive the consequences.
Turns out rural America thinks Trump's their guy.
Trump and Republicans will cut the 400 programs rural Americans use; yet they are not aware of all the programs nor the fact that rural America is reliant on them. Discuss.
Trump's MAGA hordes are like sheep being led to the slaughter, silly grins on their faces, totally oblivious to the stun hammer poised just ahead of them. My only pity is for their stupidity.
My pity is for all the rest of us who have to deal with the results of their ignorance and malice. How many of our people are now afraid to speak out or act against the MAGAts. for fear of the consequences?
Bill Frist is another Republican who was elected to the Senate from Tennessee and was, in fact, Senate Majority Leader. Looking at his Wikipedia entry today, I did not see any reference to his and his family's history of fraud, but if you can find the entirety of this article (I'm posting just part of it because it's long, but VERY interesting about the fraud, arrogance and corruption, so if you can and have interest, maybe you can still find it online; it's not a linkable URL anymore, that I could find):
"LA WEEKLY JANUARY 10 - 16, 2003
The Bad Doctor
Bill Fristās long record of corporate vices
by Doug Ireland
While TV gushed last week over the Republicansā new Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, intervening in a traffic accident, portraying the former heart surgeon as a "Good Samaritan," in truth the GOP has simply replaced a racist with a corporate crook.
Frist was born rich, and got richer ā thanks to massive criminal fraud by the family business. The basis of the Frist family fortune is HCA Inc. (Hospital Corporation of America), the largest for-profit hospital chain in the country, which was founded by Fristās father and brother. And, just as Karl Rove was engineering the scuttling of Trent Lott and the elevation of Frist, the Bush Justice Department suddenly ended a near-decadelong federal investigation into how HCA for years had defrauded Medicaid, Medicare and Tricare (the federal program that covers the military and their families), giving the greedy health-care behemothās executives a sweetheart settlement that kept them out of the can.
The governmentās case was that HCA kept two sets of books and fraudulently overbilled the government. The deal meant that HCA agreed to pay the government $631 million for its lucrative scams ā which, on top of previous fines, brought the total government penalties against the health-care conglomerate to a whopping $1.7 billion, the largest fraud settlement in history, breaking the old record set by Drexel Burnham.
The deal also meant that HCA can continue to participate in Medicare. And, as part of the Bushiesā deal shutting down what Deputy Assistant FBI Director Thomas Kubic called "one of the FBIās highest-priority white-collar crime investigations," no criminal charges were brought against the top HCA execs who presided over the illegal bilking of federal programs designed to aid the poor ā and that includes Senator Fristās brother, Thomas, HCAās former CEO (and current director), whoās been described by Forbes magazine as "one of the richest men in America," with a personal fortune estimated at close to $2 billion.
What did HCA do? It inflated its expenses and billed the government for the overrun; it billed the government for services ineligible for reimbursement (like advertising and marketing costs). HCA violated both law and medical ethics when, as Forbes put it, "the company increased Medicare billings by exaggerating the seriousness of the illnesses they were treating. It also granted doctors partnerships in company hospitals as a kickback for the doctorsā referring patients to HCA. In addition, it gave doctors āloansā that were never expected to be paid back, free rent, free office furniture ā and free drugs from hospital pharmacies."
This is the ethical climate that reigned in the Frist familyās money machine. In an unguarded moment, Senator Frist told the Boston Globe that conversations with his doctor father about the family calling were like "benign versions of the Godfather and Michael Corleone." Apparently the senator considers defrauding the government "benign." So too does the Bush White House, which dictated the Justice Department deal with HCA that let the crooks escape jail just as Frist was being anointed the Senateās majority leader. A pure coincidence in timing, of course."
And, as I said, the article goes on; it's great reporting from "back then." Frist, "the good doctor," is still out there in Republican-world, making his noise. Apparently he was able to scrub the Wikipedia entry; a benefit of once-owning "scrubs" I reckon.
We worked for Val Demings during her race against Rubio. Although not successful we gained confidence and experience in doing door to door campaigning.
We live in Monroe County and worked here and in Dade County south of Miami. I agree that Scott has won by the thinnest of margins. It beats me as others have mentioned that he is a Senator with his Medicare fraud record. In these times what behavior would count someone out? Iām baffled.
In speaking about the press they are really the best source for countering the huge glob of misinformation contaminating the public discourse in our country. Dr Reich and H Lofthouse are putting it out there but it seems that the rest of the media are not doing their best in that direction.
Mitch might have been a thorn in the side of many Democrats but there must have been something good about the man because he saw it fitting not to speak with the orange guy for the last 3 years. If the MAGA crowd would just follow suit, we might be able to forget Mr. Trump once and for all.
āDoes Coco Chow have anything to do with Joe Bidenās Classified Documents being sent and stored in Chinatown?ā Trump wrote. āHer husband, the Old Broken Crow, is VERY close to Biden, the Democrats, and, of course, China.ā
You don't think punishing a criminal justice? Maybe you should consider just question for a moment if you might, I say might, be a criminal yourself. Who else supports a criminal like you do.
Keith you're going to have to use your imagination. It would help to think about things like a crook in order to get ahead of the crooked machinations of MAGA leadership.
McCarthy is looking better? Better than what. Johnson at least has an agenda. Granted it is an agenda to take the population of the United States and make them into slaves, but it is an agenda. All McCarthy ever was was a lap dog for the Rump. Both of these guys are simply the butt end of a joke about the American fastest party.
The major function of party leaders in the Senate and House is fund raising. Although the head of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee is Steven Daines of Montana, the real expert and the person that the donors go to is the Minority or Majority Leaders.
Same with the house. Pelosi, though Speaker, was actually the whip and the DCCC fund raiser.
The damage Moscow Mitch did to America is incalculable. It will take more than a generation to heal and mend the damage McConnell created. There is a special place in hell for him because he had the ability to help so many people and he did not; he turned his back.
Mitch and Newt Gingrich top my list as the two politicians who created the great Divide in politics. They have done everything to dismantle bipartisan politics. Both will go down in history as doing serious damage to America. There would be no President Donald Trump if not for their sickening actions.
You make a good point but when you look at it they're both fascists. Fascist members of the American fascist party (formerly the Republican Party) have only created the Great divide but brought us a fascist Commander in Chief. No we have to work our butts off to get rid of the son of a...
It was the lies, the hypocrisy, the disingenuousness that Moscow Mitch McConnell embodied. Didnāt you read the article? This man did not care about his constituents or the poor or race relations.
Who would believe they could outdo Bush in destructive capability, and they come up with Trump. We have a political generation steeped in the wrecking ball tradition. Anything is possible.
True but the choices that were mentioned would be just as bad if not worse especially JD Vance like Professor Reich indicated. The evil orange puppetmaster will continue to have have a firm grip on those strings from behind the scenes whether he's reelected or not. We can only hope that between between the ballot box in November and the upcoming trials will help start the demise of his autocratic madness.
They have an entire party of people who are just as bad or worse. Mitch wasn't any more or less vile than the rest of them, he was just the one given the opportunity to act on it and he had enough sense to not shout racial slurs in front of news cameras. Whoever they pick will be worse, not because the new one will be more evil, they'll be worse because they won't have the constraints that Mitch did.
Correct and there was the premature ejaculation over the Mueller Report, and the orgasmic anticipation of Jack Smith, and nothing has happened, and won't ever.
That weak shell of a person standing in a mostly empty Senate chamber crying as he announced his future departure, reviewing some of his history through selective memory, and acting as if anyone with even a modicum of integrity would feel even one tiny bit of regret at his announcement was a nauseating moment. He is a despicable elected whose "legacy" is one of deep, long-lasting harm to our nation, one of hateful racism in his treatment of President Obama, and one of a craven, cruel perspective on governance beyond his own self-interest, power and self-enrichment.
The happiness that his departure will engender can only be exceeded by the happiness on the day that trump and his criminal organization are in prison.
And after his speech as Mitch & colleagues milled about &/or gave congrats....Chuck Schumer the lapdog strolls up and shakes his hand. Mitch is the creature that Biden admires & refers to as 'an honorable man who I consider a friend' š¬....our elderly leadership is in grips of Stockhom Syndrome & its deflating & heartbreaking.
Sad but true Douglas.
The problem is that the Senate is a club, a country club, the ruling ethos is comity, bipartisanship, my friend across the aisle.
This is the ethos, that dominates among the old farts, McConnel, Schumer and Biden (yes Biden's hearrt is still in the Senate, he spent 34 years there learning and being conditioned towards comity, compromise, brotherhood with other senators.
The Senate is no different than say the Marines and other "special units", you've heard it,"Once a Marine always a Marine". I don't buy it, but hundreds of thousands do.
Walk into any VFW or AmLegion, and you can sidle up to the bar, and join people who have served anywhere from months to 30 years, and that is their identity because it is the only thing of significance in their entire life.
And Don't rag me. I'm a retired Mustang and special operator.. A Mustang is enlisted to officer., none of that is my identity and that is not how I roll.
Anyway the Senate is one big club. Right wingers and left wingers frolicked and party together as they did on Joe Manchins, houseboat/yacht Almost Heaven
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/joe-manchin-boat/2021/08/05/a3575508-f5e7-11eb-a49b-d96f2dac0942_story.html
Please don't compare the Senate to the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps has an untarnished 250-year history of honor earned with the lives and blood of thousands of patriots. There is NO comparison to be made. NONE!
I get that Bombguy. My Dad was the adjutant for the 1st JASCO in the Pacific, and was seriously wounded in Korea, retired after 20 years in the Corps. I retired after 26 years in spec ops
But the point about comity and comradeship in the Corps is valid for the Senate as well, and for all "special" groups.
Got it.
Honor earned with the lives and blood of thousands stinks to high heaven.
Jim, I agree with you. I can also see Lee's point.
And I, respectfully, do to. But I have never considered my service as a Marine EOD tech as part of a club. I've had the honor of serving with dedicated service members from all the services, including special operators, and I simply choose not to consider the Senate in the same regard. As a body, they simply have not earned that comparison.
Surely you're not naive enough to believe that our elected representatives (at least, the ones who last...) never swallow their pride and suck up to Deplorables as needed to get business done. It's the reason the very words "politics" and "politicians" instantly bring to mind a negative reaction in so many people.
Amazon Prime subscribers might want to check out the 3-season dark comedy "Alpha House" about 4 Republican congressmen who share a house in D.C. during the Obama administration. It was conceived by Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury) and has excellent writing, acting, and editing. I just started watching this and am wishing there were an updated version to get us through our current anguish. Still -- not surprising -- many of the topics are still relevant: immigration, abortion, fair labor practices, etc. etc.
I'm guessing it didn't last more than 3 seasons because its humor is based on current events and politics. Still, if you pay attention, there are plenty of generic gems to delight. Last night, I watched as the one Democratic senator invited to a Republican prayer breakfast at the Alpha House rolled her eyes as all the White Republicans tried to clap along to the music. They couldn't find the beat! If you blink, you might miss it -- but it was golden.
UPDATE/CORRECTION: There were only 2 seasons. :-(
Bullshit!
Tourette's?
Fact.
If they ever are. With the supreme court actively aiding and abetting his delay tactics to keep his trial(s) until after the election it's looking unlikely that we'll see any meaningful action in that direction this year. And if he manages to steal this election like he did 2016, there's no way in hell he'll ever face consequences.
And if the Democrats manage to beat out all the voters suppression, gerrymandering, and whatever other heinous garbage the Republicans are cooking up, the illegitimate fascists on the court will just declare him immune anyway.
Hell, if he appeals the election results all the way up and they get a chance to do a repeat of Bush v Gore, they'll hand the election to him in a heartbeat, giggling the whole time.
Agree with everything you say here, Lucius, except your accusation that TFG stole the 2016 election. It's a sad fact that, due to the antiquated structure of the electoral college, the orange one won as fairly as the other candidates who've carried the electoral college despite losing the popular vote (four, including JQA and GWB, although if not for SCOTUS, GWB wouldn't have won the EC, but that's another post). I think it's important to make the distinction, because Dems shouldn't use any of the MAGA language.
Also, 2016 was Hillary's election to lose, and she ran a horrible, tone-deaf campaign, not even bothering with large sections of the country. She GAVE TFG the election.
True. But let's not forget the assistance Putin rendered to his useful idiot -- including introducing the red herring of Hillary's emails. That went a long way to tipping the results in the wrong direction.
Yes. The hype about "her emails" including Comey's last minute reveal about another probe that ended up nothing while he neglected address Russia links to Trump campaign were a big factor in 46% of registered voters who stayed home. That was the deciding factor in key swing states that gave TFG the elecoral vote despite Clinton's overall popular vote lead.
Well....I have to admit that I've never believed Russia influenced that election to any significant extent. I don't think the email scandal was a big deal outside the Beltway, for the simple reason that most voters aren't news junkies (and the emails
were kind of a complex, arcane issue, anyway). They vote more by emotion than critical assessment. I studied Hillary and her policies, and the woman scared me. Not as much as the orange manbaby did, of course. But she was just not a viscerally appealing candidate, like Obama was, for instance. I think the majority of voters react instead of analyze.
Agree...most voters are not news junkies. But they DO absorb twitter memes and bumper-sticker battle cries. And so, many who could not (or, more accurately, would not expended the effort to) process Hillary's explanations about her policy positions and ideas clung instead to the outrage of something-something about emails -- even if they didn't understand what was alleged or that she did not violate any policies regarding handling of information.
Perceptive point, Dalatias. Bet you're spot on there.
I still think, however, that if Hillary had been a more appealing candidate, and not so openly contemptuous of so many demographic groups (including on the Dem side), she'd have carried the day. But she stuck by Slick Willy, making no attempt to distance herself from, say, NAFTA, that had tanked so many U.S. jobs, she came across as an elite Establishment snob (which, essentially, I think she is). Totally wrong optics when battling a "man of the people," as TFG [totally falsely] proclaimed himself to be. Her husband had the gift of seeming to relate to everybody, while she didn't even bother with the pretense of doing so.
Hillary thought she was entitled by divine right as the former Queen Consort. And that iteration of the DNC was as crooked as the day is long. (Not sure theyāve improved much.)
IMO, they're at least as bad now, if not worse. Right at the trough with the RNC. Main difference is that the DNC isn't trying for an out-and-out autocracy.
Actually, the DCCC may be the worst. They are still trying to purge the Squad and the rest of the House progressivesā¦ doing AIPACās dirty work.
BINGO, Greg! Spot on!
Yes we do have a totally slime ball Catholic Supreme Court. I wouldn't be surprised if they started the American Inquisition. In fact things are starting to line up exactly the way they did in Spain and the 1400s just before the Spanish Inquisition. Yes, these are Sick Puppies. Come on them with the dominionist who don't seem to pervade the Republican Party and you have got an atomic bomb of your own
I remember watching him in the senate on Jan6 prior to the vote to validate Biden's election, and thinking something was wrong. He seemed emotionally more engaged than I expected. I couldn't figure out why, was he sad drumpf was leaving? We knew he didn't like him. What was going on?
I think he knew what the MAGgots had planned, and he was sorrowful about there. Kind of like watching Andy Card come up to W reading My Pet Goat when the towers were attacked. It was an "oh my god they did it " look.
Damn McConnell
This implies that McConnell is capable of empathy and sorrow.
Please let it be in the near future.
An instructive take by ol' Beau that avoids railing about the obvious: https://youtu.be/uTH_b-eAvN4?si=YXnADjXCT4yF-Hhj
Oh phew! I thought I was the only one who remembered the Gop shrieking "RED TIDE!!!" in 2022 before they "won." A "red tide" is a deadly algae bloom, so it fits perfectly!
Hmmmm
Get out the BLUE vote or try to survive the consequences.
Turns out rural America thinks Trump's their guy.
Trump and Republicans will cut the 400 programs rural Americans use; yet they are not aware of all the programs nor the fact that rural America is reliant on them. Discuss.
https://www.wamc.org/podcast/the-roundtable/2024-02-28/white-rural-rage-the-threat-to-american-democracy-by-tom-schaller-and-paul-waldman
This is bed rock political irony. And sadness beyond words.
Trump's MAGA hordes are like sheep being led to the slaughter, silly grins on their faces, totally oblivious to the stun hammer poised just ahead of them. My only pity is for their stupidity.
My pity is for all the rest of us who have to deal with the results of their ignorance and malice. How many of our people are now afraid to speak out or act against the MAGAts. for fear of the consequences?
Weāre learning more and more about how we turned up with justices like the power 6 who are burdened by their bags of gold.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/actions
Great info Daniel. Thanks.
They think they're the only ones who won't get cut.
Still baffled at Rick Scott, Mr. Medicare Fraud, able to be in Senate! What is going on?!! (Rhetorical)
Criminals support criminals.
It's not called the American fascist party formally the Republi-Con Party for no reason at all
Bill Frist is another Republican who was elected to the Senate from Tennessee and was, in fact, Senate Majority Leader. Looking at his Wikipedia entry today, I did not see any reference to his and his family's history of fraud, but if you can find the entirety of this article (I'm posting just part of it because it's long, but VERY interesting about the fraud, arrogance and corruption, so if you can and have interest, maybe you can still find it online; it's not a linkable URL anymore, that I could find):
"LA WEEKLY JANUARY 10 - 16, 2003
The Bad Doctor
Bill Fristās long record of corporate vices
by Doug Ireland
While TV gushed last week over the Republicansā new Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, intervening in a traffic accident, portraying the former heart surgeon as a "Good Samaritan," in truth the GOP has simply replaced a racist with a corporate crook.
Frist was born rich, and got richer ā thanks to massive criminal fraud by the family business. The basis of the Frist family fortune is HCA Inc. (Hospital Corporation of America), the largest for-profit hospital chain in the country, which was founded by Fristās father and brother. And, just as Karl Rove was engineering the scuttling of Trent Lott and the elevation of Frist, the Bush Justice Department suddenly ended a near-decadelong federal investigation into how HCA for years had defrauded Medicaid, Medicare and Tricare (the federal program that covers the military and their families), giving the greedy health-care behemothās executives a sweetheart settlement that kept them out of the can.
The governmentās case was that HCA kept two sets of books and fraudulently overbilled the government. The deal meant that HCA agreed to pay the government $631 million for its lucrative scams ā which, on top of previous fines, brought the total government penalties against the health-care conglomerate to a whopping $1.7 billion, the largest fraud settlement in history, breaking the old record set by Drexel Burnham.
The deal also meant that HCA can continue to participate in Medicare. And, as part of the Bushiesā deal shutting down what Deputy Assistant FBI Director Thomas Kubic called "one of the FBIās highest-priority white-collar crime investigations," no criminal charges were brought against the top HCA execs who presided over the illegal bilking of federal programs designed to aid the poor ā and that includes Senator Fristās brother, Thomas, HCAās former CEO (and current director), whoās been described by Forbes magazine as "one of the richest men in America," with a personal fortune estimated at close to $2 billion.
What did HCA do? It inflated its expenses and billed the government for the overrun; it billed the government for services ineligible for reimbursement (like advertising and marketing costs). HCA violated both law and medical ethics when, as Forbes put it, "the company increased Medicare billings by exaggerating the seriousness of the illnesses they were treating. It also granted doctors partnerships in company hospitals as a kickback for the doctorsā referring patients to HCA. In addition, it gave doctors āloansā that were never expected to be paid back, free rent, free office furniture ā and free drugs from hospital pharmacies."
This is the ethical climate that reigned in the Frist familyās money machine. In an unguarded moment, Senator Frist told the Boston Globe that conversations with his doctor father about the family calling were like "benign versions of the Godfather and Michael Corleone." Apparently the senator considers defrauding the government "benign." So too does the Bush White House, which dictated the Justice Department deal with HCA that let the crooks escape jail just as Frist was being anointed the Senateās majority leader. A pure coincidence in timing, of course."
And, as I said, the article goes on; it's great reporting from "back then." Frist, "the good doctor," is still out there in Republican-world, making his noise. Apparently he was able to scrub the Wikipedia entry; a benefit of once-owning "scrubs" I reckon.
My wife and I are in.
We will remove Scott.
Janet Adams
We worked for Val Demings during her race against Rubio. Although not successful we gained confidence and experience in doing door to door campaigning.
We live in Monroe County and worked here and in Dade County south of Miami. I agree that Scott has won by the thinnest of margins. It beats me as others have mentioned that he is a Senator with his Medicare fraud record. In these times what behavior would count someone out? Iām baffled.
J Adams
No I didnāt see anything about that fraud case.
In speaking about the press they are really the best source for countering the huge glob of misinformation contaminating the public discourse in our country. Dr Reich and H Lofthouse are putting it out there but it seems that the rest of the media are not doing their best in that direction.
She will be a breath of fresh air.
Professor Reich,
Itās Hard to believe they could find anyone worse than Moscow Mitch. He almost single handedly created the mess we are in now!
I'm sure they can find someone worse; I just hope whoever they pick is as incompetent as Mike Johnson.
I donāt know, Mutant Mike Johnson is very incompetent. He doesnāt even know the teachings of Jesus!
Maybe Donnie can instruct Mike about the bible. Donnie said he reads it every night.
Which testament does Donnie like, both). Wait did they say testimony? Oh no he doesnt like to testify. Whats his favourite verse? The fifth.
Good one. Lol.
Someone will probably have to get Drumpf the Cliff's Notes version. I know he could never understand it otherwise.
You need to teach him to read, first. Or, find the graphic novel version.
Break it down into a series of tweets.
I donāt think he could understand the Cliff Notes.
Donald Hodgins
Donaldās Substack
just now
Mitch might have been a thorn in the side of many Democrats but there must have been something good about the man because he saw it fitting not to speak with the orange guy for the last 3 years. If the MAGA crowd would just follow suit, we might be able to forget Mr. Trump once and for all.
That's because Elaine Chao, spouse of Mitch, Trump's Secretary of Transportation, said he should have been removed from office as nutsy koo koo. https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/11/politics/elaine-chao-trump-cabinet-january-6-25th-amendment/index.html
āDoes Coco Chow have anything to do with Joe Bidenās Classified Documents being sent and stored in Chinatown?ā Trump wrote. āHer husband, the Old Broken Crow, is VERY close to Biden, the Democrats, and, of course, China.ā
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/elaine-chao-issues-rare-rebuke-trump-racist-attacks-rcna67605
Beautiful! Thank you, Daniel. You made my day!
Daniel--Believe what you will but the truth is so much more satisfying than a lie.
What does that mean?
I think Moscow took exception to how Trump insulted his wife
Keith--The last thing anyone wants to do is to Ras-Putin.
š
Paul--Who said anything about justice, the man broke the law and now he is going to pay the price.
Troll!
You don't think punishing a criminal justice? Maybe you should consider just question for a moment if you might, I say might, be a criminal yourself. Who else supports a criminal like you do.
For Mike and his ilk, Jesus is a sock puppet, what ever is in the NT is irrelevant.
There is one word to describe him and his ilk, and that is Solipsists, self worshipers.
The use their god, their Bible, their Jesus as a sock puppet, and that is true of all religions, and religious leaders.
There are more where he came from.
He makes them up
Of course not he's a dominionist. That has nothing to do with the teachings of jesus. He's an old Soviet style communist is what he is.
"Incompetent" is the key word here. Moscow was the LONE competent man-demon in the ENTIRE Trumplican party!
"The grim reaper' by his own bragging!
IDK. ThatMike Johnson incompetence cuts both ways. We have a 5 year old religious nut with momentous power.McCarthy looking better every day. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/10/27/mike-johnson-christian-nationalist-ideas-qa-00123882
Keith you're going to have to use your imagination. It would help to think about things like a crook in order to get ahead of the crooked machinations of MAGA leadership.
McCarthy is looking better? Better than what. Johnson at least has an agenda. Granted it is an agenda to take the population of the United States and make them into slaves, but it is an agenda. All McCarthy ever was was a lap dog for the Rump. Both of these guys are simply the butt end of a joke about the American fastest party.
Yeah, but Mike Johnson is managing to keep Ukraine from getting any money. Heās not incompetent *enough*.
Unfortunately true.
The major function of party leaders in the Senate and House is fund raising. Although the head of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee is Steven Daines of Montana, the real expert and the person that the donors go to is the Minority or Majority Leaders.
Same with the house. Pelosi, though Speaker, was actually the whip and the DCCC fund raiser.
Moscow Mitch did a lot more than fundraising.
The damage Moscow Mitch did to America is incalculable. It will take more than a generation to heal and mend the damage McConnell created. There is a special place in hell for him because he had the ability to help so many people and he did not; he turned his back.
Mitch and Newt Gingrich top my list as the two politicians who created the great Divide in politics. They have done everything to dismantle bipartisan politics. Both will go down in history as doing serious damage to America. There would be no President Donald Trump if not for their sickening actions.
You make a good point but when you look at it they're both fascists. Fascist members of the American fascist party (formerly the Republican Party) have only created the Great divide but brought us a fascist Commander in Chief. No we have to work our butts off to get rid of the son of a...
It was the lies, the hypocrisy, the disingenuousness that Moscow Mitch McConnell embodied. Didnāt you read the article? This man did not care about his constituents or the poor or race relations.
It was the absolute power he could wield.
History will judge him and not kindly.
Paul, how so? I am missing something.
Your reference to Obama. Could you elaborate?
Who would believe they could outdo Bush in destructive capability, and they come up with Trump. We have a political generation steeped in the wrecking ball tradition. Anything is possible.
What a reflection on the Reprehensible Republican Party that they canāt provide someone better than Donald Trump to be their nominee for president.
There isnāt anyone. The whole party is full of miscreants.
All the American fascist party formerly the Republican Party can do, is to put up one of their own.
Seeing the name J D Vance at the end of Prof. Reichās comments is a horror wothy of Texas Chainsaw Massacre statusā¦
Perfectly stated. :|
And Iām shaking in fear under my bed ā¦
True but the choices that were mentioned would be just as bad if not worse especially JD Vance like Professor Reich indicated. The evil orange puppetmaster will continue to have have a firm grip on those strings from behind the scenes whether he's reelected or not. We can only hope that between between the ballot box in November and the upcoming trials will help start the demise of his autocratic madness.
They have an entire party of people who are just as bad or worse. Mitch wasn't any more or less vile than the rest of them, he was just the one given the opportunity to act on it and he had enough sense to not shout racial slurs in front of news cameras. Whoever they pick will be worse, not because the new one will be more evil, they'll be worse because they won't have the constraints that Mitch did.
Last fall we were pretty pleased to see Kevin McCarthy kicked out. How did that work out?
Not too good š”
Correct and there was the premature ejaculation over the Mueller Report, and the orgasmic anticipation of Jack Smith, and nothing has happened, and won't ever.
Keith, the mess is by design.