They Will Pry Your Healthcare, Along With The Rest of Your Human Dignity, From Your Cold Dead Hands...

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The Gadfly has bent over backwards over the past several years in an attempt to find any redeeming human qualities in the most rabid of the right wing conservative Americans.  It has been a fruitless effort and The Gadfly's unabashed point of view on the matter is that these hard core conservatives are just simply fucking monsters.  Case in point :

By TIERNEY SNEED Published DECEMBER 19, 2016, 3:30 PM EDT

A Republican congressman outlined the way he would like to see the health care system operate if Obamacare is repealed, as GOP lawmakers are promising. It is a brave new world in which parents would wait and think about it before bringing in their sick or injured kids for costly treatments.

The example Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) gave in an interview with MLive.com was from his own experience when he waited until the morning after to take his youngest son to the doctor with an injured arm, because he did not want to waste money on an expensive emergency room visit. The arm, it turned out, was broken.

"We weren't sure what was going on. It was in the evening, so I splinted it up and we wrapped it up, and the decision was, okay, do we go to the ER? We thought it was a sprain, but weren't sure," Huizenga said, adding that he and his wife "took every precaution and decided to go in the next morning."

"When it [comes to] those type of things, do you keep your child home from school and take him the next morning to the doctor because of a cold or a flu, versus take him into the emergency room? If you don't have a cost difference, you'll make different decisions," he said.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/huizenga-son-broken-arm

Yeah you nanny-state mooching parents! -- next time your little Jenny has a head injury after falling off her bike or your little Johnny get's kicked in the chest by the petting zoo pony or little Billy Bob has a 104 degree temperature and has blood oozing out of his eyeballs, and you are thinking of taking them to the emergency room to have them checked out -- you best make damn sure that you first think deep and hard about that "cost difference" --- you know --- the difference between caring about your kid possibly having a life threatening injury or illness and what the cost of that emergency room visit might be to those poor beleaguered health insurance companies.

This is the horror show society that the Tea Party screechers and the Trumpaloompas envision for all of us to be living in very, very soon.  It is a society where yours and your children's health care is a privileged marketplace commodity, which you might be able to attain if you pony up the right amount of cash, instead of a human right.

If The Gadfly had any say in the matter, this creep Republican congressman Huizenga would be on the receiving end of a visit from his state's child protection services workers.  What kind of parent is he that would allow his child to suffer a full night with a fractured arm just because his fucked up political views and way of looking at the world necessitate that he, above all other considerations, ponder the possible costs to the already obscenely profitable insurance companies for an emergency room visit?  What is so devastatingly wrong with these conservative's brains and souls that compel them to be so fucking heartless?

Frankly dear readers - The Gadfly has reached the end of his rope and just completely had it with these hateful bastards.  HAD IT!  HAD IT!!  HAD IT!!!  There truly is no hope for them.  There just isn't.

Of course, in a truly humane and decent society, access to health care would indeed be a human right and not a goddamn purchasable product like a TV set or a smart phone.  And that's the problem -- America is not a humane and decent society - hasn't been for some time.  Oh sure - we had good intentions and were making progress toward a better society for all, but then along came the modern day conservative movement who have invested all of their hatred and bitterness and selfishness in to ensuring that this nation and society never reach that noble plateau of gracious humanity.

And now, with the ascension to power of someone who fanatically worships at the altar of the almighty dollar and who looks at human lives and sees nothing more than business assets and numbers on a spreadsheet or expendable commodities, we are going to have an administration led by someone who is deeply loyal to (The Gadfly would argue he is actually one of them) the oligarchs who have long openly stated their intentions of destroying social security, medicare, pensions and any other social safety-net program that helps the most vulnerable American citizens enhance the quality of their lives.

George Carlin was right -- they are coming for it all - they want every cent of that FDR New Deal money back.  And with blitzkrieg like actions, it won't take them very long to reverse 100 years of life affirming social progress in this country.

The Gadfly sure hopes that all of these unthinking dumb asses who blindly supported Drumpf are ready to financially support mom and dad in their retirement, along with grandpa and grandma too, and to make room for them to live in their basements once SS and medicare have been turned over to the wolves on Wall Street - because that will be the net effect once Drumpf and the Gang complete their gleeful, blood lusting bull rampage through the social services china shop.



----TFG

Circling Our Way In To The Sewer Drain Of History . . . One Fox "News" Broadcast At a Time ...

More people having access to health care is the cause of lower life expectancy?  Well imagine that!:

Only on Fox News would the finding that Americans’ life expectancy has fallen cause a host to speculate that maybe Americans are getting too much health care. But that’s exactly what Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt was suggesting when she “just asked” if “government health care” was the cause of the drop.

On Tuesday, Earhardt introduced a discussion on the subject as a banner read: “WAS IT WORTH IT? BILLIONS SPENT ON ACA, LIFE EXPECTANCY DROPS.”

EARHARDT: It is a startling statistic about health in America. Life expectancy is now down for the first time in more than two decades. We’re not living as long. But, as the life expectancy drops, government health care rises. Are they related?

http://crooksandliars.com/2016/12/fox-news-tries-blame-obamacare-drop-life

And The Gadfly has no doubts whatsoever that the Fox/Tea Party/Drumpf viewers will all nod their heads in zombie-like, obedient agreement -- because if it's on Fox "News" it must be true - dontcha know?

Is it any wonder then that this country has elevated to power a megalomaniac, a serial lying, amoral, bigoted fascist with the temperament of an attention-starved toddler, whose role model for strong leadership, by his own admission, is the authoritarian thug and former head of the communist Russia's KGB?

As such it stands to reason (a foreign word these days to American conservatives) that when you have a large portion of your populace who would unblinkingly believe that expanded health care results in lessened life spans, then that is a populace that is ripe to believe just about anything, and riper yet to be manipulated in to supporting leaders who only seek to gain power for themselves and their elitist kind -- power which will most certainly come at the expense of the majority of everyone else - including those who foolishly and recklessly put those leaders in power.

Be that as it may though, how is it exactly that the still sane Americans are to go about trying to reason with people like this:

?????

Martin Luther King Jr. once said:

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

But it's not enough that these Drumpf supporting people are "sincere" and "conscientious" about their ignorance and stupidity -- oh no -- they are actually prideful of it and celebrate it and to compound that horror, they are passing their destructive world views and self-flagellating foolishness on to their offspring -- as if it were the equivalent of a family inheritance.

This country is so fucked - and yet it probably is much deserved and long overdue.  The aggregate embracement of narrow-minded arrogance, unbridled hubris and the wholesale abandonment of reason, truth, justice and human decency is the consummate malady that has afflicted failed empires throughout human history, and America, solely by virtue of it being America, is clearly not immune to such a self-immolating societal illness.

Sigh . . . . The Gadfly ponders daily George Carlin's observations on what he believed was destined to happen to America and with the ascension of Drumpf and his gang to power, the truthfulness of Carlin's conclusions are becoming frighteningly more apparent every day:







----TFG

President Dear Comrade? . . .

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Oh dear . . .

US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia interfered in last month’s presidential election to boost Donald Trump’s bid for the White House, according to reports.

A secret CIA assessment found that Russian operatives covertly interfered in the election campaign in an attempt to ensure the Republican candidate’s victory, the Washington Post reported, citing officials briefed on the matter.

A separate report in the New York Times said intelligence officials had a “high confidence” that Russia was involved in hacking related to the election.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/10/cia-concludes-russia-interfered-to-help-trump-win-election-report

The Gadfly is going to say this once, and only once to his Drumpf supporting friends and family members.  If the sending and receiving of emails on a private server, something which prior GOP high-level government officials have done but never were investigated for, was grounds for Drumpf and his followers to demand Clinton's prosecution and imprisonment, then you also must demand that an investigation begin immediately to determine if the U.S. intelligence community's claims of communist Russia's interference in our electoral process in order to enhance Drumpf's prospects for victory are grounded in any semblance of truth.

While it would be easy and correct to rail against the Russians for meddling with the foundation of our democratic society, our open and free electoral process, that really should come as no surprise considering Russia has always been considered an untrustworthy adversary if not outright enemy to America and our representative democracy.

That be said, The Gadfly lays much of the blame for this sordid state of affairs squarely at the feet of the right wing, Tea Party noodle-heads and other Drumpf acolytes who actually were and still are of the belief that a serial lying, bigoted, narcissistic, amoral, tax-dodging, unethical con-artist swindler like Drumpf, a man who has never done anything for anyone other than his self and the few equally corrupt, billionaire plutocrats that he associates with, was the very best man for the job of leader of the free world and champion of democracy - Fucking Idiots - every one of you - including you Bernie Sanders supporters who's equally irrational hatred of Mrs. Clinton drove you to cast a ballot for the short-fingered, vulgarian plutocrat.

Oh - and lest it be understated - Drumpf's Russian connections are no secret - it's well known for those who bother to do a little research that Drumpf's, and others whom he associates with, financial ties to the Russian oligarchs and by proxy their puppet Putin, are deep and exactly how deep is unknown since Drumpf has steadfastly refused to release any of his tax records. And while The Gadfly continues to maintain a guarded wariness of our own country's intelligence community's trustworthiness, it most certainly cannot be claimed that they are doing the bidding of the dirty fucking hippie liberals in issuing this report, evidence free conspiracy mongering notwithstanding.

The American people need and deserve to know the truth about the extent of Russia's actions in ratfucking our elections and even more so if people close to, up to and including Mr. Drumpf his self, were complicit in any way, shape or form. Investigate this now - delay Drumpf's coronation if necessary - investigate it thoroughly, and let the truth see the light of day.



----TFG

Welcome To The New World Disorder (mental disorder that is) . . .

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It's only going to get worse:

A Florida woman who believes the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting is a hoax was arrested Monday on charges she threatened the parent of a child killed in the 2012 school shooting.

Richards is accused of telling the parent “you gonna die, death is coming to you real soon," according to federal court documents. The statements were made in January. She also wrote, "Look behind you it's death," according to the documents.

While it may seem unfathomable to some that Richards believed the shooting was a hoax, she is far from alone.  A small movement of “Sandy Hook Truthers” promote conspiracy theories that allege the shooting was staged.

Pozner addressed Richards' arrest in a statement.

"We are comforted to know that the system is working to protect the victims of violent crime from re-victimization by potentially violent Hoaxers," Pozner said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/12/07/truther-arrested-after-death-threats-made-parent-sandy-hook-shooting-vicitm/95085868/

It speaks volumes that the saddest part of this story isn't the fact that these conspiracy theory obsessed mental patients exist and are freely roaming about in fairly large numbers in our society or that one of the most high profile mental patients of all, Alex Jones, who has been peddling this stupid fucking shit for years, also happens to have an admirer in our new president-elect Drumpf.

No - the saddest part here is that line stating that the man who lost his child in that ghastly and heart-breaking incident in Newtown Connecticut four years ago, Len Pozner said that he was "comforted to know that the system is working to protect the victims of violent crime from re-victimization by potentially violent Hoaxers."

If this country had any moral courage or moral sensibilities or any cognitive thinking sensibilities whatsoever at this awful and frightening time in it's short history, there would be absolutely no fucking need whatsoever for Mr. Pozner to have to rest hope on the premise that a "system" had to even exist at all and that was needed to keep him from being harmed by these fucking idiotic nutbags.

And of course - add in the horror of knowing now that the conspiracy theory mongering president-elect and his paranoid-schizophrenic alt-right minions are in control of the levers of power, and by virtue of such have unleashed their dogs of sociopathic ignorance and stupidity upon us all, The Gadfly feels that all bets are off for this amazing experiment in representative democracy ending up in any good place at all in the near term future.


----TFG

Eventually They Come For You . . .

Good lord . . .

By ALLEGRA KIRKLAND | Published NOVEMBER 29, 2016, 12:07 PM EDT

The President-elect will kick off what his aides have billed as a “thank you tour” at a Thursday rally in Cincinnati, according to a Bloomberg report.

Donald Trump plans to visit key swing states and historically blue states that went red on November 8 to host the same sort of large, clamorous arena rallies that were a hallmark of his campaign.

The first event, at Cincinnati’s US Bank Arena, was actually a previous venue for a Trump rally, according to Bloomberg. Other stops have not yet been announced.

The tour is a highly unusual move for an incoming president, and comes as Trump is still filling key cabinet and administration posts.

While George Gigicos, director of Trump’s advance team, told reporters on November 17 that the arena rallies represent a “victory tour,” his campaign immediately backed away from such language.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-thank-you-tour-thursday-ohio

Ahh yes -- the ol' presidential victory tour -- because which winning U.S. president hasn't indulged in that grandest of all grand and American traditions - touring around the country, feting your supporters and gloating over the vanquished remains of your political opponents?

Actually -- none have.  But Drumpf is a narcissist beast of an entirely different nature.

Authoritarian strongman leaders have to keep up the mere appearance of legitimacy in their ill-gotten roles as "leaders" and thus the necessity of touring and holding Nuremberg style rallies to remind the fist pumping, arm-thrusting faithful who the "winner" was and who indisputably is in charge of things.

It is classic fascism in it's purest form.  And it is also no coincidence that the same day the "victory" tour was announced, dear leader was flapping his Mussoliniesque pie-hole on his beautiful Twitter account about how the act of flag burning, an ugly, but constitutionally guaranteed 1st amendment right, should result in the imprisonment and/or revocation of citizenship of the perpetrators.

To which The Gadfly would reply:

First they came for the Muslims, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Muslim.

Then they came for the rest of the immigrants, and I did not speak out— Because I was not an immigrant.

Then they came for the flag burners and anyone who dared to openly criticize their leader and their regime, and I did not speak out — Because I was not one of those - yet.

Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.

https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007392

Drumpf and his surrogates have issued thinly veiled threats to use the power of the state to imprison his political opponent Hillary Clinton.  Why?  Well - because they have the power now, and not because any evidence of criminal wrongdoing actually exists justifying it.

Drumpf and his cult-like army of goose-steppers have also made threats against the press.  Now lord knows The Gadfly holds no deep affection for the craven media in this country - but that blame can be laid almost directly at the feet of the corporotocracy headed up by moguls like Rupert Murdoch and other uber wealthy oligarchs of his ilk who control most of the media content Americans see and hear and are more concerned with making a profit than they are in presenting truthful, unbiased news to the American citizenry.

Both of those actions - threatening to jail political opponents and threatening the press just also happen to be hallmark traits of fascist, authoritarian regimes.

It can't happen here you think?  The literal incarnation of  Buzz Windrip is most definitely in our midst dear readers - and nothing short of unified vigilance and resistance stands between his depressing, life dispiriting vision of America and the America which would be a beacon of hope of freedom and democracy to all repressed peoples of the world.

And for the skeptics who believe The Gadfly is being too melodramatic here - Fuck you.  It was the same type of apathy and listlessness in citizens like you who allowed the ascension of dictators like Hitler and Mussolini in the 1930's in to power, thus bringing on the horror and human carnage of WW2.

Drumpf, based on his unhinged behavior and the inflammatory statements he has made to date, needs to be held rigidly accountable to the United States constitution and the American ideals that made this nation great.  And if the handful of sane Republicans and Democrats and the gutless media are not up to that task, then it is the solemn duty of true patriotic Americans to step up to the podium and make their voices heard loud and clear.

Oh -- and btw -- The Gadfly does not believe it to be an unreasonable stretch of the imagination in thinking that Drumpf, in his own mind, envisions his victory tour resembling something like this:






Vigilance.



----TFG