Original art by Mark Valentine
The Rolling Stone story about a brutal campus gang rape turned out to be false…
As it unravels, more reporters are saying how easy it would have been to find this out before they made the accusations that caused so much harm. The fraternity was harmed. The school was harmed. Even future rape cases have been harmed. The story moved forward because the cause was so ideologically important that the facts became casualties.
This is the pattern of The Left.
They have become overtly Machiavellian with the belief that “The ends justify the means.” Click backwards through your News Feed and you will see the pattern.
“Hands up. Don’t shoot.” was repeated in Congress and across the nation. It was a lie.
The man shot by police in Ferguson never had his hands up or said don’t shoot.
However police officers died. Buildings were burned. The Left has defended its dishonesty because the cause was more important than the facts. The end justified the means.
The Affordable Health Care Act was sold to the citizens with the promise of lowering premiums by $2,500 per year and you could keep your doctor. The architects of that bill knew they were lying when they made those promises. Now they refuse to look at those facts. They only change the subject to other parts of the law. The cause was too ideologically important to be burdened by facts. The end justified the means.
Recently, Harry Reid took public pride when asked about his deliberate lie on the Senate floor about Mitt Romney not paying any taxes. He was quite smug in acknowledging that he knew he lied, but it helped keep Romney from being elected. The cause was too ideologically important to be burdened by facts. The end justified the means.
When someone deliberately lies on a regular basis, it becomes harder to believe anything they say.
Perhaps we should have a closer look at Global Warming, Immigration, Capitalism, and the Iran Nuclear Deal.
Those of us that are not hopelessly partisan are like modern day Diogenes looking for an honest reporter.
Seriously Mark, you write this broad accusation against “The Left” on a spectrum of issues ( Rape Story, Ferguson, ACA, Global Warming, Immigration, Capitalism, and the Iran Nuclear Deal) and then have the balls to say “those of us that are not hopelessly partisan”. Please.
Speaking of the Affordable Care Act and writing about “The Left” refusing to consider facts, try these facts on for size. The United States spends close to 20% of our GDP on health care. With a GDP of about $17 Trillion, that computes to about $3 1/2 Trillion each year. No other developed nation in the world spends more than about half of that, 10% of their GDP. What do we get for that ridiculous expenditure? Surely the best health care in the world, correct??? Sorry, according to the World Health Organization, the U.S. doesn’t even rank in the top 35 in measuring the quality and outcomes of our healthcare for our citizens. So we are needlessly dropping an extra $1.5 trillion dollars each year on our healthcare for that? And you have the cohones to write that the ACA is costing us money? WTF? Our current system of healthcare is pretty obviously broken and broken badly. Would you agree our current system is broken? A pricing system where the cost of a single surgical procedure might vary from above $100,000 to below $10,000 depending on which healthplan you belong to, or don’t have? Interesting to me that some feel the government should stay out of the healthcare arena but those same people advocate for keeping the points contained in the ACA where carriers cannot exclude based on pre-existing conditions and your children can remain on your healthplan until the age of 26. Those two points alone are flagrant incursions into the private sector business model of the insurance companies. Do you think private carriers would have ever adopted the exclusion of pre-existing conditions on their own? That hits right at their bottom line profit. The ACA is certainly not perfect but it is a critical first step. If the GOP ever came up with a plan to replace the ACA, I promise you, those two points would be included. If there was ever an issue facing America that screams for government involvement, it is our healthcare system. For those who preach that the government can’t handle it, ask senior citizens what they think about their Medicare coverage. Insurance Companies, Drug Companies, and yes, even our medical providers are draining us dry. Employers see this and are increasingly self insuring their employess as opposed to buying coverage from private carriers. Much more efficient use of their dollars. I’ve been selling health insurance for over 40 years and as much as I’d like to think otherwise, I don’t bring more than a very neglible benefit to the table. If self insuring works for the larger employers, why doesn’t it make sense for the country to do the same.
Your offering here is a perfect example of “hopelessly partisan” so spare us the holier than thou plea. You’re supposed to be the example of a “honest reporter” ???
valentine just got taken to the shed by Mongolian stomper.
NOT ONLY IS VALENTINE NOT A PAINTER (they looklike he’s on
crack) but he knows nothing about health care or any subject.
Take the brush and put it where it belongs…I’ll leave that up to
you.
As I said…stick to what you know well…painting ugly pics of people
who are famous while on acid of lsd.
Sounds like fun but you mastered that art.
take all those paintings down to first Friday….you might get $5.00 a piece!
The irony, Mark V., is that both sides continually play into their own stereotypes that each vigorously denies are true.
Reds scream about Americans losing their freedoms while only tying those freedoms to white, straight and Christian Americans.
Blues scream about being the party of inclusion/humanity while shouting down anyone that doesn’t recognize climate change, wants to exercise their religious freedoms or thinks there should be ANY requirements for government assistance.
Do I think there should be SOME kind of universal healthcare coverage for all Americans? Yes, I do. Do I think there is ANYONE in the current government smart enough and bi-partisan enough to come up with a solution to it? No, I don’t.
All problems have solutions. Government works the opposite way. They come up with solutions that cause problems. We deserve every single thing we get from the people we choose to elect. Don’t blame the politicians. Blame the people that VOTE for the politicians.
Stomper,
You just did the exact thing that was mentioned. You changed the subject.
I guess you agree the cause was just to important to tell the truth.
All of our rates have gone up. Many of us could not keep their doctor.
Yes there are other facts. Lets ignore the deliberate lies and talk about something else.
It feels hopeless to me. I don’t think you even realized you were doing it.
It was just to ideologically important.
I dispute that our costs are going up. People that think costs are going up don’t understand what the costs actually are. The costs we pay for health insurance are buried in about everything we spend money on. If you think costs are going up as a result of what the ACA is attempting to accomplish in our healthcare system, then you are not fully grasping the costs we currently pay. Costs are not reflected in premiums alone. When you buy a product in quantity, you can dictate the price you pay. Why do you think BCBS can demand a better rate from providers? Because they buy in quantity and can deliver a large number of patients. The poor sucker who has no coverage now gets billed at an exorbitant rate. Look at the reimbursement rates for Medicare. To say that the ACA is driving costs up is a lie from my perspective. The goal of the ACA is to try to control the spiraling costs of spending an extra $1.5 trillion on healthcare. One needs to look at the big picture and not assume that healthcare costs are measured in premiums alone.
Mine went up. But you will probably believe The NYTimes:
“The Obama administration on Friday unveiled data showing that many Americans with health insurance bought under the Affordable Care Act could face substantial price increases next year — in some cases as much as 20 percent — unless they switch plans.” (lose your doctor)
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/15/us/politics/cost-of-coverage-under-affordable-care-act-to-increase-in-2015.html?_r=0
Many lies were deliberately fed to the citizens.
Correction, one of the goals. Extending coverage to those currently uninsured is another goal but if you examine that aspect a bit closer, even those without coverage find their way into the healthcare system. They show up in ERs and receive treatment, the cost of which is passed on to all of us, hidden in the price we pay for just about everything.
I understand how ideologically important it is to you.
Well, I will certainly admit that ideologically, I see healthcare as a right and not a privilege and that is probably the major difference between liberals and conservatives on this issue.
All our rates haven’t gone up! would you please stop lying!!!!
you’re getting like Wilson.
No, Mark, he didn’t change the subject, he just owned you.
The ACA will prove to be a turning point in our country’s history. It’s not perfect but now with over 6 million insured who couldn’t it before…here’s what I’d like to see happen, The Congress over turns the ACA and tells the people who have been helped by it there’s no other option.
No one lies on the right, correct?
Ask any family member of a soldier who didn’t come back from Iraq.
Let me ask a simple question Mark, why is your party so hell bent on keeping the other half of the country down? You’re probably for “right to work” right?
left out,
You are also doing what was predicted.
“Look at all these good things instead of the lies that were told.”
It is just too ideologically important to acknowledge the lies.
left out,
I don’t have a party.
I am socially liberal and fiscally conservative.
I am pretty much homeless.
Just watch the money instead of listening to the speech
You “don’t have a party” but you just wrote a piece attacking the left on everything? Now who is not being honest?
The Left is off limits to you?
Attacking me rather than the idea of the piece is very telling.
No, the left is a great topic and often deserves to be attacked. I’m attacking your honesty, You have written here often now on political topics and your pattern is clear. Just don’t try to claim that you don’t have a party or strong political leanings. You’ve staked out a pretty strong position as a right leaning conservative. That’s fine, just don’t try to deny it.
mark…your writing is worse than those hypnotizing
art crap portraits….you’re a know nothing.
Read the facts then get back with stomper and I.
The same paper told of how aca has saved the nation
50 billion dollars.
Take your art…your wrong political views and your
lack of knowledge and get a real job at the circus doing
caricatures for kids with daffy duck.
What a fool you are
I’ll try to make this simple for you, Mark. Health insurance rates are not measured in premiums alone. To think that is believing a lie.
Yes, That justifies the direct lies.
We SHOULD have single payer here but the insurance companies that wrote most of the ACA (you left that fact out) don’t want to give up their stranglehold on the private healthcare system here. Obama and the insurance companies are laughing all the way to the bank with your increased premiums that you are FORCED to pay. The ACA is a joke, I agree with you there.
I don’t disagree, dude.
Game, set, match, Valentine.
Dead on the money.
The lies, deceit and legerdemain employed is now apparent to all but those with an agenda, or, an ego attachment to a narrative they identify with.
That last line applies to both of us, Chuck.
Total BS.
Your boy lied, lied and lied again. His minions lied.
The stats you quote are, in your opinion, prescient. The Mandates, delayed again and again and again, at the behest of the Executive Branch are unending.
The law, ACA is a disaster.
Extrapolations and feel good rhetoric don’t pay the bills for the middle class working taxpayers who bear the weight of this Obomination.
Talk that crap all you want.
Your side is populated with liars, scofflaws and cheats who, in the name of a false narrative, would consign the Constitution to a Trash Bin in back of the offices of the NYT.
Your stats, are in no way relevant, by way of the law, not taking effect in total at this point. It is a “Federal Work In Progress”.
Yippee.
I am a lying SOB.
But who cares, if we win?
One more time. The administration and the people, very high up, who WRTOE THE LAW, were categorically, metaphysically, caught in lies on video tape and, in the insistence, that you could “Keep Your Doctor etc. etc. etc.” again caught in outrageous lies, yet, as the chickens come home to roost over the next 24 to 36 months, you apparatchiks continue to insist, that, with the insertion of “statistics”, it (The ACA) is a good and sensible law.
I remember when George Bush stood on that Carrier in front of the sign, for all to see, that said, “Mission Accomplished”.
The truth is the truth.
Federal overreach is endemic and destructive.
I admit Presidents lie. Maybe they really believe it at some point. Maybe W. really believed there were weapons of mass destruction. Maybe Clinton really didn’t believe oral sex was sex. Maybe H.W. really believed his words when he said “read my lips, no new taxes”. Maybe Reagan really believed it when he said Botha’s apartheid regime was responsible for eliminating segregation in South Africa. “Every president has not only lied at some time, but needs to lie to be effective” wrote congressional chief of staff, Ed Uravic in his book ” Lying Cheating Scum”. Machiavelli said in “The Prince” a great leader “must be a great pretender and dissembler”. So yes, no argument here, Obama lied when he said you could keep your doctor.
So the ACA is a disaster. Can I ask your thoughts on a few different topics.
1. Do you think my comments on the % of our GDP spent on healthcare compared to the rest of the world and our ranking in healthcare delivered in developed nations are lies and play no role in our actions in healthcare.
2. Do you think the state of healthcare in our nation in 2010, prior to the ACA and it’s effect on our economic situation was sustainable and the private sector was handling it well?
3. What are your thoughts on a single payer system and do you really think the federal has no business in healthcare?
I’ve already read all of your opinions on the ACA and Obama so spare me your the rhetorical regurgitations. Take it a step beyond that and give me your view and how we should go forward. I know you are a sharp guy Chuck. I really do want to know your thoughts on where we go if and when the ACA is repealed. The GOP will control the House for a long time in my opinion, and may hold the Senate even after 2016. What would their plan look like?
Beautiful.
After a series of logical fallacies, you quote Machiavelli in defense of your position.
Jesus…
Repeal the law, that fruit of a poisonous, lying tree, that fails in every way to secure good stewardship over 1/6th of our entire economy with the stroke of a pen and breathtaking hubris.
Start again and tell the truth.
Defending the Post Constitutional Administration now in office with quotes from “The Prince” illustrates in my opinion, the real and true intent and the absolute certainty of Progressive s that they and they alone are in possession of the high road.
Americans must bend to the will of the “Narrative” or their Pizza Shops, Bakeries, freedom to associate, livelihoods, positions, money, reputations and coming soon, freedom of speech will disappear in the latest Outrage De Jour from our thought leaders.
We Americans fear our government with good reason in my opinion
So Chuck, no attempt to respond to my questions? Your rambling rhetoric is legendary. Go back, read my questions and express your opinions. And once again, please spare me the crap.
Your condescension is equally legendary.
Again, repeal the law.
1) Our percentage of GDP spent on Health Care is interesting, but assumes that the rest of the world has the same demographics, politics, economy, ethos etc. etc. It is a poor comparison.
2) Better than now. Polls taken at the time, showed a majority of Americans satisfied with their Health Care.
3) No to single payer.
The questions you asked, will no doubt drive a conversation at some tony cocktail party where whine and cheese are a substitute for real life middle class experience. That said, the eventual outcome of the Post Constitutional Administration’s effort in Health Care, as a facet of “Fundamental Change” is yet to be seen.
Repeal the law.
Thank you Chuck. I appreciate both the honesty and brevity. I’ve been a reader and commenter here at KCC since shortly after the demise of Smartman and have read your comments over that time period with great interest. When the topics are music, sports, etc, you seem to consistently display a perspective of civility, rationality, and willingness to compromise but when the topics turn to race and/or politics, you seem to go rabid. I guess you see the same from me. I just think we can have a better discussion by trying to find some common ground and look for arguments from the opposing side that seem to have some merit.
So your opinion is that the federal government should play no role in healthcare ( other than Medicare, you don’t want to repeal that, right?),
the state of our healthcare was fine prior to 2010 and the private sector insurance companies were handling the situation fine, and the statistics I quoted on GDP costs and healthcare rankings don’t warrant concern. That’s fine, Chuck, again I appreciate the response without insult.
Chuckles the sad lying clown (we just blew your racist lies about
white murders)….you know nothing.
If you’re sosmart how come you’re digging holes.
Why not be a professor or a white collar businessmen.
Another know it all wo knows nothing.
Are youin the union?
I can tell you exactly what their plan will look lie, a freaking yo yo. Because it will be a yo yo….that is You are On Your Own…Good Luck. Oh, or I forgot that it very well could be the DGS plan…Don’t Get Sick….
Obama care is in a grave yard death spiral, at least as far as it’s economic viability is concerned.
http://news.investors.com/politics-obamacare/040615-746512-is-obamacare-enrollment-starting-to-stall.htm?p=full
The point was not the value of ObamaCare. The Left seems to believe that they are justified in deliberate dishonesty because the cause is so important. They seem to actually feel good enough about it that there is no shame when called out.
Is there any deliberate dishonesty from the right, Mark?
Yeah Mark, how is this any different from what the right does?
I could care less, they are all liars and dirtbags.
Some more than others.
Are you saying it is OK because you believe The Right tells lies?
You just supported my opinion.
The Left believes the dishonesty is justified.
They ALL tell lies and are cold blooded reptiles. They ALL believe their dishonesty is justified. Why do you think this in something unique to the left party and not the right?
Where did you read that I was OK with this?
Mark, you are a piece of work. I’m going to try using your standard reply here and just say that everything offered by those who disagree with me just supports my position.
Stomper,
I really think you have missed my point.
In the last couple of years, when a lie is revealed, The Left does not correct it. The Left feels justified.
When The Right is caught in a lie, they do not gloat over a successful move.
I gave recent, specific examples that show a clear pattern.
Not one of your comments refutes that. They have all justified that pattern. I am guessing you think the tactic is justified because of your feelings toward the cause.
The way you talk Mark it sounds like the recent Iraq conflict never happened. Memory hole material.
I just think the nicest thing I can say is that your point is an incredibly naive one from my perspective. I am not refuting your point because both sides lie. Politicians lie, left and right. And in my humble opinion, they both act the same when caught or not caught. I’m not saying that lying is ok. Bringing to your attention that the Right lies does not mean I’m good with the Left lying. I’m just saying that unfortunately, politics is a slimy business. Lies are told by both sides. ” When The Right is caught in a lie, they do not gloat over a successful move” What the hell does that mean ??!!??
In your piece you mention Global Warming, Immigration, and the Iran Nuclear Deal as topics that warrant further scrutiny because they Left may be lying there as well. I would offer that the Right is lying flagrantly on those topics as well but then I would be Captain Obvious.
We caught chuckles the clown in a huge lie. He’s bee pushing the race card
and the hate card and the lie card ……he’s a blowhard who wants people to
think he knows everything…when his only reading is fox news and world
news daily and his heros are the westboro church/hitler and anyone else
he can find on google who is a hating vile disgusting human being.
Again…hide in disgust chuckles.
Stomper:
This is what I mean about gloating when caught in a deliberate lie:
Watch harry Reid (Huffington Post)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ayobami-olugbemiga/harry-reid-gives-shameful-response-to-his-attack-on-mitt-romneys-taxes_b_6999996.html?
Harry Reid is a dirtbag along with Pelosi. What are you trying to say here?
I am trying to say. The Democratic leadership are gloating on camera at what effective liars they are. It is on film. I have never seen anyone proud of lying before. Sorry
Jesus Christ. All politicians lie. Where’s the news in that?
You don’t think the reason for invading Iraq was one big lie? You don’t think Bush did it to increase his chances of reelection?
Bush is a scumbag. Obama is a scumbag. The next president, in all likelihood, will be a scumbag.
ACA may be a disaster, but I’d bet it’s cost the taxpayers less money and fewer lives than the whole Iraq/Afghanistan fiasco.
Mark doesn’t quite grasp this concept yet, he might in due time.
Phaedrus,
There is a big difference between the Iraq lies and the lies listed in my OpEd.
Iraq was based on bad intelligence. Over 50 countries believed it and joined in a coalition. The intelligence came from multiple international sources. it was debated in Congress. They voted on it.
The lies mentioned my OpEd were known to be lies when they were spoken to the citizens.
“All politicians lie”…so that justifies everything? really? If that is true, then why do you put so much faith in ObamaCare or Global Warming or anything else? What is the basis of your trust?
Bullshit. Iraq was based on lies THEY knew about but didn’t care. To say anything different makes YOU a right wing kool-aid drinker.
“All politicians lie” doesn’t justify anything. It just means that complaining about politicians lying is useless. You might as well complain that the sky is blue.
I don’t put any faith in Obamacare. I also don’t put any faith in social security. It’d be great if I get it when I retire, but I’m planning on not receiving a dime.
Frankly, I don’t have much faith in anything governments say or do. The less time I spend worrying about them, the happier I am.
Phaedra,
I feel that way sometimes. I just haven’t totally given up yet.
I guess I worry about the kids more than myself.
The Dude,
“They” knew? $9 counties and all of Congress?
“The original list released in March 2003 included 46 members. In April 2003, the list was updated to include 49 countries, though it was reduced to 48 after Costa Rica objected to its inclusion. ”
There really is a difference in this and the idea I am putting forward.
I think I have explained my thinking, but you only call names. Please do better.
So you have said all politicians lie. Why do you trust the government?
I can’t square that circle. Help me out.
Bush, Cheney, Rummy, they knew it was all bullcrap. They lied to us to destabilize the government there and obtain oil contracts for their oil buddies and privatize government institutions there. Iraq is a craphole now. I have no idea why all these sheep went along on the sheep march to war, nobody wanted to stand in the way of Cheney after 911? For a while there if you were against the notion of going to war in Iraq they questioned your patriotism.
Cheney still had options in Halliburton to the tune of around 1 Billion at the time of the mad rush to invade Iraq. You don’t see a conflict of interest there?
I trust the federal government about as far as I can throw it. They have been thoroughly corrupted at the legislative, executive and judicial levels.
Jefferson had a saying about the tree of liberty that aligns with my view of the federal government at this point in history.
So true about a person’s patriotism being questioned if they didn’t support the invasion of Iraq. Remember the “freedom fries” instead of french fries?
Bush was such a hack…using the words “freedom” and “justice” to justify anything. All he did was use scare tactics to con everyday Americans into giving up a bunch of their freedoms.
Sorry about calling you a right wing Kool-Aid drinker but if you think they (Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld) had good intentions and the war in Iraq was justified I’ll stand behind that invective. None of the CIA intelligence at that time said that Hussein was pursuing weapons of mass destruction, you seem to want to gloss over that point. Remember the whole Plame outing where Cheney committed treason by outing a covert CIA operative because the UN envoy (Wilson) found no proof of yellowcake? Yeah, those pesky facts.
Do I like the ACA? No, I believe we should have a single payer system. It seems to work in other industrialized countries decently.
I gotta agree with dude here.
That fuc*in war was a fantasy and a trick of fame that killed hundreds of thousands for no real reason.. I have heard about the Yellow Cake, but in my mind, when I heard they had WMD, I pictured Mushroom Clouds.
The resulting, galactic international blunder, cost us more blood and treasure than we ever imagined. The vacuum left, with the defeat of the Sunni, let the Shia in and now, that same vacuum is being filled by Iran. What a fu*kup.
Mark, This has been a great exchange of ideas so that’s a good thing. I do think it is a mistake on your part to try to distingush between what lies are acceptable and what lies are not. Impossible to draw that line and there is a temptation for partisans to try to defend the lies their guys make while attacking the lies the other side makes. It seems like you are still trying to play that card. Lies are never good but again, that’s a part of politics. I got a little sideways with you because if you are going to write a political piece, accepting that both sides lie should be a given and you didn’t seem to accept that. Presidents, even moreso than lower level politicians are just salesmen and we all know salesmen either lie or at least stretch the truth. Presidents are trying to sell their agenda, sway the public or Congress to either support or reject legislation, or just get elected. Again, I think a lot of Presidents may actually believe what they say when they say it, only to later be exposed in a lie. I will say this about Obama saying you can keep your doctor. Medical providers have a say in which health networks they subscribe to and health networks have a say in which medical providers they will accept. It is not a President’s call to make. I think he saw the implementation of the ACA in reality what he envisioned in his intent. Mistake !! I don’t think Obama expected all the states to reject the federal dollars to expand medicaid in their own states and that created a problem for him and the goals of the ACA. On a regular basis, before the ACA was signed, doctors went in and out of networks for a number of reasons, and unless you had Medicare where your doctor works with and accepts the government’s reimbursement , you had the chance of losing your doctor on a pretty regular basis. Especially if your health insurance was provided by your employer and they switched carriers or networks ( a pretty common scenario) . Employer provided health insurance, before the ACA was signed, created a pretty bad scenario for many in our country. If, God forbid, you or someone in your family was faced with a serious health problem ( ie Cancer), you were locked in to that employer. You couldn’t afford to leave that job as any new carrier was going to reject you based on a pre-existing condition. It’s a pretty sorry state of affairs when life decisions have to be based on keeping or losing your healthcare. Talk about insurance companies making life and death decisions. I laughed every time I heard that bullshit about government death panels making those decisions. Health insurance companies were already making those decisions daily. The ACA did away with that. Personally I think there is a lot of bad associated with employer provided health care. A Universal Health Care Plan where coverage is individually portable and not tied to where you work would solve a lot of problems, and save a lot of money. Providers billing and accepting payments from a schedule and not using a ridiculous and wildly varied invoicing system. No more $100,000 bills to one patient when another gets billed 20% of that amount. Bad news for my doctor friends but…. And it gives American companies a more even playing field on an international basis since foreign competitors don’t have to include the cost of healthcare in the price of their product like American companies do. But that’s a whole separate argument.
Anyway, thanks Mark. I always relish the political pieces here. Hearne needs to get a regular writer that opines from the left. With Dwight, Rich Steele, and you, he has the conservative side pretty well covered and it’s up to Harley, me, and the other Mensa members here ( that’s a joke Chuck) , to defend the liberal perspective. 🙂
Thanks Stomper,
I enjoy a real discussion with an exchange of ideas.
I will right one from the social liberal part of me. 🙂
After I right one, then I will left one 🙂
Stomper, if it makes ya feel any better, I just threw Bush and Cheney under the bus at 5:32
The truth is the truth.
Proof there is a God.
🙂