5 February 2011 Just waiting for the muskeg to melt

The Siege of Planned Parenthood

By GAIL COLLINS

Published: February 4, 2011



Maybe it’s all part of a grand theme. Last month, they voted to repeal the health care law. This month, they’re going after an organization that provides millions of women with both family-planning services and basic health medical care, like pap smears and screening for diabetes, breast cancer, cervical cancer and sexually transmitted diseases

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/opinion/05collins.html?_r=1&ref=opinion



Five myths about Ronald Reagan's legacy

By Will Bunch

Friday, February 4, 2011

On Sunday, America celebrates the 100th birthday of Ronald Reagan, whose presidency is a touchstone for the modern conservative movement. In 2011, it is virtually impossible for a major Republican politician to succeed without citing Reagan as a role model. But much of what today's voters think they know about the 40th president is more myth than reality, misconceptions resulting from the passage of time or from calculated attempts to rebuild or remake Reagan's legacy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2011/02/04/ST2011020403674.html?hpid=topnews



(Reuters) - Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's bid to trademark her name and that of her daughter, Bristol, ran into trouble at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office because the application forms were unsigned, government records show.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/04/us-palin-trademark-idUSTRE7135WI20110204?pageNumber=2

The news today tells us that we have not traveled far from the collective idiocy that led us to elect Reagan in 1980. He was never more than an actor playing the role his handlers scripted for him. He chose to ignore the outbreak of HIV/AIDS, to discharge thousands of mentally ill &/or mentally disabled from institution by dumping them onto the streets. In his terms we find the beginnings of Islamic terrorism, dealings with Iran carried on illegally, invasion of a small Caribbean island for no real purpose, and the savings & loan scandal that followed deregulation and led to the current monetary problems plaguing the U.S.

For those accomplishments the small portion of the GOP not trying to hand the nation over to our own breed of Taliban are trying to hang his name on anything that doesn’t move fast enough to escape the indignity.

Meanwhile, Palin, imagining herself to be his successor has demonstrate her mental acuity by failing to sign legal documents intended to allow her to sue anyone using her name in any manner. When she does crash and burn it is going to be truly spectacular, a meltdown of immense amusement!