berkeleygirl1962's Comments (118)

“I'm not sure if anyone has actually studied the breakdown, JanP, but your undocumented claim actually _reinforces_ my point. I'm simply saying that fear makes us quick to yield our constitutional rights, and decisions based on anger or vengeance are often ill-considered; Ms. Breitweiser's appeal to our higher instincts deserves attention because under the circumstances her ability to set those visceral emotions aside makes her remarkable.”

“I don't know whether you, like Ms. Breitweiser, actually lost your husband to the 9/11 murderers, but I suspect you did not. In any case, no one can lay a greater claim to "justice" than she, yet she's managed to resist yielding to the hatred and fear that the terrorists sought to sow in attacking the United States, and in doing so sets an example for us as Americans.

I hope you'll pay attention to her words: "Indeed, in the fight against Islamist extremism, we should never bow to the terrorists by compromising, manipulating, re-writing or flat-out ignoring the core, bedrock principles of our Constitution that speak to the very heart of who we are as a nation--a democracy." And I urge you to heed her call to us to "trust our own judicial system to fully and openly prosecute the mass murderers of 9/11 while the rest of the world bears witness."”

“Thanks for the rundown, Jim. Sounds like an event worthy of the heroes it commemorated.”

“Great piece--thanks for raising the tough questions.”

“Quelle surprise, as we used to say in Junior High French class.

I suppose you go on such shows for the wider exposure they give you, Mr. Blumenthal. Turns out they're not a forum for an actual exchange of ideas...I sincerely hope your appearances prove a boost to book sales. You don't need to waste time recapping the gory details for those of us who would never watch anyway. And I say this as a die-hard fan of your work, including the work that certain sites won't cover because it offends The Powers That Be.”

“The biggest issue in most medical malpractice suits--and personal injury suits generally--is FUTURE MEDICAL COSTS. Universal health care ( I would argue single payer is the only logical cost-effective mechanism for providing that) solves that problem. That ought to help keep our auto and homeowner insurance costs better contained, too, and have a huge impact on state workers comp systems as well.”

“Thank you for finally weighing in on the side of the only payment system that makes sense.”

“If I understand correctly, your point is that anything that originated with something connected to Kaiser Steel or anyone who profited from that company is tainted.”

“I'm thankful that California constitution requires Medi-cal to pay for all reproductive health decisions--as they did for me as a teen more than thirty years ago.

I concur with LewDan. You compromise your principles and then you feel misunderstood ("some of it probably the result of honest mistakes and some of it based on outright fabrications")? I can't work up any sympathy for your plight, Rep. Capps.”

“Irrelevant. The Kaiser Family Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.”

“Are you trying to challenge or discredit the Kaiser Family Foundation's study cited by Dayen?

See kff.org: "The Kaiser Family Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries."

Valid criticisms about the Kaiser Permanente Health plan notwithstanding, THEY ARE COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT HERE.:-(”

“It doesn't seem to have occurred to Dr. Toffel or any of the other proponents of tort reform that the basis of most malpractice (and other personal injury) claims is, quite simply, the need for future medical care. If we had universal health insurance, the source of an illness or injury (be it work, car accident, or iatrogenesis, e.g.) would be irrelevant. Even with the tort system a successful litigant could win future coverage for, say, a back injured in a car accident or through surgical error, but be otherwise uninsured and thus out of luck if s/he develops an unrelated condition like breast cancer.”

“I agree with you...all the MORE reason to show up at your "town meeting"--you don't need to have misplaced loyalty to the Democrat party to have something of value to contribute. Stand up and politely insist on single payer!:-). Please--go speak for those of us who live in bubbles where our reps support UNIVERSAL health care and there's no one to debate at our local meetings...”

“Cockburn is a vituperative not-so-ex Stalinist, and I don't care for his style of argument. He's also an important contrarian who takes on the job of keeping the left honest (as I recall, he was the only left journo who tried to blow the whistle on the feds' fiascoes with the Branch Davidians and the Randy Weaver folks (wrong is wrong, no matter how objectionable the targets of the government may be).

Just because Cockburn criticizes the SPLC doesn't automatically make them faultless...the much older citation given elsewhere for the Harpers' piece should be a better source for you. It doesn't have the up-to-date figures on the SPLC's wealth, however. Dees is an iconic figure and like most icons is pretty much untouchable except by someone of Cockburn's combative bent.”

“"Like other similar groups, the Center has limited resources and needs to decide how to best use those resources." Well, no, that's not true, at least as far as my definition of "limited": "As of October 2008 the net assets of the SPLC were $170,240,129." ( http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn05152009.html ).

I'm not saying there was intimidation in the Philadelphia case, and you're certainly correct that there's not a prayer of even-handed defense of voting rights by conservative organizations, but if the SPLC makes a show of branding the NBPP a "hate group," it ought to make a determination of fact in this case.

The other criticisms of the SPLC Cockburn makes in the link above are eye-openers. It's not clear where principle ends and the "business" of the SPLC begins, nor is it clear if donor dollars to civil rights causes are best spent on the kind of "work" done by the EXTREMELY well-funded SCLC. Even if you don't agree with Cockburn, I'd venture to say that unlike when the SPLC was founded, it's relatively easy to monitor hate groups via the internet nowadays, and that could be done at MUCH smaller expense by a lean non-profit.

Having said this, I think Ms. Swain is blowing hot air, and I'm curious as to whether she supports the commendable work of the ACLU, which I value precisely because they challenge any violation of civil liberties.”

“Universal coverage takes a big bite out of the "tort reform" problem. People sue largely because they have no guaranteed future coverage--and this applies to personal injury claims generally, not just malpractice.”

“Don't give up on the democratic process. It's the two-party (or one-party) system that's strangling democracy. Ours are not even political parties in the true sense of the word--more an aggregation of individual egotists, and not membership-based, platform-driven expressions of collective purpose.”

“Hats off to *you* Toan Lam. Thanks for sharing the Phoebe story, and for sharing your own.”

“LOL @ your concept of Gates as a race baiter/black separatist. As he revealed in his PBS series, his roots are as much Irish as African. He's married to a white woman, and he has biracial daughters, so he must have a rather odd concept of separatism.”

“Um...you might want to look at a picture of Herbert Aptheker. Bad politics doesn't make one a bad scholar, nor does studying African-American history make one African-American.”

“Well put. If they believe you in the first place, I guess they want you to get used to it and stop "over-reacting."=((”

“Of the many wonderful things my parents did for me, a good marriage followed by a good divorce ranks among the most important. Sharing your story is a gift to us all.”

“I'm sending this to my friends whose kids are struggling with eating disorders. Good work!”

“You know this is becoming mainstream when...it becomes a story line on "Guiding Light."”

“Excellent, thoughtful piece. Thank you for giving this over-hyped subject some much-needed perspective.”