Aggregation

It'd be just keen if, in this time of raging devotion to religion and cowering aversion to accountability, we all paid more attention to the oath that the Vice President, members of Congress and other government officials swear to before their gods and with their hands resting on the holy Word of one of them.

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

The president's oath is shorter but the part about upholding the Constitution survives the edit.  (inspired by)

The rest of the world is finally and very slowly beginning to show signs of catching up to a big part of what the Downing St. Memos revealed: the Brits knew that they were crawling into an about to be very shitty bed with people who had no idea how to run a war.  This comes courtesy of Blair's imminent departure and that of what's left of the troops he sent to kill and die in the disaster he helped create.  Maybe we'll experience a similar revelation when BushCo rides off into the sunset.   Of course, such a revelation would require the corporate media to ring the necessary bells and for the opposition party to, you know, exist.  I'll be right here holding my breath.

You can learn from this pro-insurance industry blog about the Medicare Advantage Program and where we can find at least $50B to pay for health insurance for poor and middle class children (hint: the money is in the Medicare Advantage Program).   You can also read about the issue at the less biased Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.  This is part of the larger American health care crisis but thanks to Pay/Go and some enterprising activists, this story is heating up on its own in Congress now so watch for the lines to be drawn around the same old debate between privatizing the government in the name of enriching corporations and funding the government to be able to provide for crucial human needs programs.