Extreme Makeover, the Guantanamo Edition

before and after

Alleged terrorist Khalid Sheik Mohammed has the distinction of taking one of the most publicized but unflattering pictures seen around the world. Every time I see that picture of him on the left, I cringe. My driver’s license picture is bad, but not that bad. He’s wearing a stretched out t-shirt that’s seen better days, has bed head and from just looking at the scowl on his face, he probably has breath could launch a million ships.

Mohammed has been accused of some despicable things, namely being the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.  If you ask me, he doesn’t look capable of being any kind of mastermind. Okay, I take that back. At the time he was captured, he didn’t look like he missed any meals. My idea of a criminal mastermind has been heavily influenced by watching James Bond movies. The criminal masterminds are always filthy rich, have a bevy of beautiful women and have one word names like Goldfinger, Blofeld or Largo.

Since his capture in 2003, he has the distinction of having been water boarded 183 times and subjected to all kinds of illegal torture methods. He’s probably suffering from some kind of post traumatic stress since he’s been held at Guantanamo for more than six years. That’s enough to make even the toughest terrorist drop a pound or two.

The latest controversy surrounding Mohammed is a recent photo taken of him by the International Red Cross which is the after photo on the right. He looks like a different person. Most of the controversy has to do with how he looks ; some people argue that this picture makes him look more human. I disagree.

Mohammed doesn’t look like he got drug out of bed at an ungodly hour of the night, but he looks very sinister. To me, he looks like the evil cousin of the elusive Osama bin Laden. In my opinion, this can’t be good.

Link of the Day: Countdown with Keith Olbermann

The hype and the reality of President Obama’s speech to school children yesterday is broken down brilliantly by Keith Olbermann. I don’t know about you, but these angry conservatives scare the poopy-crap out of me, the America they live in is very different from the America I live in.

Countdown montage contrasts Obama’s speech to students with conservative media’s claims about it

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Michael Steele Shows His Softer, Gentler Side

The HNIC of the GOP was speaking at Howard University the other day and of course, there’s a video of it.  At the onset, you should know that I detest Michael Steele. He’s a sorry excuse for a chairman and is exactly what the Republicans need to further diminish their reputation with people of color and the poor.

Steele is just window dressing on a party that is chock full of racists, xenophobes and backward thinking zealots. Nothing about the GOP screams 2009, we’ve got to go back to at least 1959, the old days, where black people knew their place and everyone spoke English. As the GOP’s house negro, Steele thinks he’s immune to their  racist tirades. They are not, he thinks, talking about HIM!

Although this video is less than six minutes, from watching it, I can hear the condescencion in Steele’s voice. He’s talking down to these students and is acting as if he and the Republican party really has something to offer them.

I was further incensed when I heard him mock a woman in the audience who said everyone should have health care.  The young woman told Steele that her mother died from cancer six months ago because she couldn’t afford the chemotherapy treatments. Rather than offer condolences or acknowledge that our health care system needs to be fixed,  Steele ridicules woman.

Acknowledging the fact that many Americans are without health care and sometimes die as a result of it is missing from the health care debate. We should really be talking about covering people who don’t have it and making sure people don’t go bankrupt because of it.

If Steele’s appearance was really about exchanging ideas and discussing health care, why isn’t he (and the rest of his GOP homies) capable of doing anything else but mocking someone who has been personally or financially devastated by our health care system?

The U.S.S. Constitution and Other Health Care Reform Lies

I wish President Obama would stop trying to befriend his enemies. He’s losing momentum and credibility on health care reform. He hasn’t done a very good job at making his case for reform. The lies and rumors have much more credibility than they should. From the rumored death panel lies to the abortion on demand rumors, the more preposterous the lie, the more likely it is to be believed. When is the President going to learn that you can’t always make nice with your enemies?

The lies spread by opponents of health care like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the GOP are simply astounding, no matter how ridiculous or absurd the lies are, you are going to find some people who believe them. If you don’t believe me, just listen to some of the comments made by people attending a health care reform meeting last week. The ignorance from the people is just astounding. They don’t read, don’t listen and don’t know what the hell they are talking about.

I’m assuming they are all employed, have health insurance and are happy with it. I know people like Beck, Limbaugh and Republican members of Congress don’t ever have to worry about whether their health insurance is going to pay for their gall bladder surgery or cover that new prescription. On the other hand, the nearly 44 million of uninsured people in this country don’t have this option.

The people interviewed for this video are too angry for this to only be about health care.

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