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My goodness, it's been a while, hasn't it?
For those who have started reading this journal in relatively recent times, the Shit List is an occasional post where I rant about the things that really, really outrage me. The name comes from a marvellous L7 Song, which I now post for your listening pleasure:
( You shall not be amused )
Next up, it's time to take aim at the US Congress.
It's been ten years since the horrifying events of 9/11 - and, being something of an anniversary, it was perhaps inevitable that the events of the original day would enter the headlines fairly quickly. Some kind of tribute, perhaps, or maybe a 'where are they now?' series.
But no. Rather than any such 'human interest' reporting, the issue of healthcare for the 9/11 first responders has popped up - as in, when they might finally going to get some, so that they can pay their skyrocketing health bills.
What's that, you say? These people are heroes? They risked their lives to save as many as they could? Even when there was no hope, they sifted through the ruins looking for something, anything, to lay grieving relatives' minds to rest? They suffered terribly with psychological and physical problems - including cancer from breathing in the vaporised remains of concrete dust, asbestos and who knows what else - because their commitment to their duty outweighted concerns for their own safety? They're not already receiving the best healthcare government money can buy?
No. They're not. Their lives have been used as political footballs for nearly ten years.
So, when a bill designed to finally redress that unbelievable wrong - the Zadroga Bill, named for a first responder who died waiting for healthcare - looked like it might actually pass through both Houses, it seemed too good to be true.
It is.
You see, just as everything looked set to go, Republican Congressman Cliff Stearns from Florida added what he called 'a simple, straightforward amendment'. It imposes a teensy little condition that needs to be fulfilled before the frst responders can get any money at all.
They 'simply' have to agree to let the FBI investigate them, and have it proved to the government's satisfaction that they are not terrorists.
Yeah, you read that fucking right.
The heroes of 9/11 - the people who risked everything to do their jobs - and in many cases, volunteered to help because they were there and couldn't just stand by and watch - should be subjected to an incredible insult like this, just to go with everything they've suffered for the last decade.
Because, apparently, a deep-cover agent for al Qaeda might have been posing as a pretzel salesman on 9/11, and when the planes hit thought, 'Fantastic, I'll just pop on over there and risk my life helping out, because that way my cover will be impeccable and I get the bonus of scamming money from the government. Sweet!'
Bitch. PLEASE.
What's worse, is that this outrageous amendment was then endorsed by the Democrats. It sailed through the House.
What kind of fuckwit thinks like this? Who sits there and wonders if a firefighter who is dying of lung cancer might be a terrorist just waiting to be activated by his 'Islamist masters' - perhaps by suicide-bombing the Chemo Ward at the local hospital? How can someone be so lacking in basic human decency as to deny these people the healthcare they've desperately needed for years, finally hold it out to them - and then snatch it away with pious mouthings about how it 'makes a lot of sense' to insult them so grossly? (And yeah, I'm looking at you, Democratic leader Henry Waxman.)
Aaacchhhhhh. The idiocy is infuriating. Here are Jon Stewart's takes on it - he does the necessary ridicule and outrage at this idea far better than I ever could.
( And then there's the Fundie. )
So, that's another Shit List wrapped up. Three continents, three stories to get your blood boiling - but at least there's some light in the last one.
Stay angry, fellow ranters, and remember - if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
For those who have started reading this journal in relatively recent times, the Shit List is an occasional post where I rant about the things that really, really outrage me. The name comes from a marvellous L7 Song, which I now post for your listening pleasure:
( You shall not be amused )
Next up, it's time to take aim at the US Congress.
It's been ten years since the horrifying events of 9/11 - and, being something of an anniversary, it was perhaps inevitable that the events of the original day would enter the headlines fairly quickly. Some kind of tribute, perhaps, or maybe a 'where are they now?' series.
But no. Rather than any such 'human interest' reporting, the issue of healthcare for the 9/11 first responders has popped up - as in, when they might finally going to get some, so that they can pay their skyrocketing health bills.
What's that, you say? These people are heroes? They risked their lives to save as many as they could? Even when there was no hope, they sifted through the ruins looking for something, anything, to lay grieving relatives' minds to rest? They suffered terribly with psychological and physical problems - including cancer from breathing in the vaporised remains of concrete dust, asbestos and who knows what else - because their commitment to their duty outweighted concerns for their own safety? They're not already receiving the best healthcare government money can buy?
No. They're not. Their lives have been used as political footballs for nearly ten years.
So, when a bill designed to finally redress that unbelievable wrong - the Zadroga Bill, named for a first responder who died waiting for healthcare - looked like it might actually pass through both Houses, it seemed too good to be true.
It is.
You see, just as everything looked set to go, Republican Congressman Cliff Stearns from Florida added what he called 'a simple, straightforward amendment'. It imposes a teensy little condition that needs to be fulfilled before the frst responders can get any money at all.
They 'simply' have to agree to let the FBI investigate them, and have it proved to the government's satisfaction that they are not terrorists.
Yeah, you read that fucking right.
The heroes of 9/11 - the people who risked everything to do their jobs - and in many cases, volunteered to help because they were there and couldn't just stand by and watch - should be subjected to an incredible insult like this, just to go with everything they've suffered for the last decade.
Because, apparently, a deep-cover agent for al Qaeda might have been posing as a pretzel salesman on 9/11, and when the planes hit thought, 'Fantastic, I'll just pop on over there and risk my life helping out, because that way my cover will be impeccable and I get the bonus of scamming money from the government. Sweet!'
Bitch. PLEASE.
What's worse, is that this outrageous amendment was then endorsed by the Democrats. It sailed through the House.
What kind of fuckwit thinks like this? Who sits there and wonders if a firefighter who is dying of lung cancer might be a terrorist just waiting to be activated by his 'Islamist masters' - perhaps by suicide-bombing the Chemo Ward at the local hospital? How can someone be so lacking in basic human decency as to deny these people the healthcare they've desperately needed for years, finally hold it out to them - and then snatch it away with pious mouthings about how it 'makes a lot of sense' to insult them so grossly? (And yeah, I'm looking at you, Democratic leader Henry Waxman.)
Aaacchhhhhh. The idiocy is infuriating. Here are Jon Stewart's takes on it - he does the necessary ridicule and outrage at this idea far better than I ever could.
( And then there's the Fundie. )
So, that's another Shit List wrapped up. Three continents, three stories to get your blood boiling - but at least there's some light in the last one.
Stay angry, fellow ranters, and remember - if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
